The Blaus - South America and Europe

7 de Junio - Cartagena Parte 2

Before we arrived in Colombia, we did our research to make sure that it was a safe place to travel. We talked to other travelers we met in South America who had been to Colombia, we read the warnings posted on State Department web sites, we scanned recent news stories. We got very conflicted information from all of these sources. Most travelers told us that it was safe as long as you avoid travel by bus at night and stay out of the rural areas controlled by paramilitary groups. State Department web sites for the US, Austrailia, Canada, and England advised against travel in Colombia. We read warnings about kidnappings, reports of the use of an odorless, colorless drug that is put in food or drink to knock victims out and take advantage of them, we heard about express kidnappings in which the victim is taken to the ATM and forced to withdraw cash and hand it over. These are things that would scare even the most daring traveler away. After all the bad news we heard about Colombia, we half expected to be greeted by guerillas the moment we stepped off the airplane, to read about kidnappings in the newspaper everyday, to be poisoned, or at the very least to feel terrified for our safety the entire time we were in the country.

Perhaps we have been extremely lucky so far, or things are more stable now than they have been in the recent past. The current unrest in Bolivia proves that timing is everything when traveling in South America. Our timing in Bolivia couldn´t have been better. When we traveled there a couple of months ago, there were no signs of roadblocks, protests, or chaos. The current protests in La Paz would have prevented us from seeing much of Bolivia if it was on our itinerary now. We see that the fragile balance of social stability in South American countries can be easily and quickly upset. Toca madera (knock on wood), but so far we have not seen anything that has made us feel threatened in Colombia in any way. We are being extremely careful and following the advice we get from locals, but we can´t help but wonder why this amazing country has such a bad reputation now that we have seen it for ourselves. There is a real paranoia about Colombia that we think might be based on disinformation. When GW Bush was here in November last year to meet their president, he brought 15,000 armed police and military officers with him for protection. Cartageneros were not able to leave their homes or park their cars on the street. Everyone we talk to here says that the best thing that we can do for Colombia is to go home and spread the word about how much we enjoy our experiences and that it is safe to travel here.

In one week we witnessed only 3 small episodes of social disruption. A fight broke out on the beach in Boca Grande one afternoon and a crowd gathered around, but quickly dispersed. It was over as quickly as it started. Another day when we were walking around the center of the old city we saw a small boy throwing beer bottles at a security guard outside of a storefront and in the presence of a dozen street vendors. We watched as the kid broke bottles on the sidewalk and then held them out and threatened to throw them at the vendors and the security officer. A few minutes later, the boy dropped the bottles and ran away with his bare feet and the problem was solved. There was a commotion outside on the street one day when we were eating lunch at a restaurant in the center, but that died down and we never heard any more about it. For such a friendly and laid back culture, we do notice strife, desperation, and volatility beneath the serene surface. We never saw outbursts of violence like this in any other place (except for a fight over a traffic incident in Trujillo, Peru), but even so, we feel very safe here. The only time we have felt afraid was during a cab ride. The Colombians are crazy behind the wheel and from what we can tell, traffic violations go unchecked here. The authorities probably have other things to worry about.

We have found Colombians to be friendlier than people we have met anywhere else. We heard that they are protective of foreigners, and this may be why we have been greeted with open arms, but we sometimes can´t believe how generous and caring complete strangers have been. On the street we are often approached by Colombianos asking if we need help ("Are you lost?") or wanting to know where we are from ("¿De donde son ustedes?"). That last question is funny because they never guess that we are American, but we obviously stick out like sore thumbs here and are easily recognized as foreigners. Most of the time they guess that we are from England, France, Germany...anywhere but the good ole EEUU. The first time you frequent a restaurant, bar or store you are welcomed in and given special treatment, the second time they shake your hand and treat you like an old friend, on the third visit they introduce you to their family. Maybe they invite you to move in with them on the fourth visit, but we haven´t been anywhere four times yet, so we aren´t sure about that yet.

