Cartagena in the Spotlight

article from April 18, 2012

by Julie R Butler

If the name Cartagena once conjured up images of Colombian drug lords, or perhaps Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner fighting off scary strongmen and bumbling smugglers in an old, crocodile-infested fort, this Caribbean beach resort has now become synonymous with prostitution and the United States Secret Service.

Sex tourism

Yes, sex tourism is big business in Cartagena (that’s with a regular “n” sound, not “ñ,” as Michael Douglas mispronounced it in Romancing the Stone), as it is elsewhere in Colombia. Prostitution is legal in the “tolerance zones” of such tourist cities as Cartagena and Bogota, with the tolerance going well beyond the officially sanctioned areas. According to an anonymous source claiming to operate a sex-tourism agency in Cartagena, the secret service agents were “idiots” for going the informal route instead of paying for a more classy service, where the women are paid in advance.

Although the tolerance for the adult sex trade is greater than it should be, the Colombian government has been working to crack down on child prostitution and human trafficking in recent years. These are seen as a growing problem in Latin America, especially as developing nations are emerging onto the world stage and attracting attention to themselves by hosting large events such as the recent Summit of the Americas and the upcoming 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics to be held in Brazil. Thankfully, there were no minors involved in the secret service sex scandal. In fact, Cartagena has actually proven itself to be serious about this issue, becoming, in July 2011, the world’s leading tourist destination in terms of the number of hotels certified to follow the Code of Conduct, an international initiative that protects children and adolescents from sexual exploitation.

Cartagena culture and eco-tourism

Of course, Cartagena has much more to offer than sex. The city’s beautiful colonial walled city and historic fortresses, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984, have long been a draw for tourists interested in history and architecture, while the shiny new skyscrapers along the beachfront increasingly offer all the style and pizzazz of a major modern beach resort. Cartagena was even listed by the British travel magazine Wanderlust as the number-seven top city to visit in 2012. Colombia Reports proudly put this in terms of beating out Berlin and Venice as desirable travel destinations.

Cartagena is also gaining ground with its eco-tourism credentials. Among the criteria for this are the fact that the city can easily be explored on foot or by taxi; the cuisine that features seafood and fresh produce are local; many of the city’s aged buildings, rather than being knocked down to make way for something new, have been lovingly restored and now serve as atmospheric boutique hostels and other alternative, small-scale accommodations; and nearby nature activities include beaches, scuba diving, and an oceanarium.

Challenges for tourism

However, violent crime is still a big problem, with Colombia being ranked as the fifth most dangerous nation, by rate of violent deaths per capita, in the world. This statistic came out as recently October 2011, with the report by the Geneva Declaration revealing that crime, rather than war, is the greatest cause of violent death. Colombia is also an “active conflict zone,” a point emphasized by the four small bombs that exploded just a few hours after President Obama had arrived for the summit, two in Cartagena and two near the US Embassy in Bogota.

The Colombian government has pledged to invest US$240 billion in tourism infrastructure by 2014, and aggressive advertising campaigns continue to draw travelers’ attention to the changing face of Colombia. Cartagena de Indias, a city filled with history, ambiance, culture, vibrancy, and natural beauty is at the forefront of this effort.

[Image of old fort in Cartagena, Colombia via Wikipedia]

Julie R Butler is a writer, journalist, editor, and author of several books, including Nine Months in Uruguay and No Stranger To Strange Lands (click here for more info). She is a contributor to Speakout at Truthout.org, and her current blog is Connectively Speaking.

email: julierbutler [at] yahoo [dot] com, Twitter: @JulieRButler

Latin America News Roundup Nov 30, 2011: Argentina, Colombia, Cuba

article from November 30, 2011

By Jamie Douglas

Argentinean Holidays

Being a worker in Argentina in 2012 certainly has its benefits. Out of the 366 days next year, 122 will be official holidays and weekends, precisely one third of the whole year, assuming that the end of the world will not surprise us all. There will be a total of 10 fin de semanas largas, or 3-day weekends, with the possibility of an eleventh one to celebrate the bicentennial of the Argentinean flag on Monday, Feb 17. That last one is pending approval of a bill in the lower house, after the Senate approved it already.

