Noviembre y Diciembre en Colombia

5 de febrero 2017
Floridablanca, Santander, Colombia

Several small things happened in Colombia in November and December that I haven't gotten a chance to write about, so I figured I'd smoosh them all together in one post in the interest of getting to more recent stuff (while still reminiscing!).  So, here's a bunch of small(ish) blog posts all in one.


25 de noviembre 2016
Colegio Panamericano, Floridablanca, Santander, Colombia

In most of Colombia, US Thanksgiving isn't a thing, which makes sense.  They start decorating (and having sales) for Christmas before Halloween is over.  However, due to the amount of North American staff, Thanksgiving is a thing at Colegio Panamericano.  The week prior, we were told to head to the main office to get our Thanksgiving present from the school.  I had never received a Thanksgiving present before, so I was excited!

It's a Bluetooth Speaker!

The box for the speaker advertises that it uses "Beats technology," which makes it sound like it's made by Beats.  Unfortunately, as noted by the "S" where you'd find a "B" on Beats, it is not.  When turning on, changing modes, or connecting devices, the woman's voice that guides you has an accent that is a mix of British-English, German, Japanese, and robot.  It's actually quite an interesting feat to get all those sounds together.  Interestingly, the + and - buttons do not change volume, but skip tracks and change radio stations.  There is not a volume adjuster anywhere on the speakers.  This is fine when you're listening to your phone, but there is only one volume for radio - loud.  All that being said, it's always nice to get unexpected gifts, and the speakers have pretty decent sound!

In addition to the gifts, Colegio Panamericano throws a hell of a Thanksgiving party for the staff.  On Friday (we had school on Thursday), school gets out a few hours early so all the teachers have time to go get their hair and nails done and put on their suits and elegant dresses (Shout out to Kelsey for helping me with my makeup!).  The party began promptly at 7, which in Colombian time meant 7:45 or so.  Each guest was handed a cocktail on their way in, some sort of strong but tasty fruity thing.  Waiters walked around offering glasses of sangria and scotch when it looked like your drink was getting low.

Beginning of the evening - only 2 drinks (and one half-hour) in!

After a few drinks, dinner was served.  They did their best to give us a traditional American Thanksgiving meal, and man, did they deliver.

Yum.

Once everyone had gotten some food, they started announcing winners of the raffle every so often.  This wasn't a little basket-o-food raffle - they broke out the big guns.  Everything from food processors to tablets to TVs were given away as door prizes, with a few winners picked every half-hour to an hour.  While we all anxiously waited to see if we'd be the next lucky winners (Kelsey won a tablet!), we danced to the live band (and when they were on break, the DJ).

All dolled up

After dinner

Around midnight, people walked around handing out masks and silly string and it got pretty crazy.  I left a few hours later, but the party was nowhere close to finishing, and they hadn't even given out all the prizes yet, but it was time.

Party time!

27 de noviembre
Floridablanca, Santander, Colombia

That Sunday, all the expats had our own (low-key) potluck Thanksgiving.  We met up on the roof of Ryan and Kate's apartment building, which is gorgeous.  It's got a pool and a great view of Floridablanca.

Betcha none of your Thanksgiving celebrations had this view.

Figuring out what to wear really tripped me out - usually when I think "What do I wear to a Thanksgiving party?" the answer is a sweater...

In addition to the gorgeous weather and beautiful view, everyone brought delicious food to share.  A fantastic time was had by all and we had to roll ourselves out of there!

Another Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat!

Nuestra Familia de Colegio

7 de diciembre 2017
Floridablanca, Santander, Colombia

The eighth of December marks the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (aka the Impregnation of the Virgin Mary), and it's a pretty big deal here in Colombia (and one of Colombia's many national holidays).  The Eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is a big deal as well - Colombians get together with their families, light candles, pray, and enjoy each other's company.

Noche de las Velitas, or Candle Night, is one of Colombia's Christmas season traditions.  In the weeks leading up to the event, every store and street vendor sells packs of colorful little candles so you can stock up.  Each family gets together and lights one for each member of their family and for loved ones who have passed away.  They pray for everyone, eat, and enjoy the evening.

