In the cities, life is vibrant and communal. You grow up playing juegos de calle (street games) like rayuela (hopscotch) or jumping rope with the neighborhood children until the streetlights flicker on. There is a sense of "it takes a village" in Colombia; your neighbors aren't just people next door—they are tíos and tías (uncles and aunts) who keep an eye on you as you navigate the world. The Magic of Celebration
until your fingers are sticky, and realizing that no matter where you go, you carry the warmth of the Colombian sun and the rhythm of the drums in your heart. of Colombia for this essay, or perhaps add more details about a particular holiday or tradition? as a little girl growing up in colombia
the geography was my first god. We did not have four seasons; we had a thousand microclimates within a single bus ride. In the morning, I would shiver in a wool sweater in Bogotá’s grey bruma (mist), my breath fogging the window of a colectivo . By afternoon, descending into the Magdalena Valley, I would peel off layers until I was just a girl in a sundress, sweating under a sky the color of bruised mangoes. In the cities, life is vibrant and communal