Meet ’n Greet

One of the many positive aspects about being an exotic foreigner visiting parts not many others go to is that people are usually very surprised and happy to see you. Many small children just gasp and can’t believe what they see, others predictably point and scream. What I find particularly funny is the reaction of grown ups, who can blurt out “Oh what pretty eyes!” instead of saying hello. For some reason girls below 15 and women above 40 feel no inhibitions and are saying whatever they feel, whereas the age group 15-40 demonstrates complete lack of interest, something Joni says is solely because “Colombian women are great actresses”. Having watched my fair share of telenovellas I am not sure about the generality of that statement.

Once the greeting is done, the next amusing phase begins: Names. In the beginning it was tricky to learn how to spell and pronounce names such as Gerrardo or Jaime, but now the greatest confusion comes from names such as Edixon, Jhon, Yeison, Leidy, Stiven & Maicol. These names are all versions of English names, but with spanglish spelling. This struck me as funny, that is, until I realised that this must be how my own name; Patrik (without c), is perceived by non-Swedes.

Usually the next question is if Joni and I are brothers. When told “no”, some ask “maybe you're cousins?” Another popular theme is where we are from. When one kid was encouraged to guess he replied “the circus”. Sometimes my Spanish gets me in trouble, like the time with the girl who thought I was sick because I didn’t understand her whispers. In general though, I am able to communicate and enjoy the hospitality and warmth of the Colombians.

Mixed Pix from Agua Blanca

Agua Blanca is less of a slum and much more just a rough area, but within an area of half a million people there are bound to be big differences.