Today we woke up early to head to our host city, Cartago. Bundled up from our stay in Bogota, my travel partners Kaitlyn, Kim, and I arrived in Pereira airport an hour later to temps in the 90s and blazing sun. Our host teacher's husband, Mario, picked us up in his Mazda 3, a mid-sized hatchback, and there we were with no less than 97 giant suitcases. We made it work, and squeezed in the back. The ride from Pereira to Cartago, Valle del Cauca was beautiful. A palm-tree lined highway with fruit stands and other businesses, mountains, valleys, and farms. It was truly picturesque, and was more vividly green than I had expected. After stopping at our hotel, we met our host teacher, Angelica, at her home and jumped into the car to head to Roldanillo, a city in Valle de Cauca. Roldanillo was a beautiful example of Spanish colonial architecture with a small town feel, perfect for a slow stroll around the streets. We stopped in at Museo Rayo and enjoyed the permanent collection of Colombian op-artist Omar Rayo, as well as two exhibiting artists whom we had the pleasure of meeting. An added perk was a poetry reading by Colombian women as well as Afro-Colombians. We really had a taste of the intense sun and heat of Valle del Cauca that day. On the drive home, we stopped at a roadside stand selling fermented fruit wine for samples. Most of it was too sweet for my taste, but I picked up the driest bottle I could find as a gift for my mom. I hope it makes it home without bursting open on the plane.
1 Comment
Angelica Guevara Bernal
9/1/2019 06:35:02 pm
That day was too hot like our last day! It was funny to see how you made it wit the suitcases ☺️
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About the AuthorChristina Uliano is a public school K-8 Art educator in South Philadelphia. Archives
September 2019
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