The Amazone

The Amazone, the rainforest, the lungs of the world. All the amazing things you have ever heard of it are true.

28 of November: we started in Bogota, reunion with the other exchange students, the beginning of a new adventure. We were immediatly dropped into the life of the Amazone.

We went to Peru with the lanchas, these are the typical botes they use as a transport overthere. They told us we needed boots and a flashlight, at that moment I knew why. We had to walk at night true the forest to find our foresthouse. The life in the Amazone at night is totally different from the life by day. For example: I've never seen the stars shining so bright as I saw them there.

Day 1: after a short but good night, we stood up at 5 o'clock, the same time as the incredable nature and the beautifull animals stand up. Swimming, fishing, climbing in trees,... short: living in a dream.

At the end of day one we went back to the lanchas to travel to a little town in the middle of the Amazone (Colombian part). The most beautiful thing about the Amazone is that there are tree countries coming together at one place: when we looked to our right we could see Peru, the left was Brazil and in the front we could see Colombia.

We visited several indians, we learned about their food, their believes, the way they dance,... It was really interesting to see how people still live by the power of nature in this modern 21st century. They also paint themselves with the plants they find in the nature. We had the chance to make some tattoos ourselves too.

We played tribal games during our stay in the Amazone. They seperated us in 3 groups. The tribal games are games where you need logical knowledge and strength. It was a lot of fun and the group became a lot closer to eachother.

You can find lots of special animals in the Amazone. For example: pink dolphins, parrots, crocodils, beautiful colorfull birds, monkeys, snakes, spiders like tarantulas,... every animal you can imagine you find in the Amazone. Also mosquitos, but we didn't really liked those ones.

The last day we spent in a hotel in Leticia, that's the city at the boarder of the tree countries. There is also the airport. At night we went to Brazil where we ate the brazilian food and danced the brazilian dances: sambaaaa!!! Their was a dancegroup who gave a show and they picked a person out of the public to dance with them: I was that person and it was awesome.

After 5 incredable, unforgettable days we had to leave the longs of the world, back to the real (still really nice) Colombian life.

My vacation isn't over yet, I am now in Medellin for two weeks.

So greetings from Medellin!

Graduation in Latin-American style

November was all about the graduation. The first weekend was a spiritual weekend. Most of my classmates lived their whole life on the island. When they graduate, everyone is going to the big cities in Colombia to study, saying goodbye to the good life in beautiful San Andrés. That weekend was a really special and really emotional weekend. We ended the weekend with a visit to Johnny Cay, that's one of the smaller islands in front of the coast of San Andrés.

The rotary organised a walk in the center of San Andrés to support breast cancer in which I participated.

At the end of the month, we started decorating the house with a Christmas tree and lots of lights. The whole family was coming together for the graduation of my host brother. It was really cosy, everyone lives far from eachother and it was fun to have everyone here. It was very busy in the house, but it was totally worth it.
We went diving with the family, it was my first diving experience, I already did freediving and snorkling but I never dived with oxygin. It was amazing and I can't wait to go diving again. When you're 12 meters down in the water, you forget all about the world next to the beautiful underwaterworld.

26 November: thanksgiving day, a day which is very known in the states, a day to say thank you for the things you have. 26 of November was also the graduation day. A lot of work was finally going to pay off. I had to get up at 6.30 in the morning. The celebration was at 8.30. It was with the special clothes and the hat and everyting you can imagin or that you've ever seen in the movies. After lots of speeches, we received our diploma, moment of glory! Done with college, starting a new life. For me: I am graduated for the second time, this time in Latin-American style.

I'm writing this blog at 3 o'clock. Like I already said, they have a reason to party for everything here, and graduation day is a BIG reason. Tonight everyone is going to dress up in beautifull dresses who were bought or made a lot of time before this day. The party is going to be on a boat called MonteCarlo who's going around the island. It will be a long and unforgettable night.

Tomorrow I'll be flying to Bogota for my trip to the Amazone, I'm really exited, I hope I'll be able to get up in the morning after the celebration for our graduation.
Greetings from San Andrés.

Pirates of the Caribbean

Everyone knows the famous movies 'Pirates of the Caribbean' with Jack Sparrow. I think it was kind of based on a true story. The history of the Caribbean islands is all about pirates. One of the most fierce pirates out of the history is Captain Morgan. They say he hide his treasure in a cave in San Andrés. I visited the cave, it's amazing. I searched for the treasure, but they probably already removed it. The guy who was leading us around told me he had been diving in the cave and said he came out in the ocean. I think that had probably been the way out for Captain Morgan too.

