I’ve learned many things here on this trip to Medellín; I learned about my family, my heritage, displaced families (I had no idea what they were before I came here), the way people my age here live their lives, and how last year’s DukeEngagers managed to survive here. But the main thing I learned here is that paisas are the most selfless, giving and caring people I’ve ever met in my life. Having a Colombian family was weird to understand in the States. You don’t understand why people act the way they do unless you’ve been to the place where they all act that way. So finally coming here was like a light turned on in a confusing, mysterious part of my brain.
I don’t want to constantly bore you with my self-discovering journey here, but it truly is that way. I can’t change the fact that although I’m learning about this culture, I seem to have also naturally become comfortable with it all. Having a unique experience like this, where it’s only the second time I’ve left the country, would technically mean I’m not worldly or cultured. But having a taste of the Colombian spirit in my life while I was in the United States prepared me a little for what I would face so many years later here in Medellín.
I also learned that running on Colombian time at some point in your life is good for the soul. We’re all really uptight in the States, let’s all admit that. We’re constantly running to and from, getting everything done on a timely manner. If you’re even two minutes late for a dinner date with your friends, they’ll call you, asking, “Where the hell are you?” Here, it doesn’t matter if you’re two minutes late or two hours late. At some point, you’ll all be together, and it makes you not take people or things for granted.
It’s unbelievably crazy that it’s almost all over with. This doesn’t mean we can’t return, but the things we did here, the people we met, the food we ate, the things we saw, all of it was such an experiential education (we learned by doing). We did, we learned, we loved, we worked, we took in all we could. What an unforgettable experience we’ll always take through life. Gracias, Medellín 
Kendall: An Education
Before I came to Medellín, I thought I had had a tough year. I thought I knew what resilience was, what it meant to be a fighter. What I learned here is that I knew absolutely nothing about the meanings of those words. In the field, I spent hours listening to families in Moravia explain very simply that they did whatever was necessary to survive. They shared their life stories with me, and many of the events of their pasts made me feel grateful for my hardships, because they were in fact extremely mild.
Maria Elena Alcaraz taught me the meaning of resilience. To her, it meant struggling to build a home for her children, only to see it demolished in front of her eyes, twelve times over. That is resilience. Maria Gomez taught me that fighting meant taking a shovel or rake and digging through an actual mountain of decomposing trash, day in and day out, searching for scraps of materials to recycle or use to support her family. That is strength.
My eyes have been opened to the true meaning of words like perseverance and creativity. Jhoneth Castillo taught me the meaning of perseverance. To her it meant knowing she deserved a better life than one of abuse, and setting out to create her own independent life, even if it meant being alone in a new city, begging on the street until she learned a trade, and then working night and day to support herself. Perseverance, in her life, was searching for her love across armies and paramilitary groups, entering intimidating camps and pleading with ruthless armed leaders. It meant petitioning for the release of her child’s father constantly, enduring threats and vilification, until he was finally in her arms. It meant never giving up until she accomplished her goals, whether the goal was freedom, reunion, education, or employment.
Ligia Castaño taught me what it means to be creative. She has three bright young boys in school, but needed a way to pay for their education. She didn’t have any money or resources, so she used her creativity. She collected plastic bags from grocery stores and shopping centers, cut them into long strips, and then used the knowledge of sewing wool that her grandmother passed down to her and applied it to the plastic strips, sewing different colors of together into purses with intricate designs. She made a business, and found a way to make ends meet, even with seemingly nothing at her disposal. That is creativity.
I thought I understood from books and classes these simple vocabulary words. But I had no idea. My experiences in Medellín have impacted my perspective and thought process immensely. I have received a true, memorable education here. The women of Moravia, their families, and their histories have educated me in a way that can’t be qualified with a diploma or degree, but in a way that will undoubtedly shape my attitude and path for the future.
