Week 1: Chivas, Quincineras, and Alt 64

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Tomorrow will be the anniversary of my arrival in Cali, a city in Colombia near the Pacific coast in the central-south of the country. Famous for the beautiful women (las Calenas), salsa, sugar cane, and the most fertile land in the world second only to the Nile. Also, the city has the most displaced people living here second only to areas of the Sudan. I can't believe I have only been here one week, I feel like it has been at least a month already. Those of you who know me well, or even a little, probably realize that I could go on for pages into intimate details of stories that may not be in consecutive order or connected at all. In order to save that torture for my journal, I am to share only particularly funny-interesting highlights here and hopefully pictures soon.

So three funny-interesting things that I must share are included in the title of this blog.
1st: Una Chiva is a large truck that holds chickens, pigs, food, and people and transports all of these things all over the city and into the mountains (where I am living with a friend and her family). People ride on the roof of the truck, and next week, my friend and I will attempt such an adventure to get to the mountain on the other side of the city, where her uncle has a farm.

2nd: A Quincinera is the name for the fifteenth birthday of girls in many Latin American countries. In Cali, 15 is considered a very good age, and the birthday is a kind of right of passage for girls. I was fortunate enough to be invited to one yesterday, and oh boy...Here I was congratulating myself on all of the spanish I was learning...having dinner with about ten 14 and 15 year olds squealing about boys, dance clubs, and their hair, I am pretty sure I got out one, maybe two correct words.

3rd: I feel I must apologize for taking so long to contact many of you, while I did have some internet access, the keyboards here are a little different and I could not for the life of me figure out how to make the @ symbol. The symbol is on a key of the keyboard, that I kept on pushing, but silly me, the actual way to get the symbol is Alt 64. Ofcourse! If it wasn't for the kindness of the locals here, it might have been a month before you would have heard anything from me...

OK, I thought I could limit myself to 3 interesting things, but I have 2 more funny stories that I must share.
The family I am living with has birds, and this morning one of the baby birds fell from its nest. It was cold in the early morning, and when the baby was found, we all thought it was dead. But the mother (Martha) revived the bird by putting it in her cleavage (quick heat) and exlaimed that it was a good thing she found the bird first, because if I had found it, it would have died. All of the women in the family thought this was hilarious, and I hope you are giggling as you read this.

LAST story: In order to block sun, mosquitos, and to be dressed more conservatively at a moments notice, I brought with me and have been wearing (a lot!) a khaki long sleeved button down shirt with lots of pockets. Just today, I read in one of my travel books, a recommendation to never ever wear khaki clothes with lots of pockets while in Colombia so as to not be confused with the military or guerillas. Excellent.

I LOVE YOU ALL very much! Please know that I am very safe with this family and having the time of my life.

Hasta la proxima (until next time)

Andra

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Photos

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One small part of the garden of the house where I am staying

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A view of one of several mountain ranges that encircle the flat valley of the 2nd most fertile land in the world, sugar cane, corn, and grapes are grown here.

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My favorite type of tree so far, Saman, it provides a lot of shade and the locals get very sad when one is trimmed or cut down

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Some of the girls from the Quincinera, on the far right is Alejandra, the friend I am staying with

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A view of the old part of Cali where a lot of foreigners and artists live

Comments

[Bridget]

YAY!
Cleavage and khaki?! I LOVE it :) I'm so glad you're having a great time so far, and I'm enjoying your stories and pictures! The tree is beautiful! Also, if you go to any galleries, you should buy a painting since they're super cheap, and beautiful! It is splendid to hear from you...have fun! Bridget

[annie]

Awesome. I love the cleavage story of course. But most of all I am so glad you are enjoying essential cultural experiences like the birtday party. Miss Andra keep up the excellent work. Kisses.

[Rachel]

Andra - the blonde gringa guerilla....
the thought of you being confused as a guerilla almost made me pee my pants!! But maybe you could be onto something, because if everyone reacts the way I did then you could totally be a covert, blatant guerilla and pull it off! Its an option anyways, just put it in the back of your mind.... oh and Your host mom was right, that is such a cute story but that little bird would have been a gonner for sure! But that's ok!! It sounds like you are having a great time. Buenos suertes amiga! Te amo mucho mucho, hasta luego!!

[Yoolie]

those trees are fucking awesome.