Why Colombia ?

Whenever you tell someone your going to Colombia there is always a reaction.You know the bit in Scarface near the start when he tells Tony Montana there is a cocaine deal to be done with some Colombians.Tony rolls his eyes as soon as he mentions Colombians and then tells his friend later " I dont like Colombians ".I am sure you know what happens next and it confirms Tony's dislike of Colombians.A raised eyebrow is the minimum reaction I get. Its normally followed by a question " isn't that where all the drugs are ? that's a bit dangerous ? why you going there ?
Like me none of these people have ever been to Colombia.Like me most of these people have never met anyone Colombian.Like me most of these people have watched Scarface.Like me all these people have heard of Pablo Escobar.Like me all these people have heard of kidnappings in Colombia on the news and like me the first thing they think of is cocaine when you mention Colombia. Tony Montana had a dislike of the 45 million Colombians because of his dealings with a few Colombian drug dealers and I cant blame him for that.He hasn't had a good experience with the Colombians he has met so its natural to dislike them.In the same way as its natural for people to have a negative view of Colombia when all they hear are bad stories of drugs and kidnapping.Colombia is still the biggest supplier of cocaine to the world according to the latest reports and there is still a war going on with the guerrillas so why the feck am I  going there.
I found myself in the position of looking for another job after 14 years at the same place.I will come to the reasons behind that another day but lets stick to Colombia for now.I went to London one day to get my CV done by a professional company to help me find a new job.On the train home I am standing there looking at all the people on the way home from the daily grind of work and not one of them looked happy.Is this what I am gonna be doing ? Is this the reason I am looking for work so I can sit on a  train to be miserable.Theres got to be more to it than this surely.That was the moment I decided fuck this shit I need to try something new.As soon as I got home I started looking on the net at the teaching English abroad courses I had dismissed a month earlier as stupid.Now they didn't seem so stupid.Now they seemed a good idea.So there and then I signed up for my TEFL course and began to study straight away.When I wasn't studying I was looking at destinations.China was the most popular followed by Japan.Thailand was also highly reccomended and I had been there,it was safe,but I needed something new.South America had always appealed to me and I have always wanted to learn spanish properly not just the little bits I know.So that ruled out Brazil as they speak portugese.I looked at Chile and that seemed nice but everyone said they speak a slang spanish that can be hard to understand, so that was Chile off the list.What about Buenas Aires, I know a few people who have been there and they all loved it.Very european style and fairly stable.I looked into that but everything I read said english teachers where easy to come by so work was harder to find.Another one of the list.Ecuador was next to get the full treatment and all the signs say there is a big demand for english teachers but it just didnt seem to do it for me.I dont know why but my gut instinct was saying no.Then came Colombia,my initial reaction was no but I looked into it and started to read some good reports.There was work over there but you had to be in the country to get it.There werent many reports on teaching english in Colombia but the ones I read were positive.So thats what happened ,I booked my flight to Bogota for the 10th Nov 2011 and decided to teach English in Bogota.I have never been to Colombia,I dont know anyone there and I speak a very little spanish. I am going to look for a job teaching english ,which I have never done before, and stay there for a year.
I really dont know how its gonna turn out and its given me a few sleepless nights but I guess thats part of the ride.I am going to find out what Colombia is all about -the truth in black and white
In the words of Derek Trotter.......he who dares