On this night, Courtney and I went over to Amy and Denise's apartment.  On my way there, I saw families lighting tens and hundreds of brightly colored candles.  It was pretty beautiful.  The four of us sat on the balcony and lit candles for all our people and had some delightful conversations.  Rather than the traditional buñuelos, we ordered Domino's for a little taste of home to go with our wine. It was quite a delightful evening.

Floridablanca is #lit

8 de diciembre 2017
Piedecuesta, Santander, Colombia

On our day off (on a Thursday right before finals), my host family invited me and a few others to their house for a party.  Vero and her friend Ximena picked up Colleen and I, and we headed out past Piedecuesta to where my host father calls "the boonies" and where their gorgeous villa is located.  Colleen's host family and one other family also joined the fiesta later.

This place could be a hotel.

This house is HUGE and was built to my host family's specifications.  The master bathroom has a bidet, and the bathroom between the fitness center and the workshop has a urinal.

No excuse not to work out.

The kitchen is enormous - two ovens (one doubles as a microwave) and a giant island in the center.

This is the kitchen of my dreams.

In his fitness center, my host father has one wall dedicated to a map full of pins of places he's been (he used to be an airline engineer before he retired).  I hope to one day have that many pins on my map.

I want to be a world traveler.

In their giant yard, they have a huge outdoor cooking pit (probably mostly used as a paella pit).

Time to make the paella

My host father Luis is from Spain, and his wife Luz Elena is Colombian.  Their daughter Samara was born (and lived her first 7 years) in Florida.  Luis loves the United States and is hoping to move the family back there soon.

We had quite the Spanish smorgasbord - we started off with pan con tomate - like Spanish bruschetta - which was made by cutting tomatoes in half, grating them (with a cheese grater) so you get all the juice without the skin, grating in some garlic, and adding salt and olive oil.  You then spoon it onto some nice fresh bread.  They had gotten some kick-ass garlicky bread, apparently from Mas por Menos, a grocery chain!  It was so delicious and I think I ate a whole loaf by myself.

Next on the menu was tortilla española - Spanish omelette. We sliced up a bunch of potatoes and onions into thin-ish slices, and then in a deep cast-iron pan, Luis heated up about 2-3 inches of olive oil. He cooked the potatoes and onions a while in the oil, then added several eggs and scrambled it all together. After it had hardened enough, he used a plate to flip it over and finish the omelette on the other side. When finished, this concoction was about 3-4 inches deep. We cut it into little cubes and snacked on it (and I think I probably ate almost half of this delicious dish).

Next, Luis headed out to the grill to start work on the paella, while the rest of us had a little descanso on the porch. Colleen and I actually curled up on a hammock and a bowl-shaped chair and took a little siesta.

It felt like we were on vacation

After an hour our two, the paella was finished - complete with mussels, shrimp, octopus, calamari, lamb, chicken, and rice. The pan was probably about a 2-foot diameter, and it was their smallest paella pan.

Dayum

Even with about 10 adults and 4 kids eating, we only got through about half of the paella. I was all ready to put my pickiness aside and eat the seafood, until the little octopus on my plate waved at me as I carried my plate to the table. I picked at it and ate some of the land-dwelling animals and the rice, but I couldn't bring myself to get over it and try the seafood. It'll be my challenge for next time.


9 de diciembre 2017
Colegio Panamericano, Floridablanca, Santander, Colombia

The next day was an odd one at school, since we had just had a day off (that for me and Colleen felt less like a 4-hour party and more like a 3-day weekend).  We had a half day at school because the students had to finish preparing for their Christmas show that evening.

Kindergarten, elementary school, middle/high school band, and the senior class had been working hard for the past month on their dancing, singing, and musical performances.  The seniors had been taken out of class for much of the previous week to finalize their choreography (their dance was superhero themed...not sure how that relates to Christmas).  It was quite a to-do.  On top of all these performances, we were also treated to a mini-concert by Ivanna, winner of La Voz Kids Colombia, a 7th grader at our school.  Man that girl's got pipes.  Here's a video posted by the school about the event:

In addition to the performances, the school was also hosting a silent auction of paintings made by students and their parents, with all proceeds benefiting a foundation that helps underprivileged children.  I put my name down on several cool pieces of art, and I got a text a few days later that I had won one!  Plus, it was painted by one of my seniors, Camila, so that was extra exciting.  They also threw in another painting that they had forgotten to display (a 9th grader named Maria Jose), so now I have two beautiful pieces of art by Colegio Panamericano students.

