That was what my Colombian friend, Juan Pablo, told me when I expressed interest in coming to visit him in Colombia this fall. He told me that he was going to plan the whole trip and the only thing I had to do was tell him the dates that I was coming. As a person who is inherently a “planner,” the idea was a bit stressful, but faced with the amazing opportunity to see Colombia through the eyes of a local, I hesitantly agreed.
Juan Pablo and I met during the internship that we both did this past spring in DC, me commuting and doing part-time from GW and him on a type of “semester interning abroad” from his university in Bogotá. We became very close, hanging out in each other’s rooms on the weekends, doing museum tours and many more things that college kids do living in DC. One time we were at his house and he said (knowing I would be in South America the following semester), “Cecilia, you need to come visit Colombia!” My response: “Bet.”
Fast forward to early September, when I sent the dates of my trip to Juan Pablo: October 29th to November 4th. We had a long weekend off from school, so I decided to extend it a bit and take that chance to go and visit Colombia. “Perfecto! Nos vemos en octubre!” (Perfect. I’ll see you in October.”
Little did I know how much was going to happen during the two months leading up to my trip. As everyone is very aware, my situation in Chile changed drastically on October 19th with the social upheaval and protests. It was a very stressful first week, both due to the situation in Chile and my fear that I would not be able to get out of the country to take my long-awaited trip to Colombia (obviously minuscule in comparison to the uncertainty about the protests, but still nerve-wracking). As my departure date drew closer, luckily the country seemed to stabilize; I breathed a sigh of relief and started packing. Juan Pablo did tell me that we would be spending two days in his hometown of Bogotá and then three days staying with his best friend, Javi, in Medellín. He left out a lot of details, but we will get to that later.
I arrive in Bogotá and am greeted joyously by Juan Pablo. He is ecstatic that I actually came to visit, as he informs me that he always informs people he meets to come but they never do, until me! The next morning, over a breakfast of arepas and tropical fruits, he informs me that he has a surprise for me: we are going in Javi’s PLANE on Friday, flying from Medellín to Cali so I can see Colombia from the air. Of course this is incredible, and I thank him profusely. He then tells me another secret: we are going to Javi’s boyfriend’s ESTATE in the Colombian countryside (his boyfriend is older and very wealthy…whoa).
With these two new pieces of news, my expectations for the weekend change drastically, but I was still determined to keep an open mind because it sounded amazing. The next two days, Juan Pablo took me on a tour of Bogotá, which was beautiful! It also is hard not to love Colombia when Juan Pablo is your tour guide, due to how much he himself loves Colombia. Below are some pictures of those two days in Bogotá 🙂
After Bogotá, we hopped on the 30-minute plane to Medellín. We were greeted there by Javi and his boyfriend, “The Señor,” in their huge apartment complete with panoramic views of Medellín. The next morning, we got up at 6:30am, went to the small airport and went up in the tiny plane! It was absolutely incredible to see the Colombian rainforest from that viewpoint and I can confirm that it was one of the coolest things I have ever done in my life.
After this awesome experience, we headed to the countryside. The 10 of us mostly spent the weekend by the pool reading, relaxing and enjoying the amazing views. I did, however, manage to sneak into town to try some local Colombian coffee (I bought 5 bags to take back home…) and it was DELICIOUS!
Here are some photos from the weekend… yes, it was a very difficult time for me as I am sure you can tell 😉
That about concludes my crazy week in Colombia! I have so many things still on my Colombia bucket list, I fear I will have to go back many times… oh well! Haha!
Chau everyone! Lots of love always!
Cecilia
Cecilia in Chile - Fall 2019 