Four years ago, I first visited Colombia at the behest of the friend of a friend who worked as the academic director at a bi-cultural language center in Medellín, the country’s second-largest city, best known for its controversial benefactor, Pablo Escobar. I fell in love with the place, partially because of the hours-long conversations I […]
Colombia Mía: Paisas Read More
They say Caracas es Caracas, lo resto es montes y culebras—Caracas is Caracas, the rest is just shrubs and snakes. With serpentine highways jack-knifing, double-backing, and clinging to mountainsides before plunging through tunnels that connect the country with the Valley of Caracas, that statement is beautifully obvious. The capital of Venezuela, at once cosmopolitan and
Beyond the uber-famous, internationally-known Shakira and Juanes, Colombian music is a thick stew of flavors and spices ladled in from the three founding cultures of the country: Euro, indigenous, and, most potently, Afro. And, as in most post-colonial societies, it is the music of Colombian artists that speaks most loudly against injustice and in homage
Global Juke Joint: Soundz of Colombia Read More
Photo by Colombian soul The week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday in all Catholic-leaning societies is called Holy Week, Semana Santa in Spanish. The end of the sacrificial season of Lent, the start of which is commemorated lustily with Carnival, offers the faithful their chance to celebrate with pageantry, color, and prayer, Christ’s resurrection
Holy Week in Colombia Read More
Originally published in the Orlando Sentinel, May 2007. The Middle of the World is a dusty place. And actually, there are three Middles of the World in Ecuador. The sun beats down ferociously on the equatorial line less than an hour north of this country’s capital, Quito. A bus from the city dropped me off
The Middle of the World Read More
This lil fella belonged to a locksmith in the Soledad neighborhood of Bogotá. While I was waiting for some keys to be cut, he sat down in the doorway to take in the breeze and watch the traffic go by. I’m not that into pets, much less pets with clothes, but I couldn’t resist this
Colombia Mía: Doggy with Blow Hair, Bogotá Read More
So you want to get in on the Carnival action but don’t know where to start? Find out when. First, you need to get the dates cornered before embarking on any pre-Lenten debauchery. True Carnivals – be they in Brazil, Italy, Spain, the Caribbean, or any other Catholic-leaning society – occur simultaneously, which means ix-nay
How to Get to Carnival Read More
Part 2 of a 3-part series on lesser-known, but no-less-hot, Carnival celebrations. Growing every year by word of mouth, the Carnaval de Barranquilla on the Caribbean coast of Colombia is more an expression of folklore and regional culture than random debauchery and merriment. In 2003, the festival was named a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible
En Barranquilla Se Baila Así Read More
Part 1 of a 3-part series on lesser-known, but no-less-hot, Carnival celebrations. While most of the world looks to its more famous neighbor to the south as the epitome of pre-Lenten debauchery, Brazil’s first capital, Salvador da Bahia, is truly where you find Brazilian Carnival. Or, rather, Carnival for Brazilians. You don’t “see” Carnival in
Where the Brazilians Go for Carnival Read More
The last post of a 4-part series on my year-end jaunt through the Promised Land, aka Brazil. After an early-morning flight back from Rio to São Paulo, then traipsing from one end of town to the other by bus and subway and car, with two suitcases, I finally said goodbye to my best buddy, Roberto,
