Sal is an over-privileged rugby player, and he's struggling to recover from the injury that ended his career. Having assumed that his future was set, he had never bothered to learn how to treat people. Now he begins clinging at straws. The first is a Latin beauty, who soon disappears from his life. And so, alone and foolishly and daunted, he sets off into the middle of a civil war, thinking that she can solve all of his problems.
Over the space of seven days, Sal meets two people and is presented with the opportunity to change his perspective. His challenge, however, is going back on a lifetime's learning. He does not have to stretch his imagination to accept their stories and their advice, but with the magnetic Angelica 'waiting' for him, he does have to make a number of decisions regarding his priorities.
Upon his arrival in Bogotá, he meets Françoise, a Parisian journalist, also hiding from her problems. Her story helps Sal understand the chaos that the city has been suffering for many years, but it also quickly creates in him an unhealthy dependency. This, mixed with his lack of experience with other people, is a dangerous concoction, which leads him astray.