Well that was exciting. I was walking home along Carrera 11 minding my own business this afternoon, when I suddenly noticed several people taking photos with their mobile phones. I wonder what's going on here, I thought to myself, just before I spotted several riot police lined across Calle 73, and just before my nose started to sting and my eyes started to water.
- 'Que paso?' I grimaced at a couple of girls standing nearby, watching. What happened?
- 'Es una protesta de estudiantes.' I think one of them said. I say think, because she was talking to me through the sleeve of her jacket that she was protecting her face from the acrid tear gas in the air.
There were more riot police at Calle 73. I stood and watched as protesting students threw flares at them, and they in turn, fired gas canisters back at the great unwashed.
My mouth still tastes a little strange two hours later. I am not sure if it is from the tear gas canisters the police were using to disperse Bogota's student population, or if it is from the sour taste from not having my camera with me at the time.
