It's been exactly 3 months since I arrived in Colombia today. Unbelievable how quickly time flies here. With everything that's happening here, I always find myself lagging behind in sending pictures and telling stories from home. That's why I thought it would be a good idea to write down some experiences here - I'm sure I'll also be happy to read this again in a few years and remember the time here. :-)
It all started on 24th July. Right at the airport in Frankfurt, I was upgraded to Business Class and had a super relaxing flight to Washington, with the most comfortable seat in the world, good food and one movie after another. So my Colombia trip couldn't have started worse. Then I continued on to Panama and after 20 hours I was in Barranquilla. My dear madrina Ligia picked me up at the airport and took me to my apartment, where I was warmly welcomed by the Senores Sanchez at midnight. :-)
Flight from Washington to Panama, sunset of the longest day of my life so far :) The rooftop terrace of our apartment
The next day I went straight to UniNorte to discuss my schedule and 2 days later the first course started. At the beginning, there were so many little things to do and after the first week, I already had to write my first essay in Spanish. I can't really claim that the first weeks were boring here. I had chosen a master's course that I definitely needed credits for. It only lasted for 6 weeks, but during those 6 weeks, I had lecture on Friday evenings and Saturdays from 8am to 4pm, had to read several Spanish book chapters on research methods and write various essays about them. I felt like I was always in the library during those weeks. But I knew it would be over quickly.
Of course, I wanted to get to know some of the other students and on my first weekend, I went to a party hosted by a Colombian classmate on Saturday evening. Finally, I live in a country with men who love to dance salsa! I immediately met a lot of nice people, danced salsa of course, and immediately felt very comfortable here. On Sunday, I went to the beach for the first time. We stayed there until the evening and I immediately experienced my first Colombian rain. :-)
I also got along well with my host parents, as well as with Berlin, our dog, and Pepe, the cat. My host father claimed that Pepe was totally antisocial.. But he was just a little shy, after a few days he already came to me and we get along very well. I've become a cat fan now. Even though there are cat hairs everywhere, always and everywhere.
First Friday evening after 4 hours 'Fundamentos y tecnicas investigativas en sciencias sociales', in which I understood a maximum of 10 words... First, have a beer with Pepe on the terrace :-) Lecture..
Bib...
Working at home.. Highlight of the day: my host mom made me baked plantains with cheese :-) delicious!
