Eline in Colombia: July 2010

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Sunday in Ibagué; todo es tranquilo

This morning we packed our stuff for the swimming pool and left for Yesica’s house. We went with her boyfriend’s family and it was an hour drive.
It was Nestor’s birthday today – the father of Felipe, Yesica’s boyfriend. The swimming pool wasn’t at all what I imagined! It was a pretty pool with a ‘hut’ next to it, in between the mountains. The whole family was there and we were welcomed like old friends! As always we ate good food and way too much!

Before we arrived at the pool, we stopped at a shop where the boys bought licor. Apparently this is normal, because all the adults drank it. There was aguardiente - a drink with anis - and rum with sprite. I’m not crazy about the aguardiente, it is really strong.
We played volleybal and chatted whole afternoon, with the whole family, very nice!

I knew Ibagué was called the music city of Colombia because of the Conservatory, but I’ve also noticed Colombian people always listen to – mostly loud – music. The funny thing is that even the sad songs sound very happy!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Our arrival in Ibagué

Saturday we left for Ibagué. Before taking the taxi, we said goodbye to Katia and Oscar and thanked them for their hospitality!

We took the bus at noon and drove for about 4,5 hours. Very nice views; spectacular mountains, eclectic villages, people selling things at the side of the road,…

It would have been more beautiful if I didn’t have to go to the bathroom! I had to go after one hour on the road. Especially the last hour was difficult because there were a lot of huge bumps on the street! At that moment I wasn’t even afraid of the chaffeur’s driving style anymore! Here in Colombia everybody drives twice as fast as the signs tell you to drive. I first thought they counted in mile per hour, but it was kilometer per hour! Anyway, Colombian drivers have given me a couple of heart attacks, but I’m still alive! I can’t get used of the lack of seatbelts in the taxi’s though…

Before we left we were told you shouldn’t buy food in the bus but I didn’t understand why, until the bus stopped in the first village; there were at least 10 people trying to sell us fruit, sandwiches, ice creams,…

We arrived at about 5 pm and there a lovely woman waited for us; she was named Claudia and would bring us to our house. She is about 24 and studies after work. I thought I would stay in a host family, separate from Marie-Laure, but apparently they changed plans; now we’re together with a German boy and it’s not really a host family. The house belongs to a woman who lives close to us. She is called Marlena and is very sweet. She has a daughter but she already has children of her own.

Our address is Onzaga Manzana 10 casa 2, Ibagué (Tolima), Colombia (South America)

We unpacked and met another girl. She was named Yesica and she lived one block away from us. The blocks are really small so she is practically our neighbor. We met her family, who were also very nice people. They own the neighborhood shop and know the whole neighborhood. We talked the whole evening and played with her little sister and dog. At the end of the evening we got invited to go to a swimming pool the next day; of course we said yes!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

A new day in Bogota

Thursday Marie-Laure, Ana – a Colombian friend - and I visited Monserraté, a church on top of the mountains where you could see the whole of Bogota. This was spectacular! Bogota lies between the mountaintops and it is huge. There are about 8 million inhabitants!

Some people used to climb the mountain on their knees, but now the path is under construction because it was too dangerous.
Behind the church there were hundreds of plaques with prayers and thank you's for God. I even read one where they thanked God for giving him an American visa!

While we were passing the little shops, we met 3 Irish guys who were on a trip trough South-America.
When we got down with the teleferico - elevators- we took a cab downtown and visited the Botero museum. Botero is a famous Colombian artist who draws fat people in a cartoonesk way. Apparently he and his wife are very thin! The museum building was fantastic; it had patios, balconies, fountains,… Botero’s art wasn’t really my cup of tea although I really liked his version of Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

After dinner at Ana’s we met up with the Irish guys and a couple of Colombian friends. They also invited friends who invited their friends. So after a while we were a group of about 15 people with different nationalities; Australian, Irish, American, Colombian, Dutch and Belgian! It was a great evening. Very strange finding yourself on the other side of the world, in a metropole, having fun with a lot of people you've never seen before!
Afterwards Marie-Laure and I stayed at Juliana’s apartment – another Colombian friend. It was a strange yet wonderful day!

Friday, July 23, 2010

Discovering Bogota

Wednesday we did a lot!

Both Marie-Laure and I woke up at about 6 am Colombian time, because it was about 14 o’clock Belgian time. We had a heavenly breakfast! Fruit, joghurt, bread, orange juice, tea and eggs :)

At noon Juliana, another friend of Marie-Laure's, came to pick us up. We went to Ana and from there, we took the taxi to the local university. The traffic is terrifying! Funny signs too; like ‘forbidden to honk’ or ‘watch out crashing cars’. It seems that taxi’s never use their indicators!

Anyway, when we arrived at the university we met up with two other friends of them. They just had their first day of school.

The ‘village’ around the school was called ‘La Candelaria’. It was filled with colonial buildings with a lot of colours.

After a brief walk through El Chorro, a famous little street, we had lunch at a Mexican/Colombian restaurant named ‘Dos Gatos Y Simone’. Very good, but very heavy!

