Colombians Can Now Go to Work Drunk Or High as Long as It Doesn’t Affect Their Performance
A reinterpreted article in Colombia’s Labor Code was recently approved by the country’s Constitutional Court, thus allowing people to show up for work drunk or under the influence of narcotics as long as their productivity is not affected. As in most countries around the world, going to work under the influence of alcohol or narcotics […]
The Brutal Colombian Prison Where Inmates Carry Firearms but Guards Do Not
La Modelo prison in Botogá, Colombia, is notorious for the free reign that its 11,000 odd inmates enjoy. The prisoners completely run the show, with easy access to guns and grenades, while the prison guards do not carry any weapons inside the premises. The inmates frequently resort to violence in order to settle disputes between […]
Colombians Celebrate Iconic Jeeps by Loading Them with Everything They Can Get Their Hands On
The Yipao is a unique annual tradition in Colombia’s Coffee Triangle dedicated to the Willys Jeeps, the iconic American car the locals have been relying on since the 1940s. For the people of Quindío district, Jeeps have been a source of livelihood and a significant part of daily life since the 1940s. The unpaved roads of the […]
Woman Formerly Known as Ladyzunga Cyborg Changes Name to Abcdefg Hijklmn Opqrst Uvwxyz
A Colombian woman recently changed her name to include all 26 letters in alphabetical order. So her first name is Abcdefg Hijklmn and her last name is Opqrst Uvwxyz. We’re not sure what she’s having people call her, but it’s probably something short, like Abc. Before she turned to the alphabet, the 36-year-old Bogota resident used […]
The Village of Forgetfulness – Colombian Village Is Home to the World’s Largest Population of Alzheimer’s Sufferers
At the outset, the mountainous region of Antioquia in northwestern Colombia comes across as a breathtaking natural paradise. But its picturesque valleys and winding green hills hide a chilling secret – an unusually large number of young people here suffer from a hereditary form of Alzheimer’s. Several of Antioquia’s residents are at various stages of the […]
Real-Life ‘Catch Me If You Can’ – Colombian Man Impersonates Ambassador, Lives Like a King for Several Months
For several months, master impersonator and conman Jeison Neck Jair Garcia managed to fool Colombian authorities into believing that he was a diplomat from Lebanon. Originally from the city of Valledupar, in Colombia, Jeison posed as a fake Lebanese ambassador named Jason Abdulaziz Al Hakim Ali Nayb, using only a couple of fake IDs and […]
Colombia’s Flintstone House Is Made Entirely from Baked Clay
64-year-old architect Octavio Mendoza literally baked the house that he lives in. He calls the 5,400 square foot house ‘the biggest piece of pottery in the world’. Casa Terracotta, or Casa Barro in Spanish, was built exclusively by hand using clay and baked in the sun. Located in Villa de Leyva, a colonial mountain village […]
Mystery Surrounds Colombian Cemetery That Turns Buried Bodies into Mummies
The ancient Egyptians spent centuries developing their mummifying techniques, but at a cemetery in San Bernardo, a small Colombian town, corpses somehow become naturally mummified in their coffins. The phenomenon was first noticed 15 years ago, by grave digger Eduardo Cifuentes. “The burial pit was full of bodies,” he said. “I didn’t like stepping on […]
Colombian Company Specializes in Stylish Bulletproof Clothing
A Bogota-based company specializes in fashionable clothes that will protect wearers against gunshots and knife attacks. One such bulletproof jacket can withstand ammunition from a variety of weapons such as a 9mm, a .44 Magnum and a 3.75 revolver. The protective clothes – now sold in 18 countries, have been worn by the Vice President […]
Believers Rock Out at Colombia’s Heavy Metal Church
Some may find it blasphemous, but for the members of Pantokrator Church in Bogota, Colombia, Heavy Metal is a form of pure devotional worship. I know it’s pretty hard to associate screaming and head banging with the serene image of Jesus, but somehow, the 40-member-strong church is able to make the connection. I wouldn’t blame […]
Colombian City Inaugurates Giant Outdoor Escalator
The last time we spoke about the Colombian city of Medellin here on OC, it was about the tours based on the life of deceased drug-lord Pablo Escobar. Now the city is in the news again, for an entirely different reason. The residents of Medellin who have long been victims of war and urban violence […]
Drug Lord Pablo Escobar Becomes Colombian Tourist Attraction
When Pablo Escobar died in 1993, the people of Medellin, Colombia, sighed in relief. But little did they know that the world’s most notorious criminal at the time would become one of their country’s most popular tourist attractions. The legacy of Escobar lives on in Medellin, in a different and slightly unusual manner. The man […]
Colombian Chef Creates Edible Wedding Dresses
Juan Manuel Barrientos, a talented young chef from Colombia, has created two fully edible wedding gowns and showcased them during the Colombiatex fashion show in Medellin. Barrieto admits he didn’t know much about fashion, let alone edible fashion, until someone asked him about clothes that you could eat. He started doing some research on the […]
Cano Cristales – The Rainbow River
Known as ‘The River of Five Colors” or “The Rainbow River”, Cano Cristales is one of the most amazing rivers of our world. For the most part of a year, Cano Cristales river, in Colombia, is just an ordinary as any other flowing waters you might have seen. But for a brief period of time, […]
La Tomatina – Biggest Food Fight in Colombia
What started as La Tomatina of Bunol, Spain, is now also a popular celebration in Sutamarchan, Colombia and even Dongguan, China. On June 14, locals of Sutamarchan and many tourists gathered on an old football field to stage Colombia’s biggest food fight of the year. Around 15 tons of tomatoes were sacrificed in La Tomatina […]