Colombia is a South American country where everyone speaks Spanish, and my entire family are Colombians, though a few are born in the UK, like me.

Yes, I'm a Latino who's born in the UK and no, I'm pretty shit in speaking Spanish, though I do know how to read Spanish, so there's that.

Colombia is a pretty hot country, but it does rain sometimes, and sadly, never snows (I know cuz my parents told me Colombia never have a snow weather... which is sad cuz I love snow).

If you hoping to see one person who speaks fluent English... Ha ha ha!!! Sorry, but tough luck. I been there a few times and I never met anyone outside of a few of my family who speaks good English. So... it's better to train yourself speaking, reading and listening to Spanish before planning a holiday to Colombia, even just the basics is enough.

There are some things you should know about us Colombians. Of course, not everyone is the same, but it's just the majority.

1. We are very polite people. Yes, there are some rude ones, but the majority is that we're normally polite. We're pretty polite by nature and hearing 'please', 'thank you' and 'you welcome'. While I'm mostly polite, I do have my rude moments there and then sometimes 😅 But hey! Isn't everyone like that.

2. The majority are massive coffee lovers. The most noticeable example is a tinto, a black coffee, with or without sugar, where it's served every hour or so. Trust me, a lot of my family loves coffee, but I'm more of a tea person.

3. Literally, every Colombian I know, including my family, are football fanatics, or what you Americans say, soccer fanatics.

4. We are people centred. As in, they will be late to an appointment if it means finishing an important conversation, because the person they are currently with is more important than an appointment regulated by time. In fact, Colombians are so people centered that time almost always takes the back seat. Though, I always the type of person who always want to be on time for appointments and I'm not a big fan of being late, so to me personally, time is much more important then some chit-chat. So, if you have a Colombian friend and they're talking to someone WAY too long as you guys are getting late to an appointment, trust me! This is perfectly normal and my entire family have that nasty habit as well... thankfully not me... I think... Yep! Thank you social awkwardness! 😂

5. Colombians are VERY proud to be Colombian. You'll find many Colombians wearing bracelets, earrings, and other pieces of jewelry as well as carrying keychains, bags, and wallets with nationals emblems and colors on them daily. You'll also hear the national anthem played everyday at 6pm, no matter where you are in the country.

6. Now, this may seem a bit ironic considering I just described Colombians as nationalistic, but Colombians are both—nationalistic and regionalistic. While Colombians love their homeland, they also love the specific regions of Colombia they hail from—the regional foods, traditions, dress, sayings, accents, and manners.

7. Just like coffee and soccer, Colombians also love their families. Most Saturdays and Sundays are devoted to family time and most Colombian families are tight knit with as many as 3 or 4 generations living under the same roof. My family is living proof of that, as my grandparents lived with most of my cousins, uncles and aunts. So, it's pretty common to see families stayed together.

8. Colombians are very clean. Colombians might be the most shower/bath oriented people I've ever come across. A daily bath is important here, as it is in most places, but many Colombians bathe multiple times in the day. And, in some regions if you don't bathe multiple times in the day you're considered dirty! So, if a Colombian gets really annoyed of how smelly you are... don't be offended and just tell them "thanks for pointing it out" politely and quickly go to shower/bath. My perfect example would be my mum, who gets really annoyed when I don't clean my room and stuff, to the point I might think she's OCD... I think... not 100% sure, but now... I realised it's just part of the culture.

9. Colombians are a very creative group of people—creative and resourceful. Even when there are supposedly no jobs, for instance, Colombians create new jobs. You're sure to come across some of the most oddball, out of the norm jobs during your time in Colombia. And, the amazing thing is, most of these crazy jobs are created based on some sort of unique demand that's been seen, and they turn out to be at least somewhat successful. Heck! I'm pretty creative if I do say so myself 😏😁

Though, just because it has beautiful sightings and such, doesn't mean it's not dangerous. Far from it. It's worse during the night, so it's safer if you have someone with you or better, a small group. Not only that, but do NOT joke about drugs, it's very offensive to us, common Colombians and we would prefer you would take it as a serious problem, not as a joke.