After lunch we went to the ‘museo del Oro’, the goldmuseum. We even learnt something new: Tumbago! Marie-Laure was even baptized ‘Tumbago-Girl’ by our guide (because she was pointing out every tumbago-object).
Tumbago was ‘gold’ but it existed of 30 percent gold and 70 percent copper, which gave the pinkish colour.
Apparently El Dorado was in Colombia: the Spanish people thought tumbago was real gold, but actually it wasn’t worth that much. Nevertheless, I thought it was as beautiful as real gold.
While visiting the museum, we met another friend of the girls, so we were with 6 people.

We visited the three churches in front of the museum, but we couldn’t visit the Botero museum because there was a protest. So we strolled along the presidential building and the plaza del Bolivar, where we met a homeless guy who knew everything of every building.

After our walk we took the bus, which was an experience itself! These very little busses kept their doors open most of the time and stopped everywhere people held their arms out.

We went to Ana’s house and had a drink and left for dinner. We sat outside while eating but it was surprisingly cold! In Bogota the weather is relatively cold because it's situated in the mountains.

I had a lot of fun, Colombian people are such nice people!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

The adventure begins!

So tuesday I finally left for Colombia! Marie-Laure and I said goodbye to friends and family and left together. The adventure begins!

The flights went very well. Especially Brussels-Barcelona, as we talked the whole flight.

We had to wait a bit at the airport of Barcelona because the flight was late. It was really quiet there; you really had the feeling the airport was almost empty!

The plane was really big; I didn't know there would be so many people going to Colombia! It was a pleasant flight. Everybody even had a little television screen. That was quite a funny sight, all those screens in the dark.

During our flight we visited our newly acquired Colombian friends Maria-Carolina and Fernando, who were sitting in the back of the plane. We met them before we boarded. They were very friendly! Maria-Carolina wrote us a whole guide about beautiful places and good food. This made me very excited for the rest of the trip!

After the arrival - the flight took more than 10 hours- we had to go past the immigration to get a visa. As a tourist you are allowed to stay for 60 days, but somehow the man behind the glass didn't understand me (although I clearly said I was a tourist and that I would stay in Ibagué) and he gave me a visa for 45 days. Luckily our friends were able to help us and finally I got 60 days.

Apparently you can elongate your stay to more than 100 days. I guess I just looked like a criminal..

Maria-Carolina and Fernando said Marie-Laure and I looked like Colombian people and would blend in the crowd. Now I only have to learn how to speak Spanish properly!

When we finally got outside Ana, a friend of Marie-Laure's, and her parents picked us up. They took us to the apartment where we would be staying. The apartment belonges to Oscar and Katia, two people from the Belgian Embassy and old friends of my grandparents.

Today was Colombia’s Independence Day. The country has been independent from Spain for 200 years now. That’s why there were so many people at the airport; a lot of flights were delayed for 3 hours because of the air show. For the same reason there were also a lot of closed streets, what which lead to a delay in arrival at Katia and Oscar’s. Oscar thought we had taken a taxi, so at the time we arrived, he was a bit worried. Such lovely people!

Their penthouse reminds me of a museum; everywhere you look there are paintings, statues and old furniture. It is a bit of a maze because all the rooms are octagonal or abstract.

Because we had been awake for almost 24 hours, the soft bed was more than welcome!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Ibagué

Ibagué is the capital city of the Tolima department of Colombia and is located at 1285 meters (4215 feet) above sea level on the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Central, between the Combeima and the Chipalo rivers.

The city is known as ‘the musical capital of Colombia’, due to its famous conservatory and musical events during the year. Ibagué is a small city with a special charm. There are about 465.859 inhabitants.

The Villa de San Bonifacio de Ibagué del Valle de las Lanzas ("Town of Saint Boniface of Ibagué of the Valley of the Spears") was founded in Cajamarca, on 14 oktober 1550 by the Spanish Captain Andrés López de Galarza. The regular attacks of the local Pijao-indians lead to the removal of the city by the Spaniards, to its current place, 42 km to the east. The current name is shortened to Ibagué.

Grotere kaart weergeven

Me, Myself & I

Name: Eline Verriest

Age: 21

Place of residence: Bertem, Belgium

Currently living in: Ibagué, Colombia

Studies: Starting my final year in Interior Architecture (master)

School: Sint-Lucas (Wenk) in Schaarbeek, Brussels

Hobbies: Playing the accordeon and the piano, ballet dancing and doing some creative stuff...

The Project

This building in this photo is the old station of Picaleña.

The project I'm (going to be) working on is a part of a big research project investigating the meaning of cultural identity in developing countries.

Durability is not only important in technique and energy but also in cultural elements. In a country like Colombia there isn’t much public interest in cultural and architectural heritage and in the social identity of the people. Old characterizing buildings are being replaced by American looking architecture.

This project focuses on learning how creative you can be with the original typologies and the redirection of old(er) architecture.

I will help develop strategies to redefine the qualities of the typologies in terms of a new future.

This project is a multidisciplinary cooperation with the University of Ibagué and is done under the supervision of professors of the University of Pisa and Rome.
The first half of August, there will be a course where we shall occupy ourselves with the elements of restauration, technical concepts, history of the architecture, making technical drawings, studying building materials, repair and integration of the building in the environment and exploring new possibilities for the building. The latter will be a continuous work process throughout the following weeks.

Two of my fellow students of Sint-Lucas will accompany me to Ibagué. One of them, Jeroen Stevens, will work on this project and the other one, Marie-Laure Paquet, will work on another one.