Last updated on May 21st, 2018 at 06:43 pm
Colombia’s people are enthusiastically proud of their country, generous with their time and their culture. They love to share food, stories, music, themselves. They truly are the most gracious hosts.
The people of Colombia smile often if not always, warm, welcoming, beautiful smiles. We have experienced so many examples of the generosity that is Colombian culture since being in Barranquilla and each one has truly touched my heart.We have made friends almost instantly because Colombians seem to want to be your friend and work to do so right from first meeting.
I truly love the people of Colombia.
We have been so lucky to find a great rental here in Barranquilla, Colombia. The place itself is the perfect size for us with lots of natural light, a cheery décor and in a nice neighborhood. But the best part about our place isn’t anything to do with the apartment or the area, it’s everything to do with the owner of the property, Nazly.
We first corresponded with Nazly online when we were trying to track down a longer term rental. Naz doesn’t speak English and we don’t speak Spanish so chatting via email worked well because the text could be translated via the computer. Once we agreed on a price Naz offered to meet us at a shopping mall close to the apartment to take us to see the place. She arranged for an English speaking friend, Guillermo, to attend the meeting to translate.
We were to meet in a cafeteria at the mall. We arrived first and Nazly arrived soon after recognizing us immediately, she had visited the blog. She smiled and approached us with open arms like a long lost friend would. We introduced ourselves and she conveyed Guillermo would meet us soon and he did.
We made a little small talk and Naz left the table to grab some refreshments. She returned to the table with drinks and a small cake for everyone to share. She made us feel as though we were her guests in Colombia and she would do everything she could to make our experience a good one. We enjoyed the refreshments and cake and then left to drive to see the apartment.
On the way Naz drove around the area to get us oriented with all that the area had to offer. She would enthusiastically point out a shop or business and Guillermo would tell us all about the services offered there. It was like having our own personal tour guides to show us the great places to see, shop and eat. She really wanted to show us the best places and was so proud of all of the development happening in Barranquilla.
We drove around the area for almost an hour and then arrived at the apartment which is actually a 10 minute walk from the mall we met at. We saw a lot of the area that night! Once at the apartment we met Nazlys daughter and her niece who were preparing the apartment for us. Naz showed us around the place and then we sat on the patio to visit a bit more. I feel like we had already got to know a lot about each other and we had just met.
Colombians want to know you and share so much of themselves right away. They love people, making friends comes naturally to them.
Once we confirmed we liked the apartment we hopped in the car again to see Nazly’s house which is really close to the apartment. We sat out on her back patio visiting with everyone, Guillermo doing a great job translating for all of us. It was an unexpected lovely evening for us.
Naz made us some delicious food and introduced us to her cute pets. Meeting Bella, Naz’s little dog was Makai’s favorite part. The Air BnB apartment we were staying at was quite far from the new apatment but Naz insisted on taking us home to know the route to pick us up the next day to move into her rental. Guillermo agreed to meet Nazly at our place the following day and come with us to the new apartment.
Rob and I felt a bit stunned after we said good night and went up to our apartment. What we had expected to be a quick walk through of the apartment turned out to be a great visit with new friends, the majority of whom didn’t even speak the same language as us! It was crazy, awesome and heart-warming. This kind of hospitality was what Rob and I had read about Colombia but it turned out to be so much more generous and genuine than what we had hoped.
I expected Colombians to be welcoming but they are so much more than that.
Nazly, her family and Guillermo have welcomed us like family and made us feel we have made friendships that will last long after we leave the beautiful, happy country of Colombia.
Heather Wilson
Hi Tracey,
I am just getting to know you through your blog. I am hoping you might be able to help me. I am looking to come to Cartagena for about 6 weeks fall 2016. My 14 year old son is postponing high school for a year to travel abroad, play squash and work on his Spanish. Our family previously sailed around the world for four years and I home schooled. We lived in NZ for a year and a half, so I’ve lived abroad but had a common language. But we also traveled through the South Pacific and Indian Ocean, so we had language hurdles.
I’ve looked up the squash courts on line. What are your opinions about neighborhoods? I know you were only in the city for four days, but where would you have felt comfortable living for six weeks? My initial thought is that I don’t want high rise, I want someplace warmer. I also don’t want to be where the tourists are…I want to live with locals or long term expats.
Thanks so much for any information you can provide!
Best,
Heather Wilson
PS- our blog is http://www.svceolmor.com
Tracey
Hi Heather! We were only in Cartegena for a few days, but we did learn a few things from our Airbnb host who had lived there for four years. He told us that there was a vast divide between poor and wealthy in the city (middle class was almost non existant). We learned later, in Barranquilla, from a a man who had grown up in Cartegena, that fact was indeed true. We didn’t venture beyond Boca Grande while we were there, so I don’t feel we can give you an acurate account of this from our perspective. I think a good place to ask questions would be InterNations, an expat website that has a chapter in Cartegena. I signed up on the site when we were in Bucharest and found the membership very helpful to connect with expats in Bucharest when we visited.
Lorena
I’m glad you liked Colombia, what you wrote about your experience was really sweet and as a Colombian I feel really happy, I hope yopu have a nice time here… Colombia is country with many beautiful places. Anyway welcome to Colombia and sorry for my bad English
Tracey
Thank you for the warm welcome Lorena. Your English is great! We have enjoyed our time in your beautiful country so much so far. We are making plans to see more, we leave Barranquilla in a week. Our next stay will be in Cali then maybe Popayan.
Patti
What an adorable photo of Makai with the bird on his arm, talk about a smile! It’s good to read that you’re having such a positive start to your stay in Colombia with such a lovely hostess. That part of the world is not on our radar at this time so I am enjoying seeing it through your eyes/words and look forward to reading more. 🙂
Tracey
People here in Colombia have definitely been the best part of our visit. Everything we had heard before we left Canada was true, people in Colombia are so sweet and welcoming to tourism. I love spending tome with the people we have befriended, the amazing thing is half of these great people don’t even speak the same language.