Needless to say, we were pleasantly surprised by our first encounter with Colombia in Cartagena. The street that our hotel was located on was colorful and lively, and probably not the kind of environment we would ever find ourselves in if we were stateside (if such a barrio exists in the States). It is interesting how when traveling you lose inhibitions or prejudices about places and people, because if you have never been to a place before and you have no prior references, you approach people and situations with a clean slate and an open heart. The neighborhood that we called home in Cartagena for a week was located in the historic zone of the city inside the 400 year old wall that once protected Cartagena from being sacked by pirates. No matter the time of day or night, when we walked down our street, we were sure to be greeted by our neighbors. There were people hanging out on the corners drinking, socializing, and escaping the heat. Old men sat around a circle and playfully argued at the top of their lungs while wildly gesticulating. Entire families set up chairs outside their homes on the pavement so that they could watch the activity on the street...it was like a block party, complete with music. Inside homes the music was turned up so that it could be heard outside. Each frontyard was transformed into a discotec. As you walk down the narrow calles and take in all the sights, sounds and scents from each house, your senses are busy and content. When we first arrived in Colombia, we were nervous about all the warnings we had been given and we experienced culture shock from the sudden introduction to Caribbean South America. The Caribbean influence is so different from the Andean culture of most of the rest of South America. There is a completely different energy here. However, after our first night there, we were comfortable and looked forward to the walk down our street to feel the heartbeat of life in Cartagena.

Cartagena is visually beautiful. Downtown in the historic district the buildings are painted in bright colors that are peeling and chipping to reveal muli-colored layers beneath. A beautiful black woman who set up her fruit stand in the shade of a doorway flashes her wide, bashful smile inviting you to buy fruit sliced in halves to show off their colors and sweet aroma. The huge, ornate doorknockers in shapes of pirates, mermaids, and other fanciful creatures invite you to enter people´s homes through giant wooden gateways that resemble ancient sea-faring vessels. Houses have wooden verandas with flowers and vines flowing down from them and there are shady open-air patios tucked away in the center of homes. When we arrived at the airport, the first thing that we noticed was a woman dressed in all brown with chocolate color skin, who was balancing a bowl of candied coconut treats on her head.

It´s so hot that you feel like you could melt, and it doesn´t even cool down at midnight, but every lunch comes with a hot soup and Cartageneros drink hot cups of tinto (coffee served in a dixie cup) all day. The food and drink is excellent in Colombia. Our favorite thing on the menu is coconut rice. Limes here are nothing like limes at home. Here they are sweet and fragrant like a flower. Limonada is made with limes, sugar and ice all blended together until frothy and it is sweet and refreshing. Aguila is the name of the local beer and there is nothing better than a cold beer in this heat. We have developed stomachs of steel, we can eat anything now and we don´t get sick. We have eaten everything from the street vendor´s carts including sausage, grilled corn-on-the-cob, meat shishkabobs, shrimp cocktail, arepas with cheese (arepas are a fried maize cake). In the Andes we ate mostly rice and potatoes, but here in the Caribbean the staples are rice and beans and the food and drink have a tropical flair.

There are some major differences between life here and life at home. The best of these differences is check-out time. Check-out time in Colombian hotels and hostels is at 3pm, which is great for people like us who aren´t usually in a rush. Another interesting difference we have seen is that mineral water doesn´t come in bottles, it comes in plastic bags, which makes drinking water a different animal. Religion is a major part of daily life for some here. On a plane ride as we were taking off, we looked over at the girl sitting across the aisle from us and she was doing the sign of the cross...father, son, holy spirit. At the airport phone kiosk, the woman working there had to finish counting her rosary beads before she could answer our question. Anytime someone asks Billy´s age and we tell them that he is 33 the reply is always the same, "Oh, that was the age of Jesus!" The payphones are so expensive here that everyone uses cell phones, and if they don´t own a cell phone, they pay to use someone else´s phone. There are people on the street who charge to use their cell phone for making calls with. Everyone stands outside their shops and says "A la orden" as people pass, which means something like "At your service" or "Can I help you?"

So far we are absolutely thrilled with our travels in Colombia, and we´re happy that we didn´t let Colombia´s bad reputation stand in the way of a good experience here.

posted by The Blaus @ 7:44 PM