A town where people blare merengue and worship a statue of Shakira? Yes, please! Thanks for making us green with envy, cici_EZ! —Sparkitors
As someone born and raised in small-town Canada, I never expected to head south. And I mean waaaay south.
Yes, I live in Barranquilla, Colombia. In South America. And no, I do not live in a hut in the jungle; and yes, there is a McDonalds here.
First of all, I want to dispense with a rumor. For some reason, all my North American friends think that Colombia is a death trap/war zone/puppy-roasting haven/hideaway for satanic villains (yes, I am serious). I’m not naive; there are scary places in Colombia, and dangerous neighborhoods in Barranquilla. But come on, no one with half a brain will wander in to Guerrilla (the rebels' and bad guys' territory) looking to see some sights. It is possible to walk down the street here without being robbed four times.
Barranquilla may not be a tropical paradise, but it’s not that bad. Sure, there’s a serious garbage problem, traffic laws don’t exist, and most of the population could stand to lay off the fast food (hey, just sayin’), but the beaches are really something, and it’s hard to be sad when the temperature rarely drops below 82 degrees and days go by when not a single cloud mars the blue sky.
People here know how to have fun. Don’t even get me started on the Carnavals! They occur in mid-February and are six days of crazy partying and gigantic dancing parades where anyone can throw on a crazy costume and join in. People decked themselves out head to toe in hundreds of coloured feathers, and if you don’t join in the dancing from the sidelines....well, you’re just a party pooper.
And yes, there is a giant statue of Shakira. Remember, Barranquilla is her hometown.
How to describe costeños (what people on the coast are called)? How about happy, crazy, partying, fun-loving, and slightly....no.....EXTREMELY lazy? They are obsessed with the Barranquilla soccer team Atlético Junior, to the point where your clean car is in serious danger of being dirtied up if it lacks a Junior flag. And you don't want to know about the repercussions of displaying the flag of a different team.
Everyone loves music, and not all this pop stuff. These Latinos love BLARING (I think there are high rates of deafness in Barranquilla) their salsa, merengue, reggaeton, champeta (slightly "risqué"), and vallenato music, all with a completely addictive beat that almost forces you to dance.
The people love to drink. In fact, I'd say that to find out how many alcoholics exist, you’d probably want to start by counting those who aren’t alcoholics.
When I first came here, I attempted to go to an "English speaking" school (it turns out almost everything there is conducted in Spanish...and my vocabulary when I came here basically consisted of “uno...dos...tres...uhh....”). I’m now homeschooled, but I’ve met some really great and friendly people here who help me loads with my Spanish. I live in a quiet sort of neighbourhood, and not once in the 9 months I’ve been here have I felt threatened. I’ve done some pretty cool things here that I would never have dreamed of doing in North America, such as learning to salsa and even growing a small corn field across the street!
Any Colombianos out there?
Headed to Barranquilla? Check out Dan's guide to family vacations before you leave.
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