Also the thunderstorms you see in the movies aren't fiction. When it storms here in the Caribbean, you can feel the ground shake under your feet. I have never been afraid of storms in Belgium, but the first time I experienced it here, I pulled my pillow over my head.
12 October 2011: Dia de la raza or day of the races. Here in San Andrés you can find all kind of people and all kind of cultures: black, white, rastas, Christian, Jewish,... That's one of the most beautiful things about this place. They accept you for who you are, no matter how you look like, what your believes are or what your culture is. El dia de la raza is a very important holiday for the people here. All the schools of the island had to march in one big orkest. It was an honor to be a part of it.

From the day I arrived in Colombia, I could tell that there were going to be elections. Everywhere you looked you could see the campaigns. The rules of the rotary exchange program say that an exchange student can't be involved with politics, but it was kind of hard not to get involved. There were two contestants in the running to become the new governor of the island, one of them was the principal of our school.
The day of the truth: 30 of october, a really busy and stressy day. All the islanders had to go to give their vote, the traffic was crazy. Everyone was really excited to know who would win. At night around 6 o'clock we knew who had won. We were really happy to know that the new governor would be the director of Colegio Luis Amigo. She starts the first of January and within 4 years there will be new elections.
Latino people like to party, so when it was halloween you could notice it. They really like this day here. Everywhere people dressed up and little children with a bucket in their hand to collect some candy. Even at school we could come in disguise, that was something I couldn't imagine happening in Belgium.

At this time everyone is really busy to search clothes and arrange everything for another really important day: the graduation day.
Greetings from San Andrés!

Culture week

Een aantal mensen hebben mij gevraagd mijn blog in het engels te schrijven, bij deze.

Last week the island had a very important visitor. One of the policies of the president is to go to the different parts of Colombia to look what can be improved. Last week he was in San Andres. Everywhere you looked, you saw soldiers and the streets were closed.
Sunday I went freediving. Freediving is diving as deep as you can without extra oxigin. It's a sport that needs a lot of practice and patience. You have to get used to the pressure and need to learn to controle your breathing. San Andres is the perfect place to do that with its beautifull underwaterworld.



Last week was culture week. It means that we didn't had normal lessons, but other activities. On the island you could find several places where they played theater, you could find plays from different countries and different cultures. We went to one of the plays.
On monday we went to the surfclub. The school sponsored so it was a lot cheaper. We could choose what we wanted to do, I chose jetski and windsurfing.

The people of the island are really proud to live here. I already said that the island is a beautiful place, but it needs an effort to keep it that way. Tuesday we did our part to improve the environment and cleaned the beach.
Wednesday was the day where we had extra attention for the community. We went to prison with our class. The visit was really interesting and chocking at the same time. I think it's really good that the school does this. It's good for young people to see and hear from the people who went the wrong way where they will end up if they hang out with the wrong people.
I had my first class of salsa. It's a really nice dance, but also really hard. There are a lot of quick steps, so you have to pay attention on that, and you also have to make sure that your hips go along with your feet. I tell you, it's not easy.
I always wanted to learn kitesurfing. This week I finally did it. First I had some doubts because people told me it's a dangerous sport, anyway I tried it and I love it.

Next week it's vacation, I'll let you know next time how it went.

Ecuador

15 September vertrokken we met de auto naar de kust van Ecuador. Reizen is leuk, maar het betekent ook papieren, en papieren betekent wachten, lang wachten...

We gingen naar het mooie kuststadje Tonsupa, een stadje in de provincie Esmeraldas. De afstand van Pasto naar Tonsupa kun je vergelijken met de afstand van onze kust naar het Zuiden van Franrijk.

De eerste dag in Ecuador was een dagje genieten van het strand en het mooie weer.

Een gerecht die typisch is in Ecuador is Ceviche. Het is een variant van de oester, maar dan beter. Ceviche wordt klaargemaakt met ajuin en tomaat. Op het eerste zicht zag het er vreemd uit, maar het was zeer lekker.

