Feliz Navidad

It's Christmas time and we've been celebrating! Christmas is the time for PARTYING in Colombia. Between our neighbor's garish Christmas lights that turn our living room into a discoteca, or the fireworks until the wee hours of the morning, if you don't embrace it, it would be easy to turn into a grinch during this time of year in Colombia.  

Velitas is one of my favorite Colombian holidays. It translates to "Day of the little candles" and takes place on the eve of the Immaculate Conception which is a public holiday in Colombia (not sure why we should celebrate...poor Mary missed out on all the fun of baby making...but I digress...).  It is a night when everyone is on the street lighting candles and luminaries in the Virgin Mary's honor.  There is a clear spirit of joy and excitement in the air.  Of course, it is also the favorite holiday of all pyromaniacs in the world (Aaron being one of them).  As we sat on a street corner sipping wine from paper cups, we set fire to candles, lanterns, and styrofoam nativity scenes in true pyro, celebratory fashion.

That same night, our friend hosted a white elephant party.  However, there was a twist: every present had to be purchased off the street from inside of a vehicle.  In Colombia, there are people darting in between cars and motorbikes at every intersection selling anything you could imagine from brooms to avocados to fly zappers to hats.  It was a blast!  We all ended up with some very unexpected gifts.

Diego with his America Devils (local soccer team) hat. 

Bernie chose my gift: a Vietnamese hat!

Aaron got a nativity lantern and Katie chose a headlamp!

Last weekend the festivities continued when I hosted my annual cookie exchange!  We had over 10 different kinds of cookies to try!  There were awards for most creative, most delicious, most festive, and best overall.  It was a fantastic time!

Melting snowmen sugar cookies won the most festive award!

The peanut butter blossoms won best overall! 

My Minnesota gingerbread cookies...it was the only cookie cutter I brought from home!

The lamp from A Christmas Story cookies won most creative!

I shared some of the cookies I got from the exchange with our maid.  She gave us some delicious traditional Colombian Christmas sweets. Arroz con leche is in the mug and I have to say, the coconut in it rivals the scandinavian rice pudding of my youth.

Winter break is now upon us, and we are thrilled!  We are calling Vanna Blanca our home for the next 3 weeks and heading out on an epic Colombian road trip including relaxing in hot springs in Parque de Los Nevados, climbing in the Chicamocha canyon, star gazing in the Tatacoa desert, and exploring ancient ruins in San Augustin.

Warm holiday wishes from South America! 

Gracias Colombia

Holidays are tough when you're abroad.   I miss being with family and friends the most during this time of year, so it's important to remind myself of how special our life is here. In light of the Thanksgiving season, I decided to make a list of the things I'm thankful for while living in Colombia.  There's a lot to be thankful for. Here's the list in no particular order:

1. Mountain views while biking to work.

View of the Farallones on my Friday bike ride to work. 

2. Having a classroom that essentially allows me to work outside all day!  I've had cats, birds, spiders, and squirrels wandering my room. One day I even found an owl perched on my desk!  I'm not sure I could ever go back to having a classroom with walls.

 3. Views like this to hike to on the weekends.

4. This adorable and terribly spoiled cat.

5. Shopping beers.  Most grocery stores have coolers full of individual beers scattered around the store so people can enjoy a beer while shopping.  It sure makes shopping more fun. 

6. Fresh FRUITS and VEGETABLES for CHEAP!

We got all of this for less than $5. Look at all those limes!

 7. COOL BUGS!

Found this guy on a tree in our apartment! 

Transparent butterflies! 

8. Learning salsa! Although we've got a lot of room for improvement, we are to the point that if ANY music comes on, our hips immediately scream "salsa!"

9. Fritanga everywhere!!!  AKA Fried food!  Empanadas, papa rellena, patacones, yuca frita...our health doesn't thank us but our stomachs do!

Aaron getting some empanadas for a pre-climbing breakfast! 

