Mark Lillard: Three Weeks in Bogotá

Ever since junior school, going on exchange to Colombia had been a dream of mine. Going to school and experiencing the everyday life of the people in South America sounded like the best way to learn the culture and improve my Spanish. This past summer, I finally got to live out that dream and travel to Bogotá, Colombia and study at Colegio Claustro Moderno while living with a host family. The group this year consisted of Jack Anderson, Mack Smithing, Patrick Andreen, myself, and for the first ten days, Mr. Berry. We all met at the airport at the ripe time of 4am to begin our journey. Our first Colombian experience came on our flight from Miami to Bogotá, when we took a Colombian airline where the flight attendants spoke Spanish. Once we landed, we met our host families. My host family actually is from Argentina, but is living in Colombia for two years while the dad, who is in the Argentinian military, serves on a base in Bogotá. Having an Argentinian host family gave me, as my host family called it, a  “doble ventaja” or double advantage, as I got to experience the Argentine culture at home, and the Colombian culture at school.

The MBA students, Mr. Berry, and our host families at the airport on our first night.

From the airport, my host family took me to an Argentine restaurant with another Argentinian family that would end up being like a second host family to me. After dinner, we went home to our apartment. The apartment was actually on the military base, and was closely guarded at all times by men in uniform armed with assault rifles. All cars coming in and out were checked thoroughly for safety measures. I was surprised to be out so late on a Sunday night, but my family informed me that Monday was a Catholic holiday, and there would be no school. This holiday allowed me a full day to adjust before school started. I spent my first day getting to know my host family and my host brother’s friends, as well as the military’s equestrian school, where my host brother spent much of his time preparing for competitions.

My Host brother Joaquín participating in the jumping portion of his equestrian competition.  

The next day, I travelled to school for the first time. We took a school van each day. Mine was filled mostly with elementary aged kids that were fascinated by me and the United States. They loved American music although they didn’t understand the English lyrics, so they had me translate songs for them. This time each morning provided me with an excellent opportunity to practice my Spanish with the kids and listen to Colombian radio. Each day, we took a regular class schedule. Our first week was our grade’s testing week, and I completed a Spanish, Math, and Physics test. Their testing system was very different from ours, as each test was ten to fifteen multiple choice questions, with the final grade being on a scale of 0 to 5.

The classroom in which I took about half of my classes.

Each day also consisted of multiple free periods, in which we played a variety of sports. We may have lost to middle schoolers in soccer, but later challenged some guys in our grade to a three game basketball series, which we took in two games. We also took a couple of excursions around the city. The most notable for me was La catedral de sal, a cathedral carved into a salt mine underground.

Catedral de sal

Lake on the campus

We happened to be in Colombia during La Copa America, the annual major soccer tournament featuring teams in the Americas. Seemingly every night we watched a game from the tournament. While the passion from the Colombians for their team was intense, I have never seen more excitement from fans than I saw in my host family every time Argentina took the pitch (in fact the little girl in my family, Pila, claimed she was going to marry star player Messi’s son one day).

During our weekends, my host family was able to expose me to a number of other cultures as well. Apart from other Colombians and Argentines, my family introduced me to friends from Chile, Uruguay, and Spain. The school one Saturday hosted a barbecue for all permanent international students attending the school. Here I was able to learn more about the food and customs of these countries. The next weekend I attended a lunch, which lasted about six hours, at the apartment of the family from Spain. I tried a number of typical Spanish foods, and learned the differences in their language and customs, all of which would help me the next month when my family travelled to Spain for vacation (in fact I kept in contact with the Spanish mother via Whatsapp, and she was able to give me recommendations of typical restaurants and things to do in Madrid, the city in which they lived).  

After three weeks of school,  equestrian competitions, meeting new friends, and exploring the city with my fantastic host family, it was time to return home. I had the time of my life all while improving my language skills and learning more about the various cultures I encountered. What I envisioned in junior school finally came true. A special thanks goes out to my host family for teaching me about the Argentinian and Colombian culture, all while taking care me and giving me a place to sleep for three weeks. Many thanks also Señor Paolicchi for coordinating everything and also for being my Spanish teacher and advisor for two years now, getting my language skills more than prepared for this exchange. Finally, the most thanks goes of course to the Wilson family, without whom any of this would be possible. The opportunity to attend school and study the language I love in a foreign country for free is something very few outside of MBA can experience, and I am forever grateful. My Spanish has improved immensely, and the fantastic memories of this exchange will never be forgotten.

Returning back to Nashville donning Colombian soccer jerseys