Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Off to Coffee Country

Well, I have not blogged much from Colombia. You will just have to come see for yourself, ha ha ;-)

Tomorrow I am off to coffee country. I am headed to Salento, a beautiful small town surrounded by amazing landscapes and coffee ranches. Hey, someone has to do it! I plan to hang out and down a few "tintos". Tinto literally means red in Spanish, but in Colombia it also means a black coffee. Vino is also tinto here. Coffee is an important part of my life and I want to examine the process up close!

Anyway, I will be writing up and posting some notes on Colombian culture soon (dancing, regionalism, machismo, economics, etc.). I have talked with and observed the people here and learned a lot. Unlike Asia, I can communicate with everyone here and it makes a big difference.

I have been doing a lot of dancing over the last week (both lessons and real dance places). Luckily, the girls that took me dancing were very patient! Also, I took some videos of people dancing here including a stop at a "fonda" which is a traditional countryside dance place. I wish the video quality was better so I am not sure if they are blog-worthy.

I have really enjoyed Medellin -- enough that I might come back to live here for awhile next year.

Every time I think I have advanced in my Spanish something happens to humble me. A Spanish-only speaker calls me on a cheap phone and I can barely hold a conversation. Or I have to ask the waitress to repeat something several times. Sometimes the simplest stuff can be hard to understand in a foreign language.

2 comments:

steve said...

Travis: sounds like you are having fun in Colombia. How much longer in Medellin? I knew you would like it. I would like to have spent more time there. Jay and I are back at our jobs. Still working to try to maintain the Spanish we learned at school in CTG. Agree with you about the girls in Colombia with "painted on" clothes. I recently sent Jenny (my mother in CTG) some photos. Hope she received them. Stay out of trouble.

Steve

Travis said...

Hey Steve-o, It was great meeting you and Jay in language school in Cartagena and I wish you the best on your trip to Mexico. I have been a slacker at updating my blog but I returned to the USA around June 20. I leave for Thailand in early September. Somebody has got to do it! ;-) I actually hope to spend my first month in Thai language school in Bangkok. Please keep me posted on the travels. By the way, I will probably return to the great country of Colombia next year via Mexico.

Travis