As I was walking around the city yesterday, it is interesting to notice all the security techniques in this country, or at least this city. Most apartments, at least in the North part of Bogota that I am familiar with have doormen. These guys just sit at a desk and let people in and out of the door and occasionally open up the garages and parkades. They are usually nice enough guys, likely from the lower-middle class. There are many jobs like this in Colombia, very monotonous in comparison to what I, as an American, deem "good" work.
One thing I admire about Andrea is her kindness to the lower and middle class workers. One night we had extra spaghetti from a meal and she came up with the idea of giving some to Wilber, the doorman, who was surprised and flattered at the offer. One time in the past, Karma caught up with Andrea when she was living in a Bogota apartment. Some things were stolen from different apartments in her complex and her apartment was untouched. When she got some stuff stolen from her passenger seat when she was driving, the front desk ladies (also lower-middle class) were all to happy to help her and take care of her right after the incident. Andrea's treatment of the worker class is quite different from people who ignore them and sometimes humiliate them. I have heard stories of people who shop at different grocery stores for their maids and make them wear silly outfits. Classism is often more apparent here than in the states.
A common security measure here are the numerous different types of barbed wire around gates and buildings. Concertina coiled razor wire is probably the most popular type on fences. Some fences even go as far as electric. They all look particularly foreboding and painful to me. It is my first experience with real security measures. The closest my home town can come are the "rent-a-cops" who drive Rav4s around the parking lots of malls and grocery stores.
The barbed wire that I remember most had to be that around the Spanish embassy. A stylishly foreboding fence circled the compound on the busy thoroughfare. On the bottom of the fence were elegant little spikes. The middle had ornate little metal swirls, also with spikes. The top was embellished with a row of metal leaves pointing inside and outside the gate. The metalsmith had put specific minute detail into each of those razor leaves.
Even though I really enjoy Bogota, it's hard sometimes to get used to the security here. The Spanish embassy left an odd impression with me. Some kind of odd allegory like do what you can with what you have and where you are: making art and beauty out of the cold hard reality that you need protection.