Getting the Driver's License

Today I went to renew my driver's license here in Bogotá.

Today I went to renew my driver's license here in Bogotá. I visited some medical centers where they conduct the aptitude test for the license. Everything was going smoothly until I went to one place and they told me there hadn't been internet since 7am. I said, "Well, is this Africa or what?" They had been without internet for five hours, and people were just sitting there wasting time. So I went to another branch immediately.

When I got to the other branch, two beautiful women attended to me, flirting a bit, which I liked. But this new branch was even worse. The good thing was that there were no people, but the optometry machines weren't working, so they had to do the visual exam manually.

Then I went for another test, which consisted of psychological questions and a motor skills test involving pressing buttons in some kind of game. I don't know how it is in other countries, but here, the license renewal tests have nothing to do with driving. Even worse, those machines weren't working either. I was pressing buttons, seeing some colors, but the test wasn't functioning, so the lady had to help me with it.

The "intelligence" questions were hilarious. They were very stupid questions like: "Do you get angry easily?" "Do you care about other people's opinions?" "Do you follow orders?" The questions were so stupid they made me angry, hahaha.

The last test was a general medical exam, and I spent most of it talking with the doctor. He told me that he almost wasn't allowed to enter the United States because there was a grumpy officer rejecting everyone.

The doctor had to explain that he was visiting a cousin who is a doctor in the US. The officer said doctors make good money, so why didn't he stay in the US. The doctor replied honestly: "The US is an incredible country, great for visiting Disney and all, but ideally, you should earn in dollars and spend in pesos. What's the point of making good money in the US if my cousin works from 4am to 10pm? He makes money but has no time to enjoy it. By the time he can, he'll be old with hypertension and arthritis. It's much better to live in your own country. Even if you're poor in Colombia, at least you're poor with family. In the US, you make money but have no family, no enjoyment, nothing. The good thing about the US is that clothes are cheaper than in Colombia and you get to visit, but family is in Colombia."

It was interesting that I went to get my driver's license and ended up with content for my substack. Here's the perspective of a Colombian with a US visa who is a doctor and probably doesn't earn much, maybe 5 or 6 million pesos a month (about $1,600).

He only visits the US to buy clothes and then comes back. He has family here and a cousin who makes a lot of money there, but still prefers Colombia. I leave you with this to ponder and verify if what he said is true.

The medical exams for the license cost me 215,000 pesos, and the license itself was 115,000 pesos. So, in total, renewing the driver's license in Colombia costs about $70.