Add to that the vacation days that are written into the law, and the average worker productivity will be down, forcing manufacturers to hire more workers, something that is great for the economy, driving down unemployment and raising income tax receipts. Oh, sorry, I almost forgot! It doesn’t work that way. Few people actually pay taxes, and employers will probably just force their workers to be more productive. Have another mate, mate, and then get back to work.

Venezuela-Colombian cooperation on drug kingpin capture

The short and violent criminal career of Colombian bad boy Maximiliano Bonilla-Orozco has come to its inevitable conclusion. No, he is not dead, but he has just been apprehended in Venezuela’s third-largest city, Valencia. Bonilla-Orozco has been on the US’ list of most wanted drug kingpins for a while. It is alleged that he was the mastermind behind sending several hundred tons of cocaine from Colombia to the US and sending millions of dollars back through Mexico.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, the capture was made on Sunday while Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos was on a state visit to that very country. Santos thanked his Venezuelan counterpart, President Hugo Chávez, for his country’s invaluable assistance in the capture of the very high-value drug trafficker who has wrought so much damage in many parts of the Americas.

The captured narco received his drugs from the Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN) and has had extensive dealings with the Zetas, the ultraviolent Mexican gang of former military commandos. The US had a $5 million reward out for his capture, but Venezuelan officials announced that they will not claim the reward, stating that he will be extradited to the US as soon as the yanquis are ready for him. Bonilla–Orozco was indicted in New York in 2008. This comes as somewhat of a surprise to US officials, as Venezuela discontinued its anti-drug cooperation with the US in 2009.

Cuba’s privatization moves

Raúl Castro keeps surprising not just seasoned Cuba watchers, but also his long-oppressed compatriots. It is looking like the Pearl of the Caribbean will slowly get back to private ownership of businesses, automobiles and property. With the latest announcements coming from Castro, the road ahead for private enterprise looks promising. After over 50 years of the island’s Soviet-style central planning and execution, the president of the island nation has come to the logical conclusion that even at the very low salaries paid to state workers, having millions of underperforming but unfireable workers on the state payroll is a drain on the already-strained economy. President Raúl is encouraging the formation of small businesses, hoping they will hire as many as one million workers away from government payrolls.

While his ultimate goal is to strengthen Cuba’s communism with these changes, it appears more like the grassroots of a new socio-capitalistic society that, once it takes hold, will become the base for future economic development. Enterprising minds in the country are already planning and hoping for more relaxed rules that will allow the human spirit to soar once again on that incomparably beautiful island.

One of the major drawbacks has been the lack of capital available to potential entrepreneurs, but that is all about to change. As an early Christmas present, new banking and credit regulations will take effect on December 20, 2011, presenting for the first time the opportunity for farmers, small businesses and individuals with good ideas to obtain financing and to be able to open commercial bank accounts, a prerequisite for doing business with the government.

Cuba’s potential is vast. The islands citizens are very industrious people, having learned to make do with very little for more than 50 years. Being so close to Florida and having such a large underutilized labor pool, the possibilities of industrialization are very high. All it takes is for some of the US right-wing politicians to realize that the potential for their patrons, the large corporations that got them elected, is immense, and that the children of Cuban robber barons who fled to Florida should get used to the fact that they, too, live in a changing world. You can never go back, baby! Cuba of the 1950s is gone forever.

Jamie Douglas

San Rafael, Mendoza

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

South America News Roundup Nov 3, 2011: Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela

article from November 3, 2011

By Jamie Douglas

Colombia: Adios, domestic intelligence service

In what was an expected move, Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos has dismantled his nation’s feared domestic intelligence service, known as DAS. This rogue agency had run its course long before a former chief of the DAS was sentenced to 25 years in prison for having given lists of union leaders, students, and left-wing organizers to the right-wing paramilitaries so they could be liquidated.

