Americans generally know their federal acronyms: DOJ, FBI, CIA, IRS and what they represent, but what about the Colombian central government ones? Let’s go over a few you’ll see frequently… FAC : Fuerza Aérea Colombiana. The Colombian air force DIAN: Dirección de […]
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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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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 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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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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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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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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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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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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Exchange rates on major currencies against the Colombian Peso (COP) are available online at various sites. Here are some quick links (links to Bloomberg or Google Finance) USD CAD EUR GBP AUD Please remember that these are mid-market rates so NOT what […]
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