Why do you want to live in a third world country, Larry???

Wiki has twelve or so definitions of this term none of which includes Colombia except" newly developing".  And I think we would agree that being newly developing is a good thing for a nation.

We start with a nation that wins recognition and awards on the international stage for its infrastructure and not one that needs repair of thousands of bridges, transportation systems, and roadways.  We have in Colombia a nation with fresh clean water from the Andes, delicious to drink and pure.  Clean air. We have a people conscious of their natural resources many of which still have a very good chance of being preserved and restored from the sea to the Andes to the Amazon.

Sra Fe Mall retractable roof

Taking a break in Sta Fe Mall

 We have a city like Medellin with five major universities, twenty-seven high schools for music and  art all linked in a performance and educational nerwork, hundreds of public and private English language schools, fifteen new modern shopping malls, and almost free Metro and taxis.  

In Colombia the indigenous cultures escaped genocide and have become an important, integrated, and honored part of the nation's future.  It's important to note that one of the main reasons for the revolt against Spain was to save the Indigenos from further oppression and slavery by Spain.

We have a nation with a carefully growing economy, embracing the best of social planning in health care and education,  and an upwardly mobile poor and middle class, not like some places which are supposedly in the first world.  Forty percent of the lower class moved to middle class in the last ten years.  Violent crime is down 40 percent.   Gun ownership is at 5.8 per one hundred persons, while in the US it is at 89 per 100 persons. The entrepreneurial middle and upper classes are everywhere to be seen and everybody works and works hard.

Since such measures have been made, Colombia is always near the top of the list of "most happy countries" along with the Scandinavian nations and western Europe from the first world.

The above semi=rant is in reaction to several friends who have asked why I choose to live in a third world country.

Love, Larry in Beautiful Laureles, Medellin