This assassin-by-proxy was chosen to head the organization by former President Alvaro Uribe, who himself should be tried in The Hague for his many crimes against humanity. Several former high-ranking members of the agency have also been imprisoned for their part in wiretapping judges, opposition politicians, journalists and dissenting members of the ruling party. Uribe himself has been repeatedly accused of masterminding the wiretapping, but he steadfastly denies that he ever ordered any of that, blaming it instead on “rogue agents.”

The new president signed a decree dissolving the agency, announcing; “Today the DAS turns 58 years old, and at 58, we are going to liquidate it.” This is a huge step forward for Colombia.

Bolivia: Morales vs. indigenous land rights

President Evo Morales had to acknowledge defeat at the hands of the several hundred Amazonian marchers protesting his arrogant encroachment onto a constitutionally guaranteed native territory, the Territorio Indígena Parque Nacional Isiboro Sécure. Brazil, which is pushing the project as well as financing it, is waiting for a decision by the Bolivian government to discuss an alternate route. The road project was to provide Brazil with a direct superhighway to the Pacific Ocean. Meanwhile, Morales’ coca-growing brethren have held their own vigil against the jungle-dwelling protesters. They were looking forward to occupying the land the land that would be opened up by the project and using for growing coca crops. They support the road, claiming that the local area will benefit tremendously from the improved access that would have been given to them to transport their wares to market. Who knew there was such a huge market for coca leaves!

Morales recently also purchased for himself a US$30 million Falcon 900 EX executive jet, pretty much top of the line in private jets. It seems that exposure to all of the state’s wealth is turning the formerly socialist coca growing “people’s president” into a connoisseur of finer things as he abandons the promises made to the indigenous tribes who elected him. In addition, he has ordered the construction of a $1.5 million presidential terminal. Power corrupts!

Venezuela: Foreign holdings nationalization campaign

In his ongoing campaign to nationalize foreign holdings, El Maximum Líder in denial has announced that the Bolivarian nation will seize an additional 700,000 acres of land from Agropecuaria Flora, owned by the UK’s Vestey Group. This is the second huge parcel owned by the Vestey Group to be nationalized, and the reason given was that the group would not accept the Venezuelan government’s offer of payment in Bolivars, which then would be almost impossible for them to repatriate.

Meanwhile the tin-pot dictator, a great admirer of Muamar Ghadaffi’s many clownish uniforms, has decided that he will buy off the armed forces for the coming elections by giving them a 50% pay raise, the second major increase given to them in the last 18 months. Maybe, just maybe, he is trying to buy the loyalty of the troops.

Jamie Douglas

San Rafael, Mendoza

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

South America News Roundup Sept 5, 2011: Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Peru, Colombia

article from September 5, 2011

By Jamie Douglas

A lot has happened since my last news roundup.

Chile

Tragedy has struck in Chile, where a Chilean Air Force CASA-212 aircraft was lost with 21 people aboard while attempting to land in deteriorating conditions on Juan Fernandez Island, 400 miles off the Chilean coast. On board were several employees of Chile’s TVN, including Felipe Camiroaga, a beloved on-air personality. They were on the way to the island to do a follow-up report on the earthquake and tsunami damage and recovery from the February 2010 disaster that hit Chile. We would like to offer our sincere condolences to the people of Chile.

The last few weeks have brought a great deal of unrest to Chile in connection with President Piñera’s attempt to make education a “consumer good,” further entrenching the status quo by removing the state from any responsibility to educate the masses of poor Chileans and making quality education something only obtainable by the wealthy. Massive street demonstrations by all classes have shown their disapproval of his position, with the labor unions joining in the protests and calling for a two-day national strike. In the midst of all the chaos, a young boy was shot to death by the carabineros while he was pushing his brother in a wheel chair.

Meanwhile, the general director of the Chilean carabineros was forced to resign, after it was disclosed that he personally covered up his son’s culpability in a hit-and-run accident in Providencia. In his resignation letter, he claims to be stepping aside for health reasons while, of course, denying the allegations raised against him by the investigative group CIPER.

