I Asked Colombians Why They're So Rude! (Bogota)

I've been living in Colombia for over a year and my many Colombian friends have always told me the same thing.

Never go to Bogota! The city sucks and the people are extremely cold and unwelcoming!

Well, yes it's cold - but the city has 7.5 million people and is a vibrant hub of arts, food and culture - so I knew that it had more to offer.

So I went back with the goal of speaking to Bogota locals, or "Rolos" as they're known, to find out if this stereotype was in fact true or if it was as most stereotypes are... just a sweeping generalisation.

By the end of this experience, I satisfied my original goal of finding out the reason why many Colombians from outside Bogota have this type of perception of "Rolos", but I also learned many other insightful lessons along the way, mainly about another group of people who are also very much misunderstood within South America...

G'day, my name's AK and on this channel I explore expat life in Medellin, Colombia. Whether you're considering moving to Medellin or just visiting Colombia, I've got you covered. Join me as I show you exactly what living in Medellin and Colombia as an expat is really like.

#bogota #colombia #rolos #southamerica #vlog

[AKJoel]

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[michaelmcgill-ntku]

I liked your video, but I’m surprised that you found them rude at all! I have been to Bogotá many times and I’m a gringo who also speaks Spanish. My wife is from Tunja and Bogotá. Yes, I have family there and they are usually with me. I have found very, very few Rolos who were even cold at all. Most of them talk with me and most seem to have a genuine interest. I think Bogotá is friendlier than any city in northeastern USA. Crime in Bogotá is mostly petty theft on the street. I have never witnessed any major crime there. I know it happens. I can’t imagine spending 6 weeks in any American city and not seeing a major crime. I’ve been there at least a month about 12 times.The street people will steal your cell phone or wallet, but other people will go out of their ways to help you in any way.

[calistojupiter]

El Bogotano te da la amistad en el primer encuentro si tu le ofreces confianza de hecho lo lograste ahí con estos chicos sin conocerlos.

[johnsmith-fkfw]

you are not as big as other travel youtubers but i think you have a much better style, many just talk about themselves most of the time or physical objects/sites but you interact with the people which is much more interesting, and get their stories. very cool man subbed

[zorrildo]

I am from the north coast, exactly from Cartagena, I've been living in Bogota for a couple of years now, and I love this city. Many people, including me few years ago before moving, say that the rolo or cachaco (that's how people from Bogotá are called) is generally a bad person, but over time I learned that it is not so, or at least not just because.

It is normal in cities so big and so populated with cold climates to see this kind of behavior, besides, the insecurity of the city itself makes everyone to be on the alert and defensive at all times.

Although Bogotanos are not as open and cheerful as people from the coast, once you get to know them they are warm and very nice people... As everywhere else, not everyone is good or bad, but they are known for their parsimony and closed-mindedness.
In general, Bogota like many big cities in the world, will be a beautiful or horrible city depending on where and with whom you go out.

[richardahearne]

Was in Bogota in August. Loved the place The gold museum is amazing went there twice

[Bogotaeverything]

In my experience, Rolos are very wary of strangers and they can be more stressed and aggressive than people from other cities, but once they warm up to you and you gain their trust, they are usually good friends. It is not the same with people from other regions like paisas and costenos, who are more open to making quick friends and nicer, but some of them can take advantage and do things like ask you to loan them money even after you have just met them, show up to your place unannounced, invite more people to a place you invited them and expect you to pay the bill or even expect something romantic to happen when you are not interested. Rolos will set and respect boundaries when other people will not but they will not respect yours either.

[richexperiences]

Interesting video. I definitely agree that the city and the people of Bogotá are very underrated and misunderstood. I've been to Bogotá several times and can definitely say there's something for everyone in Bogotá.

I've met some cool and friendly people in there. They're not all the same. Maybe they're not walking smiley, smiley and not as trusting and more about the business, but don't mistake that for being "rude or mean". I also find many of them to be more intellectual and real, and not just "fake nice" i.e. nice to just sell you something or get something out of you so to speak. Also, make no mistake, many of them know how to let loose and have fun too when the time comes.

