Blogs from Armenia, Quindío, Colombia, South America

If I could give this year a defining word (in my personal experience) I'd say the word is: "Colombia." Not only did Disney just release a new movie last month about Colombia titled "Encanto," which honestly blew my mind, but we also got to take a whirl wind trip all around Colombia. I got to finally meet my blood relatives that live on the Colombian coast. Meeting them actually brought me so much closure about who I truly am, because unlike most of my Colombian-American peers, I was a late bloomer getting to know my second country, my extended family, and my roots. I can tell you that I absolutely love my Colombian heritage. I am a first generation American, which means that both my parents were immigrants from Colombia, and I was born and raised ... read more

Dnes sme dorazili za kamaratom – Andrey z Armenie. Tazko by mu niekto uveril, ze je to pravy Kolumbijcan. Okrem netypickeho krstneho mena a mesta, odkial pochadza, vyzera ako pravy Egyptan. Desat rokov zil a studoval v Prahe, takze teraz k tomu vsetkemu hovori aj hezky cesky. Ubytoval nas u seba v rodicovskom dome, kde okrem neho, zije aj jeho brat, sestra a mama, (asi 80-rocna pani, krasna a mlada do tvare, udajne vdaka dlhorocnemy uzivaniu mandloveho oleja – uz to mam na nakupnom zozname !!) Dalsi siesti surodenci uz byvaju s vlastnymi rodinami. S Andreyom sme navstivili nedaleke mestecko Salento a turisticky vyhladavanu oblast Valle de Cocora, ktora je sucastou narodneho parku (Los Nevados National Natural Park). Nadhernu dolinu preslavili najvyssie palmy sveta - voskove palmy (palma... read more

Today we left La Tata and were taken on the Jeep Willy around town to pick up our life jackets and our lunch (that was made at one of the locals homes) and down into the valley to the Rio la Vieja (River of Old Women.. not Carrie and I). The raft was made completely from bamboo and we found out later that after the 17km trip down the river, they take the raft completely apart and load it into a truck to get it back to it's starting point. The raft we were on had two benches, but another held 3 benches and another group got on that one. We had two guides/people who used large bamboo sticks to make us go in the correct direction and not run into any rocks or trees. One ... read more

Today we hopped on a bus, similar to a Greyhound bus, and headed over and through the mountains to the Coffee Zone (Zona Cafetera, or Coffee Axle) where the region produces the most of Colombia's coffee crop. The people here are fantastic as we were expecting to catch a 11:45am bus, but when we arrived at the station, Elias (Jose's family) found a bus that left at 10:30, and the driver stood there waiting on us even though it was 10:32am. The views were, once again, stunning, and mountain sides hold coffee plants galore, all in perfect lines to make the picking easier. We were so high up, I felt like we were really close to the clouds. We also witnessed 3 kids, not older than 13-14, hop on the back of a semi truck for ... read more

heeeey vacantion in eje cafetero. eje cafetero is the place where the best coffee of the world is from! we where ther on vacantion with the familia we sleept in armenia in house of lauras uncle we whent to the coffe park, the farms , eat a lot of food really good!!... read more