On the left is Maria Jose's, and the right is Camila's.

10 de diciembre 2017

Mesa de los Santos, Santander, Colombia

On our last weekend before we all left for Christmas break, Rosa and I jumped on a bus and headed up to Mercado Campesino in Mesa de los Santos for a bit of Christmas shopping.  The bus from Piedecuesta made a bunch of stops to pick up and drop off people, sometimes seemingly in the middle of nowhere on the side of a mountain.

We finally got there and got some breakfast of arepas de choclo, platanos con guava y queso, y cafe.

These are likely my favorite food in Colombia.

We wandered around, looking at everything from homemade pasta to salves made from marijuana and coco leaves.

All these meats just out in the open air...the stray dogs and the flies really liked this aisle.

Market buddies!

Baby chiva!

Spending some time with the local wildlife

We made several lists of more things we need to eat next time we're there, including fried quail eggs on a stick.  Unfortunately, our first meal filled us up too much to have anything other than Colombian-made German beer and fresh coffee that was roasted and ground specifically for our cups.

And the man roasting the coffee wasn't too hard on the eyes either.

As we waited almost an hour for our bus that was supposedly supposed to come every half hour, a trio of young people came up to us and asked if we knew the name of God. Rosa said she didn't think of God as having a name, and I guessed Yahweh. Apparently we were wrong, and they dug out the bible passage to tell us his name was Jehovah. We were trapped waiting for the bus and did our best to seem uninterested, but they kept telling us about their church in Bucaramanga and how we should look them up. The bus eventually (finally) came and we hopped on to head home.

11 de diciembre 2017
Bucaramanga, Santander, Colombia

The next evening, after hanging out with Dan, Colleen, and Kelsey, Rosa and I went to Parque San Pio to look at the lights and shop a bit more.  Bucaramanga went above and beyond in its Christmas decorations (starting in October).  Lights everywhere, especially in the parks.  Of course, Bucaramanga is known as the City of Parks, so, really, everywhere.  Luckily, most of the light displays are made from recycled materials like plastic cups, so it's actually pretty green.

Happy as a sunflower!

Botero's lady is admiring the tree

Cheesy Christmas-card-esque photo

It's like a fairy forest

Of course I needed a photo of this... #mathnerd

Coastal Caribbean Cartagena

27 de noviembre 2016

Bucaramanga, Santander, Colombia writing about Cartagena de Indias, Bolívar, Colombia

I'm about 3 weeks late on this post, but it's busy down here this month.  We've had two  three-day weekends, our school sports teams were gone for a week for championships, and it's the rush to the end of the semester.

So let's rewind a bit.  On that first 3-day weekend (4 - 7 de noviembre 2016), I traveled to Cartagena with 10 other people (mostly coworkers, plus two extras).  Colleen, her friend Carla, Rosa, her sister Katalina, Dan, Néstor, Kate, Ryan, Andrea, Kelsey, and I packed into a gorgeous apartment we rented from AirBnB for the weekend.  

We flew Viva Colombia, which is like the Colombian version of Spirit Airlines - cheap if you go for the bare minimum.  You are only allowed to bring one personal item without paying extra - i.e. pack everything you need into your backpack.  You even had to pay extra if you didn't print your boarding pass ahead of time.  Turns out it wasn't even that cheap...my flight to Medellin the following weekend on Avianca was about the same price, and I was allowed to check in at the desk, bring my roll-aboard carry-on, and I got a juice box and a snack without having to pay!

4 de noviembre 2016

Bucaramanga, Santander, Colombia

So as I was packing stuffing everything into my backpack the night before the trip, my stomach started to feel weird.  I didn't think much about it and went to sleep.  I woke up the next morning feeling pretty bad, but I didn't want to miss work (1. Making sub plans is more work than going to work, 2. I didn't want to skip work and then go on vacation, that seemed like a weird thing to do, and 3. I hadn't printed my boarding pass yet).  So, I went to work and had to sub for Colleen's class as she had left the previous night to have an extra day in Cartagena with Carla (turns out she spent most of that "extra" time being stuck in Bogotá, but that's not my story to tell).  I was watching her class 2nd period, making semi-frequent trips to the bathroom where, TMI alert, I was shitting straight water, when suddenly I had to go again, and I ran out, but turns out this time I had to throw up...immediately.  In the bushes right in front of the classroom.  I could not control the liquids coming out of either end (though the barf was more solid...the mangoes and pineapple I had eaten the previous night had not been digested at all) so I went to the secretary, told her I needed to go home, wrote up some sub plans, and asked HR to send a doctor to my house (we get 5 home visits a year on our health insurance plan!).

