One Family's Journey: El Dorado Airport

By Notorious MLE -
El Dorado Airport can be crazy. CRAZY I tell you. You need to go three hours before you flight. It doesn't always take three hours but many, many times I've gone three hours before my flight and barely made it to the gate on time. This is especially true if you are going on an early morning flight. Here's what you can expect when you leave the country.

1) Bring with you a copy of the Sentencia and the birth certificate. Our facilitator made us a little airport packet. Immigration will ask to look at this, sometimes they keep it! (Yet another reason to get lots of notarized copies of everything). It is their right to do that.

2) There are some weird airport exit taxes in Colombia, sometimes they are included in your ticket, sometimes not. I don't understand the rules and never have, but regardless the airport personnel will help you figure it out. They usually send you to get your passport stamped at this special "Impuestos" window and then sometimes you don't have to pay. This is a good thing!

3) Because of the drug trade security is sometimes REALLY tight at El Dorado. I mean drug-sniffing guns, take everything single thing out of your tightly packed suitcase -- by hand. The last few times we went it hasn't been too strict. The first time I went everything in my suitcase was touched by at least two people.

4) When you get in line you will be interviewed by somebody before you get your boarding pass. They will ask you where you've been etc. This is standard procedure for everyone leaving the country.

5) Once you get your boarding pass you can proceed to the International gates. Here you will pass through a security screen and then customs. And then another security screen. If you have a little time to kill there are lots of cafes and even a Crepes and Waffles on the second floor of El Dorado. We took the time to visit with our friends and hosts Andres and Maritza at Juan Valdez before our tearful goodbye.

6) There will be one last security screen to enter the waiting room for your flight and then you are on your way. Good job CAMPEONES!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Muisca Indigenous Names, from Hunza (Tunja)

By -
In response to this week’s posts on names, I have received several e-mails asking about the names of famous Colombians and their stories and about Indigenous names. I plan to spend the next three days sharing some of them. Also, I will continue to post more in the future and you will be able to find them all by clicking on the NAMES link the LABELS section to the right of the blog. Name: AQUIMÍN ( pronounced: ah key MEAN) or AQUIMINZAQUE (pronounced: ah key mean ZAH kay) When the Spanish arrived on the plains of Bogotá, 1536, they found a great nation. In fact, it was the third largest group of indigenous inhabitants in America. They called themselves the Muiscas , which meant ‘the people’. Their language was called Chibcha . The Muiscas were not a united group, but rather a collection of city states. The majority of the power was held by two main cities – what today are called Bogotá and Tunja (in Boyacá). These two cities were mortal enemies and each enlisted the loy
Read more

Popular Colombian Names

By -
Recently, I was asked to write a post on Colombian names, and popular Colombian names. I had a hard time finding a list, but eventually I did find one. According to I.N.E. - Instituto Nacional de Estadística, -- unfortunately, when I found this it doesn't say the year -- the most common Colombian boys names across all ages are: 1 JUAN CARLOS 2 CARLOS ALBERTO 3 ALEXANDER 4 ANDRES FELIPE 5 LUIS FERNANDO 6 DIEGO FERNANDO 7 JHON JAIRO 8 CARLOS ANDRES 9 ALEJANDRO 10 JUAN DAVID The girls are: 1 SANDRA MILENA 2 LUZ MARINA 3 CAROLINA 4 PAULA ANDREA 5 CLAUDIA PATRICIA 6 MARIA EUGENIA 7 PAOLA ANDREA 8 DANIELA 9 LILIANA 10 MARTHA CECILIA Just as here, names go through ebb and flow. Fourteen years ago when we were married, I attended several baby baptisms and met numerous friends of my husband. At the time, it seemed like everyone was naming their kid Juan CAMILO (boy) or Maria CAMILA (girl). I met dozens of them. Then, about 7 years later, I heard tons of SANTIAGO, JULIAN, SEBASTIAN and FE
Read more

La Madremonte

By -
Image
The myth of the Madremonte (Mother Mountain), and I do say myth though many campesinos in Colombia believe in her today, has it's roots in the indigenous cultures of Colombia and is known throughout much of Colombia including Antioquia, Caldas, Arauca, Caqueta, Amazonas, Guainia, and perhaps more departments. The Madremonte looks like a large woman. She has large, bony hands, large teeth and Betty Davis Eyes -- which on closer examination glow. Her body is covered in leaves and moss. Her hair is a tangled mess of plants and moss which often covers her face. She lives in the mountains and jungles, (in Antioquia and Caldas she lives in swamps where streams are born. People who claim to have seen her, usually report to have done so near thickets and bushes in jungle like areas. Others report having heard her bloodcurdling screams and groans on stormy nights. She rules the winds, the rains, and all the vegetation, and her role is to protect nature. She punishes those who invad
Read more