Uruguay

In good news from Uruguay, it was reported that consumer inflation has fallen slightly to 0.56%, or an annual rate of 7.57%, down from 8.25%. But one must keep in mind that these are “official figures” compiled by government technocrats. I am sure my correspondent, Guy in Uruguay, would take issue with these figures. While they no doubt represent a slight improvement over the previous month, they are still well below the targeted rate of 4-6%.

Unfortunately, Uruguay’s economy has been affected by the double-dip recession hitting the “developed” countries in the Northern Hemisphere. In July, the nation’s fiscal deficit ballooned to US$40 million, while in July 2010 there was a sizeable $55 million surplus.

The Uruguayan national oil company, ANCAP, announced that it will start exploring for oil in the inland regions of Tacuarembó and Salto, where the discovery of oil-eating bacteria, in higher concentration than in Argentina’s Neuquén Province, has led to speculation that there may be crude oil in them thar hills. Uruguay could certainly use natural resources of this type, as most of its energy sources originate from outside the country, fanning the flames of inflation and national deficit.

Brazil

Brazil’s Presidenta Dilma Rousseff has just been anointed for a second term by her mentor, former President Lula da Silva, when he announced that he will step down from seeking a third term as president of that economic powerhouse, paving the way for her succession. President Rousseff has been challenged by the same entrenched corruption that plagued her predecessor, which ultimately brought her to the political forefront when she became Lula’s chief of staff before resigning that position to run for president, herself. But Brazil being Brazil, there is no telling what will happen there politically or fiscally in the next three years. The country is not isolated anymore from outside economic calamities, and the huge spending programs in progress now for the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup may yet end up draining the treasury. The infrastructure improvements that are necessary to make for a success of the games will have to be analyzed in terms of how much good they will bring to the country’s poor and undereducated. I personally would have liked to see this trillion dollars put into education, housing and sanitation projects in the rural areas that have so long been neglected. In the long run, that would provide security to the nation by allowing more of its citizens to climb the steep socio-economic ladder and eliminating the gap between the lowest class and the middle class.

Peru

In Peru, where the election of Ollanta Humala brought about a collapse of the Lima Stock Exchange because of fears that he would destroy the mining industry and drive investors away, things are going very well indeed. Ollanta Humala has become the darling of Wall Street and big investors. The mining companies that were so worried were happy to go along with his proposals to pay slightly higher royalties for minerals extracted in exchange for long-term commitments. This, in turn, will lead to more equal distribution of the wealth in a country that, like Brazil, suffers from abject poverty and lack of infrastructure in rural areas. We wish him and the good people of Peru much success in this new endeavor.

Colombia

And poor Colombia: Whenever that cocaine-cursed nation seems to be coming out of one crisis, it enters the next. The gold mining industry, an enterprise with the potential to eclipse the drug trade, is being plagued by all the usual suspects with terrorism, extortion, kidnappings and violence. I am rooting for Colombia to be able to leave the legacy of the cocaine cowboys behind. Colombia’s citizens are hard working, aspiring to be more than what they have been limited to by circumstances beyond their control; but through no fault of their own, they have repeatedly been victimized by the crime lords, the paramilitaries and fear of the dark. The current administration came into office on the heels of some great gains, but it seems that for every step forward, they slide back two. Large portions of the country are considered unsafe and unstable, so much so that not even the military is established there. Nobody seems to have a solution to these peculiar problems plaguing Colombia, but the time has come for a renewal.

Jamie Douglas

San Rafael, Mendoza

Where the Malbec grape vines are starting to sprout!

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Ecuador President Rafael Correa and His Alleged Connections to FARC

article from May 17, 2011

By Jamie Douglas

The ghosts of Colombia’s cross-border incursion into Ecuador just continue to haunt two of the most controversial leaders in the northern part of South America.

The London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) released a book-length dossier last Tuesday that goes into great detail about the Colombian rebels' relationship with Venezuela and Ecuador (but I am going to skip picking on Hugo Chávez this time).

