Some more pictures

Some pictures

To make this blog more exciting, here are some photos:

General Impressions of Colombia

Since I have spent 2 weeks in Colombia and have visited several places, I feel the need to synthesize my impressions of this country.

1) Generally, people are supernice and kind. Bogota may be a little bit of an exception on some occasions, but overall, cabdrivers, store clerks, hotel workers, all CIAT personnel, and just people I have encountered, have been very nice and helpful.
2) Colombia is a relatively developed country (compared to the rest of the Andean nations). The people are better educated, the communication systems are rather advanced, and even transportation is better organized than in Bolivia and Peru.
3) It has a lot of colonial history. Almost everywhere there is evidence that Colombia was the heart of the Nueva Granada (the name given to Spanish colonies in the New World). Besides, the famous South American Independence hero, Simon Bolivar, lived and died in this country. In addition to the preserved architectural remnants of its past glory, it also boasts of some of the best museums I have been to.
4) It has less indigenous history since most indigenous groups here belonged to small federations unlike huge empires like those of the Incas, Mayas, and the Aztecs. At the same time, Colombia has lots of African history as it was one of the main centers of the slave trade. The mixture of ethnicities gives this country a very interesting atmosphere and a range of its own problems. It is also very regionally-diverse.
5) Even though I had only a few typical meals (a soup called sancocho, fried platano, and fish in Cartagena), all the dishes were delicious. I got completely hooked on fried platano, rice cooked in the coco milk, and cassava (which is a lot softer than the kind that I had in Bolivia and Peru). Besides, having fresh fruit several times a day always suits me well!

It’s Good to be in DC-land (election-era jibjab song)

This has been one of the best trips so far, considering that I had an obviously overweight suitcase. Besides, after sweating the whole morning, it was nice to be in an airconditioned taxi and airport. The Lord has really made this trip a blessing:
1) I had 3 legs: Cartagena-Bogota, Bogota-Miami, Miami-Reagan. I had an empty middle seat on both the first and the last nlegs (even though on the Miami-DC they announced a full-flight) and had a row of 3 seats to myself on Bogota-Miami flight. Wow!
2) I never had to pay the extra for my monster of a suitcase!!!
3) One of the most wondrous things ever: absolutely no line at US immigration point in Miami. For those of you who travel internationally and especially as a non-US citizen, you are very familiar with the tremendous lines at these check points and the amount of time you have to wait. The whole place was empty, and I literally walked to the immigration officers’ booth right when I came in. That has never ever happened to me before!

One more interesting, but less exciting point: even though Colombia is often perceived as an unsafe country with a large guerilla and narcotraffickers presence, I never felt unsafe in that regard. The only two times I realized that the country has internal security problems are on the field trip during the conference when we were not allowed to go to the highland areas to visit the trout farmers and at the Bogota airport. I had to go through 3 or 4 security points, was body-searched twice, asked the “has anyone put anything in your bags”-type questions twice (once at check-in and once at the gate), and my luggage was physically searched (everyone had to go through the same security procedures).

While it was nice to travel and get to know Colombia, it is sooo nice to be back home. Im writing this on the Miami-DC flight in the eager expectation of the upcoming arrival to my city and my apartment. I have really missed my computer, my bed, my TV shows, my gym, and my tea!

Cartagena: Enjoying the Caribbean Sea

After another super-delicious breakfast (eggs, cereal, divinely tasting fruit, and freshly squeezed juice) we embarked on an adventure to the Islas del Rosario, a protected archipelago in the Caribbean Sea about 45-minute boat ride from Cartagena. During the short tour, the boat took us around the various islands ranging from tiny to large. Most of the islands are private, with huge summer villas and hotels located on the larger ones. On a few, there are villages where the resort staff live. Our island, called la Isla del Encanto, was a medium-size island with a beach and some cabañas with hammocks as well as a cafeteria and a bar.

While some of our fellow travelers chose to sunbathe and swim, a group of us decided to go snorkeling to see the coral reefs. That was one of the best experiences of my travels!!! Even though most of the corals were dead (unfortunately, due to rising temperature in the Caribbean), there were many varieties of multi-colored fish representing all colors of the rainbow, sometimes found in the same fish species. My favorite were the bright-blue small fish with pink, yellow, and black polka-dots. I also managed to see a small jelly fish and got scratched a bit on the corals. Lunch was an enormous serving of delicious Caribbean fish and rice cooked in the coco milk with fresh and supertasty fruit for dessert.

