Tranquilo....

There is a distinct culture living on the coast of Colombia that differs from the one in Bogota. While I was in Bogota only one week, I experienced it as busy and crowded. I did enjoy listening to people speak Spanish there because it was slow and clear. Here in Cartagena, the city is not as crowded and the pace of life is slow, although the Spanish is not slow. It is fast and often words are cut off. For example, in Bogota, you will hear, "Buenas Dias," said clearly. In Cartagena, you will hear either, "Buenas," or "Buendia." I don't know enough Spanish to give more examples, you'll just have to trust me, it's fast and words are chopped.
There is one word that I hear all the time and that's "tranquilo." Literally, it means tranquil in English, but it's used here to mean, "hey, relax, it's all good." I love hearing it because it is a sweet way of communicating calm.
Recently, I was at the grocery store and as I turned away from perusing a shelf of spices, started pushing a cart. A woman walked quickly to me and said that I had taken her cart by mistake, I was flustered and apologized quickly and she said, "tranquilo," with a smile on her face. People say it when mistakes are made all the time or when someone is in a rush (usually it's someone from the States whose rushing to do something, in general, people here don't rush). Tranquilo. I love that it's part of the culture here. "Hey, relax. No worries. Life is short. Stay tranquil."

Easter Without The Bunny and Spring Without The Daffodils

Easter in Cartagena is celebrated without the  supermarket onslaught of peeps, chocolate bunnies and jelly beans. I actually never heard anyone say Easter in Spanish, everyone refers to the holiday by saying "Semana Santa," which is "Holy Week" in English. I asked people what the word for Easter is and more than one had to take a minute to think about it saying, "We don't really say, Easter, we always refer to the holiday in terms of the entire week." There are parades around the old city of people following statues of Jesus and/or Saints. Religious people will spend the week in contemplative prayer both at home and at church.
Leading up to the Easter holiday season, I expected the supermarkets to have candy displays and aisles of baskets and fake neon colored grass. None of this occurred. The reason I thought it would is that Christmas here has all the commercial trappings of the United States, including fake trees and Santas everywhere. Not so with Easter. The holiday is revered as one that is religious and not one of frivolity. I found it refreshing. Although, I have to admit that my children are not very young, so not searching for eggs or getting loads of candy was not something they particularly missed. Maybe if they were younger, I would feel a bit more nostalgic for these things.
What I did appreciate was the solemn focus of the holiday. After all, the Easter holiday celebrates what is considered the foundation of the Christian faith. If we are honest, we can acknowledge that Peter Cottontail was not in the empty tomb hiding plastic eggs filled with jelly beans. But I digress.
A non-candy filled Easter is not the only thing that struck me this spring. What I miss is seeing the daffodils coming out of the grass after a winter of cold weather and snow. It is the first time in my life that I don't have the feeling of being part of mother nature while she slowly transitions from the long  cold dark nights of winter into  long sunny days and warm nights. I didn't even realized  I was missing this until reading posts from friends on Facebook. They would comment on the signs of spring they saw in their yards, or the gardens they started planting.
While I am here, I will continue to appreciate the wonderful tropical weather that is here, while vicariously enjoying spring through Facebook.

Lessons from Cartagena Pizza

I've heard from some of my U.S. friends living here, "There is no good pizza here in Cartagena." I decided to try it anyway, and I love it, which made me realize two things; first, just because someone doesn't like something, doesn't mean it's bad, second, the pizza here is phenomenal, it is just not New York City style pizza. The pizza here is the same as Italian pizza from Italy.
I have had pizza both in NYC and in different cities in Italy. I enjoy both types of pizza, the thicker crust of the Italian-American pizza and the thin, lightly topped, Italian-from Italy-pizza.
This idea of whether Cartagena pizza is good or bad is a metaphor for how (some) people from the States react to things that are different.
The pizza, restaurants, malls, entertainment and whatever is being compared to the States, is what it is here in Cartagena. It is not meant to be exactly the same as it is in New Jersey, California or North Dakota. It is meant to be from Cartagena, Colombia.
I don't understand the idea that the entire world needs to be one way. The world is rich because of its diversity. How incredibly boring would this planet be if every place we went, the food, the clothes, the shops, the people- were all exactly the same? Isn't that why we travel? To experience diversity, to experience how different cultures live? Why do we go somewhere and immediately compare it to what we left?
I understand that people get homesick and aren't comfortable with change and diversity. I have always thrived on diversity. Part of the reason is, how I grew up, I was always around others who were different than me. I never had the comfort of "sameness," even when visiting Egypt, my family there considered me an American.
Sometimes I want to say to someone who is criticizing Cartagena, "Hey, if you don't compare ...(the pizza,mall,restaurants etc.), you will see that what you dislike is actually fine." I don't because I don't think anything I will say will make a difference. If someone doesn't want to give the pizza here a chance they won't. I can only write my blog and let people know that, in my opinion, there is GREAT pizza in Cartagena, almost exactly like the pizza you will find in Florence, Italy.

The Rains Are Coming....

For the past few weeks I have been hearing, "The rains are coming," from a few of my friends. This is a phrase you are more likely to hear if you live in a tropical climate that has a dry season and a wet season. At first, I thought it was just something people say here when a certain month rolls around, like we start talking about snow in November. But, I realized that it is more than just the time of year, it is a feeling in the air. The weather is changing, instead of the gorgeous clear sunny skies we've enjoyed since January, the air is becoming humid and heavy. We are now seeing cloudy and overcast skies more frequently. Now, when I hear, "The rains are coming," it feels ominous. Almost like something out of a Wes Craven or Stephen King novel. The rains are indeed coming and we are bracing ourselves for the flooding and extremely loud thunder that accompanies them. While on the walking path this morning, I looked at the sky and it was dark and heavy with moisture. I thought about this as a metaphor for life. When we go through life and we experience happiness and contentment, it is inevitable that something will happen to change the perfection we had been experiencing. The rains of life include illness, job changes, family strife and many other things that cause us to stay home and shut the windows and hide from the flood of sadness. I often turn to two things to help me when I am bracing myself for the rains of life, one is the Serenity Prayer and the other is Buddhist philosophy. Both essentially say the same thing, it doesn't matter what happens to you, it is your reaction that will determine how you feel. When the rains were here in the fall, instead of staying in my apartment for hours waiting for the rains to stop and the flooding to recede, I ordered pink plaid rubber boots. I wear them all through the rainy season so I can go out and experience the city- rains, and flooded streets and all. The rains are coming and I can't wait.

Off the Coast of Cartagena

An old fort off the coast of Cartagena. There are many forts around the city.

Another fort.

There are many homes on tiny islands called the Rosario Islands that are just gorgeous.

This is supposedly Pablo Escabor's old vacation home. I have not verified this info, so take it with a grain of salt.

A church you could see from the water.

Cliffs on the way back to Cartagena.