My family will be moving to Bogota in July

What are your concerns? Do you speak Spanish? How long is your work assignment at the school? Where is your housing? When do you plan to arrive? What are your expectations? What is your lifestyle? Likes/dislikes/pet peeves?

Where are you from? Are you good at higher elevations? Do you like the rain and colder climate?

My first introduction to Bogota was in November 1990, a 5 month work assignment, it was a much different time then but got me interested in seeing more and exploring, so now 34 years later and living the past 10 years in Medellin and traveling frequently throughout Colombia and returning 3 or 4 times each year visiting friends in Bogota.............well I am adapted and enjoy my life here but it's not for everyone so............

..............what is your goal? Only you can come to that conclusion after spending some time in Colombia.

@South American Voyager

Thanks for the reply. We will be on a 2 year contract with the school. Our main goal is to give a new experience to our family. We are excited to dive into a new culture (understanding that this is a big and new transition that will take time to acclimate to), continue to learn and practice Spanish (we have loads of vocabulary but need to put it into conversational practices daily to grow), try new foods, to make new friends and community for both ourselves and our children and to see what teaching in an international setting is like compared to what our experiences have been in the US education system for the past 20 years.

We are actually excited about the change of climate. We live in a very snowy, high alpine environment in Colorado. We will be 2,000 feet lower in elevation in Bogota and much much warmer in comparison to what we are used to. Today is -8 degrees as I write this. I am also looking forward to the benefits (and downsides) that come with living in a big city. Access to restaurants, museums, music and much more. Some adjustments I have read about are the noise, transportation, current water situation in Bogota and I am sure many more to be discovered while we are there.

Additionally, The school is supporting many of the transitional needs for us such as housing, visas, possible child care, etc, so that was a huge help in comparison to other schools and countries we explored.

We have family that is Colombian and some extended family that still resides in Colombia that we will get to meet for the first time. We are looking forward to that as well. Hoping that can be an initial support in our transition to Bogota.

Thanks for sharing your journey and it is amazing that you have been calling Colombia home for so long! I appreciate your insights.

Hello everyone and welcome @Ryan !

Please note that this new thread has been created on the Bogota forum so that more members may share some infos with you.

All the best

Bhavna