Plural of Anecdote

Not often does random googling yield valuable insights, but when entering search terms ”Colombia Private Schools Slum” they do. Not because they are the center of my (everlasting) thesis work, but because of what I found on a blog by a guy who had spent some time in Bogota. Below is a quote from his post about the people in the Recycling District of Bogota

Do you see the blonde kid sitting next to me in this photo? I asked the locals where he came from. They explained to me that a German tourist met one of the locals a few years ago. And now there’s an extra mouth to feed in the Recycling District.

I’m not making this up. I didn’t photoshop the little blonde kid into the photo. There was really a half-German little boy growing up in this ghetto

This quote struck a cord in me, since one of my strongest memories from my time in Nigeria was the sight of a five-year old blonde girl with pale skin, whose only visible company was three Nigerian ladies of dubious reputation. That sight really wrecked my brain, since I could not understand why any responsible parent would entrust their child to those women. The conclusion was pretty obvious. But having solved that riddle, I found myself left wondering about what kind of life would that girl lead? What kind of identity would she have? I, of course, could not answer this question, but neither have I been able to forget it.

Now I add a new question on which to ponder: how prevalent is this fate? Considering that sex-tourism is on the increase (or, at the very least, the media coverage of it), the answer is probably quite depressing.

Cali

Colombia’s third biggest city, with a population of about 2.5 million is situated in a valley in the Andes. The valley floor is at an elevation of almost 1000 meters, guaranteeing a very nice climate which is never too warm or too cold, but instead constantly 26 degrees Celsius. One could almost call it eternal summer, and I don't mean this kind of summer. In addition, the high mountain ranges (up to 4000 meters) protect it from much rainfall.

The valley is pretty wide (30-50 Km, I guess)

The city itself sits just at one of the sides of the valley, meaning that certain parts of the city are stretching up along the side of the hills adjacent to the mountain range.

The city seems to be doing well economically, the streets are mostly clean and there is a multitude of shopping centers. The city authorities are also almost done with upgrading the city with a new public transit system. In addition, the real estate sector is booming like crazy.

I said "almost done", certain areas are still under construction

Right now is the season for flying kites, mostly due to the brisk evening breeze in July and August. Hence the sky is full of big and small kites. I know that this is a common phenomenon in many countries, and maybe used to be popular in Sweden too, but my upbringing was pretty kite free so I find it fascinating to watch the birdlike shapes climb to up into the sky until they are mere dots, then elegantly veer left, right, dive, spin and then return to a graceful glide.

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Accommodation

Joni's room has a hammock

Cool house, where my thesis partner Joni lived during his previous stays. The owners, a family of three, also live here and they are very nice and helpful. Also nice are the two dogs of the family. I have never seen any two dogs equally apt at detecting people approaching the house. Once one steps even close to the house, regardless of noise from the street, they will run to the door and welcome you with some barking.

Joni and Ivan (the son of the family and Joni's best Colombian friend)

One of the dogs with some books (reading?)

The house also has a roof which it is possible to climb and use as sun deck, or just to observe Siloe, the nearest slum, creeping up along a hill a stone throw away from the house. In the evening, when the lights in the slum dwellings are on it looks as if a galaxy has landed on the hill. It is simply mesmerizing.

Siloe in the daytime

The only tiny drawback with this accommodation would be that I don’t have internet in my room or that the shower has warm water, but considering that I get to use Joni’s computer (to write this for example) or that the weather is such that all I want is cold showers anyway, these are truly insignificant problems.

The neighborhood is very relaxed and nice, as you can see.

I just love the fact that bananas are hanging over the parking space

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Food and Beverage

¿Se puede tenerlo sin cilantro?
Is it possible to have this without coriander?

For some reason this is the first phrase I learned in India and in Colombia when it comes to food. Almost any vegetable dish here includes it, and I just can’t stand it.

Mmm, breakfast.

Other than that, food here is nice and varied, though perhaps a bit too chicken centric, but there are alternatives I am sure, it is just that I haven’t spotted them yet.

The fruit selection is wide and of good quality.

When it comes to famous local specialties I haven’t much to report. Coffee I never drank before and am not planning to start now either. The closest thing I have gotten to coca was some tea made by its leaves, sold in supermarkets. It didn’t have any bitter taste nor any tangible effect whatsoever. Quelle surprise!

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The Gym

I am not writing about this in order to make anyone believe I’ll come back 10 kgs heavier than I left, but to share with you the strange clientele my gym has. Of course this gym has its share of body-builders and blokes just trying to get in shape (count me to the latter :-), but this gym is something special. At least half of all the people there are what can best be described as trophy wives for people with dubious sources of income. These women stick out for two reasons.

1) They each have so much silicon that I am surprised that they don’t fall over forwards.

It is truly insane how these women look. I knew that Cali is famous for having the best plastic surgeons in Latin America, and offering the best “value” for such services in the world, but still, to see that every second person has lips, chest and a rear that appear so unnatural really stuns me every time I go there.

2) They mostly, but not always, have their “personal trainer” (this is code for body guard) with them all the time. These are truly huge guys, but you never see them work out, they are instead constantly at the side of the women.

Sadly I have not yet dared to take pictures inside the gym. I don’t know how to, even though I guess most of the trophy wives are actually very proud over their physical demeanor.

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Colombia warm-up

Interestingly, both The Economist and BusinessWeek have visited Colombia recently. Most pleasing to the eye is the web-presentation by BW, but their main article (+ podcast) is also worth a minute of your time. This is of course also true about what the Economist’s correspondent wrote.

They both say that the country has improved enormously, even though rural areas a bit less so.