The documents detail two years of painstaking research into 30 years' worth of important communications and recent emails belonging to FARC leader Luis Edgar Devía Silva, whose nom de guerre was Raul Reyes. He was killed in a raid in 2008, allowing the Colombian Army to capture several laptops, hard drives and many documents. (Question: Why does a top commander in a guerilla force keep such detailed accounts? My answer: He was a wannabe Che.)

The IISS, after exhaustive analysis, has come to some very interesting and, for the presidents of Ecuador and Venezuela, very embarrassing conclusions.

For those of my readers not very familiar with FARC, their acronym in English stands for “Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia,” and the organization has been designated as a terrorist entity by both the USA and the European Union. They have deeply Marxist roots and have been responsible for the killings of thousand of police, civilians and military personnel while being financed mostly by protecting the Cocaine Cowboys and their laboratories along with building and protecting clandestine airstrips in the jungles of Colombia. In other words, they are “the Bad Guys.”

These bad guys apparently worked very closely with Venezuelan elected-president-turned-dictator Hugo Chávez, and now, to nobody’s surprise, it has been revealed that Rafael Correa’s election campaign was the beneficiary of some US$400,000 that the IISS is certain Rafael Correa was fully aware of.

The following is excerpted from a report about the IISS study:

The institute also found that FARC began establishing strongholds in Ecuador's border regions next to Colombia in the 1990s, where the rebels produced and sold cocaine for income.

Unlike the redoubts it enjoyed in Colombia, FARC found Ecuador "downright hostile" at first, but as Ecuadorian politics moved left, FARC enjoyed better ties and "was successful in fomenting discord between Ecuador and Colombia," the study said.

In 2006, FARC contributed about $400,000 to the campaign of successful Ecuadorian presidential candidate Rafael Correa -- with $100,000 apparently directly from the rebel group and $300,000 more from its allies, the report alleged, the allies being the cocaine producers in the region under FARC control.

"Correa almost certainly approved the use of these funds in his campaign, but this did not translate into a policy of state support for the insurgents during the brief period between Correa's inauguration and Reyes's death," the study said. "Although the death of Reyes provoked a serious breach in relations between Colombia and Ecuador -- ironically a key FARC strategic objective -- it also interrupted FARC's burgeoning relationship with Quito. There is no evidence that the relationship has since prospered."

In an interview with the Spanish-language EFE news service, a member of President Correa's administration, Deputy Foreign Minister Kintto Lucas, called the alleged FARC campaign contributions "totally false" and dismissed the credibility of FARC's computer records.

"We always said we did not recognize the hard drives. We do not know if they really are real or invented," Lucas told EFE. He said that a broken chain of custody for the records could have allowed any intelligence agency to invent the information.

"We will not recognize any information on these because they have no truth," Lucas told EFE.

Yesterday, May 15, 2011, el presidente de Ecuador offered to take a lie detector test to prove his ignorance in this matter. He is also fully aware that he enjoys complete immunity, as president of his nation, where nobody can force him to take the so-called lie detector test; and since they are notoriously unreliable, should he actually take and fail the polygraph, he can always use the standard excuses that both guilty and innocent subjects have claimed: that they were completely intimidated by all the gadgetry attached to their person. And then, of course, there is the oldest method of beating a lie detector, and that is 20 milligrams of Valium taken 30 minutes prior to the test. Perhaps that is why no court in the USA or EU accepts results of polygraph examination into evidence in a court of law.

These accusations could not have come at a worse time for Mr. Correa, as his proposal that went in front of Ecuador’s electorate 10 days ago is rife with fraud, fear mongering and an ever-so-slow counting, with missing ballots from areas known to oppose his power grab. It reminds me of the recent elections for a supreme court justice in Wisconsin, with all of its broken chain of custody problems.

Stay tuned for uncertainty in the lovely country of Ecuador that has so much to offer, yet so many social issues to contend with.

Jamie Douglas

San Rafael, Mendoza

Where the Malbec Wine is Always Fine!

[Image of President Correa via Wikipedia]

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Colombia Begins the Latin American Carnival Celebrations

article from February 14, 2011

by Julie R Butler

Carnival season has already begun in some parts of Latin America. The pageantry, the parades, the contests, the music and dance – this is what Carnival is all about. Yet the regional expressions of this annual celebration are richly diverse.

