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| Felix and Colombian friends |
This is the marketing slogan of Colombia, this is the impression that Colombia wants to make in the world. This slogan is true and regardless of what you do here, regardless of what you want to accomplish and regardless of whom you meet, you need passion. Of course you need to speak some Spanish, you should be able to dance salsa and you must really like frijoles con arroz (rice with beans) but most importantly you need passion here in Colombia.
I work here as an English teacher now, it is a dream job. I can put in all my creativity, all my love for the language and can share my past and recent adventures with my students. My students love to hear about the world, believe in a better world, and dream about traveling the world one day. It is difficult for Colombians to leave their country, it is difficult to get a job inside of Colombia which matches their excellent education but nevertheless they have passion every single day to come to class and to carry on with their dream.
Even more so as a foreigner you are welcome everywhere, you get hosted by a Paisa family and they are so many invitations and celebrations. It is hard to do anything else than just to hang out with all your friends, all the Manizalitas (the girls from Manizales, supposedly the most beautiful girls in Colombia—but the Calenas the girls from Cali claim the same) and get ready for the next rumba (party). You fuel yourself with Ron de Caldas (Rum) or Aguardiente (Firewater) which we usually drink on the street in order to save some money later on in the discoteca. And then a whole night of bailando (dancing) with the Manizalitas, Salsa, Reggaeton, Vallenato, Cumbia and Tecno it is all good. Everyone here as also lots of passion to party as much as for work. This is what I will take home from here to spend my life with passion everything else is a waste of time.
Two weeks ago I came back from holidays, but not holidays in a traditional sense, more like having the biggest adventure of my life. First of all, we checked out the Cali nightlife in order to clarify the question if Manizalitas or Calenas are more beautiful. It is hard to decide and in the moment they are all beautiful. But for sure Calenas wear less because Cali is hot, very hot in all regards...Baila Morena, baila Morena!!
Then we visited Popayan after Cartagena the second-oldest city in all the Americas, a city full of history and the Jerusalem of South America. After many churches and meeting many international and Colombian friends in a hotel for 5 USD per night we decided to visit the Indians in the mountains around Popayan. It was not the safest idea (this is guerillaland but in Colombia you always believe that you have good luck) but definitely the most beautiful idea (and this is what matters in Colombia).
So we took a Chiva (a traditional Colombian bus painted in the most creative way) together with the Indians into the mountains. Many of them did not speak Spanish because they have their own language and preserve their own indigenous culture. I was riding on a potato sack on the roof and we passed wonderful cliffs, got shaken up by the rocky road, and exchanged a lot of smiles with the Indians. It was a beautiful adventure.
After Popayan we traveled to Buenaventura because we needed to catch our cargo boat towards Isla Gorgona, a tropical paradise 10 hours away in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. After being on an overloaded little ship with many people who all wanted to go home to their isolated villages and they dropped us off at 4am... But not in a traditional sense in a harbor, we had to land with lancetta on the beach. A lancetta is an even smaller boat, more like a bathtub, because we had to scoop water during our 15 minute ride towards the island.
Isla Gorgona was then paradise in a traditional sense. Palm trees, lonely beaches, jungle, monkeys, birds, lots of sun, crystal-clear water and a coral reef. There were not many people on the island, a couple of rich tourists (who came by plane and speed-boat), the five of us (me, Anya, Steve, Valera, and James) and five policemen who protected us from the rich tourists, who did not want to have us at the beginning (we came unexpectedly with a cargo boat) but the police invited us for dinner.
On the next day the police clarified with the resort manager that we could get everything for half the price and we advanced in the social hierarchy of the island. We were anyhow stranded in paradise during the Easter holidays as no cargo boat would
pass by before Saturday night. So we enjoyed four wonderful days playing on the beach, swimming in the ocean, hiking in the jungle and we even took a speed-boat ride around the island. Most of the time we were among ourselves because they island is big and they were not many people.
Traveling in Colombia is awesome and adventure is guaranteed. We have met so many different people and have seen so many different places. The whole trip was beautiful! It is hard to believe that you can find all this in one single country. But the answer is simple—this is Colombia. Colombia is Passion.
