DukeEngage Medellín
La Violencia is Not the Whole Story

First Impressions of Medellín

We were also asked by our DE directors to reflect on what has impacted us most these first weeks in Medellín. The answers we came up with are varied and reflect how differences in culture have influenced and guided us.

"Doña Clara asked me about a week in what my first impression was of Medellín. My answer: color. Coming from the gray, classic structures of Washington D.C. and the content brick of the Northern Virginia suburbia, I was shocked at the explosion of color throughout the city. From the clothing to the restaurants to the flowers to the poorest houses – everything has splashes of yellows and reds and blues and greens. As I’ve lived longer in the city, I think that color is not just a physical entity but a fact of spirit as well. The nights in Carlos E. Restrepo are alive with the colors of university students mingling with friends, professors, ladies selling jewelry, and a lone man playing the flute for money. The Parques Bibliotecas, Parque Explora, and the other relatively new buildings bring the city to life in full Technicolor with their modern architecture and the energy of the people who work and play there. Maybe it’s the weather – the constant pure blue skies of the City of Eternal Spring – that originally brought the color into play throughout the city. But it has become a constant fixture in the lives of its inhabitants. People live in color compared to the black and white of the United States. Friends are openly affectionate – it’s okay to express your feelings. People greet and kiss almost total strangers, welcoming them into their homes, offering the best they can, opening their hearts and pouring out this warmth from the soul that can’t help but color your world a little brighter. It’s something as simple as the idea of fresh fruit juice anywhere you go, from any fruit you can imagine, yet also something as deep as the unbroken spirit of the children in the poorest neighborhoods, who have painted murals on their roofs to speak to the passengers on the MetroCable. I’m so excited to spend the rest of my summer in a city so full of life, energy, and love. My Spanish literature teacher in high school tried so hard to explain the meaning of one vocab word, but living in the color of Medellín I actually feel it: el vaivén de la ciudad."


"Pace. In Medellín, each and every action, from eating lunch, to leaving a party, to drinking aguardiente is carried out at an extremely relaxed and unhurried pace. I am so accustomed to the breakneck speed (compared to here) at which we live our lives in the U.S. that it has been an oftentimes difficult and occasionally frustrating transition to the almost excessively carefree way people live here. In the U.S. we seem to constantly be rushing from one activity to the next, one class to the next, one shot to the next… In an embarrassingly clichéd way, the community of Medellín values the journey, not the destination. When the “compañeros” go out at night, they don’t worry about what time they have to wake up, or how many hours they are going to get to sleep, they just enjoy themselves. Meanwhile, I’m constantly checking my watch, knowing that I’m going to regret getting only four hours of sleep when I’m visiting another Parque Biblioteca at 8AM. Recognizing the casual, deliberate pace of Medellín has been one of the most important and impactful realizations of my first week here, and adjusting to this pace is one of my top goals over the next few weeks."

"When we arrived at the Parque Biblioteca San Javier, it was about five minutes before the library opened. We were let in early for our tour, and we were in the foyer when the library officially opened. About thirty children RAN past us to get to the computer room, giggling and shouting. This image will stay with me for a long time. They were all so happy, and they were thrilled to play with something that their community provides them for free! And, at the same time that they are playing with the computers, they are learning skills that will help them use computers for the rest of their lives- skills they would not have if COMFAMA had not given funding for these libraries. That image also settled something in my mind: even if the city of Medellín could be doing something else for Medellín with the money from the Parques, at least the Parques are providing a space for kids to come when they do not have school that is fun, exciting, somewhat educational, and safe."

"What has impacted me most in Medellín in this first week are the people. The people in Medellín that I have met have been the most welcoming group I have ever encountered. My host family here in Carlos E. already feels more like a family than the host family I had in Buenos Aires did after 6 months. Having the compañeros as people who are generally interested in sharing ideas, music, views, friendship is so valuable. I cannot imagine being here in Medellín without them, and it’s only been a week. Whenever we go out and people ask what we are doing, they listen to the answer. They are so eager for the mala fama to leave Colombia and for people outside to understand that while Medellín and Colombia are not perfect, they are wonderful special places where tangible efforts are being made towards peace. Everyone has a different perspective to offer up and no matter their socioeconomic status, race, religion, gender, etc. everyone has an intelligent thought to contribute to the mosaic that I feel like I am building in my mind of Colombia and Medellín. So far every moment has truly been eye opening and a pleasure."

"In the past week and a half, the thing I’ve found most interesting is how Colombian values differ from American values. The most obvious example, perhaps, is time. Time, schedules, plans and the general overall stress that Americans place on having a defined schedule are really not so rigorously maintained here. It’s kind of a nice change of pace because it feels so much more mellow and relaxed. At the same time, frustrations do tend to run high when things are running hours off schedule or when we have no idea what’s going on or where everyone is.

The next thing is cleanliness and orderliness. Honestly, as Americans, I think we tend to look down upon other people in terms of maintaining hygienic conditions. Certainly, people tend to have a negative view of poorer countries. But I’ve come to realize that Colombians are extremely proud of things being neat and presentable. Everyone I’ve talked to about the Metro, for example, first tells me quite proudly that it’s the cleanest metro I will ever see. All the public spaces here, in fact, are free from garbage and are constantly cleaned and looked after. My host mom washes my clothes almost everyday and expects me to keep my room clean and my bed made. Of course, not all of Medellín is as clean as where we live and not all Colombians are the same way, but to me, it’s kind of refreshing to realize that Medellín could be an example of public orderliness for a city like New York.

Also, the emphasis on food is both extremely fun and amusing, and sometimes a bit tedious. It always makes me laugh a little when my host mom serves me an enormous breakfast and then is somewhat taken aback when she realizes how little I eat relative to the average Colombian. This week of touring COMFAMA’s projects and buildings has been kind of hilarious since we are always served at least a beverage and sometimes a whole meal, even after we’ve just eaten. Don’t even get me started on the típico and all the meat! But at the same time, I really like how food is a pastime here, because sometimes in the U.S., this gets lost in the rush of eating just to be full rather than sitting down and enjoy food with friends and family.

Finally, I really love the strong connections that Colombians seem to have with family. This may be just my own experience from having my host mom and her large extended family (including Danya’s host family), but it’s a lot of fun. People generally tend to stay close to their family in terms of distance and time spent together, and even the nieces, nephews, cousins, etc. remain close to each other. It’s a value that I really love and wish I would see more of in the U.S."

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EMERSON COLLEGE Catalog & Film

SLIDESHOW

WHO ARE WE?


WELCOME TO MEDELLIN

Funded by generous grants from Duke University and donations from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, DukeEngage has made it possible for us, a group of six Duke students, to embark on a 7-week civic engagement project, The Historical Memory/Community Literacy Project, in Medellin, Colombia. Our team also includes 57 students from Emerson College in Boston who created a multi-media catalog & a short film "108 things you might not know about medellín".

In collaboration with our directors, Dr. Tamera Marko of Emerson College and Jota Samper of MIT, we are producing 7 short documentaries about various communities in Medellin. We want you know to know that in Medellin, a city in the process of peace, la violencia is not the whole story.

COLLABORATORS
Emerson College Medellin
DukeEngage
DukeEngage Colombia 08
Parques Bibliotecas
COMFAMA
Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Carlos E. Restrepo
Pajarito Vivienda


DIRECTORS

Tamera Marko, Ph.D.
seasalt17@gmail.com

Jota Samper
jota@mit.edu