Upon getting back to the hotel and washing off the salt, the heat finally started to get to me so we decided to have a fancier dinner at one of the few airconditioned places (by the way, I didn’t stop sweating from the moment of arrival). Again, taking advantage of being on the coast, we had gourmet fish served with a delicious side of steamed vegetables and yummy bread.

Cartagena: a Taste of Colonial History

After a restful but hot night, we got up to a huge and delicious breakfast served outside in the lovely garden/courtyard. At breakfast, we spoke more with our supernice señora (hotel owner) who offered to reserve a tour of the city for us for the afternoon. We also met a couple from Mexico with whom we ended up spending the rest of the afternoon and evening. Before the tour we walked around the city taking pictures of the beautiful streets and balconies. To the dismay of the museum geek inside of me, most of the museums were closed since it was Sunday. The only one open was the museum of Naval history, which turned out to be an interesting exposition of the history of all the forts in Cartagena, insights on all the other colonial powers that tried to attach this main gateway to the South American riches (among them Sir Francis Drake and Edward Vernon, a relative of George Washington…see Mount Vernon in Alexandria). It also offered an interesting exhibit of different types of ships starting from the Vikings and the Roman Empire and up to the present day.

We had lunch at a typical comedor-type restaurant with a very nice owner who got very excited to know our countries of origin, especially Stephan’s (Germany) and brought us a free appetizer and a huge plate of fish (the fish was served in its entirety with head, tail, and bones). Turns out that don Armando is from Medellin, or Paisa country, as the area is called, where people are very hospitable and friendly (I saw proof of it when Don Armando took a huge plate of soup to a homeless lady that was begging outside of the restaurant).
The tour of the city was done in a trolley-style bus…however, while the same type of buses in DC comfortable accommodate passengers, this was latin-style bus where people had to squish tightly (they kept putting more and more people on the bus). Our guide, Rafa, was a jolly fellow who knew a lot and explained everything in both Spanish and English (for a gringo on our bus).

We first saw a former Augustinian monastery located on mountain called La Popa (since it is located at the end of the mountain range that looks like a ship, with this particular part resembling the end-tail of a ship). It had an interesting history: once, it was a place where the indigenous and black slaves hid from the Spaniards. They set up an alter with a golden goat. Once the Augustin Frey came there, he threw the goat down the back end of the mountain and had the leader of the group burnt at stake (Turns out that Cartagena has a long history of the Inquisition presence). From the top, we were also able to get a full view of Cartagena, realizing that there is a lot more to the city that just the historic center that we are staying in: there is a business center that almost looks like any big city in the US with skyscrapers towering in the horizon, a residential area with historic houses called Getsemani, and, of course, a slum area.

Our next stop was a former military fort called San Felipe. It was built on the highest hill in the city and was strategically crafted to give a good view of all the other fortifications. It consisted of different towers of various heights so that if one was attacked by the enemy, it could be destroyed by the cannons from the others. It also had tunnels that could be used by the soldiers to move around without being seen by the enemies, and passageways that allowed one to see what was going on at the bottom of the stairs, but not the other way around.

Exhausted and full of various historical facts, we ate dinner outside on one of the main plazas and enjoyed the relative coolness of the night air and the company of our new Mexican friends.

Cartagena de las Indias: Arrival

Upon making several plane transfers, we (one of my colleagues and I) finally arrived to the beautiful Cartagena. Right away we could feel the intense heat even though it was nearly dusk. Our hotel turned out to be a lovely bed and breakfast with a gorgeous courtyard full of flowers and tropical vegetation and an extremely nice owner. The house was restored to its original colonial look so all the rooms look like a old-time room: very simple, with one stone wall, dark wood, a desk, and a big chest with a lock for personal belongings. Upon settling in, we went out in the dusk to walk around the city. Cartagena is an absolutely gorgeous old-timey colonial city: even in the dark, we could see all the flowered balconies of houses on narrow streets, which made it appear straight out of the history books.