Among all of the different celebrations, those of the Andean southwestern region of the Colombia, centered around the city of Pasto, are the most complex. Here, there are not only a series of carnival events, but the pre-Carnival end-of-year festivities are also an important part of the celebrations.

Colombia’s Carnival season

In Colombia, the festival season begins December 7 with Día de las Velitas, Day of the Little Candles, when candles and paper lanterns are set out, and in the big cities, spectacular displays are lit and celebrations sparked. Christmas season includes the nine days of Novena and Christmas itself, but it doesn’t end there. Día de los Inocentes, or All Fools Day, on December 28, begins to set the satirical and mischievous tones of Carnival with trickery. Then for New Years, the people of Pasto parade dolls and puppets that they have made from old clothes and scraps, filling them with sawdust (the gunpowder that was once used is now forbidden), which represent the old year and usually express political and social satire. The puppets vie for prizes, then they are burned at midnight, thus unleashing the Spirit of the New.

Black and White Carnival

Pasto’s Carnival de Negros y Blancos is held January 2-7 and has been designated a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. It begins with a day that includes farmers making offerings of flowers and serenades to the Virgin of Mercy in exchange for her blessings, along with the Colonies Parade, where the area’s communities showcase their unique identities,. There’s also an alternative rock festival that encourages the melding of musical traditions and the emergence of new sounds.

The Children’s Carnival is held on the second day, and in recent years, a new parade has been added to celebrate indigenous cultures.

The following day commemorates the arrival to Pasto of a colorful group of characters – the Castañeda family – which involves yet more burlesque and making fun of society.

January 5 is Blacks’ Day, devoted to the motto ¡Que viven los Negros! It celebrates a day of freedom that was granted to the slaves of Colombia in response to a rebellion, and when everyone paints black cosmetics on their faces, all become one big family. The Carnival Queen makes her way through the city in a convoy on this day, inviting everyone to join in the playful festivities, and final preparations are made to the lavish floats that will come out on the streets for the following Whites’ Day Grand Parade.

On this parade day, people color themselves white with creams and talc, and the cry is ¡Que viven los Blancos! The parade is an abundance of many different kinds of music and dance, colorful costumes, performing groups known as Comparsas and Murgas, mini-floats, and mega-floats, with the Queen at the lead.

The final day is the Rural Culture and Cuy’s Festival, featuring regional rural fairs and the eating of cuy. This is a type of guinea pig that has traditionally been raised throughout the Andes as a food that is high in protein and low in fat and cholesterol.

Elsewhere in Latin America

Because the different Carnival celebrations are so varied, I have begun here and will continue this series with Argentina and Uruguay’s versions coming next, as they are currently in full swing, leading up to Brazil’s famous festivities, which, despite the tragic fire that just occurred in Samba City, will still be held March 4-8 of this year.

Other parts of Colombia share the more Caribbean-style Carnival festivities, which are what people in the US are familiar with because of the influence of the Haitians in New Orleans. These variations, having arisen due to different mixes of European, African, and indigenous influences, make the Carnival season in Latin America all the more intriguing.

[Image via Wikipedia]

Julie R Butler is a writer, journalist, editor, and author of several books, including Nine Months in Uruguay and No Stranger To Strange Lands (click here for more info). She is a contributor to Speakout at Truthout.org, and her current blog is Connectively Speaking.

email: julierbutler [at] yahoo [dot] com, Twitter: @JulieRButler

Moving Abroad to Medellín: An Expat Interview

article from January 24, 2011

by Julie R Butler

Looking for some insight into moving to Latin America? I have been asking experienced expats if they could share some of their experiences and I found the responses of this gentleman to be particularly insightful, especially this bit of wisdom that most will agree sums up the Latin American character:

“I learned that no matter what, the family was the most important aspect of each of their lives.”

The location is Medellín. Despite the fearful reputation this city gained during the 80s and the 90s, there is much more to this second-largest city in Colombia that cocaine-cowboy violence. After the demise of Pablo Escobar in the mid-1990s, a renaissance has brought this important historical, cultural, and intellectual center back with a vengeance (so to speak).

