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Published: August 27th 2006
historical moment
having the phone interview with the EAFIT Lnaguage Center coordinator on a hot day in Cartagena while taking a stroll during my short visit there. It's strange how living in a country for a long time gives you another perspective , totally different from the one you had at the beginning. It's true that some things never change, but some of them you grow to accept and strangely enough to tell yourself that their way is much better than your way. Rest assured, I'm not getting lazy or irresponsible jejeje... that's what I've been complaining about the Colombian people on the coast. But not only that I understand them better and the way they think and see life in general, not only that I've started to accept things which in the beginning seemed excruciatingly stupid and out of place, but now I do believe that when it comes to certain aspects of life, their way is THE WAY. It still shocks me and makes me laugh when my students asked what their hobbies are, say 'Sleeping' and not one, but at least 4 out of 10 in each and every class!! And it still surprises me to hear how they brag about taking a nap in the library on one of the soft leather sofas whose purpose is to be comfy for the studious hard-working students.
I've realised that Colombians are very blunt, but with no mean intentions. When I was back in Santa Marta bitching about my life, they would just smile and ask me 'Then why don't you just leave if you don't like it here, if you're not happy?' I felt offended, like they were dismissively telling me to get the hell out of their country. I mean, in the end, when you are in a country and you bitch about people being irresponsible and unreliable, what do you expect? sympathy, compassion? their approval and applause?? Actually I don't know what I was thinking, telling Colombians that I didn't like their lack of punctuality or the fact that I felt that I couldn't rely on what they said or even worse, promise.
'-Yes, Mona, you are right, we are the worst, here you go, a medal for you for being so responsible and hard-working!' lol...anyways, the point is that they just tell you straight to your face exactly what they think, most of them anyway, but this is not considered rude at all, they are only being sincere. They're outspoken and not afraid to speak their mind, what's there to blame?
Jumping from one topic to another, I just wanna mention a saying here in Medellin, where people say "There aren't ugly girls, but only poor girls" Ok, let me explain that! Medellin is renowned for its dead drop gorgeous women! And indeed they are! Boob job, nose job, liposuction...you ask it, they have it! Plastic surgery here is a very profitable business and fake boobs are everywhere and I mean it! The girls don't hide having plastic surgery help them enhance their beauty where mother nature failed to meet their expectations. One of my students has been through a painful liposuction surgery 2 weeks ago and she can barely move, but looks one thousand times better then before, the nose job is perfect, helping this already hot Colombian woman look even hotter with a cute doll face. At 32 they look 26 and I am not kidding!
A survey I checked recently names classifies Colombia as one of the top3 countries in the world with the happiest population. It really got me thinking....it's strange, in such a poor country, so many genuinely happy people! But happiness has nothing to do with money, not real happiness anyway. It has
some work colleagues
Colegio Bilingue. Great time,you really made me feel at home!!! Thank you!Caro, Patricia, Lady and Sara, the cutest and brithest kid on earth. to do with your family being healthy and getting along well, having the sun shine above you practically all year round.... people here are happy and you can see it in the way they treat each other, the way they speak , behave, dance, party. I myself am happy here. I've made many friends and love hanging out with Colombians, trying to improve my slasa moves and my Spanish. I just love the sun and the feeling I get living in Colombia 😊
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