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CULTURE IN COLOMBIA
Ryan Rowe
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2003, 4:05pm GMT -5 hours
Cartagena de Indias, Departamento de Bolívar, Colombia

Top Model Ana Sofía Henao. I've got four photos of her. They're a bit grainy, and out of focus since they were taken from about 15-20 feet away, but this is her. For those who have no clue as to who she is, she's one of the top models in Colombia. She models for the covers of notebooks and calendars. Everybody at the show kept asking me what I thought of her, when the real truth is that the girls I met backstage struck me as much more natural, and prettier than she is.

Semana Santa ended in a nice way for me. Late Sunday afternoon I found myself strolling along the beach. The scene was fun and lively, and very busy on that last day of the holiday week. Young kids ran in out of the surf collecting water to mold their sand castles. As the light from the setting sun dwindled, people began to gather their things and head home, wherever that might have been. Out of the blue, I made some new friends. An American named Bill, and two Colombians named Fabio and Carmen. They invited me to Easter dinner at Fabio's house. The people here are so kind, and unassuming (most of the time).

He lives in barrio San Fernando, on Calle La Florida, aways off the Avenida. Inside the house, it's as if I had stepped into another world. The furniture was antique, and many of the furnishings in the room were handmade. Absolutely beautiful, and items I'm sure would be listed as priceless at any antique shop on Westmount's Greene Avenue. But here, in a bustling neighborhood in a corner of Cartagena de Indias, that doesn't mean much. Fabio's parents were blessed with twinkling eyes and forever smiles.

Fabio's mother prepared us a meal fit for royalty. An overflowing plate of hot, fluffy white rice, tenderly-cooked chicken, tortilla de pescado, and sliced carrot, onions, and lettuce. His father showed me a stereo, a tuner, and a record-player he had built himself many many years ago. It was magical, and I imagined I was in a wonderland, a time capsule of attitudes forgotten in my country. Eager-to-please and curious about Bill and I, we discussed many different things about each other. For the simple satisfaction of knowing a little more.

I also had a conversation with the mother of a friend of a mine last week. I called Natalie up to chat, but she had gone out. Sometimes the best adventures happen when you least expect them. We spoke for 30 minutes about the mentality that exists in Cartagena. She is from a small little town in the interior, but this woman studied, graduated, worked, married and had kids here (in Cartagena). Now she's looking for a tranquil place to live, away from what she has experienced here in Colombia. The situation with the guerrillas is too much for some. It weighs on the people here, presses downwards and crushes their ambition, stifling desires and even hiding opportunities under its cloak of endlessness. And now, she wants to go to Mexico. A woman full of desire, youth, and vigour, at the still-young age of 48. She remains carefree... Carpe Diem!

And in Sincelejo, I sat chatting on a porch late one evening, with Laureano Sarabia. We rested in wicked chairs, talking about how people learn, socially, intelligently, emotionally. People, we concurred, are customary by nature, and depend on their customs, their socialization, more than their intelligence. For instance, I absolutely have not been able to learn to pronounce the Spanish "r" properly. Why? Simple. My tongue just isn't used to it. Could dependence on one culture, or indifference to another one be the make-or-break factor in understanding the problems that exist in the world today?

erre con erre cigarro erre con erre barril qué rápido ruedan las ruedas de los carros del ferrocarril

- Laureano Sarabia -
April 15th, 2003

I think I've been doing better at breaking through my mental barrier and identifying with the culture. But I still have such a long way to go. What a shame as I have less than 6 weeks before I leave for Canada.

- Michele Discepola -
April 22nd, 2003