17 September hebben we andere stadjes in Esmeraldas bezocht.

We aten een ijsje in Atacames

en we bezochtten Casa Blanca in Same

18 September verlieten we de kust. Tijdens de terugweg reden we langs een stukje regenwoud, prachtig!

We stopten in Cotacachi. Als je houdt van leer, moet je hier zijn. Het stadje bestaat uit het ene na het andere winkeltje met lederwaren.
Een ander stadje waar we langskwamen was Otavalo. Hier vind je nog indianen. Stel je geen indianen voor op een paard die communiceren door geluiden te maken, wel dragen ze (vooral de vrouwen) nog de typische kledij.

s'Avonds kwamen we aan in Quito, de hoofdstad van Ecuador en hoofdstad van de provincie Pichincha. Het centrum van de stad is een historisch gedeelte.

Dit is het witte huis in Ecuador. De president is Rafael Correa (weetje: zijn vrouw is een belgische..).

De patroonheilige die een belangrijke rol speelde bij de stichting van Quito is Virgin de El Panecillon. Het standbeeld staat op het hoogste punt van Quito, waar we een mooi zicht hadden over de stad.

Ecuador heeft zijn naam niet voor niets gekregen. Zoals je misschien wel of nog niet weet bevindt zich in Ecuador (Quito) el Mitad Del Mundo (middelpunt van de wereld).

Woensdag was het tijd om terug te keren naar Pasto, goodbye Ecuador.

Morgen reis ik terug naar San Andres,

voorlopig nog groetjes vanuit Pasto.

Ipiales en Pasto

9 September verliet ik Cali. 's Morgens in de luchthaven maakte ik kennis met een aantal exchange studenten. We reisden samen naar Ipiales: Ipiales is de grens van Colombia en Ecuador.

Toen we aankwamen in Ipiales stonden de rotaryleden ter plaatse samen met de andere exchange studenten ons op te wachten. Tijdens het eten kwamen er plots kinderen de zaal binnen, ze deden verschillende traditionele dansen die ter plaatse gekend waren.

Na ons middagmaal bezochtten we Ipiales.

Ipiales is niet enkel gekend als de grens tussen de twee landen, je vindt er ook 1 van de wereldwonderen: de Las Lajas basiliek. De basiliek is gebouwd in een kloof boven de Guaitararivier. Super om te zien!

De maskotte en delicatesse is Cuy, of rat op een stokje. Ik heb het nog niet gegeten, maar blijkbaar is het zeer lekker.

Na ons bezoek aan Ipiales gingen we verder naar Pasto. Pasto ligt in de Atrizvallei, aan de voet van de Galerasvulkaan. Pasto is ondermeer gekend voor zijn jaarlijkse Carnaval die veel pracht en praal met zich meebrengt en zijn vruchtbare grond.
Toen we aangekomen waren, stonden onze gastouders ons ter plaatse op te wachten. We aten bij de families en s'avonds waren we uitgenodigd in het theater waar we dansen uit de verschillende streken van Colombia te zien kregen.
De dag erna moesten we vroeg opstaan omdat we naar het meer gingen. Ik kon mijn ogen niet geloven toen ik het zag, het uitzicht is onbeschrijfelijk mooi!

Ter plaatse werden de afspraken gemaakt en werden ook de presentaties van de verschillende landen gegeven.

Na het eten zijn we met bootjes naar het eilandje in het midden van het meer gegaan. Door het klimaat: koud, vind je er planten die je enkel daar kan vinden. Het was net de jungle, maar dan kouder.

We verlieten het eilandje via een riviertje die uitmont in een prachtig authentiek stadje.

s'Avonds was het fiesta op een typische Colombiaanse manier: in een feestbus met slingers, confetti en veel gedans.

Mijn gastgezin heeft een huisje aan het meer. Daar heb ik met mijn gastzus gekajakt. Heel leuk, maar wel iets kouder dan in San Andres.

In Pasto is er een winkeltje die kunstwerken verkoopt waarbij de techniek barniz wordt toegepast. Wij kregen de kans om te gaan kijken hoe dit in zijn werk gaat. Pasto is de enige plaats waar de materialen ambachtelijk worden gemaakt. Alles wat men ervoor gebruikt is natuurlijk. Ik vond het super om te zien hoe ze dit doen.

Tegen de avond waren we uitgenodigd op een meisje haar 15e verjaardag. Wanneer een meisje hier 15 wordt, beschouwen ze haar als volwassen en is het groot feest!

Onverwachts vetrek ik morgen met mijn gastgezin naar Ecuador. Ik laat later weten hoe dit verliep.

Groetjes vanuit Pasto.