10. Ciclovida!  Every Sunday they block off streets from 8am-1pm for walkers, runners, rollerbladers, and cyclists.  There are vendors along the way selling fresh juices and large vats of sancocho de gallina (a chicken soup unique to this region of Colombia) cooking over street fires. Perhaps the best part are the rumba (dancing) stations along the way where people young, old, male, and female literally bring David Bowie and Mick Jagger's lyrics alive:

It doesn't matter what you wear,

Just as long as you are there

So come on, every guy, grab a girl,

Everywhere, around the world

They'll be dancing, dancing in the street 

Stopped for a fresh zanahoria-mandarina (carrot and mandarine orange) juice along our bike ride! 

The Magic that is Cartagena...

Entrance into the walled city.

Cartagena.  A place where Gabo's magical realism is alive and well.  A place where appetites of all kinds run wild.  A place where the pulse of Colombia is felt on a spectacular level.

Aaron and I headed to this popular tourist destination over Semana de Receso in October to celebrate our 4 year wedding anniversary.  Cartagena proved to be the perfect place to wander and simply bask in each other's company.  This isn't our usual kind of adventure trip, but it sure was a nice change of pace.

We stayed at Casa Baluarte, a simple yet stylish accommodation in Getsemaní--about a 10 minute walk from the Old City.  It included breakfast and air conditioning (the latter being an absolute must in Cartagena). We certainly weren't used to the heat and humidity--poor Aaron came back each day with sweat marks in places we didn't even know people could get sweat marks!

Ready to explore!

We spent the first day strolling the perimeter of the walled city.  When I say strolling the perimeter, I mean literally walking on top of the 4km fossil studded wall for most of the way around.  The majority of the wall provides a stunning view of the Caribbean. The sea breeze offers a much needed respite from the horrendous heat. Of course, it also helps to grab cold beers and a hat from the countless vendors along the way to cool off, too.

Enjoying the sea breeze!

Ya, apparently that little lookout was now a makeshift bathroom. Needless to say, Aaron didn't stand there very long.

Local soccer game next to the wall with the modern Cartagena in the background. 

Aaron was really excited about all the coral and fossils found in the wall.

People nestled themselves into every nook and cranny in the wall. 

Watching the rainy sunset in one of the nooks.

From there, we wound our way up and down the colorful colonial streets and "oooohhhed" and "ahhhhed" over the vibrant colors and gnarly flowering trees which seemed to grow perfectly out of the cement up to the balconies which twinkled pink, purple, and blue.

Typical view of the Old City streets.

Someone put some clothes on her!!

Lots of cool street art.

The teenager in Aaron always seems to come out when we see a Botero statue.

Now, let's talk about the most important part of Cartagena--the ridiculously good food!  Because we live in Cali, we eat a lot of Colombian food. Therefore, we were on a mission to find anything that we can't find in Cali.  Ceviche, Patagonian lamb, Peruvian lomo saltado, Thai curry, kabobs, and real beer! We literally walked around for the sole purpose of finding the next delicious thing to eat and drink.  It was fantastic.  I think one night we literally had 4 dinners.  Here are a few of our favorite places to check out!

La Cevicheria: Probably the most famous ceviche place in Cartagena. It certainly lived up to the hype--we came back twice! 

Ceviche Peru: A more budget option to La Cevicheria in Getsemaní and, dare I say, pretty darn close in taste. Aaron had the ceviche and I had the lomo saltado--both fabulous.  

Marzola Pariilla Argentina: We stumbled upon this place and the outside caught our eye. It's eclectic, delicious (I mean seriously, they serve grilled bread with chimichurri when you sit down), and efficient.  We will be back! 

The Beer Lovers: If you've been living in Colombia and only drinking Poker or Club, you really deserve to go sit in this air conditioned pub, eat some peanuts, and drink a Duvel.

