Blogs from Santander, Colombia, South America - page 4

Hola mis queridos amigos, su franklin cárdenas gonzalez esta aquí, si me recuerdan? tenia tiempo ya que no escribia, casi un año para ser preciso, bueno, digamos que he estado ocupado en otras cosas que me han tenido corriendo de un lado a otro. Ahora afortunadamente llega una semana de descanso, perdon... de recogimiento, y es asi como aprovecho para escribir algunas lineas y publicar algunas fotos de la Semana Santa, la cual tuve la dicha de pasarla en la ciudad universitaria que me inspira muchos sentimientos de admiracion y sobre todo me trae muchisimos recuerdos de mis queridos companeros, amigos y profesores. Entonces, hablemos de Pamplona... Un poquitico de Historia Fundada el 1 de Noviembre de 1549 por Pedro de Ursua, Pamplona se ha convertido en una bella ciudad archirequeteconocida por su ambiente espiritual y ... read more

There's no point trying to deny it - Sunday was all about recovering from the excesses of Friday and Saturday. The hotel where I'm staying is clean and comfortable, located in (what I'm told is) the best area in Bucaramanga and the staff are super-friendly. But one BIG gripe that I have with the place is that it's noisy - every morning I'm woken at around 6.30 by traffic and chattering in the restaurant, cleaning staff etc etc. It's really more due to the design of the building. My room looks out onto another room across the tiny atrium of the hotel. Two floors below is the restaurant, reception area, main entrance etc. The windows are single glazed and there is no escaping the noise first thing in the mornings - other than judicious use of ... read more

So we arrived at the top of the hill, or small mountain, if you will, and could see all of Bucaramanga and its mountains. There was a large zone fenced off for the take off and landing of parapenters, and they were dozens swirling in the air above. So you gonna jump? You’re going to do it? -said the eager voices of Ramon and Jorge. My initial thought and response was no way!!! Did I really need to fly off the edge of a mountain?? I knew I wanted to try it someday, just to do it, but not because it was something I always wanted to do. The two of them kept insisting, especially Ramon, do it, do it, do it. It really didn’t persuade me. It was not just that I was afraid, I ... read more

So I arrived in San Gil to find all of the unexpected, to come back to myself, and to make a one-eighty in all my plans. Here I would set out a foundation for a new path in my life - I was about to take a turn that was going to take me on a journey for years, and maybe for the rest of my life… We arrived rather late in the afternoon in this most majestic old colonial town, built of old white thick tapia homes (tapia is a technique in which they build walls by filling spaces boarded by wooden boards with clay, similar to adobe but different), topped with beautiful clay roofs. We put our bags in our two story room, in Fernando’s (Luzma’s husband and Edgar’s father) father, Papa Alcides’ family ... read more

Ok, Chantal, here it goes, although I cannot promise anything. You see, my so-called passive life leaves me no choice but spend days with little going on in my life. As usual, you, my friend, are absolutely right and I must write some lines about that very little... well, these days we or should I say, they, are celebrating the Holy Week. What a sinner I am... But before, some of the background... Contrary to your multicultural societies, we Colombians grow Roman catholic, not much choice there, though :) and due to the Spanish evangelisation in South America, most countries are big in this week's celebration. The event goes from the Palm Sunday to the Easter Sunday, whose spotlights are Christ's cruxifiction and his return from death. Therefore, these days, which are an opportunity for catholics ... read more