William Lummus - Colombia Exchange

William Lummus Colombia Trip

My trip to Colombia was definitely one that will not be forgotten. Having never been to Colombia, my mind was free of any expectations. However, I was not disappointed. My trip started on a late-May evening. My whole group consisting of Graham Ragsdale, Campbell Garber, Ms. Hackney, and me met at the airport, prepared for a night of travel. Saying goodbye to our families, we embarked upon the adventure of a lifetime. We flew through Dallas and got stuck with a very long delay there, causing us to arrive in Colombia at 1:00 a.m., but our host families were still waiting at the airport.

The next day, my host brother and I spent mostly sleeping and eating food. The following day, I had my first day at El Colegio Claustro Moderno. I was promptly awoken at 6:00 a.m. and given some cereal to eat for breakfast, or so I thought. Being someone who does not eat a lot of food, you can imagine my surprise when I was also presented with a second breakfast consisting of beef, potatoes, and an arepa. I was instantly attracted to the delicious food and managed to eat all of it. At school, we took a day trip to a school for very young children, called “El Jardín”. It is fair to say that I had been struggling to keep up with the Colombians rate of speech, so I did not do much talking at the children’s school.

On the third day, we took another day trip to the Universidad de los Andes, a very prestigious college. Most of our fellow students only dreamt of attending said school, for they claimed it was very expensive. The next day, we all attended a get-together at Campbell’s host sister’s home. They treated us to many traditional Colombian snacks, and even more Colombian dances. The following day was fairly normal, however, with the weekend coming up, my host mother asked me if I wanted to go out of the city with Campbell’s host family to spend the weekend at their vacation home. This is one of those instances when I did not know exactly what they were saying, but I just said “yes” and went along with it. The weekend trip had its pros and cons. The cons were that the car ride was long, the other city was HOT, and the car was not very big, so Campbell and I were cramped for space. The pros, on the other hand, were that the drive was beautiful, I got to hold a snake, and I saw a Colombian military base.

The next Monday was a Colombian holiday, so we did not have school. In turn, my host family showed me some of the city. We went to a mall very similar to that of Green Hills, and drove around a fairly suburban area. By this point, I could keep up with the Colombian speech pretty well. The day after that, we had normal school, but on Wednesday, we visited the Salt Cathedral. This cathedral was amazing and proved to be a great day, especially when we tried some churros and delicious crepes.

After school the next day, I met up with a friend who lived in the same apartment complex as me. We decided to play basketball at the complex’s court. Unbeknownst to me, the Colombian teenage Lebron James lived in our complex. He easily crushed my friend and I in basketball, which was rare, because most Colombians were not particularly skilled in basketball. The next day, I returned to the basketball court with a different friend, and we just managed to win. And that night, we had a little party at our friend’s apartment with karaoke and pizza.

My host brother was very serious about tennis, as he spent 4 hours practicing everyday. Excited to watch him play, I accompanied the family to a tennis club outside the city for his tournament. He played extremely well and I really enjoyed watching him succeed. Later that day, we went home and played the Colombian version of monopoly for hours with his girlfriend.

The next day, we returned to the club for the next round of the tournament. Then, I met up with a friend at a different mall and we went window shopping and got ice cream. We also went to the center of the city, which was the home of many important government buildings, including the recently-elected president’s house.

Having fallen ill, my host brother did not feel like going out the next day, so I went with my host parents to the grocery and a coffee shop. Then we went to a couple areas that sold artisan crafts. School as normal proceeded the next day. However, the following day we went to a church on top of a surrounding mountain, which gave a view of the entire city. We also visited the Gold Museum and a typical burger place.

With the trip nearing an end, we presented a slideshow about Nashville to the upper grades of the school. This day also happened to be their last day of school for that semester. The next day, I attended the birthday party of Graham’s host sister. Now facing the last day of my trip, I decided to get all of my possessions in order. I said goodbye to my host family and friends, and then took the red-eye flight back home.

In conclusion, this trip was truly amazing. The students in Colombia are incredibly welcoming and genuinely cared about us. I know that my host family would accept me back with open arms and I know that I will go back someday.

I would like to thank the Wilson family for giving me this opportunity, Ms. Hackney for flying down with us and making sure we were safe, and finally Mr. Paolicchi for coordinating the trip.

x