Bogotá´s Wild Magic
Bogotá, our cleanest and most organized Colombian city, is such a special place! If you look closely, you’ll discover that magic is all around it. You don’t believe me, do you? Right now, you must be thinking: “Are we talking about the same city? This is a quite understandable though, but please come and see the enchantments of this no- man’s land and let it surprise you with its “wild magic”.
Have you noticed that in Bogotá belongings seem to vanish in the air? Well, in fact it is a weird and complex magic trick: It consists in threatening the spectators with any kind of knife (more known as “chuzo”, by the professionals in this art). This will lead to a severe nervousness and fear in the spectator, who will give all his/her belongings to the magician. In the blink of an eye, “voilá”: your just retired money from the bank, your ID, your laptop or smartphone have disappeared and curiously, different from other performances, they won’t return to you, not now nor ever. Sometimes a Bogotano’s valuable things can teleport to the black market, where another citizen can buy different fresh stolen things. Still doubting magic’s presence? Believe it, you can`t even see such a spectacle in Las Vegas!
One of the mysteries of mankind: How can we fix the “Transmilenio”? The answer is still unknown. It is said that this public transportation method is the very finest “transporte- del- milenio”, but the vehicles, cabins and absurd crowds are definitely anachronous to this era. Colombian people, who have to deal with inflation, an elevated unemployment rate, and an annual salary growth of the 5.9%, are also supposed to use a very unsafe, (in these vehicles, thieves and depraved men are permanently found) and overcrowded transport that has just increased its ticket’s value. If that is not magic, then honestly, I don’t know what is! It is ironic how Transmilenio’s creator, Mayor Enrique Peñalosa,
couldn’t solve this problem and (incredibly) his amazing strategy for ending with the “colados” was to increase its ticket to 2,500 Colombian pesos. And now, who will protect us, citizens?... Well, it’s been almost ten years since the urban legend of an ultimate transportation that will end at last worries of Bogotanos and help balance the massive passengers flow began to circulate around. It is told that this vehicle will move in the capital’s skies and its name is The Metro (or subway). But remember, this is just a legend and even though it has been said that the metro is in “manufacturing process”, I believe that the material in which it is supposed to be built is the exact same one as the one used in Harry Potter’s invisible cloak (just as the money that was destined for making the subway come true, and that right now is lost).
Now, do you still deny the existence of magic? Sometimes, we only see that kind of magic that makes possessions disappear and we can’t see that we, Colombian people, are full of an extraordinary witchcraft, that hasn’t let us down even when our situation isn’t the best. Maybe Bogotá isn’t clean or organized or safe, but it is our country’s capital and we, Bogota’s citizens, should take care of it the most. We should not let this evil “wild magic” run free in the streets of our city, not because of the image visitors and foreign tourists may have of it, but for us because we deserve a better place for living. It isn’t in our hands to decide whether or not the Transmilenio ticket will continue to increase, but it is our decision to quit avoiding the payment of it, or leaving our streets full of dirt and vandalism. We should make this no- man’s land ours once and for all and start taking responsibility in our big, crazy city.
By: Maria Alejandra Prada 10B