Lasting Impressions from Colombia

The Pilgrimage

     One community event at the second site I taught at was particularly memorable. It was an annual religious pilgrimage. The people in the vereda invited me to watch them prepare their Virgin Mary statue for the trip, then we got up at 3:30 the next morning (no class that day—a Friday—since no one would be around) to prepare food for the journey and get ready to leave on foot at 5:15 a.m. There were about 30 of us and it was a beautiful 3½-hour walk – a good way to get to know people in the community. When we arrived at the designated site in a field, there were already about 300 people there with lots of dancing, drinking and visiting in progress; it reminded me of a country fair. The priest didn't show up until almost 11 a.m. so some of the fellows were rather unsteady on their feet by the time the mass was said. In spite of protestations and the fact I'm not Catholic, the group I was with pushed me up onto the wooden stage to sit with the priest and all the statues. How embarrassing! Fortunately, I wasn't asked to speak. Soon thereafter the priest left and everyone headed (some staggering) home. Someone loaned me a horse to get to the main road where I soon caught a cattle truck to the nearest town, then a bus home for the weekend.

      Over the years, I've stayed in touch with one member of that community who invited me to stay at her home a few weekends, and whose sisters I met at other sites. Like many Colombians at the time, they had two photos on their living room wall: one of Pope Paul VI, who visited Bogota in 1964, and another of President Kennedy, who visited Colombia in 1961.

Butcher Shop: the burro is tied to the "counter" where meat was sold by someone who butchered an animal each week, rain or shine.. Customers brought their own pan or bag in which to carry purchases home.

Gimme the Keys, Please

     When you rely on whatever form of  wheels that happen by you can find yourself in uncomfortable situations. Sometimes on Friday trips back to the city, the Jeep or truck that happened by was driven by someone who had already started celebrating the weekend, or perhaps atttended a clausura. On one such trip when an obviously inebriated driver stopped along the way for another drink, I suggested he let me drive. He laughed, saying I wouldn't know how to drive a stick shift. I insisted I knew how and, surprisingly, he handed over the keys. The other passengers were men but they seemed relieved and nixed my offer of letting one of them drive. I drove straight to our apartment and handed the keys to one of them. The original driver slept the whole way.

Mule carrying cane that will be processed into sugar, brown sugar (always added to coffee here), or fermented into gurarapo, a strong alcoholic drink.

“Because He Loved Her”

     Something worse than drunk-driving happened as I arrived at the office in the city one Friday afternoon. I was getting my things out of the trunk of a shared taxi when the driver rushed back and pulled me to the ground behind the car. He pointed to the building and we peered above the car to see a man with a gun menacing one of the childcare workers who was supervising children in the big fenced yard. He shot her. The children screamed and ran and someone came out to grab the man, another to carry the girl inside. When the man was under control and the police arrived, I continued into the building and in the confusion was asked to say something to the children. I couldn't speak. How can you explain what they just witnessed to a child? Fortunately, another woman came to the rescue and handled the situation beautifully. I truly admired her calmness and ability to convince the children that if everyone sang for the girl, she would feel much better. They sang and sang through their tears. The girl survived, fortunately. I was still shaken when I went to the SENA offices (my Colombian bosses) a short while later and was distressed when even they weren't alarmed and said the boyfriend had surely done it “because he loved her.” He was apparently jealous when she rejected him for someone else.

Beliefs

     Every culture has them, ones that seem odd to people from elsewhere. I encountered many in Colombia, especially in rural areas. Some were harmless, others had merit. Among them:

Childbirth: after giving birth, a woman was supposed to remain in bed and not bathe for 40 days, resting and eating only chicken and beets (beets were believed to be good for the blood). I never talked with a woman who had done that and can only imagine how difficult it would have been without strong family support since, without the modern conveniences we take for granted (electricity, running water, cooking and washing appliances, etc.), daily life was quite demanding. And chicken was not cheap, even if you raised your own. It was served on special occasions. Besides, how awful would you feel being cooped up so long without bathing or exercise? Childbirth itself would surely have been more pleasant.
     I was told girls and women should not eat limes or avocado during their periods. One group asked me if it was true that women shouldn't look at snake bites then either.
     One woman told the class if you have a nosebleed, you should inhale smoke or put your head over a cup of lime juice (limes were supposed to "cut" the blood).
Asthma: a driver told me that turtle blood is the best remedy.