Santa Elena

Last Sunday I touched upon Colombian families, and the guilt that they generate. To show you a complete different side of Colombian families, I'd like to use my friend Sergio's family, who I met today. Yesterday Giovanni, some girlfriends of mine, and I went up to a town called Santa Elena, about an hour from Medellin, up at 2,500 (8,200 ft) meters above sea level (just to give you an idea Medellin's altitude is about 5,000 ft). So the climate is a chilly, but nice 55, 60 degrees during the day (when there's no sun) and falls to about 40 at night. Most homes don't have heating, so we stayed warm with lots of layers, blankets, and a fire. Santa Elena is a nice little town, where a lot of people have weekend homes, and has become so popular recently for its laid-back lifestyle and ease that many Paisas (as Medellinenses are called) have re-located up there to escape the hectic city.

When we got to Sergio's place I was pleasantly surprised. The little 2 bedroom house was quite charming, with stained-glass circular windows, a ceramic-tile countertop in the kitchen, and enough floor space upstairs to sleep about 10 people. Sergio gave the house his own touch though with some great old-fashioned and retro decorations. The house is tucked back along a trail that you need to take a bus and a taxi and walk for 15 minutes to get to from Medellin. It's surrounded by forest, with pine trees and blueberry-like bushes everywhere.

This morning, as we were eating breakfast, the group of us (Sergio included) were surprised to find Sergio's family heading down the trail towards the house. Sergio had just moved to the place a week ago, so his family wanted to pay him a visit (and make sure he wasn't scrounging for nuts and berries in the woods to stay alive). As soon as his family arrived (mom, dad, sister, and nephew) they got right to cooking. They had brought along a number of "house-warming" gifts, including a cutting board, which his sister told him would be much better than his current wooden one, which was full of bacteria, when he showed it to her. Despite the fact that we didn't know they were coming, and they surely didn't know there was a group of 5 of us there to keep Sergio company for the weekend, at lunchtime plates were set out for all of us. We had a typical Colombian meal of plantain and potato soup, and a plate of rice, chorizo sausage, salad, and avocado. Not even planning on feeding 10 people instead of the 5 expected, there was more than enough food to go around (with rice left over, of course!).

This kind of hospitality is so common throughout Colombia. On Saturday Gio and I went out on our bikes and we went to say hi to his son, who was staying at his grandma's house. We arrived right around lunchtime, when Jeison was about to eat, and instead of just 1 plate on the table, his grandmother eventually brought 3. Again, not even planning on us, there is always more food than enough food. This situation resonated with me in particular because visiting your boyfriend's son's maternal grandmother, you wouldn't typically expect more than a hello, let alone a whole meal after you show up uninvited.

I've gotten used to this type of welcomeness that it's become normal for me, and I even find myself acting like a typical Colombian woman, offering guests not just something to drink but a whole meal. Being able to take on things like this that are part of Colombian culture and make them a part of me is one of the things that I most love about living in a different country. I just need to make sure I always find the good bits of each country's culture to weave into my personality!