For the third year, Spanish teachers Antony Reyes and Diana Bolaños brought a group of juniors and seniors on a language immersion trip to Colombia. As IB Spanish students, the expectation was to spend more time speaking and learning Spanish while being surrounded by Colombian culture.
The trip was primarily split between the cities Jericó and Medellín. While in Jericó, we spent our time in La Nohelia, a chalet located in a coffee farm. Our activities there included ziplining, learning about the coffee farming process, swimming in a river, and exploring the town itself. Overall, it was definitely a more rural part of Colombia, filled with beautiful green scenery as well as a close-knit community.
Personally, one of my most memorable experiences was when we were tasked with walking around the town and asking people about their lives and stories. Everyone we talked to was welcoming and willing to answer our questions (however grammatically awkward they might have been).
We had also gotten to know the staff on the farm: throughout the activities we did, we got to learn more about them and their lives. I especially enjoyed seeing and learning about the long and careful process of how they harvest coffee and its journey before being sold in bags. In general, whether it was from the staff in the farm or random strangers in a small candy store, we were received with open arms – an impression I’ll never forget.
After a couple days at Jericó, we traveled to Medellín, which was more of a bustling city than the farm we had initially been in. There, we walked through La Comuna 13 (a specific art-centered zone of the city), learned about the artist Fernando Botero in the Museum of Antioquia, and rode the gondola through Parque Arví, a large nature reserve.
I was most amazed walking through Comuna 13, with multitudes of bright-colored murals, breakdancing groups around every corner, and countless pop-up shops flooding the streets. As we walked around, we were also taught the history of the city: once an isolated zone, it was connected via Metro and various escalators climbing the cities.
Even in the in-between moments, I had enjoyed the company of everyone else who came on the trip as well. When it came to hour-long bus rides or waits in the airport, we were still able to have a good time playing cards or having entertaining conversations in various degrees of Spanglish.
Throughout the trip, I had stepped far out of my comfort zone into a space in which I could realize the beauty, creativity, and community of a new country. I certainly learned more of the language, the food, the dancing, and the art. But most of all, I had gotten to know the people and their warm, sociable culture. I am beyond grateful for the opportunity I had received from this trip, and I will without a doubt continue to carry the experience with me.