The part of the city we are staying in is called Cuidad Amurallada, literally a Walled City, which is also a part of the old colonial structure. For the colonial history geeks like myself, Cartagena used to be an important city for the Spanish Americas: since there was no Panama Canal, all the gold from Peru used to be land-carried to Cartagena, and then, twice a year, shipped to Spain (Colombia also had large quantities of gold, which were also transported to Spain through Cartagena (Caribbean Sea) since the Pacific was at the time unknown to the Europeans). For that reason, Cartagena’s center and bay area were a site for numerous forts, part of which is the wall that surrounds the historic center of the city where we are.

Cartagena is also a witness to the many ethnicities that live in Colombia. Since many of the indigenous populations were wiped out by the diseases brought in by the Europeans during the conquest, the Spaniards had to ship African-born slaves to its American territories to work in the fields, build forts, and labor in the gold mines; Cartagena used to be a major hub of slave trade (also due to its strategic location). Therefore, the city is inhabited by people of all people of shades and colors and has a strong Caribbean flavor.

The area inside the Walled City is rather quiet, but full of nice restaurants and amazing souvenir shopping (finally!). The food, of course, is absolutely delicious. Im continuing my beef-eating streak!

Work is over!

So the conference ended yesterday. Overall, it was a very interesting experience, and the work on this topic is not over yet. Upon return to Washington, we are going to start processing the working papers and writing an overview paper. The nerd in me is very excited! Also, there are good signs that Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) is off the table for the February conference, and my lobbying for Kampala (Uganda) has paid off...my boss has agreed that it would be the best location, so upon my return to the office, we will start making contact with our collaborators there.

This morning we had our Executive Committee meeting, which ended way ahead of schedule. So this afternoon I can finally relax, work on some pressing things, and start packing (which Im already dreading). Oh, my passport is finally here...with God's help, it was finally retrieved from the Embassy and delivered here into my hands:)

Tomorrow Im off to Cartagena, which is, fyi, a UNESCO World Heritage site, which means lots of interesting colonial architecture. Besides, it is located on the Caribbean coast!!!

The Conference

Well, the conference is almost over. We have 1 more day to go. So far we have had 2 days of presentations and working groups and a field trip day which was today. Even though the presentations and discussions have been very interesting, today was very exciting. First, we went to a grape/blackberry processing plant and spoke with some smallholder blackberry producers organized into associations. We also got to try fresh blackberries! Then we actually went to a granja (orchard) where they had vine trees, banana trees, passion fruit trees, etc...So I got to try plantains, grapes, apple-guava, tangerines, and granadillos straight from the tree...We then went to a fish farm which was also very insightful and got to talk to a representatives of a trout-farmer association who have their ponds in the Colombian highlands.

Overall,Im really enjoying the conference, the food, and the company. Another fyi to self: don't go running with the British who are hard-core hikers/bikers (explanation: I have been getting up early to run on campus here along rice fields and ponds listening to the numerous birds and taking in the gorgeous view of both the Cordillera Oriental and Cordillera Occidental of the Andes, but Im sore all over since Im trying to keep up with the english/irish researchers who are in way better shape than I am).

Cali: getting to know the city

Since the CIAT campus is about 20-30 minutes outside Cali and there is nothing to do besides watching CNN, my colleague Stephan and I decided to hire a car with a driver to take us into the city before the conference participants arrive. We did some sightseeing, shopping, and eating (of course). Cali to me appeared as a typical tropical city with dirty and narrow streets, more outdated infrastructure and less well-planned urban layout than for example, Bogota, and lots of beggars (in this case, from Ecuador). It had some neat museums and churches, but on a less grand scale than the capital. However, it did have a huge and very modern mall. This was my first time at a US-style strip mall in a developing country. It had all sorts of stores, a food court, coffee shops, a very nice bookstore with a café inside, and even a Walmart-style supermarket. One of the most memorable parts of the day was lunch…I had a huge chunk of delicious steak served with rice, potato, fried platano, and salad for under $5 at a semi-fast food style restaurant.

Today, our participants began to arrive. It has been very interesting to talk to them since most of them are from different parts of the world and all work for the same network as me (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, or CGIAR) but at different centers specializing in different types of agricultural research. Tomorrow the conference starts.

