Blogging for Colombia

ProExport, Colombia's tourism and foreign investment body is affiliating 33 "Official Bloggers" from around the globe who are currently living in Colombia. They will be provided with a stipend and will be blogging in 5 different languages about their experiences living in Colombia. I applaud the Colombian Government's new approach in using bloggers for Public Diplomacy and hope this will aid in bettering Colombia's image throughout the world.

You can check out their blog entries starting February 20th here. 

"Order Amid Chaos"

..was how Betty finally described the dismal speedboat service between Capurganá and Turbo. There are no overland routes between the two destinations so one must either fly (pricey) or speedboat (dicey) to paradise. We had flown from Medellín to Apartadó, then taken a 50km taxi through banana plantations to arrive at the transport hub of Turbo. Turbo gets a bad rap for being dingy and dangerous, though we found the former, not the latter to be the greatest inconvenience as shop owners swept mounds of dust and dirt out into the streets and up in the air.

I went to the ticket office at 6am to secure our passage to Capurganá. Literally everyone will tell you that you must sit towards the back of the boat to avoid getting tossed around during the trip. I paid the fare and checked that we were the 8th and 9th people to book passage on our particular boat. When the call to load the boat was announced, there was a mad shuffle towards the boat. Seeing fifteen people shoot past us and jump in the boat, I called out that we were getting screwed out of our rightfully purchases spots. They let us by and we got so-so seats in the middle next to a guy who had bought his ticket at 8am.

 

As we headed North, we encountered some pretty large waves and had to hold on to keep from getting thrown around. At one pointe, we crashed into a big wave and water soaked everybody from the front to the middle of the boat, causing some of the passengers to cry out and complain. The captain slowed the boat, as if to say "you want to swim?" and we sat there for 15 minutes as I contemplated the "customer review" sheets we had been given before leaving port. Two and a half hours later, we arrived in Capurganá, stiff, a little bruised and ready to relax. 

Turkish Lebanese

Our last night in Capurganá, we sat down for a simple fish soup at a restaurant called "El Tur.Co." Turco in Spanish means Turkish. I bet Betty (while already playing cards) that the owner was either Turkish or had a Tourism (Tur = tour) company on the side. When I asked him he told me he his parents were from Lebanon and that he had been born and raised in Colombia.

So why the Turkish front? Apparently, much like "Chino" in Colombia can be used to describe any person of Asian descent, "Turco" is a generalization for anybody from the Middle East. Some might find this a little insulting, I think its a remnant of Colombia's insular history. FYI I was not able to order Tabbouli off the menu.

The year of Miles

Number of miles flown: 26,334 (23 flights total)

Number of miles by car: 1,808 (Road trip: Seattle-Jackson Hole-Vegas-Los Angeles)

Number of miles by bus: 1,683 (15 buses)

Number of miles by bike: 860~ (including one century to San Diego)

Number of miles by train: 100 (the way back from San Diego)

Number of miles by motorcycle: 28

Total number of miles traveled in 2011: 30, 813


Number of smiles by Miles in 2011: priceless

Guaspitality

 Looking back at Guatemala, Guatemaltecos may be some of the nicest, most hospitable people I have ever met (don’t worry Paisas, you’re still #1 in my book). I can’t tell you how many times people went out of their way to help us out or just chat in a very simple and pleasant manner for the sake of talking to a foreigner.

Only a week later and I'm already wanting to go back. Gracias a Chato, Cristian, Mery and all the other wonderful Guatemalans I met for making it such an enjoyable experience.

Iguana Soup pt. II

Last time Elizabeth and I were in León, our friend Anry took us to eat iguana soup, not having a camera, I was a little bummed not to document it, so without further ado:

 

The crab guarding the iguana is an an important part of the flavor.

Fritanga/Mexifusion

Nicaragua might just have the best street food in Latin America. Fritanga, you can find in virtually any city here, loosely translates as "cheap food." It's usually chicken or beef, grilled on a bbq and served with salad, fried plantain and tortilla. When we rolled into Estelí from San Salvador, we had worked up quite an appetite, treating ourselves to some genuine Mexican-made tacos. The secret, behind Tacos Mario's Mexicanos is that they use Quesillo, a salty type of not-quite-matured Nicaraguan cheese that makes the marinated beef and chicken burst with flavor in every bite.

The next night, we decided to take a walk. You can't really expect to find a fritanga joint as easily as to stumble on to one. Most are away from touristy centers and are almost always run out of people's houses. After a few minutes, we followed our nose to a remote side of town and were treated to some of the freshest chicken I've ever had. There's something so delicious, simple and natural about fritanga, we are making it a daily routine. And at $3-4 a plate, it's by far the most economic option here.