It's also best not to take out your phone in public, especially in big cities and only take out if you're in a friend's or family member's home or while the car/bus is moving. Never when the car or bus is stopped. Also, make sure you double check on the stuff you're buying as there's always a chance it's fake as well as fake taxis are also need to be warned as well.

So, be careful in Colombia as thieves and drug dealers are common place. Just, always bring a trusted family member or friend with you, especially if they're Colombian and raised there as they know what to do.

We're also get very offensive when someone insulted our country (then again, who wouldn't be offended), so be careful of what you say.

There are other things you should NOT do.

1. Spelling Colombia wrong. There's a difference between "Colombia" and "Columbia." My family did not live inside of a brand-name sports jacket, my familia lived in South America. It is an insult to all Colombians to have a ʻuʼ instead of an ʻo.ʼ I heard a Colombian sent an angry letter to a French consulate asking that their website link to "Columbia" be changed. While they did change it, I fear they'll never know the grief and insult the mistake caused.

Every Colombian can tell you a story about the ʻauthenticʼ menu item or ʻculturalʼ event missing an ʻo.'

2. Asking for cocaine. While, Yes, there's a huge amount of cocaine produced in Colombia. But the majority is sold and consumed outside of Colombia. Every Colombian has had someone ask if they carry any powder on them, though in my six months there, I never actually saw the stuff.

3. Be in a rush. Colombians see being in a rush as an attitude. Yes, go to meetings; yes, schedule things; yes, life moves fast. Great. But don't act like you always have somewhere else to be. Colombians take their time. Daily life moves slow, and for Americans this can often feel like a waste of time. But Colombians wonʼt be rushed — they believe in quality, and time is not an issue. A rushed attitude is insulting to those around you. Are you suggesting the people with you are less valuable than the people you're meeting?

You always have time to stop and say hi — itʼs much ruder to walk past someone hurriedly without a simple greeting than it is to arrive late. Which, honestly, to me, people I'm supposed to meet is much more important then someone I'm talking to, but I tried my best to be patient, even if I'm screaming on the inside and just want to go or else I'm late.

4. Say you love tacos and that you have a sombrero at home. People love to generalize about Spanish-speaking countries. While Iʼve never heard anyone say New Zealand, Ireland, and Canada share the same culture, I have literally heard people say "Mexico, Colombia, and Spain" are basically the "same."

Colombians are proud of their culture, and it's degrading to assign them someone else's.

5. Saying "no." Colombians are taught to deal with doing things they donʼt want to do. When I refused to dance with someone at a cultural event, my horrified friend simply said, "You don't say no!" For Colombians, itʼs not worth hurting someoneʼs feelings just because you donʼt feel like doing something. They're trained, from birth, to be a good sport in undesired circumstances.

Donʼt agree to big things like marriage or home buying unless you want to, but for harmless things, Colombians play along. The only time I ever heard Colombians say "no" was when I asked if an event or occurrence would take long (it almost always did anyway). Though, I always say no cuz I don't want to, don't be surprised when they tried to pressure you or get offended. Also, if you really don't want to do it, just do it in a very polite manner as much as possible.

6. Start a conversation about Pablo Escobar. Many Colombians do not want to be associated with someone considered a disgrace to their country. Talking about him is tricky. For foreigners, you donʼt want to ignore the harm the drug lord caused, but you also donʼt want to bring it up. You need a zen balance of knowing about him, but not mentioning him. The pain Escobar caused Colombia, the violence he set off, and the innocent people who were very directly affected are all tragic — and recent — memories.

Casually mentioning that you was near Escobarʼs unmarked vacation home earned me a world-class lecture on how he's not a tourist attraction, he is an hijo de puta (Son of a bitch) and no one should ever pay tribute to him, ever. Also, donʼt ever say you "understand." You may have read about it. You may have seen images. You may even remember news about it. But unless you were there, constantly afraid to both leave and stay inside of your home, you donʼt "understand."

