Casual Conversation – US vs. Colombia

This won’t be an exposé on the subject of the post’s title but I hope it will provide an unlocked door or open window into one of the differences between the lifestyles we lead in the US versus those of Colombians in their own country.The following is from Sandy, a blogger from the US who recently spent a considerable amount of time getting to know Colombia and is already wanting to return south. One of the main differences is…

“Fear… a lot of conversations overheard in U.S. malls, shops, grocery stores, etc., seem to be about fear – “I’m afraid the world is….”, “Aren’t you afraid your retirement funds will disappear?”, “Did you hear that Social Security is likely to be stopped?”, and “What if we have an earthquake?” It is true my Latin American Spanish is not high-level functioning but I was able to eavesdrop a little bit on conversations in similar locales down there and the message I got there was significantly more hopeful: “Aren’t you glad we got a little rain today?”, “We are excited about our daughter’s school report…”, “It was nice that the doctor took time to explain that procedure to us…”, and “It was good that the cost of dinner was less than we expected.” Much of the phrasing seems to be aimed at a positive view of things instead of fearful.”

In Colombia, there’s two ways to close a car door

Over on Raising Colombian Kids, there’s a post called Taxi Etiquette which gives the reader tips on closing car doors in Colombia. This reminds me of my friend’s cars in Brazil and how they believed there’s really only two ways to close a car door, either you slam it shut or you (gently) close it. Whenever I’d shut a car door normally, they’d think I was slamming it, which never made much sense to me. I guess it’s a Colombian thing too…

Zócalo – Why Houses Are Two Colors

If you’ve traveled throughout Colombia, you’ve surely come across the typical streets lined with houses which have a tendency to be painted two colors. This has a name (the lower section, at least) and it is called a zócalo and is probably an old custom imported from Spain as one can see the same style in the old houses there.

As to why it is done, the point behind it is to protect the houses from erosion in the case of the passage of rainwater through the streets. Up to 80 centimeters from the ground, the a coat of cement is used in order to do the job. Perhaps the paint, then, signifies the point to which the house is protected from being eroded.

In Guatapé, near the city of Medellín, the residents have made the zócalos into an art form by embedding designs in them. One could say that these designs tell a story of sorts, about the town and those who live in it. The zócalero profession has even emerged to meet the demand for such a service and they even compete amongst themselves to see who can design the best zócalo. No longer using only cement, there are those who make frescos (paintings set in plaster) to create more elaborate works.

How to recognize a Colombian – Observations

(it would be easier if they just waved their flag, jeje)

This afternoon, I ran into two cool Colombians at one of my friend’s eateries and it got me thinking about if one can know a Colombian when they see one (ie, picking one out from a crowd). Perhaps it’s possible and in the case that it is, I’m not skilled enough yet to know a Colombian when I see one (with Brazilians, I’m almost an expert at this). The only exception to the rule is when they open their mouths because it’s then that I can do fairly well with my little game.

When it comes to Brazilians, I’m looking at way of dress, way of moving, overall look and of course, accent. When it comes to Colombians, all I have to go on is their accent(s) (unless of course they are wearing something like a sombrero vueltiao) and for some reason, women give away their country more than men do…maybe because women in general are more expressive than men. Sure, Colombians have their own stereotypes about themselves but I need to meet more Colombians from other parts of Colombia in order to understand where those stereotypes come from.

No matter where the Colombians I know are from, they do have one thing in common, a-la-orden-idad (ok, so I made that up but it should be a word). That is to say, they are always open to help you and more so, they want you to enjoy yourself. Should we call this ‘hospitalidad’? Perhaps it fits better.

Anyways, in my 6 years studying Colombia, I’ve never met a Colombian I didn’t like but of course I realize people are people and therefore I can’t generalize although I can’t deny what I’ve experienced either.

Avoiding Colombian beach vendors – Observations

Just kidding, there’s no secret to avoiding them, aside from not going to the beach. The top three things they’ll always say while slowly passing in front of you? Promoción (Promotion). Masaje (Massage). Cerveza (Beer). Other items you may see are shrimp, mango slices with salt and lime, articles of clothing and accessories. My guess is that if you want it, they’ll get it for you.

But seriously, how does one avoid them since they take the words “no, gracias” to mean “show me what your friend is selling”? If you are fair-skinned, there’s just no hope for you aside from staying in the water (although this isn’t full-proof as I’ve had beach vendors enter the water with their wares). On the other hand, if you could pass for the average Colombian though (wait, is there such a thing?), you might have a slight chance at some peace on the beach. The trick seems to be to barely shake your head side to side while making the universal ‘no-no’ sound with the tapping of your tongue on the roof of your mouth. Add a little shake of the index finger to it and it might be smooth bathing…at least for another minute or two.

