Can you imagine just leaving home and moving from country to country, culture to culture?
How exactly would you do that?
What exactly are the benefits?
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| Tocancipá Cudinamarca |
I went from Jamaica to Colombia.
Honestly, I can't remember if I was hesitant or not. I knew I had a goal in mind and I was determined to follow my dreams.
I decided that I wanted to continue to progress in my language acquisition journey. In order to do that I needed to immerse myself completely in the language and culture and what better way to do that than to get a job in a country where the language is spoken?
So, I did just that.
I had been studying Spanish and theatre at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica when I was offered the opportunity to move to Colombia and teach English. I graciously accepted.
Despite the stigma attached to teaching, you realise sooner rather than later that teaching isn't the worst job as many people seem to think and even more with the right set of circumstances you become a world traveller faster than you can count ABC…
Wait no… I think I'm supposed to say 1,2,3...
My brain must still be on holiday. It happens sometimes since you generally have more breaks than the average person that works from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or longer in some cases.
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Being close to the border I encountered some Venezuelans who had come over to Colombia in search of food, clothes, lodging and finances. It wasn't very difficult to understand their troubles as we occasionally see the catacylsm of their country in the media but I couldn't desist from feeling sad nonetheless at the simple thought of their sufferation.
One day, I opened my door after hearing a knock and in front of me stood a man who politely ask if I could offer him anything. He told me about his situation and after a little while asked me if he could have the yoghurt which I was eating. I wish I could have done more to help him but I offered him a fresh yoghurt from the fridge and a bag of other things I found in the kitchen without hesitating. This left me feeling distressed that my daily pleasures which I don't think twice about are the desires and necessities of others who don't have access to them.
On the other hand, my fondest memory of my time in Colombia was most definitely the trip that I took to Medellín. I am supposed to tell you in English terms about my experience but I regret to inform you that I cannot transcribe and transfer how much fun I had in this city.
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| Travel group in Colombia |
I spent this time exploring Medellín with a group of awesome people including: Egytians, Germans, Swiss, Canadians, Americans and Jamaicans.
The highlight tourist attraction of the trip was without a doubt the grave of Pablo Escobar and the house wherein he was killed. Escobar was a well-known Colombian drug lord, narcoterrorist and believe it or not, a politician. Thanks to him the Medellín Cartel was founded and cocaine trade to the United States monopolised in the 1980's and 1990's.
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| Pablo Escobar's grave |
We also visited Comuna 13, a famous but volatile graffitti neighbourhood in Colombia and to top it all off, we climbed to the top of the huge rock at Guatape.
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| Comuna 13 |
Food on the other hand in my opinion wasn't as good as the food in the Caribbean which I was accustomed to but I really enjoyed the beans, soups and beer in the city.
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Besos y abrazos
- Danielle
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