So I went home and waited for the doctor, alternatively lying in bed in misery and laying waste to the toilet (luckily it's a short trip from my bed to my toilet) until the doctor showed up.  The school was unable to spare anyone to translate, so we communicated in a combination of broken Spanish and sign language (big shout-out to Google Translate). Turns out I had gastroenteritis.  The doc gave me a shot in the butt full of heavy-duty antibiotics, a long grocery list of prescriptions, and a promise that I'd be better in about two days.  I asked about the trip and she told me I should definitely still go.

A few hours more of lying in bed (feeling slightly better) and I decided I would go on the trip.  I knew I'd be mad if I got better quick and missed out, and worse comes to worse, I knew I could chill at our sweet rental apartment if I needed to.  I bought some Gatorade on my way out to refresh my electrolytes and got in the taxi.  

Now, a bit of a side note about the route from Floridablanca to the airport.  Bucaramanga's airport is situated on the top of a mountain.  Colombian cabs are small (picture a toy car), fragile (don't slam the door too hard), and manual (I have yet to see an automatic car in this country).  Not the best conditions for a sick stomach, but I made it all the way to the airport without being sick.  I did not make it all the way to the airport bathroom.  Luckily it was only Gatorade (unlike the lentils and rice that had come up undigested earlier in the day), and it was in the hallway to the bathroom, and there happened to be a janitor nearby finishing mopping up the bathroom.  Most of the Colombians nearby made noises of disgust, but a nice woman who was walking by asked me (in English) if I was okay and told me to come into the bathroom to clean myself up.  I cleaned myself up and joined my friends as we waited for our flight (which had been delayed two hours).  The security line was short, but I apparently had forgotten about my Swiss army knife in my backpack.  I didn't understand at first what they were saying to me, and then that same woman that asked if I was okay came by and translated for me before walking away (later found out she was on our same flight too!)

I made it through the whole flight (paying $4.000 COP for a bottle of water...) and the van ride through heavy traffic to our home for the weekend, where I opted to stay in and health-up as everyone else went out to explore the Cartagenian night-life.  As the sicky of the group, I was relegated to the bunk beds, as those were the only beds small enough to not warrant sharing.  This room was the smallest  and didn't have an attached bathroom (Dan said we were staying in the slave quarters; he was really excited about sleeping in a bunk bed though), but it was alright, since I had a bed to myself and didn't need to bother anyone or get anyone else sick.  

Turns out that same woman that I had embarrassed myself in front of had helped me twice earlier was staying in the same place as us!  As we were checking in, she and her companion came out of the elevator and she excitedly exclaimed to him, "That's her! That's the girl!"

5 de noviembre 2016

Cartagena de Indias, Bolívar, Colombia

The next morning, we rented a private speedboat to explore the Caribbean islands.  I was a bit wary, but also didn't want to miss out and I was feeling a lot better than the previous day (still not 100% though), so I joined in.  I'm so glad I did.  I wasn't sick, and our captains drove a smooth boat.  It was a fantastically relaxing and fun time.  Everyone else was drinking and snacking, but I was happy to finally be able to keep down a couple of saltines.

The cool kids sit in the back of the boat.

Our first stop was a little bay to swim in, where we floated around on some noodles and splashed around.  There was a tienda on the tiniest island (literally the tienda was the size of the island) selling some beer for swimmers and boaters.  Canoes of vendors paddled by, selling hats, jewelry, beer, and fresh-caught lobster ceviche.  A couple people of our group got it and said it was pretty good.

Little island tienda

Our big salty pool

So many canoe vendors

Fresh ceviche, delivered straight to your boat!  The new Grubhub?

It passes the test!