Cutting in Line in Colombia (and Brazil)

Over at PBH Colombia, there’s a thread dealing with Colombians going to the front of a line without acknowledging the existence of that very line. In my opinion, if stepping back from the individual occurance and looking at the whole picture, it comes down to a feeling of resignation that things won’t change due to a single person’s actions therefore it’s okay to do as you please. It is a learned habit via the ‘example of the father’ (“if someone with more or equal authority did it, why can’t I?”). I am definitely not saying everyone does it but it is an accepted cultural norm. This idea centered around resignation happens a lot in Brazil too, so I feel for the guy in the story below…

“Both foriegners and native colombians, how do you handle this?

Example: Almost every time I am trying to do business be it buying milk or more complicated transactions at serious businesses either someone jumps in front of me while I’m waiting or charges up while I’m in the middle of a transaction and just starts telling the person who’s helping me what they want. 9 times out of 10 the clerk will automatically stop helping me and take care of them. To me thats real low class and lately I’ve been speaking up, be it a woman or a man. “hey, you need to wait”. Normally I get “oh que pena contigo”. But people look at me like I’m the bad guy.

Maybe I’m getting old but I follow the rules of human descency, I dont like having to act like an animal at feeding time when trying to do simple business. So, how do you all handle this?”

The responses range from speak up to punch the offender in the face (although I believe that response was a joke). For you Colombians out there, what is your opinion on this? Why does this happen and what how do you react?

If speaking about my own country, well, sure people cut in line in the US but the cultural norm is to speak your mind. What does that accomplish? Either the other person goes to the back of the line or an employee happens to hear the complaint when it happens and speaks to the person who is attempting to cut in line.

As part of the responses and in regards to a sub-story to the story above, one American wrote the following, which I also agree with. “WHERE he has been living is not the point. HOW he has been living is!” In other words, it happens all over the world and it comes down to manners.

My 10 days in Colombia – Observations

Last week, I got back from a 10 day trip to Medellín and I’d like to share a few observations about my experience. A few weeks ago, I was reminded of a ticket I had purchased last year to Medellín but didn’t end up taking so instead I paid to keep it as credit for a future flight. Well, the time came and I went, without putting much thought into it at all.

Due to such immediacy, upon arrival I didn’t quite have a clear view of why I was there or of what I was doing, but I went with the flow. During the 10 days, I stayed with a friend in the Centro and proceeded to show myself around town in the days to come. Details such as ‘it’s not vacation for anyone else’ were quickly brought to my attention and in the end, colored my experience of Medellín as a whole. Luckily, I did meet a friend of my friend who had a more liberal schedule and so we hung out quite a bit as the days went on and at this point, I’m pretty sure I could even give walking tours of the City of Eternal Spring…minus Santa Elena, which I didn’t have time for unfortunately.

On to the observations, shall we?

Language

You’re going to hear “pues” all the time, before sentences, after them, and in the middle of them. Sentences you didn’t think could have pues in them, do. There’s a distinct rhythym also of people from Medellín and it’s catchy, after a while you want to speak like they do. It’s kind of low-key and stressed if I had to describe it in some fashion. Another phrase you may very well hear is “que charro” which means that something is funny. Also, parce (for parcero) is used quite a bit. Yet another one is the famous Colombian phrase “que hubo?” for what’s up or what happened, although it seems like one word when pronounced.

Women

The women in Medellín (called paisas) are said to be the most beautiful in Colombia. Perhaps I need to travel a bit more within the country to confirm or deny that but I will tell you this, they are very beautiful. Part of it comes naturally while the other part is cultural. Colombian women, for the most part, will not leave the house without looking put-together (dressed nicely, stylish, perfumed, etc). Some might say that this would mean they are into the phsyical to an extreme degree but after some thinking, I found another way to see it. Perhaps this is just normal to them and not something like “I need to place phsyical appearance above everything else”. Looking good in Colombia is just part of life, like brushing your teeth.

Men

I’m not sure what to say about the men but I can say that there is definitely a style that almost everyone has. This includes a fitted t-shirt with stripes or a funky design on it or both, a mullet hairstyle (often with the sides buzzed) and jeans. The hairstyle is the most noticable though and I would guess that about 85% of Colombia’s male youth have it.

