Reviving My Blog…

Me on one of the many rooftops where you can catch an amazing view of the city & sunset downtown

Revive blog!!!

It was one of my “End of Grant Bucket List'' items, and a thought that I had way too many times during my grant, so here I am, por fin, finally doing it. Welcome back and thank you so much for being here after my very long break! 

If you’re a friend, family member, or Instagram follower of mine, you surely know by now that I’m in love with Cartagena. The city, the experiences I’ve had, and the beautiful people that I met there have brought endless joy, adventure, and growth into my life. I’ve had my share of difficult moments as well, but I’m an optimist, and a firm believer that you can only truly appreciate the sweet moments in life with a little bit of salt for contrast. My eyes have been opened to so many cultural differences, and new ways of thinking and viewing the world that sometimes shocked and surprised me, but through it all, I’ve had the experience of a lifetime and will forever hold La Heroica en mi corazón.

The flag of Cartagena during the Independence Day celebrations in November

Cartagena is a city that just has something in the air; Calor? Siempre. Música? También, but more than that, it is a city filled with joyful, warm, expressive people. With time and improvement in my language skills (of both español y costeñol), I’ve had the opportunity to connect with and learn from so many people about a culture where people prioritize closeness to family and friends, being present, and enjoying life together. Even camaraderie with acquaintances is on a different level there, and this connectivity within costeño culture is something that made my experience in the city phenomenal.  

Aside from the really great people, I also really do love how there is music everywhere all the time. Controversial opinion, but I also really do enjoy the climate of the city. It feels like summer year-around, and is super hot and humid, but I love it. You just have to stay hydrated, find shade, a fan, or air-conditioning during the hottest parts of the day, and embrace the sweat! On the topic of the outdoors, I’m a lover of sunsets. The sunsets on the beach there are on another level; you’ll feel transported to another dimension by the pinks, blues, purples, yellows, and oranges that fill the sky. I loved that the beach was so close to where I lived (between 25-40 minutes depending on the hour, which beach you want to go to, and the mode of transportation that you use), and I visited often. 

The sunset en playa el Laguito

I love the food and I didn’t miss out on the opportunity to eat the typical dish of mojarra or sierra frito (local fried fish), with arroz con coco (coconut rice), aguacate (avocado), and salad or patacones (flattened twice-fried plantain slices) nearly every single week. I love the mototaxis that can take you nearly anywhere you want to go, in a jiffy, and for an unbeatable price.

My lunch of corvina frita, another delicious local fish

I love the fact that recently Mangos are growing literally everywhere in the city. Technically there is always at least one variety of mango that is in season, because there are always vendors selling them, but recently the type of mango tree that is most common in the city has been blooming with fruit. I spent a few weeks eating mangoes for breakfast, as a snack, as dessert, in juice, in slices, straight off the seed, yellow, green, and orange; the list goes on and on. I had my eyes on some ripening mangoes that I’d soon be able to eat from the trees in my neighborhood, and on the campus of my university when I was first drafting this post. In that time, you could often hear the sound of ripe mangoes falling to the ground from trees nearby! 

A ton of mangoes that my host-mom brought back fresh from her friend’s finca one day

I love the variance in the landscape: los barrios with colorful houses and hand painted signs on the walls of the neighborhood tiendas, the colonial architecture of El Centro Histórico, the art and color of Getsemaní, the high-rise views of Bocagrande and Manga, and the way Tierra Bomba sparkles from afar at night. From my house I could see La Popa in the distance, other rooftops, and most importantly those stunning sunsets that I mentioned earlier. 

The view of the sunrise from my friend’s apartment in Manga

I love how people acknowledge and greet each person in every single room they enter, often with the word “buenas” or a cheek-to-cheek kiss; and I love how when I haven’t seen someone in a while I might be surprised with a big kiss on the cheek and a hug. I have a love-hate relationship with the fact that people always take their time and are never EVER in a rush. I have learned to relax, to be patient, and to enjoy each moment, big or small, because there is no reason not to, and because there is absolutely no place for uptightness there hahaha. 

Murals that surround the under-renovation Plaza de Bolivar en el Centro Histórico

I also love how the people here reflect the vibrance and history of the city, with skin different shades of brown and tan, and with what I saw with my foreigner eyes as some of the most creative and expressive haircuts, braids, twists, curls, locs, dye jobs and fashion sense. Once I could understand it better, I grew to love costeñol, the dialect of Spanish present on the Caribbean coast, filled with words, phrases, expressions and sounds that are uniquely Cartagenero. 

This is what I mean, every aspect of Cartagena is bursting with life. The city vibrates. There are always people passing by, on foot, in bus, in busettas, on moto, in taxis. There's always music, the hum of motos, or the voices of vendors filling the air. 

Safety first! Me in my casco

For a while I felt that I needed to learn more about Cartagena before writing, because I realized each day that there was so much I didn’t know or understand about the language, the culture, and life there, but how funny it is that I now sit on the other side of all of the time that has passed, full of new knowledge, new experiences, new language but also with a tiny bit of regret that I never wrote down all of my experiences back when everything was fresh and new to me. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve written a few drafts, but I think the desire to portray everything as accurately as possible kept me from publishing, as I felt a need and responsibility to get everything right, but that's never really possible anyways. My adjustment to life there was swift, and a lot of the things that made Cartagena so foreign, so surprising, and so different to me in the beginning just became a part of normal daily life, but now being back home those differences are beginning to stand-out quite clearly to me once more. I love Cartagena soooo much. I believe I landed exactly where I was meant to, and I am so grateful to have lived my experience there with all the people I’ve met along the way. I’ve come home now but know that my connection to the city is forever and that my story there hasn’t ended just yet!

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.