After our little post-swim snack, we jetted off to our next destination - Playa Agua Azul on Isla Barú.  This tiny strip of beach was nice and chill, if filled with vendors selling everything from coconuts (with or without rum), fresh-caught seafood, bracelets, and massages (¿Masage mas tarde?).  We walked along the shore, in and out of the water, until we found a nice spot of sand to chill.  A few of our group rented a tube ride and whipped around behind a speedboat.  Kate and Ryan played catch with a coconut I found on the ground.  It was quite fun and relaxing.

We then all climbed back aboard our small vessel to head to Playa Blanca for some food.  Our captains parked right in front of a restaurant that they suggested we try, as it was owned by their boss.  I was so excited about the earlier success with the saltines that I ordered a portion of coconut rice, which was twice as delicious since it was the first real food I'd had (that stayed in my stomach anyway) in nearly 48 hours.  

Ever had seafood this fresh?

This guy was staring at me as I ate my rice.  Look at those teeth!

Look at this guy's antennae!  Yeesh.

While we were eating, vendors kept coming up to us offering cocadas (carried on their heads in typical Caribbean fashion), beaded jewelry, wraps/scarves/coverups (I bought one of these - negotiated her down to 20 mil!), and of course, ice cream.  After lunch, we explored a little bit, but Playa Blanca was mostly just restaurants and bars, but I got a couple cool pieces of coral (there was SO MUCH washed up on the beach there) before we headed back onto the boat to go home.

But first, lemme take a #selfie

Hello Cartagena!

Back on land, we all took a bit of a siesta before venturing back out for some dinner.  Kate and Ryan had found a good Thai/sushi place on Trip Advisor, so we headed over there to get some of the worldly food we miss out on in little ol' Bucaramanga. I had pad thai!  It was not at all spicy, which was probably for the best for me.  I was only able to eat a little bit before getting full, but still...accomplishment.  We had thought about going out more, but we were pretty pooped from our boat day, so we went back home to sleep.

6 de noviembre 2016

Cartagena de Indias, Bolívar, Colombia

The next day I woke up and was basically back to normal (90%?) so I joined Kate, Ryan, Andrea, and Kelsey for brunch at a spot right near our apartment.  We then ambled around a bit, looking at all the colorful doors and buildings (this city is SO BEAUTIFUL - I highly suggest you visit) and the street vendors' artwork (I bought a painting!). 

The most colorful city I've ever seen!

So many beautiful doors.

This is supposedly the house where Love in the Time of Cholera takes place.

We found our way to the old city wall built by the Spaniards back in the day (Las Murallas De Cartagena) and wandered along the wall, circling the old city.  We had a lot of fun taking photos - a lot of them look like they belong in a Gap catalog.  Luckily we weren't the only goofs taking a thousand photos...we even saw a wedding shoot!

Totally belongs in a catalog.

Looking out into the future

Mad hops.

Partway over the bridge between reality and fantasy

Bombshell babes

After our jaunt along the wall, we headed indoors to the history museum - and you will definitely not expect what we learned about there.  We saw some pretty painful instruments of torture and learned a bunch about the Spanish Inquisition (I didn't even know it was in South America, for instance).  Pretty intense stuff!  It lasted 211 years, processed over 800 prisoners, and sentenced witchery, solicitation, bigamy, Judaism, Lutherans, and those who read forbidden (heretical) books.  The Court of the Holy Office of the Inquisition was established in Cartagena in 1610 - the third in America after Mexico and Lima.  This court sent 5 people to burn at the stake.  The museum is located in the palace of the court.

That does not look comfortable.

This one is placed around your boob and then squeezed.

Learning from the history teacher

After learning about all the death and destruction the Spaniards wreaked on the world, we headed upstairs to the rest of the museum.  The second floor had an art installation - Footprints of Memory - someone had taken pictures of shoe prints of hundreds of people who had disappeared in recent years due to the guerrilla warfare in Latin America.  It told their stories, occasionally including family members of the disappeared.  It was heartbreaking.

After composing ourselves, we continued upstairs to learn about the history of Cartagena itself.  The city used to be called Kalamary by the native Karib warriors, but the Spaniards named it Cartagena de Indias and the name stuck.  When the Europeans came over, they enslaved the natives and brought over African slaves as well.  Cartagena was a big port for trade, especially the slave trade.  All of these cultures melded into the Caribbean culture we see today in Cartagena.