Transport

Cars don’t follow any rules except to follow no rules. Confusing? Let’s put it this way, if you go to Colombia and try to follow all the rules of the road, you will end up getting others and yourself in an accident. Go with the flow. Buses pretty much follow suit and if you’re lucky enough to take the Circular (I think it’s number 192) into Laureles, you’ll almost be thrown from the bus…so hold on! Also, the bus drivers leave the doors open while they drive, generally before and after stops. What I meant by buses follow suit is I witnessed about three different accidents with the buses I was riding on, where one bus would clip the other, often times taking their side view mirrors clear off. After a very quick chat between drivers, off we went.  No matter if it’s a bus or a car or a motorcycle, getting the green light to cross the street doesn’t mean you should nonchalantly cross to the other side. Always be aware of where the cars are around you as a pedestrian. In practice, pedestrians don’t exactly have rights…something I actually prefer in most cases solely because it keeps the city moving as no one is waiting for anyone else.

Food & Drink

Do not miss out on the easy stuff! This includes pandebono, arepas (especially arepas de chocolo con mozzarella), and the buñuelos. They are all fantastic! In the morning, don’t forget that there is always a place on the street for mango slices (although you need to know they usually put salt and lime juice on it). As for drinks, don’t miss the jugo de lulo or the jugo de mora.

Homeless

Different from the homeless in the US, who generally sit on the corner of intersections with a sign asking for change, the homeless in Medellín (and I’m guessing most of Colombia) just lie there on the sidewalk doing absolutely nothing (I noticed the same thing in Brazil). There’s a difference between homeless and poor, is what I’m getting at. The poor people on the other hand are hard-workers and will find any one of a million ways to make a little here and there.

Etc

Something I noticed in many areas of Colombian life is when it comes to purchases, single-serving is very popular. Want to make a phone call? No need to have a cell phone plan, just ask an omnipresent minutes vendor on the street to make a call. Ok, that’s just one example, but I’m blanking on the other ones at the moment. Also, things like riding the metro are simplified economically. One can take the metro from one end of the city to the next and even hop onto the metrocable line up the hillside for the US price of about 65 cents. This is very different from the metros here in the States where you pay the lower price for the lower number of stops but with each extra stop, you pay more. What else? Medellín has quite a lot of plazas and parks and things to do in general for families during leisure time. Speaking of such, museums are pretty much all free, which is great.

If I think of other observations, I’ll be sure to add them to the list. All in all though, I enjoyed my trip and I left with a new appreciation for Medellín and Colombian hospitality.

Colombian stereotypes…by Colombians

I’m reading a few history books on Colombia at the moment, although I’ve read one before, I like to see the same thing from different viewpoints. The one I’ll reference now is called Colombia: Portrait of Unity and Diversity by Harvey Kline, which paints an interesting portrait of 1983 Colombia.

In one section early on, he quickly makes mention of how Colombians see themselves and that is what I would like to write about.

“A Colombian can usually identify the regional background of another by his way of speaking, and quite often has a stereotype of the way the individual will act. The stereotype might be that pastusos (people from Pasto) are dumb and are the brunt of jokes, as are certain ethnic groups in the United States; that cachacos (people from the Bogotá area) are cold, legalistic and very status conscious; or that paisas (people from Antioquia) are religious, hard-working, and have many children.

Costeños (people from the Caribbean coast) are stereotyped as happy, carefree, capable of drinking large amounts of rum and dancing all night, but not capable of speaking a decent Spanish with final s’s pronounced. They do not take the Roman Catholic religion seriously, nor do they take Colombian politics as seriously as their compatriots from the Andean region. Whether or not these stereotypes are empirically valid, they are part of the mythology that makes up the Colombian world view. “

Most of these stereotypes, minus the one about those from Pasto, I have heard of through the many Colombians I have come across. Never has there been any type of hatred between these groups as witnessed by me but I’m sure the author is correct in his assumption that someone from one area might stereotype how someone from another might act. I couldn’t help but notice there was no mention of the caleños (or those from Cali) but if anyone knows of the apparent stereotype for them, let me know and I’ll add it.

“A la orden” – It’s inescapable

“A la orden” (from ‘Estar a la orden’, or ‘To be at the service of someone’)

Go anywhere in Colombia and you’re sure to hear it. Everyone says it and they say it all the time. Ok, generally it’s employees who say it to their customers but it can also be a way to tell someone “if you need it (something), I hope to be able to help you.” For a phrase to be so omnipresent, it’s wonderful that this is the phrase. In other countries, the phrase is always the same (“Can I help you?”) and that gets so boring and it requires a response (and with it, you’re made to think). However, “a la orden” requires no thinking and that’s what differentiates it in my opinion.

It has two general meanings, one being “can I help you?” and number two, “you’re welcome” (I’m going to add one based on my interpretation “please come back if you need my service again”). Alternatively, you may also hear “a sus ordenes” which is “at your orders”.

I’d like to track down the origin of the phrase, but being that it is kind of general, I’m not sure that is possible, although I do believe for some reason or other Colombians have made it their own. I read that in military parlance, “a la orden” means subordination or ‘mission understood’.