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Let’s Talk like Colombianos: Descarao
WORD: DESCARAO/DA Sounds like: Dess-cah-rah-oh/dah Example: Que descarao! You’ll hear this a lot. The real word is descarado, meaning a shameless person, but as with many words ending in do, the tendency, especially in Antioquia, is to not pronounce the D. It can also be […]
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The Venerable Willys, Public Transportation in the Pueblos
Make your way to just about any village or town in the Eje Cafetero, Colombia’s coffee growing region, and you’ll see a strange sight: old jeeps packed with people and possibly animals, goods piled-up sky high on top and people perilously hanging on […]
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Let’s Talk like Colombianos: Place names
Let’s tackle pronunciations using named places. If you say it gringo-style, they might still understand you, but to really sound like a local, you’ll have to work at it a bit… Let’s start with one of the most frequently mispronounced city names: […]
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Understanding Real Estate Listings
Real estate for sale or rent ads whether online (metrocuadrado.com, fincaraiz.com.co, etc.), in real estate agency windows or in newspapers and magazines will most likely be in Spanish and will use the measures and expressions found below. Canon (Cah-non): The monetary value […]
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Hail the Colombian Intestinal Grenade!
Colombia is a country with an abundance of fruits, many of which people from Gringolandia have never seen. May I present to you the pitahaya. Pitahaya sounds like Peet-ah-yah, BTW. Also known as dragon fruit. Often it’s sold with a bit of the branch on top, […]
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Medellín: Is Provenza the NEW Lleras?
As a 15+ year resident of the Medellín area and I guess still a gringo no matter how hard I try to shake it, I’ve noted the urban decay on La Diez (calle 10) and Parque Lleras in El Poblado, which used to be among the city’s favorite gringo haunts. Fortunately, […]
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FACT: Colombians DRINK Oatmeal!
A very popular drink here is avena, which is the same word used for oatmeal but here if someone offering you una avena, they mean the drink! It’s composed of oats, milk, water, sugar or honey and cinnamon and sometimes nutmeg. This is mixed together […]
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COLOMBIA IS BANANAS!
Colombians know how to use their bananas! Sweet or not, big or small, they use them in a hundred different ways! Personally, I shamefully admit I had no idea how useful bananas are! Some expats and tourists make light of the omnipresent […]
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Colombia: DRUGS, DRUGS, DRUGS!
Pharmacies in Colombia are typically small shops, and you can usually also get a toothbrush, a bottle of water or shampoo, not just medication, but it’s usually not going to be anything like a Walgreens or CVS! They’re everywhere! It’s not unusual to […]
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Apartments: What you Can Expect
There’s a lot of apartment and townhouse closed communities in major Colombian cities, and a large number of units within them are owned by investors who rent them out to cover their mortgages and other costs while the property appreciates, not surprisingly! […]