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.

¿Usted habla árabe

One of the most surprising things about Colombia has been eating the most delicious Arabic food outside of the Middle East and my own kitchen. Colombia has a large population of Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian descendants. I have met many people with Arabic names, for example, Fatima, Shadia, and Khalaf to name a few.
I was very excited to meet people of Arabic descent here and the first thing I would do when someone confirmed they were Arab was to start speaking Arabic. I would inevitably be met with a puzzled expression and the statement, "No habla, árabe, solo español." (I don't speak Arabic, only Spanish) I couldn't believe it. This is the first time in my life I am around Arabs who don't speak the language.
I did meet one person who spoke to me in my native tongue, an elderly gentlemen who was visiting his daughter. He immigrated to Colombia in the sixties and has been here for over 45 years. His daughter didn't speak Arabic, but can cook some of the best Lebanese food this side of the Sinai. It was funny, he spoke primarily Arabic with some Spanish thrown in. Sparabic, if you will.
Having grown up in the northeast of the U.S. during the seventies and eighties, every single person I knew who came from the Middle East spoke Arabic. Even if we didn't know how to read and write the language, our parents only spoke in Arabic to us at home. I realized that here the Arabs are similar to the Italians I grew up with, they may not have spoken Italian, but they still cooked phenomenal food and felt close to their heritage.
There are Arab restaurants in Cartagena the same way there are pizzerias all over New York City. I have also seen many people with tattoos of their names or phrases in Arabic, on their wrists or arms. At first, I was sure those who tattooed the language on their bodies surely spoke said language, but I was wrong. I finally don't ask people anymore if they speak Arabic. I now let people know that I speak Arabic and I figure the person who knows how to communicate that way will talk first.

Casa del Niños

Last week I had the opportunity to volunteer at the children's hospital in Cartagena, known locally as, Casa del Niños. A group of doctors, nurses and support staff, have been coming to the hospital for the past 17 years performing all sorts of surgeries on children, including cleft palate and skin grafting for burn victims. This year the doctors for the first time ever, performed surgery on a 43 year old woman who had never had her cleft palate corrected.
I coordinated volunteers and donations of juices and snacks to be given out to the parents while they waited for their children. Volunteers helped translate for the doctors. I went for three days in a row and I was overwhelmed by the needs of the hospital.
One of the local Rotary clubs coordinates the logistics of the group's visit. It was through this group that I became involved. I met one of the women earlier in the year and when she told me what she does, I immediately offered my assistance. It felt so good to be useful. While I have been having a lot of fun, I have been feeling a little useless. I have decided that although the group has left (they come each year for ten days) I will continue to help the hospital in any way I can. I am going to continue to go, maybe once every week or every other week. I need to learn more Spanish. People at the hospital kept walking up to me with questions and I felt bad not understanding them. I am more motivated than ever to learn more so I can communicate in a meaningful way.

The Effects of Constant Perfect Weather...

It has been a while since my last post. I have thought about many blog posts to write and commit to doing it, only to find that it is a beautiful, sunny and warm day outside. I then decide to swim, walk or call a friend to go for a coffee at the local cafe, writing forgotten.
It wasn't until a friend of mine who lives in Colorado wrote on my Facebook wall asking me if I blog anymore, that it hit me how long I have been neglecting my writing. I don't feel good about it. I love to write and chronicle my experiences here. I love to share the interesting comings and goings of the people of Cartagena. I hate to admit this, the truth is I have become lazy. There I said it. I have had a job since I was thirteen years old. I have never considered myself lazy. I love to work and be involved in either my children's school or my local community. For the past few months, I have been indulging in exclusively leisure activities. I have taken boat trips to islands off the coast a few times, gone on ladies' nights out, taken a tour of a US Navy frigate, had lunch, breakfast and dinner out more times than I can count. In a nutshell, I have been having lots and lots of fun. Which has also left me a bit antsy and feeling like I need to do something productive.
So, a couple of weeks ago, I started volunteering at my children's school. I taught the children how to write their own fairytale. This was one of the most fun things I have done in a while. The children's first language is Spanish and their teacher was explaining that descriptive and creative writing is difficult in English for the class. I decided that writing a fairytale would be a great way to get the creative juices flowing. The most creative and hilarious stories in the class was written by a boy from Argentina who has lived in Dubai, Venezuela and Colombia. He wrote a story about where hippies came from. The funniest aspect of his tale was the characters he included, they were, Hugo Chavez, Dr. Frankenstein, Michael Jackson and Darth Vader, just to name a few. My son decided to write a fable about how school became boring. The plot line was that school used to be fun until an evil organization made teachers a mandatory part of schooling and then all types of fun was banned.
I have volunteered to go to the school once a week and help start a newspaper in the class. I am looking forward to writing in this blog again and keeping you all posted on my adventures here in Cartagena.

Policies in Colombia that would make The ACLU and The Tea Party Cry (That I think are great ideas)

There are three national policies in Colombia that I think are a great idea that would make both the ACLU and The Tea Party either cry or set themselves on fire, or both.
1-National Identification Cards-Every single person living in Colombia is required to have an identification card. This has a person's picture and reason for being in the country. No matter where you are from and why you are here, you get ID and you are required to have it on you at all times. I think in the US, this is a great idea and if implemented, can help solve the immigration issue. My idea? Let anyone who wants to go to the US, do so and get an ID card and work permit. This way, there is a record of everyone in the country.
2-No Alcohol Sold On Any Election Day-You read correctly, in Colombia it is illegal to sell alcohol starting 24 hours before an election until 6am the day after an election. I asked a few people about why this law is in place and they said it is because people need to be clear headed when choosing elected officials. Imagine if this rule was instituted in the US? At the very least, people would become more involved in elections just to find out why they can't get beer for Monday night football.
3-Restrictions On Driving-In Cartagena (not sure if this is true for Colombia as a whole) cars are allowed to be on the road in a rotation based on their license plate number. For example, even number plates are not allowed to drive during noon and 2pm on alternate days. (I will admit that this idea will work best in cities and states with large transit systems.) I think having restrictions on when people can drive can help the environment and encourage people to ride buses, trains and maybe even ride a bike once in a while.