Cali: Background Information

I need to back up a bit and give an explanation of why I am in Colombia. The program I work for (Collective Action and Property Rights, or CAPRi) usually hosts one international workshop a year. This year it is on the topic of “Collective Action and Market Access for Smallholders” and held at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) that has a campus with accommodations and conference facilities right outside of Cali. So, unlike some of my previous trips, Im here on official business. If you are interested in learning more about CAPRi, see the links on the sidebar.

FYI: Note to Self

I want to make a pause in relating my Colombia experiences and share a few key lessons that I have learned on this trip, which has so far been full of unexpected turns:

1) Never ask for directions in Latin America: get a detailed map of the city and figure it out yourself. Or, instead of being stubborn and walking places, take a cab. This is an observation not just from Colombia, but if you ask several people for directions (usually to a well-known place), every single person will tell you something different, which usually leaves me more confused than before I asked.

2) Invest in a portable tea-kettle: I will still have to investigate this matter further to verify that something of a sort exists, but as I have discovered during several of my trips, people in other countries are not into hot tea. For a tea-holic like myself who drinks 3-4 cups of tea a day from huge mugs, not being able to have good tea every morning or having tiny amounts of flavorless tea have been a little tough to handle. Unless I go back home or to the UK, the land of fellow tea drinkers, I must bring my tea supplies with me.

3) Wear a hat: I know that because of being a tall pale Caucasian with blond hair I stand out like a sore thumb in most countries of the developing world. However, I’m getting tired of the gawking stares and worrying that people will take advantage of me thinking that I’m a clueless gringa. A hat might make things easier. Note to self: stop borrowing Meg’s Red Sox hat and invest in your own.

General Impressions of Bogota

Despite a number of “adventures” experienced in Bogota, I have to be fair and give the city an overall impressions rankings.
1) General: Bogota has nice parts with beautiful homes and quite neighborhoods (the location of my first hotel) and really dumpy and noisy parts (the location of my second hotel and part of downtown). Overall, just comparing to La Paz and the parts of Mexico I’ve been to, it seemed more developed and having better infrastructure. Colombians speak very fast, so it took me a while to be able to understand what they are saying. They also have a series of their own expressions and lingo, which Im still trying to decipher. The atmosphere in Bogota is similar to that of New York (but Latin style)…busy, tons of traffic, people everywhere.
2) Safety: for some reason, I never felt safe there…maybe it is because the Lonely Planet guide kept warning of all the potential dangers or every single person I met and talked to, including policemen, kept telling me how unsafe the city was…
3) Weather: despite many Colombians telling me that Bogota was cold, I found the weather to be very nice and pleasant, even though a bit unpredictable. Since Bogota is the third highest capital in Latin America (after La Paz and Quito), the air was dry and my hair looked better than ever unlike the usual white girl fro’ that I battle with every day in the humid DC.
4) Sights: one thing that got points in my book was the quality of museums. The Gold Museum had great displays and explanations (at least the part that I got to see before we had to be evacuated). The Casa de Moneda in addition to being free had a very interesting exhibition of the history of Colombia and surrounding Latin American countries through portraying the history of money. It also had several art exhibits with some unique modern art and a few of Colombian classics. The best of all was the Museo Nacional. It had a very detailed and descriptive history of South America from the pre-Colombian times to the present. What I really appreciated was an unbiased portrayal of national history without taking sides (indigenous vs. conquistadores), but highlighting the importance and value of both cultures. It was really neat to learn more about the heroes of Colombia, i.e. the men who gave the country its independence from Spain. The last interesting sight I visited was a church located at the top of the mountain (Monserrate). You get there by taking a cable car, and the view from the top is incredible since you get to see the entire city. The way to the church is along a path lined with bronze statues that depict Jesus’ way to Calvary.