7. Be exclusive with friends. For many cultures, with parties or events, you invite who you want to be there and only those people arrive. For Colombians, you must not only invite the people you want, but also plan for them to bring the people they want. There will always be that friend with the obnoxious girlfriend or that girl that travels with a small swarm of people you donʼt like. Tough. Colombians are not exclusive, so if you invite them, you're by default inviting the people they want to be around.

Colombians also tend to invite themselves, or friends, to your plans. In this culture that values community, itʼs rude to be exclusive. Inclusiveness is a trademark of Colombians, and to exclude someone is one of the biggest insults. It simply doesnʼt occur to them that maybe you wanted to travel alone or go run by yourself.

8. Talk / ask about Colombia as if it were a third-world country.Itʼs not. It is a recently developed country, sometimes known as a developing economy. Bogota is one of the most important capitals in South America, and Colombia has both cell phones and refrigerators. Are there areas that arenʼt "developed?" Yes. But, donʼt assume that because an area isn't what you may consider "advanced" it's not important.

Colombia has a huge amount of biodiversity, and much of it is protected. It's intentional that trees still exist and animals live in their natural habitats. What you may call "developed" may, by others, be called "harmful" or "ruined." You might live on a beach and sleep in a hammock or you might live in a modern apartment, all within Colombia. So donʼt ask if people ride donkeys to work or use coffee beans as currency. Trust me, a girl in my Geography class, when we're learning about developed and developing countries. That girl asked if I'm Colombian, which I said yes, then guess that puta (Bitch) said! She said "Ahh... that's bad..." I just want to give her a huge bitch slap for that! Nobody insults my family and country like that! But, I don't want to get in trouble in class, so all I did is glare at her and continue my business.

9. Say you donʼt dance. Colombians are not afraid to move and express themselves. If you say you donʼt dance, be warned: You have just given every Colombian in the room the challenge to prove that you do, indeed, dance. "Como asi que no bailas! Venga!" (Like, so you don't dance! While to outsiders it can be intimidating to see a room full of suave movements, Colombians simply see that everyone else is dancing and know you'll draw more attention by standing still.

If you really, truly donʼt dance, you have options. You can spend a large portion of time in the bathroom, refill your glass (though if itʼs with Aguardiente, I promise you will dance eventually), and pretend to run after spotted celebrities: Omg! Was that Juanes? GO! Or, somehow find alternative Colombian gatherings that donʼt have dancing, like business meetings and marathon running. I get this a shit ton in my time in Colombia, so I quickly run off to a small room as I loath dancing.

10. Refuse to help. Colombians will do amazing favors for you. They will make calls and search connections and look at every possible solution to help you with something that has absolutely no benefit for them. When locked out of my apartment one day, a friend of my roommate offered to have a friend drive to his place, get the extra key, and bring it across town to my apartment. I'd be embarrassed to ask even my closest American friends for favors like this, let alone to ask other people for favors on my behalf!

Colombians, though, will volunteer themselves and others without hesitation. They donʼt expect compensation — to them this is normal. But they do expect you to help them when they need it. So they will selflessly help you move — but they might also ask if visiting relatives can stay at your new roomy apartment. I'll admit, I love helping people cuz it makes me feel useful and proud of myself, so when I'm unable to help someone, I feel guilty and ashamed of myself.

11. Colombians hold their names sacred. They understand if you mispronounce it, that not all languages are gifted with rolling tongues, but at least try and don't use the translated version.

Don't call Andres "Andrew," Antonio "Anthony," or Alejandra "Alexandra." Don't even use the mispronounced version, like an English "Laura" for Spanish Laura, or English "Felipe" for Spanish Felipe.

Those are just some examples what you SHOULDN'T do. I hope this helps give a pretty understanding in Colombia. Yes, I know it's a lot to take in, but trust me on this, and yes, I did copy this from two websites, but it's because I'm not good with my words and don't go out a lot. So yea...