To be fully honest, I expected the graffiti tour to be a waste of time. We were all exhausted from the long flight and were anxious to get to bed. Fortunately, the graffiti tour was a huge surprise! I found myself completely invested in this two-hour tour. We explored the streets of Bogotá and got a good feel of the city we were staying in. The streets were packed with people staring at us and giving weird looks. We didn’t pay attention to this though, as the street art we were seeing was incredible.

We saw many gorgeous pieces of art painted on the deteriorating walls of Bogotá. One specific painting of a lion really struck me. This was the kind of art you would see in a museum. We saw a huge variety of street art, but the ones that really struck me were smaller, more political pieces. One artist drew many small, metaphorical images all over Bogotá. A soldier being used as a puppet and an assault rifle with a rose emerging from it were some of the many drawings that this artist brilliantly created. I was blown away by the entire tour. The things I learned and the art I witnessed really surprised me in nearly every way. I, as well as the rest of the group, could proudly say that we have a newfound appreciation for graffiti. Our trip to Columbia is already off to a spectacular start!

– Evan Luxenberg ’16