The Story of Going2Colombia

Hi, my name is Adriana Cabezas and I want to tell you the story of Going2Colombia. I'm Colombian, I was born in Bogotá and I lived there the first 25 years of my life.

To be honest, I remember there were hard times in my country during my youth; violent times related to drug trafficking and the presence of illegal armed groups which did not allow people to have a quiet life. Thank God these events never touched me closely.

However, at the time, I thought it would be better to look for another place to live happily. I graduated as an architect and, a few years after, my destiny led me to live the dream of visiting other countries with my family. We lived for more than 12 years in many countries: Venezuela, Gabon, Congo, Scotland, Mexico, United States, Kuwait and Indonesia. We also visited some countries around them, like Spain, France, England, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Turkey, Singapore, Malaysia, Honduras, and Costa Rica.

Only through this world tour did I discover the wealth of my country: the value of its people, the wonder of its landscapes, the talent of its craftsmen, the variety of its nature and the abundance of its products. As some wise man once said: "You have to go outside to get to know yourself in the inside"; or someone equally wise: "You don't know what you have until you lose it."

The year was 1996 and we were living in Gabon, a country in west Central Africa. There, among many other people, I met a French woman, who had lived in Gabon for several years with her family. One day she came up to me -kind of upset- to ask me what I thought about a job offer her ​​husband had received: his company was offering him a work in Bogotá, the capital and largest city of Colombia.

The offer was very clear and, in my opinion, excellent. According to the offer, my French friend and her family could choose their residence place between a house and an apartment in Chico, Rosales, El Nogal or Cabrera, all great neighborhoods to live in Bogotá. They would be able to choose between the French School, the Anglo Colombian School, the Nueva Granada School and other high quality schools for their children. They would have a membership in the Guaymaral Club. Their health insurance would cover 100% of any medical treatment performed in Colombia. "It's a sensational offer," I said. And this can also be attested by anyone who has lived in Bogotá.

My French friend was wondering if it was going to be easy to get food in Colombia, if her children would need additional vaccines, if her family would find good quality accommodation, if doctors in Colombia were professional... anyway.

A few days passed and I met her again. She was looking calmer -to be honest, she looked quite happy- and she told me: "Thank God the transfer did not materialize." So she and her family would stay in Port-Gentil, Gabon.

Sadly, at the time I had no books, magazines or CD's with me, and there was no Internet to show her the "other" Colombia; the Colombia that does not appear in the news; the Colombia that she would have surely enjoyed if given the opportunity.

The story of Going2Colombia began. Since that day I felt the need of showing my country, promote the wealth that surrounds us and that is given to us every day by this beloved land, show everything that is not on the news, show the talent of its people -their warmth, their friendliness-, show the exuberance of its vegetation, the variety of its products and the beauty of its landscapes.

With this purpose in mind, seven years ago, surfing the Internet, I found SiteSell. It is a tool to create and manage websites, and I thought it would be a useful tool to achieve my goal. I surfed through its many pages and read about success cases of many people that, like me, had a passion. After several years of monitoring the sites of some SBIer's and corroborating how their sites grew and developed, I decided to be a SBIer myself with the firm passion to show my Colombia. The idea of creating Going2Colombia was born; our story, the story of Going2Colombia, finally could be told.

Today I have the help of Cristian Hernández, a young literature graduate currently pursuing a Masters in Creative Writing at the National University of Colombia. Together we developed this website. We are a passionate team dedicated to creating daily content and improve the website you are visiting right now. That's all I have to say about the story of Going2Colombia.

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