Gabby:
Gabby:
When we got this weeks theme for the blog post, I could think of so many simple things I’ve learned here in Medellín but at the same time I wanted to find write about something that will stay with me forever. Yes, I’ve learned how to open three different locks just to get into my apartment. I’ve learned to try any fruit that is given to me for breakfast and always finish my meals, even if it’s cow tongue. I learned to use imovie, to take family portraits and how to use a flip camera. I’ve learned that plans will be made at the last minute and people will show up late. I’ve also learned a lot about myself during these past two months in Colombia. This trip was my ‘test run’ to see if I could handle being far away from my family and I feel pretty confident that I did okay. Going to a university 10 minutes away from my house allows me to see my family very often and eat lots of home cooked meals. I’ve missed them a lot on this trip, but I’ve also come to realize that I can survive without them. I can ask for a taxi and tell when they’ve missed the turn into Carlos E. I can attempt to budget my money and make sure my room is organized. I can take freezing cold showers and even bucket showers! But most importantly on this trip, I’ve learned how to listen. I listened to families tell me their struggles before living in Medellín. They shared with me their hopes and dreams and I just listened. They welcomed me into their homes and told me of their accomplishments, and I listened. I will always remember these stories and these families. They helped me learn how to truly listen.
Lydia Rose:
Lydia Rose:
I’ve had many guides/teachers/helpers here in Colombia who have imparted their share of wisdom to me—too many to name, honestly, from my cogestores to my compañeros, my host family to the families I interviewed, and everyone else in between. But there are some rather unexpected teachers who I’d like to thank now—my Dukies. You may not think of yourself as qualified for teaching, but you’ve each imparted many a useful lesson to me in our two months here.
First of all, Jess! Don’t think you can weasel your way out of our group so easily. As my work pareja, I learned a ton from you even though we only had one month together. In fact, your leaving taught us all how much we can’t take anything for granted. We miss your crazy, bubbly, up-for-whatever personality and, in missing you, we’ve learned to love what we’ve got in this great city while we’re still here. It’s like Kendall says. . .
“You can sleep when you’re dead!” “don’t be a Negative Nancy” “say yes to things” (you might just get engaged). Kendall, Whatever you say about your lack of luck, Ms. Murphy’s Law, you’ve taught me to be more positive—to just go for it and jump into things. I’m a cautious one by nature, and I’d rather not make mistakes publicly if it is at all avoidable, but watching you evoke laughter and smiles as you chatted animatedly with compañeros, even when your Spanish wasn’t perfect, showed me how great throwing caution to the wind can be. Which isn’t to say that a little prudent perfectionism doesn’t have its place . . .(cough Amrita cough cough)
Amrita, you’ve been my silent twin with the added bonus of computer skills, inexplicably accurate Spanish grammar, and an amazing host family that loves you so much they were willing to basically adopt the rest of us along with you. Oh, how I will miss Gloria and Fercho and everyone! But really, seeing how hard you work, not only on making our videos and putting together our blog, but also on the little, often overlooked things, like bonding with compañeros and making sure everyone is having a good time, showed me how working hard and paying attention to details really does pay off. Your amazing bonds with your host family, your compañeros, your cogestores, and all of us, shows how your caring and constant hard work pays off tenfold in the end. I may even nominate you to be the next abuelita
Not that Gabuelita, I mean, Gabby, has any deficits where that is concerned. Gabby, you are so sweet, caring, funny, and friendly that it is no mystery to anyone how you became the grandma of our group. You are always there with a smile, a laugh, a hug, (or an external hard drive), and never stop looking out for each and every one of us. You save us all the time with your Spanish-speaking know-how, and you are so easy going that you get along with absolutely everybody and can always draw a laugh. You share that skill with our other G,
Yea, Gideon, I’ll admit that even though your jokes are the worst, you, too are a great addition to the group. With your sweet dance moves and your “what do you call a blind dinosaur?” “a doyouthinkhesawus!” puns, you keep us laughing (sometimes at you, sometimes with you, but whatever). And really, thanks for being the trooper, as Kendall says, and putting up with us girls—our chick flick nights, our shopping trips, and all the rest.
And Stephanie, you, too, deserve a shout out as far as putting-up-with-us is concerned. Our complete inability to keep up with your salsa skills and never-ending Spanish-song knowledge might have gotten annoying, but you were great, always taking the time to teach us the steps or the words, ever so slowly and patiently. That, combined with your Spanish-dictionary capabilities and your work as “Princess” of the blog, has helped us all gain our footing here, in the country that you’ve seem so at home in from the start.
