Life is a Game we Play.

A cloud hangs over this city by the sea

I’m realizing that I’ve been very lucky in this experience. I’ve lived on the safe side of Cartagena, met the nice people of Cartagena, and have always had people looking out for me. But bad things do happen. Last week, at a friend’s house, Andres was robbed at gunpoint. Two men on a motorcycle came up to the house, stuck a loaded gun to the back of his head and said “Desconecta esa vaina, no griten, no se muevan…” (Disconnect that thing, don’t yell, don’t move) and then rode off with Andres’ laptop. It just figures that we were in a meeting for our project talking about the closing conference. You know, youth working towards bettering the image of Colombia and helping its citizens. Yea, rob them. We lost a ton of information from the project, not to mention 6 months of work he’s put towards his thesis. Yesterday, Rafa’s father was also robbed at gunpoint…one million pesos. Marilene, the trainee from Holland, has had stuff stolen 4 times from her own room, and the son of the owner of the foundation has come into her room twice in the middle of the night, drunk, with condoms in his hand. In Medellin, I was going to meet up with someone to go to some park at night, but I got her phone number wrong so I couldn’t go. That night, she was robbed with a knife held to her throat. I was almost at the point where I thought EVERYONE was wrong about how dangerous Colombia was, but I realize now that I’ve been very lucky. It is very different here, and I’ve been somewhat naïve and sheltered. When you’re around people that are so poor, they steal out of necessity. I respect the people that are selling phone minutes for 10 cents all day to pay for a dinner for their family. I don’t respect the assholes that don’t do shit all day and then rob a laptop to eat for a week. There are so many things that I see everyday, that I can’t even explain, and I wish I could take pictures of, but it’s not safe. My photos don’t show most of what I see on a daily basis. But there are some images in my head that I am sure I will never forget even if I don’t have photographic evidence. You just have to live it and be thankful for the experience.

posted by Erin @ 11:40 AM