P.S. I don't agree that when someone's staring at you, don't be confrontational and you'll be just fine. In a perfect world that may be true. But make no mistake, Bogotá is a HUGE fast-moving city and there's good and bad people everywhere. And unfortunately, with so many people watching, you can be labeled as a mark and get ganked! So be careful.

[therehastobesomethingmoore]

We went to Bogota many years ago and loved it. We love cooler weather. We are looking for our favorite retirement city and leaning towards Manizales…less expensive, safer…but Bogota is still on our list.

[LouieManza]

Excellent content buddy. Intelligent and interesting.
Look, my wife is Venezuelan and I was born in Colombia. My family's from Medellin and Cali.
All my life I heard how rude and cocky los Rolos are.
I visited Bogotá years ago and loved it! Enjoyed the night life and made a lot of friends.
Bogotá is really made up of all parts of the country. During the country's civil war, Colombianos from all corners flocked to Bogotá to escape the violence. Since the conflict was mostly fought in the jungles, mountains and small hamlets, the refugee's were for the most part campesinos from very humble origins. Countless of shanty towns were created.
Colombia has a bad history of great inequality. It's true. The young people are fighting hard to change that. Not easy.
I hope this helps you to understand the bitterness between Bogotanos and the rest of the country. Throw in los Paisas and everyone else and there you have it. Bogotanos feel invaded. 😅
As far as the Venezuelan issue goes, well, as much as I hate to admit it, crime has shot up exponentially. Especially violent crime. The avg Colombian thug doesn't use guns to rob people. Mostly knives. Terrible but Venezuelan crooks all have guns and they use them frequently. Hugo Chávez armed a civilian militia called "Colectivos" to keep the opposition in check. As the country spiraled into economic chaos, these people turned to crime as a way to make money. Colombia inherited a great number of them. Initially, I was happy when the migration began. Too bad they're giving honest working Venezolanos a bad name.
It's a very complicated issue.
Cheers!

[jaylen]

I prefer Bogota to Medellin. Better restaurants, more to do, less creepy gringos, and so many more options.

[MrRJS]

Of course people in Bogotá are colder and less welcoming than elsewhere in Colombia! They live in a megacity, not a small town or a collection of neighborhoods disguised as a city. That's how people are in all megacities. While they might be less welcoming, it hasn't stopped millions of people from coming from elsewhere in Colombia so clearly the city as a whole has been welcoming even if individual bogotanos aren't rolling out the red carpet.

[davidrobinson]

Excellent job with the videos. These have helped my spanish so much in learning real application. Thanks for sub titling it all. Much appreciated.

[miguelramirez]

They are working in Bogotá, they live in Bogotá, but they are unhappy with the people from Bogotá, it seems to me that they have a conflict!
And obviously they can choose another place or country where they can be happy and really learn to love the people where they choose to live!!!

[elramoty]

We call ourselves Bogotanos, Rolos is how they call us outside of the capital. We're not cold, its just that we find it a little bit suspicious if someone immediately greets us unless we're in our neighorhoods, it's like, dude do I know you?? perhaps you should have gone to a typical neighborhood where everyone knows eachother, but you went to a busy place. We Bogotanos tend to associate Medellin with (hookers, drugs, webcam models, plastic surgery, and gringos looking for trouble) almost like the "Miami" or "Bangkok" of Colombia, a bit tacky. In other regions of Colombia, like for example Boyaca and Santander Bogotanos are not disliked because they, as well tend to be a bit "colder" and more direct. A paisa can open a mom and pop shop in Bogota and nobody will target him, we have people from all over the country, but Paisas (as they are very proud of their region) would make it hard for any rolo to be able to make it in Medellin, ( For the most part in Medellin there are only Paisas, here in Bogota we hear accents from all over the country). I have heard stories about Rolo owned businesses closing in Medellin just because the owner is rolo, people picking that up, and deciding not to go buy from the shop just because the owner has a Bogota accent, so if you're getting all the info about Bogota from Paisas, is like getting information about London from Scottish people, off course they will tell you "nice" things about london. I can understand why Americans like Medellin's weather, but for people living in the tropics Bogota actually is a way out of the muggy weather the rest of the country has, a more temperate and cold weather, anyway Bogota is less than an hour drive from many resort towns down the mountains that have temperatures and weather just like the one Medellin has, so many Bogotanos just get in their car and spend their weekends in those resort towns, so they get the benefit of both. Also worth to mention, in Medellin minorities like LGBTQ people, and the like tend to have a really hard time, they get beaten up and killed all the time, in Bogota there is an entire neighborhood known for this type of diversity, so huge difference, Medellin tends to be old class macho culture and Bogota is more liberal, to the point that nobody will dare attack a transgender person. Bogota's mayor is a lesbian. Medellin also tends to be more racist towards people from Choco, our Colombian region that's mostly populated by people of african descent, something that is not really an issue in the rest of the country.