As for Natalie, this country is half-home to you, our Colombiana-estadounidense, and even though you’re the youngest, you’ve kept up with the rest of us, being energetic and hard working and always up for anything (you wild card, you). And thanks for sharing not just the fun, light-hearted moments, but also for digging deep and imparting personal things to us, too. It showed us just how tight this group could get, how much we trust one another and are willing to look out for each member of the group.
Of course, as far as group members who look out for us go, I can’t leave out Tam and Jota—one of our many sets of parents in this home away from home. Thanks for putting up with our occasional insanity, our irritation at iMovie, our disgruntlement at early mornings and our confusion over certain rules (aka Arvi is out of the city? Woops). We know we must give you quite the headache, and in the future, you’ll probably have to name a few gray hairs after us, but we hope it has been as worth it for you as it has been for us—you’ve made us feel like Medellín really is our city, integrating us with families and compañeros we could never have found any other way. Thank you so much for taking this chance on us, and parenting us through it, every step of the way.
So to all of my teachers/guides/fellow-students on this once-in-a-lifetime trip, muchísimas gracias. I love you guys. Let’s have an amazing last few days, and I’m so glad that you, my DukeEngage family, are all a part of this trip that I won’t have to leave behind as I board the plane home.
Gideon:
Gideon:
I guess there are two goals of all DukeEngage trips. The first, and probably most important, is to help the communities the students work with in some way. The second is for the students to gain some sort of perspective on the world and to bring it back with them to Duke. Not that I really know too much about the other programs, but I feel that DukeEngage Medellin uniquely combines these two goals.
Since the beginning of the trip, almost every person we have encountered has almost been obsessed with changing the American and world perceptions of Colombia, and more importantly Medellin. Stemming from its violent and drug filled past, it is no surprise or secret that Medellin does not have the best reputation. But in the last couple of years, through government programs and interventions, the city has undergone a massive transformation. But this transformation has gone largely unnoticed, especially in the United States.
Not to sugarcoat it in anyway. Medellin definitely still has a lot of problems to work on, and bad things can sometimes happen to innocent people. But as long as you are smart and not careless nothing will happen to you. It is just like almost anywhere in the US. There are just certain places you wouldn’t go to at night by yourself. And there are a couple small cultural differences, but as a whole I was not culture shocked by any means.
By just living here for 2 months we are helping the city. We will return to Duke and the US and help change the perceptions of Medellin. No I wasn’t living in a rundown shack. No I never encountered cocaine. No I never felt nervous about my safety.
I was living in a very nice middle class apartment that looked like any other apartment in the States. I spent a lot of time with young people living in Medellin who are extremely normal. They went to an excellent college, studied hard, and are now working. Just like people in their early 20s anywhere else in the world. I went out to bars and clubs far nicer than Devines or Shooters. I went parks, museums and fincas (country houses).
Our project will continue in the months and years to come, and by gaining a new perspective of Medellin, we have in turn helped the community we were a part of.
Amrita:
Amrita:
Last night, while the rest of my family slept, I sat in my room watching “Los Colores de La Montaña”. The movie is an award-winning documentary film about how the lives of a group of children in the countryside are affected as the guerrilla infiltrates their community.
(Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTlLpaD0Axs)
It’s difficult to explain how different the lenses through which I watched the film would have been had I not been a part of the DukeEngage Medellín program. Firstly, spending 2 months in Medellín allowed me to recognize the paisa Spanish of the child actors in the film: “y mi balón qué?” and “hágala pues”, for example. More importantly, DukeEngage gave me the chance to hear the after-stories. The stories of families similar to those in the film: how they were forced to flee the countryside, what they did when they arrived in Medellín, and how they have fought hard to improve their lives here in the city. The film shows how the violence of the guerrilla affected families, whereas this program taught me of the strength that families of Antioquia seem to have coursing through their veins. The story doesn’t just end with the poverty and sadness that has come out of Colombia’s history, but rather it continues with the efforts and successes of the families we interviewed, and the thousands more like them, to better their lives. I definitely recommend the film, and I recommend – a hundred times over – that you come to Medellín and learn to love the people of the city as much as our DukeEngage group loves them.