After galavanting around the city for a day, we decided to head to the beach.  We had heard mixed reviews about the beach in Cartagena, but everyone we spoke with said the islands surrounding Cartagena have stunning beaches.  We took an hour bus ride to an island called Baru which is connected by a bridge to the mainland.  You can take a boat or a bus, but we had heard the bus is more reliable and it was a preventative measure as Aaron tends to get sea sick.  We spent the day on Playa Blanca.  It was a beautiful white sandy beach dotted with restaurants and hostels offering umbrellas, coco locos (coconuts full of a questionable mix of alcohol and delicious coconut milk) and fresh fish lunches (mas o menos 35,000 pesos per person).  We followed the advice given and walked far down the right side of the beach to avoid the large crowds, found ourselves an umbrella (30,000 pesos for the day), and exhaled.  A lot of blogs you read say that you should only go if you are going to spend the night because the beach is less busy, but I would argue that unless you are a real beach person, a day trip is the way to go. It's a nice way to get out of the city and break up a city studded visit to Cartagena.

Relaxing on Playa Blanca.

Before: "Which one would you like for lunch?"

After: SO delicious!

 There could definitely be worse places to read for grad school. 

All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Cartagena.  For tourists, it's much more English friendly than other places in Colombia.  For expats, it offers luxuries we can't get in Cali.  We will be back!

Peace in Colombia

I've been wanting to write this post for a while now.  The peace process in Colombia has been in the international headlines for weeks yet even though I live in Colombia, I felt like I did not have enough information to really comment on the process itself mostly because I was getting my information from the headlines and articles in the media just like everyone else in the world. 

"Do not talk about the peace process with your students."  This was announced to all of the middle school teachers at school.  Though there was no explicit reason given, it is clear that the peace deal is controversial and a point of contention between students, teachers, parents, and administrators.  However, despite the warnings (I'm in high school and my principal didn't directly say "don't talk about it"), I decided to ask questions to some of my students and co-workers to find out more about the peace treaty and plebiscite. Here's the short version:  

Who voted YES: Those who voted yes fall into a few categories: low/middle class, live in rural areas that were directly affected by the FARC, or were displaced as a result of the war.  Every Colombian teacher I spoke with at my school was voting yes explaining that although parts of the treaty may not be perfect, peace is better than war.  Others explained that compromise is necessary and some even mentioned the importance of forgiveness when seeking peace.

Who voted NO: These are mostly urban, upper class citizens with power (the majority of my students' families). When I asked some of my students their thoughts, most of them said that they would vote NO if they could. They argued that they want peace, but the FARC deserve stronger punishments than would be given under the terms of the treaty.  They also mentioned that no FARC members should be allowed to be part of the government. Furthermore, they are extremely loyal to Alvaro Uribe, the former president who has been extremely vocal against the treaty.  I specifically remember last year while reading Orwell's 1984, my honors students had to create their own Two Minutes Hate video and a few of them chose Santos as "Goldstein" and Uribe as "Big Brother."  This "hate" for everything Santos does is not new. 

Why Colombia voted NO: 

• Less than 40% of the Colombian population voted.  
• Many people didn't vote because they assumed the YES vote would win.
• There was harsh weather on the northern Caribbean coast which prevented people from voting.
• Colombia's history of election fraud and corruption??

Green areas equal YES, orange areas equal NO. We live in Valle de Cauca province which voted YES.
http://www.telesurtv.net/

Amidst all the dissension, school on Friday was different.  I arrived early and as I turned into my classroom, I could hear one of the school secretaries squealing like a school girl behind me. "Did you hear about the peace prize?" she asked a co-worker.  I turned around to see them hugging and jumping up and down.  I swear their smiles reached from here to Medellin.  There was a distinct buzz of joy and national pride that penetrated even some of the strongest naysayers.  Although I don't know what the future will bring, I can only hope that Colombia will continue to become the safe, beautiful, and vibrant country I have grown to know and love.

Here are some articles that I found helpful when researching the peace process:

Colombia's Undecided: Can all be forgiven after so much pain and loss?

