Los Almendros

At the start of the new year (2023) I was feeling some growing pains and was ready for a bit of change so I started to seek out new housing arrangements for myself. On the same day that I toured it, I decided that I wanted to move into the house in a neighborhood not to far from my old one called Los Almendros that became my home for the second half of my grant. What initially sold me about the house was that I would have air conditioning in my room, and would also have access to the big, beautiful balcony that was just steps away from the room that would be mine. I imagined myself enjoying the sunsets and the breeze, reading, writing, dancing, and passing time listening to music there, and that's exactly what I did. But aside from the balcony, and other great things like the amenities and the location of the house, it was the people who I lived with who really made it feel like home.

Los Almendros is the last neighborhood that I lived in, and it's the place where I spent the most time in Cartagena. I lived there with my host mom Mary, her two adult children and three other pensionadas (renters). It sounds like a lot of people, but we shared a three-story house, and it was the perfect size for us all. One thing that I will never forget is how when I first moved in, the entire family came to the curb to help me lug 3 huge suitcases and a million other boxes and bags up 2 flights of stairs to my new room on the third floor. I had imagined that moving would be quite stressful, but they made the process so seamless for me, and this almost moved me to tears that day. That was only the first show of my host family’s care and kindness, as they consistently made sure I felt comfortable, were there for me in the moments when I needed support, and exposed and invited me to many wonderful experiences during my time there. I felt so loved by the family. They took care of me, they taught me a lot about culture, about food, about Costeñol, about kindness, and I know that the connections we share are for life.

I really enjoyed living with my host family and also with the other pensionados. Mary also rents out rooms in the house next door, so between both places I met a ton of people from all over Colombia; from Yopal, Bucaramanga, La Guajira, Montería, Barranquilla, Sincelejo, Cartagena, and various pueblos outside of Cartagena as well. The other renters were around my age too, as they were mostly university students or recent graduates, so it was really nice to connect with other young people this way. I was always meeting new people, whether they were members of Mary’s family who stopped by to visit, friends of my roommates, or neighbors, and nearly everyone was super generous and kind. There was an extraordinary sense of community there, and I was always learning something new. I have fond memories of learning how to prepare sopa de mondongo from Mary and her friends, of baking late-night cookies, going to the movies, and going grocery shopping with my roommates, and of having many chats about life and cultural differences over lunch in the house.

Mi clase con mi profe Robi @salsaencartagena on instagram!

I also have a lot of great memories from our balcony. There was always a party or get-together up there since we all shared the space, and I crashed most of them! Outside of the times when other people were on the balcony for parrandas, I spent the most time up there out of everyone. It was where I reflected, where I danced with Robinson, one of the directors of BOOM Latino who taught me private classes for a little bit, it was where I planned my classes for the university, ate ice cream, listened to music, and enjoyed the sunsets like I mentioned in many of my previous posts. Another important member of the family who I should mention is Summer, the very first cat I have lived with, and the reason why I will give cats a chance in the future hahah. I always thought I was a dog person (AND that I was allergic to cats), but I now see that cats aren’t so bad (and that I’m not allergic to them lol). Summer would often climb up to the third floor to the balcony at night and we’d hang out together. When I would wake up early, she would accompany me then too, and she often greeted me when I came home from the university.

From the balcony I saw many interesting things go by. Marching band practice, a mariachi band, a holy day procession during Semana Santa, and vendors pushing carts filled with fruit, fish, peto and many other goods each day. I also could see sports games and practices, as our house was in a square that surrounded a cancha (court), playground, a little church, and a tent where people sold fritos in the morning and comida rápida like hot dogs, picadas, and little pizzas at night. There was always a buzz in the afternoons and evenings, between the kids playing sports, families eating comida rápida, and people gathering for beers and music in the neighborhood tienda which was just a few steps diagonal from my house. There I often bought eggs, queso costeño, natuchip verde, my favorite brand of green plantain chips, and I frequently chatted with the family who ran the tienda.

Marching band practice!

Now about my room, like I mentioned before, it had air conditioning!!! In my previous room I had un abanico (a fan), and I got by with it, but I was super grateful to have an air conditioning machine in my new room. Somehow this house was a lot cooler than where I lived before though, so oftentimes I decided to forgo the air because the temperature was just right, and after getting used to the extreme heat all the time, sometimes the air conditioning was too cold for me. However, on the days when the heat was just too much, the air came in very handy. I felt a lot more comfortable in my new house and room temperature wise, which I didn’t realize could be such a huge factor. Opposite to the way that the heat in my room in El Campestre served as motivation to go out and about, the coolness of my new room in Los Almendros made me in less of a rush to leave my house, resulting in a lot more domicilios haha!

One unique thing about my neighborhood is that it was gated in by talanqueras in all of the streets but one, only permitting one way for cars and motos to enter and exit. Apparently in the past there were a lot of problems with security in the neighborhood, but the talanqueras helped to turn things around, and they have been used for the same purpose in a couple other neighborhoods in Cartagena as well. At the entrance of the neighborhood there was a moto station that I used frequently, and I became friendly with the vigilantes who were posted there, as they helped me hail mototaxis if the usual drivers at our station were all busy. En moto I was only about 10 minutes away from campus San Pablo where I worked most of the time, and about 30 minutes away from San Agustin, the campus of the university in the Historical Center where I taught university staff, by Transcaribe or colectivo. When I moved to Los Almendros, I finally lived near a Transcaribe station, and my host family taught me how to use it early on, which was super helpful.

Other things that I loved about our house were that there were the sliding glass doors that separated the balcony from the inside area that we always left open, and during the day this let in sunlight, at night it let in a breeze, and there were always the sounds of birds, vendors, and music drifting in. It gave my living space a really beautiful indoor-outdoor feeling. Mary also did aseo for all her renters and sold these delicious lunches that I enjoyed frequently. She also had a kitchen full of gadgets that we could use when cooking, and an oven, which I had found rare to come by in Cartagena. I took advantage and baked sweet treats with friends and they loved them. We had a dryer, another thing that is not common at all in Cartagena, so while I got accustomed to and preferred drying my things in the sun, I could use the dryer when I was in a pinch.

All in all, I loved living in Los Almendros. I love the people I lived with, I loved the house, I loved the experiences I had there. At the end of my time in Cartagena, my friends and family threw me a despedida (a goodbye party) the night before I left on our beloved balcony, and it was really sweet. We sat and talked and enjoyed each other's company while eating treats that my host family and other friends and family brought to share. I savored those last moments and was so happy to be with them all even though I was saying goodbye. I was able to hold back my tears because I am certain I will be back to visit very soon!

DISCLAIMER: This site (octaviachristopher.com) is not an official Fulbright Program site. The views expressed on this site are entirely those of its author and do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State or any of its partner organizations.

Parque Tayrona

DANCEEEEEE