After becoming thoroughly depressed by the museum, we needed something to lift our spirits, so we headed to (according to Ryan) Barack Obama's favorite gelato place (I can't remember if it's supposed to be his favorite in Cartagena, Colombia, South America, or the world) - Gelateria Paradiso.  I got a brioche (read: McDonald's hamburger bun) filled with Guanábana and Maracuyá gelato.  It was super tasty.

Brioche is a strong word.

It was damn good though!

We continued on our self(ie)-guided walking tour of Cartagena, stumbling upon a parade - "Tunas por la Paz de Colombia."  There were several troupes playing and singing, advocating for a peace with the FARC.  There was a handicapped boy in a wheelchair, and one troupe surrounded him and sang a private concert for him and the look on his face was pure unadulterated joy. (Have you ever thought about how adult is the main thing that is seen to "destroy" things, i.e. unadulterated joy...the joy hasn't reached adulthood and become jaded yet.  Something to think about.)

We finally got to our next destination - another Trip Advisor find from Ryan and Kate - The Beer Lovers.  Colombia's not really big on the craft beer scene.  A few of the big cities are getting into it, but Bucaramanga hasn't gotten there yet, so we've been a bit deprived.  The Beer Lovers had a HUGE  worldwide selection and a super knowledgeable staff.  Plus, we got a charcuterie plate, which was super tasty.

¡Salud!

We had some dinner at a bar called Alquimico.  I had a Bánh Mi con Pollo (only ate half of it, but hey, improvement!) and a Mint Lulep (a Lulo julep!).  It was a hipster bar (complete with mixologists), which is rare in Colombia.  Most of the bars around here play super-loud (not talkable-volume) Colombian music and have your choice of light domestic beers.  Alquimico had fancy mixed drinks and played chill tunes.  Very cool aesthetic too.  I recommend it to anyone who happens upon Cartagena.

We stopped home to freshen up and drop off leftovers, and then headed back out to the World Famous Café Havana to drink some rum and watch some live salsa.  We thought the $20.000 cover included two drinks, but turns out that's only on weekdays.  We ordered half a bottle of house rum at our tiny table and strained to see the band.  Kelsey and Andrea tried dancing in the aisle a bit.  My stomach was threatening me again, so I had some water and observed.

"WORLD FAMOUS!"

So crowded.

Just hangin' out with my friend Ron.

Salud once more!

Our entertainment for the evening.

After a set or two, we headed out.  I wasn't feeling great, so I headed home while all the healthy kids got to go out and have fun.  I had to negotiate for one of our three keys though - 11 people sharing 3 keys is a bit tough sometimes.  But I finally made it home and into my bed for a good night's sleep!

7 de noviembre 2016

Cartagena de Indias, Bolívar, Colombia

The next morning, we woke up and packed up our stuff to leave with the portero - checkout was at 1pm and we had to leave for our flight around 3pm - and headed out for one last adventure in the city.  We found a little internet cafe where we could print our boarding passes and Dan, Néstor, Rosa, Katalina, Colleen, and I went to a delicious brunch place called Mila Vargas.  I got pancakes!  Colombian breakfast is usually soup, or scrambled eggs, but we got our fill of US brunch on this trip (I think there is a total of one place in Bucaramanga that serves semi-American brunch).

Damn.

We rolled ourselves out of the restaurant and onto the (rainy) streets of Cartagena, taking one last amble around the town.  We stopped at a couple of shops, getting some last minute souvenirs and gifts.  We made a quick stop at the little chocolate museum, ate and drank some samples, went upstairs to learn about the chocolate-making process, and bought a few tasty treats.

Rosa Maria the Cacao Farmer

Colleen and I wanted one last view of the ocean (gotta say goodbye before we head back to our mountains), so we left our group at a tienda with some beers and headed down to the wall to stare longingly into its depths and reflect upon our weekend in paradise.

Colleen looking out at the ocean she can never have

It was then time to head back and catch a taxi (or three) back to the airport.  Our time on the coast was at an end, and it was time to go back to work.

P.S. Guess who was sitting next to me on the return flight?  THAT WOMAN FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE TRIP!  Turns out she's from Singapore and is studying Spanish for a semester in Bucaramanga at one of the universities.  She was very nice.