The End of Colombian Exceptionalism 

Who is the FARC?

Futsal?

We know football and futbol and even foosball...but futsal?  I can't say I had ever heard of it either! But last night I found out because Cali, Medellin, and Bucaramanga are hosting the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2016.

Futsal is basically soccer except it is played in a venue more similar to a basketball court than a soccer field.  Each team has four players plus a keeper in play and they can sub players in and out at anytime.  They also use a smaller, heavier ball which keeps the ball on the ground for most of the game.  There are two-20 minute periods and time is stopped whenever the ball is out of play.

We went to the first elimination game of the tournament: Colombia vs. Paraguay.  The game was extremely fast-paced.  I was told that futsal tends to be higher scoring than regular soccer games but that certainly wasn't true last night.  Colombia spent the first 20 minute half on the defensive but managed to keep the score 0-0 at halftime.  The second half was just...plain...ridiculous.  Each team had an incredible amount of chances but couldn't capitalize on any of them!  The game went into overtime, was decided by penalty kicks, and Paraguay ended up winning by one goal.  It was a fun way to spend a Tuesday night!

Cali Hash House Harriers

Yesterday we hosted the first ever Cali hash!  A "hash" is a run/scavenger hunt/party.  Basically, the “hashers” follow a trail of chalk or flour (2-5 miles or 3-8 kilometers) set by the “hare” to a Hash Bash celebration with refreshments (mostly beer). However, the run gets interesting with false trails, beer stopping points, and checkpoints for hashers to catch up. It is not a race!  Instead, it's a chance for people to explore new parts of a city, make friends, and get their hearts pumping.  

And we're off!  Photo by Katie Smith

The International Hash House Harriers was founded in Malaysia in 1938 by a group of bored runners who originated the club as an alternative to lonesome (and boring) individual running. It is based in every major city worldwide, as well as many smaller towns.  Some of the objectives of the original Hash House Harriers from the 1938 group were:

• To promote physical fitness among our members

• To get rid of weekend hangovers

• To acquire a good thirst and to satisfy it in beer

• To persuade the older members that they are not as old as they feel

We first did hash runs when we lived in Busan, South Korea.  We only did a couple but really enjoyed them.  After living here in Cali for two years, we thought starting a hash club would be a great way for the expats of all the different schools in Cali to get together and socialize.  We started in front of our apartment.  Aaron served as the hare and did a fantastic job setting a trail.  The trail meandered through the south of Cali and included 3 stream crossings, plank bridges, some fantastic views of the mountains at sunset, and a whole lot of fun.  We ended with a cookout at a friend's house with plenty of food and beverages.  We are going to try and do this the last weekend of every month in different parts of the city.   People and dogs of all ages are invited!  If interested, check out our Facebook page: Cali Hash House Harriers

One of the 3 stream crossings along the way!

At a "Hash Hold"--that symbol means to get a drink and wait for others.

We're back!

The blur.  That's what I am going to call the 2015-2016 school year.  Between being a student and teaching students, my mind didn't have time to process the day to day of our life (hence the blog hiatus).  It was a year of growth in many ways to say the least.  But now I've finished my master's degree, Aaron will finish his in December, and we will be living and working in the same country for more than 2 years--something we have never done together! We are truly enjoying feeling settled here and going back to our day to day routine.

Part of that routine is biking to school most days.  Driving in Cali is ridiculous.  Biking in Cali is not much better. Yet biking here is one of our favorite ways to get around.  There's something about filtering through traffic and trying to navigate around cars, trucks, motorbikes, street performers, vendors, potholes, sewer grates, speed bumps, stray dogs, lizards, horse carts, and glass that stimulates an unbeatable adrenaline rush.  Yet soon, the higher we climb up to school, the mountains begin to peak above the clouds, the sounds of the city fade in the distance, and that adrenaline is tamed by the energy of the Farallones.  Each morning starts with this rollercoaster, and we wouldn't have it any other way.  This is home.