Bogota, Day 2

Well, considering that Im writing this sitting in a beautiful suite at the CIAT campus in Cali and all the days misfortunes are behind me, this is going to be very mild compared to the misery I felt earlier. (This sounds very serious, but those of you who know me well realize that Im most likely exaggerating since Im a self-professed drama queen). The day started very early when I was woken up around 5:30 by the hotel staff preparing breakfast and doing whatever else requires loud talking and banging (btw, my room was right across from the dining area). Anyway, after eating a rather delicious breakfast, I went to do some more sightseeing (more on that later) and then headed back to the Embassy to what I thought would be a short visit to pick up the passport with plenty of time to go back to the museum that I didn’t finish exploring. Well, the short visit turned into a 2 hour wait with them promising that it would be ready in 20 minutes. Finally, I had to leave the embassy without my passport, ask the taxi driver to run to the hotel, picked up my stuff, and again made a dash for the airport to make my flight to Cali. Overall, not a fan of Bogota. In Cali, I was picked up by the CIAT drivers, taken to a very nice suite (much nicer than the hotels that I stayed in Bogota or other places I’ve been to for that matter), and given a plate of delicious fruit and a sandwich (food always makes me feel better). Im still hoping that Colombia will grow on me.

P.S. Right before boarding my plane to Cali, I discovered that the airport had free wireless internet…and I spent the hour waiting for the plane trying to watch an episode of “The Office” on my computer with barely any audio and having to read the captions….

Bogota, Day 1

First things first…I’m alive and well even though after today’s adventures this may be an overstatement. Last night I got to my hotel, which turned out to be okay for the price, but made up for all missing elements with superfriendly staff. This morning I went to the US Embassy to get my G-4 visa (international organizations visa). At first it was easy…no general lines, straight to the special window. Then, the fun started. Turns out the pictures I had were not the right kind. I had to leave the Embassy and go around the corner to a tent-like photoshop where they took the right kind of picture. After getting back into the Embassy, I stood in line for about an hour only to find out that the lady that took my documents really didn’t know anything about G-4 visa (she told me I would have to wait in line again to be fingerprinted and interviewed). Praise the Lord, He intervened, and after the lady consulted with a consular officer, they told me to come back tomorrow for my passport.

When I was planning my trip to Bogota, I was under the impression that even though there would be a slight chance that my visa might be ready in 2 days, the greater likelihood would be for me to come back to Bogota at the end of my stay in this country to pick up my passport. For that reason, I only booked one night at the hotel I stayed in. Well, since now I had to stay for another night, I had to find another hotel since mine was completely booked. My hotel called and made a reservation for me at a decent looking hotel. However, when I got there with my huge suitcase, they wouldn’t let me stay there since I only had a copy of my passport (the original was at the Embassy). Having 2 driver’s licenses from 2 different countries didn’t help either. I was starting to get desperate when a taxi driver that dropped off another passenger suggested he knew of a hotel. Of course, all travel guides warn that you have to be careful with taxi drivers who often partner with hotels and would take you to a not-so-nice one. My options at that point were either checking in to an expensive hotel (Four Seasons or Radisson), walk/ride around the city with my huge suitcase, or trust the driver and check out the hotel he suggested. It turned out to be an okay place, not expensive, and with a restaurant which makes it easier to take care of meals. It is also closer to the downtown, so after eating a rather nice lunch, I walked downtown and spend the rest of the afternoon looking around.

This would be a good place to end, but that’s not all (btw, this is the largest entry I think I have ever had). I was just beginning to look around at the Museo del Oro (which is also one of the largest gold museums in the world), when the fire alarm went off at the museum and we were directed to the hallway, where we sat for 10 minutes while the museum staff frantically ran around with walkie-talkies. When the alarm went off a second time, we were escorted outside and each given a ticket that said “evacuado.” At this point I decided to walk around some more instead of potentially spending the rest of my afternoon standing outside of the museum. After finding a delightful coffee shop and swallowing down a delicious lamb sandwich (oh, I can hear all the “ahhs”, but Im a hopeless carnivore), I decided to go back to the hotel and turn in for the night. Well, at the hotel I realized that I couldn’t live without some diet coke (an indulgence I allow myself only when traveling) and fruity gum and asked an old man on the street wearing an orange vest (the kind that the rush-hour traffic controllers on K street in DC wear) about where to find a small tienda. Upon answering that it was around the corner, he decided to accompany me there and wait for me until I was done shopping. That’s when my paranoid self started to get suspicious about not knowing whether he was doing it to be nice or wanted money. Praise the Lord, there were some policemen at the shop. After I told them what the situation was, they said that they would walk me back to the hotel. So, here I was, walking back to the hotel with 2 policemen and a weird old man in an orange shirt. What a weird day…My impressions of Bogota in the next entry. I think Im a little biased (in an unfavorable way) right now.
Bogota, Day 1