Regarding Venezuelans, that self entitled mentality of that person you interviewed describes exactly how we think Venezuelans are, we let them in in our country, but at the same time they think they deserve a red carpet, when evening newscast are full of Venezuelans commiting henious crimes every day (like throwing someone out of a bridge to his death for no reason) In Australia you have a vetting process based on points so you get to choose what kind of migrants you have, anyway nobody can enter Australia as it is surrounded by water. In Venezuela for the most part the police doesn't work, so they come here thinking is the same, with lots of new ways to commit crimes, so generally people are weary of them. Venezuelans are land-locked by jungle, and the only way out of their country is to pass through Colombia legal or illegally on their way to the USA, Chile, Argentina, Spain, etc.. they tend to come here and do whatever they want as anyway Colombia is just a stop in their journey to other places. By the way, the "issue" with Venezuelans happens in all Latin America, to the point that Colombia is the only country that allows them to come and work, the rest of the countries ask them visas, and Chile even expells them, so that guy doesn't know what his talking about, we even allow them into our public schools, yet they complain and complain, the treatment they get in the rest of Latin America is worst, a few months ago Mexico decided to ask them for visa permits also, here in Colombia, we let them in, yet they still complain and call us xenophobic, I wonder what that guy would say if he was working in Santiago de Chile, Lima, Mexico City, or Buenos Aires, or even Melbourne which is an entirely different culture, he would certainly still complain the locals in whatever place he happens to be are xenophobic, we share a border and we share a language, imagine if he was in a totally different place like France, he would certainly find Bogotanos to be the best compared to snobby parisians.

[IvanDSaboya]

people from Medellin usually talk trash about Bogotá. Is part of their local culture to speak well just about themselves and bad about Bogotá, but when Medellin people come to Bogotá to have a life here they usually lose that self centered mentality and they realize Bogotá is the whole Colombia in a city.

[stephensedgmen]

Hey mate, compare Bogota people to Melbourne people, who do you think are the coldest people?
The few people I know from Bogata are fair dinkum no bull shit people, just like country / rural people of Australia.
The few Bogata people I know I love them like family.🇨🇴♥️

[mauriciohernandez]

Es mejor Bogotá que Medellín Toda una vida por eso es que en Bogotá hay tantos paisas se vienen con familia y todo porque acá hay mucha plata y viven muy bien

[nomada]

Always welcome to Bogota, I am from Bogota and don't believe what you say, we are kind, loving, hospitable and we want our city to grow and be a good place to live and to visit us, it's just that many Colombians from other cities come to look for an opportunity in Bogota But they don't want Bogota, they just want to work, so many of those people who are not from Bogota do not take ownership of the city and they are the cold ones, but not the Bogota residents, because Bogota wants it to be more united and people take ownership, take care of their space, no. Vote rubbish, unlike Medellin, where the majority are from the same city, they are more nationalistic, in Bogota we are more open to receiving whoever arrives, but those who arrive do not always contribute to that union, regardless of that, we accept them and we want greetings, come to Bogota, no. they will regret it...

[gringoestiv]

This account needs more subscribers. I'm going to try and comment more often. Great content, obviously hard work is going into this. Plus I like your view on safety. As a super gringo, so white that I am blinding to passersby (LOL), I'm aware I can be a target and nothing can guarantee nothing will happen. But being aware of your surroundings is important. I live near Washington DC. My safety tips to people visiting there are the same you suggest for Medellín and Bogotá. Nice video, keep up the great work!