Q: How much did you know about Medellín before you moved there?

A: I had traveled to Medellín about 8-10 times over a three-year period of time. I met many local citizens and became friends with a select few. Drivers, of course, who had their own cars, were a big plus so that taking a taxi was only used occasionally or for short trips around town. And the couple of drivers who I felt that I could trust were almost always available. Their English was much better than my español, thank God. Their knowledge of the intricacies of the culture and sharing that knowledge with me –"what to do and what not to do" – was invaluable.

Fortunately, my work in the USA allowed me to travel as often as I wanted. I would spend 3-5-7 days or so on each visit. And each time that I returned to the USA, as I landed in Miami, I immediately began thinking about when I would schedule my next trip. The tourist promo that the Colombia government uses, "the only danger is not wanting to leave" certainly applied to me.

Q: What was the hardest aspect of adjustment for you?

A: After the initial excitement had worn off, I think the hardest part for me was trying to stay mentally busy. I have often said that visiting Medellín as opposed to living there is like a kid visiting a candy store every now and then, and then when you live there, you are in the store every day, and the thrill is not the same.

[One of the hardest aspects of adjustment was] to understand that people living in a country such as Colombia think that all gringos are "rich" no matter what your economic status in the USA might be. For the most part, even if they had no money, they somehow seemed to be happy.

There were times when I was told that it was unsafe for me to travel to a certain part of town, or drive out into the countryside. That feeling bothered me for a while, but I soon learned that my friends were just looking out for me.

Q: What would you say is the most important thing that you wish you had
known or understood before moving?

A: That no matter how you try to blend into the culture, and no matter if you are accepted, you are always considered a gringo/visitor/foreigner. And that is OK, for the most part. I had to learn that I could not impose my cultural norms on the people who I came in contact with, and frankly should not even try to do so. If they wanted to do or behave the way they did, it was not my place to try to correct them or whatever.

I never felt in "danger" at any point in time during my visits, or for the time I lived there (2005-2008). I did have to learn to control my urge to make (loud) verbal comments to drivers on the street. And that jumping in line ahead of someone in the supermarket is a common occurrence that I had to learn to not become irritated over. My friends just told me it was not worth it, as you never know who that person might be.

On the other end of the spectrum, I was once in line at the concession stand at the movies, and had dropped some pesos on the floor. The person in line behind me made a special attempt to get my attention as I was leaving and returned the money to me.

The most important thing I wish I had learned is to be more patient with "when and if " things got done or not; being told one thing and it turns out to be not true or is incorrect; that lending money to a "friend" in dire need (or so they said) was never intended to be repaid even though they said it would be.

Q: What sources of info/advice have you found helpful (Internet, books,
neighbors, lawyers, bar tenders...)?

I tend to absorb info/advice from observing, and listening more than talking. I felt that if I could learn from anyone who I came in contact with, just one little thing about their culture, way of life, or how to do and not do things, in their culture, was a learning experience for me.

Q: Any tips on learning Spanish?

A: I picked up a little Spanish during my visits, but after I moved to Medellín, I enrolled in a Spanish class at a local university. But most importantly, becoming immersed in the culture , and listening. As many people in the culture were in the process of learning or improving their English, they often wanted to speak to me in English and for me to speak to them in English, as well. Many good learning tools , such as "Spanish for Gringos," CDs, and watching TV shows were also a big help. Making sure that I read the local newspaper on a daily basis was also good for me.

Many thanks to this thoughtful reader for sharing. If you are an expat who would like to contribute your thoughts, insights, experiences, please contact me at the email listed below.

[Image of Medellín via Wikipedia]

Julie R Butler is a writer, journalist, editor, and author of several books, including Nine Months in Uruguay and No Stranger To Strange Lands (click here for more info). She is a contributor to Speakout at Truthout.org, and her current blog is Connectively Speaking

email: julierbutler [at] yahoo [dot] com, Twitter: @JulieRButler