Warner Lamar: Colombia

 The Campus of Colegio Claustro Moderno

Upon arrival in Colombia at about 1:00 in the morning after several hours of delay, I was greeted by a collection of the kindest people I have ever met. My host brother, Julian, whom I had the pleasure of hosting during his trip to Nashville in the fall, his mother, Paola, his grandmother, and two of his aunts had all come to meet me at the airport. Immediately, I was welcomed with love and kindness as if I were one of the family. This welcome never faded throughout my trip. The next morning, Julian showed me the finer points of FIFA on Xbox. Through the course of my stay, I scored a total of one goal; my various Colombian opponents scored easily over 100. Then we went to lunch, an activity that takes up most of the afternoon in Colombia. I was introduced to some of the local food and got to know Julian’s extended family better. I made an offhand remark that I enjoyed the platanos, and throughout the rest of the trip my host mother served them with every meal. The city in Bogota seems to stretch on forever in all directions. I was amazed at the sheer size. When we visited Monserrate, a cathedral high in the mountains on the edge of the city, I got to see the true scale of the city. The view is breathtaking.

D'on enjoying the view at Monserrate

On Monday I got to experience my first day at Colegio Claustro Moderno. From Julian’s reaction to the MBA workload during his time in Nashville, I knew that the Claustro would not be as academically challenging as MBA, however I did not really know what to expect. We boarded the buses already full of students from kindergartners to eleventh graders like me and Julian (eleventh grade is the final year at Claustro). I was seen as quite an oddity by the younger students (who all knew everyone by name and were known by name by everyone). I never grew tired of being approached by first graders anxious to try out the four sentences of English that they know. Claustro is a smaller school that rarely adds new students in the higher grades. As a result the students form a very close community. Before classes, Julian introduced me to his closest friends, and I caught up with Montgomery, D’on, and Andy. The school day consisted of about two hours of class and about six hours of hanging out and playing soccer. It is possible that this was influenced by the fact that our stay was immediately before the semester break of senior year. I am proud to say that my fútbol skills went from completely horrendous to slightly less horrendous. Claustro’s motto is "non scholae sed vidae", not just for school but for life. They try to focus more on life skills than academic pursuits. Claustro has a very beautiful campus located on the slope of the mountains that surround the city. Bogota sits at 8,300 feet above sea level. The thin air left us gasping after our basketball game. However, after we acclimated to the altitude, we learned the truth that an average American basketball player is a great Colombian, and an average Colombian soccer player is a great American.

The squad after a Colombians vs. Americans game of basketball

One of the most incredible experiences of the trip came when all the Americans guided by David, one of the English teachers at Claustro, and our host students went to the Salt Cathedral. A church carved into a salt mine 2,000 meters below the surface.

The Salt Cathedral

I got a chance to watch my first, and to date only, two professional soccer games. Barcelona vs. Juventus in the champions league final and Cali vs. Millonarios in the championship of the Colombian league. Millonarios were the favorite team of most of Juli’s friends, but Juli supports Santa Fe, their arch rival, so we cheered for Cali. Cali pulled out the victory.

A sample of the Colombian countryside

Though the trip had its bad moments, D’on’s illness and accidentally shattering the backboard in a pickup basketball game at a catholic elementary school, it is one of the best if not the best experience of my life. Experiencing Colombian culture and forming relationships with such amazing people that I otherwise never would have been able to know, all while practicing my Spanish, was truly invaluable. I am most appreciative for the relationships we built. I am extremely grateful to everyone who made it possible, Mr. Calico, Mr. Goia, the Wilson family, Julian and his wonderful family, and everyone at Claustro Moderno.