During my first or second week in Bogotá, I interviewed two young lawyers who each worked for senators, and they asked me to meet them in the congress building. Before the interview they were able to give me a tour of congress – something I was lucky to be able to do, because the congress was in recess. From murals to stained glass to gorgeous architecture, walking through the various rooms was a breathtaking experience, and it was a privilege to get feel like I was getting an inside view of the country's political institutions. I only took a few photos, which I am including below.
The last photo is of the voting room for the house of representatives
When showing these photos to my host dad later that evening, he commented that the mural in the last photo was by Alejandro Obregón, a famous Colombian artist. It's called Las tres cordilleras [The three mountain ranges]. It turns out my host family is related to this artist, which made me more interested to look into his work. I'm including below some of the pieces I liked the most of those I found online – both pulled from google images:
Pieces by Alejandro Obregón
Congress is next to Plaza Simón Bolívar, an expansive space surrounded by colonial architecture and the country's most major political institutions: not only congress, but also the constitutional court (which has been very relevant to my thesis for its role defending the human rights of immigrants). Here are some photos I took at the plaza:
I showed this last photo to my host dad and asked what the fruits were. He wasn't sure about the red one, but he said that the green one was mamonsillo. He bought me some the next day and showed me how to eat them – they are similar to lychee, and they stain very easily! I had to rush my shirt to the bathroom sink, and even then the stain remains to this day.
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