One Year in Country

One Year In Country

The other week marked one year in Colombia and we were all DTF (Down to Fiesta).  After the great weekend festivities I could hardly believe I have been on the coast for a year now.  I still vividly remember meeting Taylor on the bus ride from the airport to the hotel in Miami and meeting Mike D, my roommate for the first night in the hotel room.    

 The days can go by slowly, but they months always move quickly.  I can’t even believe it is almost November which marks Carnival in Cartagena and before I know it, it is going to be the last day of classes December 8th.  So after a year on the Coast of Colombia I put together a survival dictionary of some Costeñol (because what they speak here is hardly Spanish) words that I have accumulated here thus far.  Some letters I still don’t have words for, but I will fill them in as I learn new phrases in the next year!  One great year down and I can’t wait to see what the next year brings.   

Areap- fried dough with anything from egg to cheese inside 

Bulla- Noise 

Champeta- music with african roots that is really popular in La Boquilla

Del Carajo- really cool

Eche- A derogatory interjection 

Filo- hungry 

Guerro- liquor 

Huepaje- a yell of joy; often heard while dancing (well)

Inmundo- something horrible 

Junta Comunal- a group that plans events in the community

K 

Liso- Very friendly person and can be quite touchy as well 

Marimonda- a typical costume for carnival 

Nojoda- directly translating to don’t F***, but it is used more like “are you kidding?”

Ñapa- Ask for this when getting fruit and they throw in a couple extra    

Oiste- really meaning did you hear, but here it is used as “O.K?” 

Pillas- hurry up

Qué mas- What’s up?

Raspa’o-  Snow cone  

Sapo- a know it all in class

Tinto- coffee

U

Vaina- thing
Wera- Usually spoken at parties when someone does something strange

X

Y

Zapote- one of my favorite fruits that is amazing as a blended juice with milk

Jumanji Scene

I am no meteorologist, but based on the fact that it is raining almost everyday (sometimes twice) and occasionally strong winds and lightning accompany the pouring rain, I would say the rainy season is fast approaching or we are in the midst of it over here in La Boquilla.  The other weekend there was a terrible storm on Saturday.  The rain was falling by the bucketful, the lightning was horizontally lighting up the sky, and the strong winds actually provided a brief relief from the dreadful humidity.  Despite not having power and part of my host families roof caving in, the storm served as a nice change of climate.  Yes you read that right....THE ROOF CAVED IN.  

Photo taken from my host sister's facebook

Surprisingly the roof caving in and the power going out-- “la luz se fue Mice (my family has trouble pronouncing Mike)”-- did not seem to phase my family that much when it happened on Saturday.  However, that attitude would be short lived because like I mentioned, it is raining nearly everyday now.  So just like clock work on Sunday around 6:00pm, the rain started with a drizzle and then it was as if a switch was flipped and the drizzle turned into a full on downpour.  Now a storm and a gaping hole in the roof do not equal a pleasant night.  I soon realized that I felt like I was Robbin Williams in the Jumanji monsoon scene that Sunday night.  

 "Every month at the quarter moon, there'll be a monsoon in your lagoon."

Immediately after the rain turned into a downpour, the flooding began.  The water started gathering, ankle deep, in upstairs rooms and in the downstairs landing.  Soon after the storm began we split up in teams and my host mom and her sister were upstairs brushing the water, with brooms, down the stairs--creating class three rapids-- and my host brother and I were sweeping the stair rapids out the front door, with two other broom--we own a lot of brooms.  

The very next day my host family decided it would be best to get the roof fixed, no argument there, and after tossing a bunch of things that got ruined by the water to the curb, I am still living in Jumanji, only this time it is the bat scene.  

"At night they fly, you better run, these winged things are not much fun" 

My host mom told me that bats were living in the roof and when it caved they all entered the house.  So now around five bats fly down the stairs throughout the day and the ones that can’t find the front door are mercilessly swatted at, by sandals, and killed by one of my host family members.  I would estimate that around 25 bats have been slaughtered in the house since the roof caving incident.  Granted those are only the ones I have been around to see.   

I am pretty sure this is what I looked like the first time a bat flew within inches of my face.