Blogs from Los Llanos , Colombia, South America

When you think of South American food, unfortunately, many people think of tacos and enchiladas, which is entirely inaccurate for pretty much everywhere except Mexico. It's actually pretty difficult to generalize food in S America as each country and even each region within each country has such different customs when it comes to preparing food. In fact, even foods with the same name and same general idea behind them can be so different, they are unrecognizeable when you're used to seeing it a certain way. I can't speak for everywhere else, but in Colombia, the food is amazing - ajiaco, sancocho, mamona, tamales, picadas, cholaos, arepas, empanadas, I mean, there were very few things that I didn't love. But this entry is not about that. It's about bread. One thing that I will miss so much ... read more

Here is a quick summary of the kinds of fruits I've been eating here (all day every day) besides the regulars like bananas, apples and pears. Guama - It looks like a really long skinny cucumber, but on the inside it looks like a banana sliced up with lucky beans inside of it. It tastes like marshmallows, it's really good Guanabana - it's green and spiky on the outside, but it tastes so freaking good, like candy. It's really sweet and it tastes delicious when you make juice out of it, but I don't really know how to describe the taste. It's kind of annoying to eat because you have to take out all the seeds and it can get messy, but it's definitely worth it. Mango Dulce - It's everything you love about mangoes only ... read more

Living in Colombia has been a pretty cool experience. If I didn't miss my husband, I wouldn't mind staying here. Even though they don't have air conditioning, clean water, clean public restrooms stocked with toilet paper and soap, and the traffic is awful, I really don't miss that much from the US (except my husband). Maybe it's because I'm a foreigner, because I talk funny, or just because I've gotten really lucky, but people are very friendly, caring, concerned and helpful. It's a very polite society. They advised me when I got here, "people here invade your personal space and it might look like they are going to rob you, but if they are saying good morning, they aren't thieves" Good advice. Favorite things about living here (in no particular order): 1. The mountains in the ... read more

Friday night was "la noche de los mejores!" for our clinic. Basically it was an awards ceremony/gigantic party with all the "veteran" workers. I was invited because I'm American, sometimes, being from the US has it's perks! Anyway, one thing I really love about this country is how good they are at celebrating things. I think this country has more holidays than any other - At least one paid holiday every month, and sometimes more than 3 in a month! I've been to some work parties, and this one takes the cake. It was in a hotel ballroom, it had live dancers, a live band, a huge dance floor, a buffet with real food (not fried food), two desserts, raffles and free drinks. Everyone dressed up fancy, but danced salsa and reggaeton like they were in ... read more

Today we went to the Rio Borrachero. I'm not sure if that's the real name of the river or if that's just what it's called where we were. It was about a 45 min drive from our small city and man was it beautiful - the drive and the river. It is located in a somewhat isolated community where you get off the main road (and there aren't many main roads in these parts), and you have to drive about 2 miles on an unpaved, rocky dirt road. Then, which is somewhat different from what I was used to, you turn into a driveway - a private driveway, pay 2000 pesos per person (basically $1/person) and you drive to the backyard where it leads straight to the river. Blue water, beautiful trees, with a view of ... read more