First things first…I’m alive and well even though after today’s adventures this may be an overstatement. Last night I got to my hotel, which turned out to be okay for the price, but made up for all missing elements with superfriendly staff. This morning I went to the US Embassy to get my G-4 visa (international organizations visa). At first it was easy…no general lines, straight to the special window. Then, the fun started. Turns out the pictures I had were not the right kind. I had to leave the Embassy and go around the corner to a tent-like photoshop where they took the right kind of picture. After getting back into the Embassy, I stood in line for about an hour only to find out that the lady that took my documents really didn’t know anything about G-4 visa (she told me I would have to wait in line again to be fingerprinted and interviewed). Praise the Lord, He intervened, and after the lady consulted with a consular officer, they told me to come back tomorrow for my passport.

When I was planning my trip to Bogota, I was under the impression that even though there would be a slight chance that my visa might be ready in 2 days, the greater likelihood would be for me to come back to Bogota at the end of my stay in this country to pick up my passport. For that reason, I only booked one night at the hotel I stayed in. Well, since now I had to stay for another night, I had to find another hotel since mine was completely booked. My hotel called and made a reservation for me at a decent looking hotel. However, when I got there with my huge suitcase, they wouldn’t let me stay there since I only had a copy of my passport (the original was at the Embassy). Having 2 driver’s licenses from 2 different countries didn’t help either. I was starting to get desperate when a taxi driver that dropped off another passenger suggested he knew of a hotel. Of course, all travel guides warn that you have to be careful with taxi drivers who often partner with hotels and would take you to a not-so-nice one. My options at that point were either checking in to an expensive hotel (Four Seasons or Radisson), walk/ride around the city with my huge suitcase, or trust the driver and check out the hotel he suggested. It turned out to be an okay place, not expensive, and with a restaurant which makes it easier to take care of meals. It is also closer to the downtown, so after eating a rather nice lunch, I walked downtown and spend the rest of the afternoon looking around.

This would be a good place to end, but that’s not all (btw, this is the largest entry I think I have ever had). I was just beginning to look around at the Museo del Oro (which is also one of the largest gold museums in the world), when the fire alarm went off at the museum and we were directed to the hallway, where we sat for 10 minutes while the museum staff frantically ran around with walkie-talkies. When the alarm went off a second time, we were escorted outside and each given a ticket that said “evacuado.” At this point I decided to walk around some more instead of potentially spending the rest of my afternoon standing outside of the museum. After finding a delightful coffee shop and swallowing down a delicious lamb sandwich (oh, I can hear all the “ahhs”, but Im a hopeless carnivore), I decided to go back to the hotel and turn in for the night. Well, at the hotel I realized that I couldn’t live without some diet coke (an indulgence I allow myself only when traveling) and fruity gum and asked an old man on the street wearing an orange vest (the kind that the rush-hour traffic controllers on K street in DC wear) about where to find a small tienda. Upon answering that it was around the corner, he decided to accompany me there and wait for me until I was done shopping. That’s when my paranoid self started to get suspicious about not knowing whether he was doing it to be nice or wanted money. Praise the Lord, there were some policemen at the shop. After I told them what the situation was, they said that they would walk me back to the hotel. So, here I was, walking back to the hotel with 2 policemen and a weird old man in an orange shirt. What a weird day…My impressions of Bogota in the next entry. I think Im a little biased (in an unfavorable way) right now.

Whenever, wherever

Ok, so Im leaving for Colombia in a few days...wow! Work has been so busy that I haven't even had a second to sit down and think about it until this weekend. I will be first going to Bogota to take care of some visa business, then to Cali (as in the Cali Drug Cartel, but it got broken up a while ago) for a work conference, and then to the beautiful and historic Cartagena for some R&R. The climate across these cities is rather different, which to an overpacker like myself means bad news, especially since the airlines have placed a lower weight limit. Besides, my travel buddy Meg is not going with me this time, which means I have to be extra smart when packing for this trip since Meg's "small, but everything you could possibly need" backpack won't be there for me in time of emergency:). Anyways, let the packing begin...