Today I will talk about learning Spanish in Colombia. I will also give you some tips to stay safe in Colombia. This article comes from an entry that I made in my journal in November of 2005 following my very first visit to Colombia when I visited Cali. Since then I have moved to Medellin, Colombia.
After sending an email to my newsletter subscribers about my trip to Cali, Colombia, I received several emails from readers who wanted to know more.
One reader wrote what is the "trago" (alcoholic drink) of choice in Colombia. Well, in Cali and Barranquilla, It's a drink called Aguardiente. What does it taste like? Imagine a mixture of licorice and liquid fire.
I am not one to use foul language. I am of the mindset that people who use vulgar language are people who lack the intelligence to find more suitable words to express themselves. But when I took that "trago" of Aguardiente, and I asked the Caleños what did they just give me to drink, I must have shouted every obscenity imaginable in both Spanish and English!
About the Coffee in Colombia...
It is the best that I have ever had. It sure beats Dunkin Donuts. (By the way, throughout Medellin, you can found Dunkin Donuts locations and even Dunkin Donut trucks that serve food and coffee, and play music like ice cream trucks in the States).
I am actually not a coffee drinker. Except when I am working late and I need the caffeine to keep me awake. But in Colombia, I found myself drinking coffee every morning.
Gracias a Dios por Juan Valdés y su burro"! Thank God for Juan Valdés and his donkey.
A common question that my readers emailed me to ask was Cali, or Colombia in general, a safe place to learn Spanish. Well, I'll tell you about an incident that happened in front of the bed and breakfast where I stayed in Cali and you can reach your own decision.
The day after I arrived in Cali, I met two men from the U.K. who were staying at the same bed and breakfast where I was staying. They were both in their forties.
That same day, two "ladrones" (robbers) on a "moto" (motorcycle) robbed the two men at gunpoint AND knifepoint. In broad daylight and right in front of the Bed and Breakfast.
The two "ladrones" (robbers) took an expensive name brand gold watch and $500 in American dollars from the two men. Lesson learned...
Don't wear an expensive watch in Cali, Colombia and walk around with $500 cash. But that same advice applies to New York City, Los Angeles, Detroit, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and countless other cities across the U.S. or across the globe for that matter.
Pat Jackson is the Founder of Learning Spanish Like Crazy - the only learning Spanish method that teaches real authentic everyday conversational Latin American Spanish. Pat presently lives in Medellín, Colombia - the City of Eternal Spring. If you would like to get FREE Instant access to the first 2 MP3 audio lessons of Learning Spanish Like Crazy and get FREE instant access to 10 learning Spanish videos from one of our BEAUTIFUL native-Spanish speaking Latina instructors, then go here now: Learn Spanish online That's http://www.LearningSpanishLikeCrazy.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment