Hello from Villavicencio! Six weeks have already passed since I arrived in Colombia, time is starting to fly. Hard to believe we are no longer in August—the month of September has arrived—and with it, the incredibly popular Colombian saying: “Since September, you can feel December coming.”
Curious what this phrase sounds like when it blasts across Colombia’s most popular radio stations? Wonder no more.
I wish I could say I felt even the slightest hint of December approaching, but the daily battle against the heat and the subsequent sweat are not going away anytime soon. As someone used to more variation in the seasons, I have a hard time adjusting my mental yearly calendar to September and not believing we are somehow still in late July. The sun continues to rise around 5:45 am and set around 6:00 pm. When I lived in a relatively cool mountainous area of Costa Rica, back in 2018, the relatively early sunset felt discouraging at times. Now that I live in a much hotter climate here in Colombia, el atardecer is a welcome relief from the sun.
As I look forward to the next few months of what I usually call the “fall” semester back in the U.S., I am most excited about seeing my family and hopefully having all (8!) members together again. I would not say I feel homesick here, thanks to FaceTime audio and video calls and the way many of my new coworkers and friends have welcomed me into their lives, but I will enjoy every minute of the time at home in late December and early January. Official dates are still to be decided and flights are yet to be purchased, if you are a family member of mine reading this post!
The latest news
Rarely a dull moment
I feel like the past two weeks have marked a new chapter in my social life here in Villavicencio. Since my last post at the end of August:
I discovered that both the dance studio and the CrossFit gym I frequent are owned by sisters (shoutout to @fenixboxoficial and @legend.stdance, I will be a loyal fan forever). A very athletic family, to say the least! The women from the gym also play soccer every Saturday evening at a field close to my current house, and it turns out I’m not half bad! What I lack in technical skills, I make up in willingness to run up and down the field.
I attended my first professional soccer game and watched the Bogotá Millonarios team play the Boyacá Patriotas. The fan base from Bogotá is known to be … very passionate, and I can now confirm that the rumors about the Millonario fans being barra brava are true. Also of note, the Colombian equivalent of the SWAT team was stationed outside with armored vehicles in case any celebrations got out of hand. We cheered, jumped and chanted for the whole evening in a sea of blue and white.
I ate my first Colombian hot dog from a local restaurant called Mr. Perritos. Wow. I am convinced that the perrito madurito (a hot dog wrapped in white cheese and smothered in sauce, sweet fried plantain, matchstick potato chips and a boiled quail egg) is one of the good and perfect gifts from the Father above, to quote James 1:17.
I tried lechona for the first time, a traditional Colombian dish consisting of a whole roasted pig stuffed with onions, peas, rice, fresh herbs, and various spices. My students have been asking me every week if I have tried this food yet, and I can finally say yes. One of my dear coworkers, Diana, also brought me a Colombian dessert, a dish of queso campesino, mora y arequipe (white cheese, blackberry and caramelized milk). I love trying new foods and food combinations here!
I went out with friends for a night of live music at Villavicencio’s most renowned club, bar, and concert venue Los Capachos for the second time (but this time actually late into the night, not just for free empanadas and tacos on a Sunday afternoon).
Another God-given gift: new friends!
I love having friends of all ages. Any time I move to a new place, I worry that I will only get to know my peers. Thankfully, praise the LORD, I have befriended many coworkers and several families here in Colombia. I also think that kids are awesome and some of the best people to chat about life with. One of my colleagues has a 9-year-old who frequently comes into the office, greets us all with hugs, and makes sure a particular campus cat gets *more than enough* to eat. Another colleague invited us to go swimming with her friends, who have a 6-year-old, and we chatted the whole drive about cats and cows. Side note: apparently that kid doesn’t usually talk much when he is with his mom’s friends, but apparently I asked the right cat- and cow-related questions because she couldn’t get him to stop talking that day!
Last Sunday, I arrived at church late after accidentally giving my Uber driver the wrong address. Thankfully he was patient and kindly helped me get to the right place, but I rolled up at 11:20 am for the 11:00 service. I felt a bit awkward, and the only empty seat was next to a woman who graciously moved her bag and Bible so I could sit down. She was there with her young son and her boyfriend, and as soon as we started to chat after the service, I knew we were going to be friends. Turns out they are also new to our church but plan to stay! Before I could slip out or call a taxi, she had invited me to her home, shown me around her house and the new boutique she is opening in the front room, and even filmed an Instagram video with me.
My new friend Marls ♡ is from Venezuela, where much of her family still lives, and has lived in Colombia for seven years. She and her boyfriend Juan David—who is Colombian and also very kind, generous, and fun to talk with—have been dating for most of a year and were quick to let me know that their faith is important to them and they “want to honor God in every aspect of their relationship,” which was so refreshing to hear! I know very few Christians here, and meeting these new friends was truly an unexpected gift that only God could have ordained.
They invited me to lunch, where we chatted for a long time over salchipapas and cold Coca-Cola. Her 11-year-old son loves to talk about all things superhero- and Marvel-related and is learning English, so we practiced lots of phrases together. I taught him all the superheroes’ English names, and in return he taught me the phrase obvio microbio (literally: “obviously, microbe”). After seeing pictures of our many Nebraska farm cats, he asked if I could “bring back a cat in my suitcase for him” when I travel home at Christmas and also “call me tía” because he already has Venezuelan and Colombian aunts but not one from the States. I am grateful!
Roads blocked & virtual classes
Last week, Villavicencio and many cities across the country were negatively affected by a transport strike related to diesel fuel prices, which led to road blockages, food & fuel shortages, and a general inability for anyone to get anywhere. All four main roads out of the city were closed, and truck drivers were selling their produce and trying to keep animals in trucks alive as they sat on the road for days. I rode with several taxi drivers on the way to and from the gym whose gas tanks were on empty. Thankfully, by early Friday, the government was able to reach an agreement and roads were reopened.
Since I live in the city, my ability to move around was fairly unaffected. However, given that many people live in surrounding communities and commute to work or class, our university moved classes online from Tuesday to Friday. This experience was an exercise in flexibility, especially because the university did not make official decisions on class format on Tuesday or Friday *until after* I had already commuted to campus. “Distances makes the heart grow fonder,” as they say (as does distance from the air-conditioned office where I spent 3-5 pm every weekday), and I am grateful to be back in-person with my colleagues and students again!
Two upcoming races
Yes, two races. I first signed up for the 5K race at the Medio Maratón del Meta that will take place on Sunday, October 6 here in Villavicencio. They also offer a 10K and half marathon, but I chose the shortest race since I was slightly unsure whether or not I would be physically ready for the longer distance. Then just a few days ago, I was running with a colleague who convinced me to sign up for the Cumaral Elite 10K race on September 29, in the nearby town of Cumaral. Ironic to be doing a longer race in just 2.5 weeks, but I am excited to be involved in running again and (hopefully!) to meet other local runners. Waco Run Club, I miss you dearly!
The taxi-taking life
One thing I have come to love about Villavicencio, or maybe just about living in a city with a few modes of public transportation, is the ease and relatively low cost of taking a taxi. When I first moved here, I mainly stuck to using the app inDrive (which is like Uber but with the option to barter on the price of your ride). It’s definitely useful but unreliable at times and often ends up being more expensive than a taxi. Once I discovered that all taxis are part of a registered system and easy to hail—just by waving your hand or arm as they drive by—I fully embraced the taxi life. Though I often ride with my roommates, in general the taxis here are safe to take alone, especially during the day. Not having my own car anymore has definitely been an adjustment, but taxis allows me to do more things independently.
CrossFit continues
I may or may not have skipped my daily CrossFit workout to actually finish writing this blog … but nonetheless, I have now been to this gym 11 times. Somehow I leave every workout simultaneously feeling like I never want to come back and sweat that much again (seriously, I have never sweated this much in my life) and absolutely loving it. The Fenix Box community is unmatched, and I love the friendships I have begun to build there. Our gym is celebrating 4 years in business in a few weeks, which means any member can pay about $13 and join a Saturday celebration and outdoor recreation day together at Finca Villa Consuelo. Very much looking forward to this event!
Moving to a new house in October
As much as my roommates and I love the house and the gated neighborhood where we live, our rent is not inexpensive and Aliya & I live at least a 10-minute drive from where we work. Taking two taxis per day adds up! We have been on the lookout for another house since we arrived and got a better understanding of the city layout. One of our coworkers connected us to a Colombian family in her gated neighborhood who is currently living in Canada and have a furnished home sitting empty. The surrounding area is known for being slightly less safe than our current one, but you can’t beat a seven-minute walk (!) to work. Aliya and I will be moving there on October 1, and Morgan will be moving into a different shared home with other English teachers. I am sad to leave this place but excited to save money and time by walking to work every day. We will still likely take taxis or occasionally request rides home from coworkers when we leave at night.
Some snippets of my daily life
I plan for my conversation clubs and co-teaching classes in a shared (and air-conditioned!) academic coordinators’ office whenever I am on campus. Occasionally my colleagues will bring their school-age children to work, so occasionally I share a long table with a 10-year-old reading about dinosaurs, telling me about his swimming club, and doing social studies homework on Chat GPT. Yesterday I got invited to his birthday party in a few weeks!
Every day, Aliya and I take a taxi to get to the university. The route to work often varies day to day, depending on the driver and whether or not certain roads are closed for soccer games at the nearby stadium. I like to people watch and often see some very interesting sights during the drive, including but not limited to a small pig being walked on a leash with bows on its ears and many large dogs balancing on the back seats of motorcycles while their owners weave in and out of traffic.
Here in Villavicencio, I have yet to see a McDonald’s restaurant. However, there are 6 major malls here, and almost all of them have either a McDonald’s or KFC Postres (Desserts) that sells ice cream. I am a big fan of McFlurries and sundaes topped with arequipe (dulce de leche or caramelized milk).
“Sports betting is the escape from the Matrix.” This iconic phrase was uttered by a late-20-something young man who lives in our neighborhood, is very friendly and often under the influence of at least one substance (and harmless, thankfully), and apparently makes a living doing sports gambling online. He is also at least 28 and lives with his parents, one of whom is a vascular surgeon, so that might explain a few things. My roommates and I declined his offer to “escape the Matrix together,” but we were inspired to make pancakes and watch The Matrix. We have seen him around the neighborhood quite a few times since we moved in, and he “adds to the plot” of our lives here, to quote my roommate Morgan.
Small Victories
✔ I successfully paid the gas, water & electric bills. This is actually much simpler than I was anticipating. Our landlord sent us all the login information to pay our bills online, and we get a paper bill delivered a few days before payment is due.
✔ I finally know how to describe the location of my gym. Given that we have already attended 11 times, getting there should be simple, right? Well, we ride with a different taxi driver every day. Some like to have a street address; others want to know how close it is to the stadium; still others want the nearby road and neighborhood names. Every day we get new advice on how to describe the location. Tomorrow, when I get in the taxi, I will probably ask, ¿Nos puede llevar a un gimnasio de CrossFit que se llama Fenix Box? Está en Barrio Canaima. Tiene dos entradas y está en la parte arriba del estadio, subiendo por la avenida Los Maracos.
✔ I will be traveling outside the city with my three fellow Fulbrighters soon! This will be my first excursion beyond the Villavicencio area, and we are going rafting in a canyon on the Guejar river! Dates and times are non-specific as I just realized that we have yet to fill out a travel request. Oops.
Emily Explores 
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