Silvia, Guambia, and beyond!

I had always found Jeremias, one of my classmates, to be a very intriguing person. He was a proud spokesman for his Guambiano people, and he often looked out of place in the university setting that surrounded us with his traditional dress-- which included brightly died fabrics, a little hat (usually hanging on his back), boots, and what looked like a blue skirt. He also rode the bus for three hours or more to come into Cali from his home in the mountains for each of our classes, and he had played an instrumental part in creating an indigenous radio station that helped to preserve the cultural identity of his people. In short, I really esteemed him and wanted to learn more about him.

Therefore, I became very excited when he invited me to "get to know his beautiful land and people" many months ago and even more excited when I was actually able to turn this trip into a reality in December. Carlos, Carmen, Erica, and I rented a car and were on our merry way. Although Silvia has been a constant victim of guerrilla and paramilitary violence, and I was warned that I shouldn't go, I found the town to be quaint, interesting, and a breath of fresh air from Cali.

Here Jeremias is with his wife, Liliana.

I planned it so that we would arrive for market day, which provided for a flurry of activity.

I really like this shot of Erica because she just plopped right on down in the town center, not minding how out of place she looked.

Jeremias and his colleagues put us on air on their indigenous radio station. They asked us for comments and impressions, and we also did quite a few language exchanges. They laughed as we butchered words in Guambiano, and featured in this photo is Carmen reading a message that says, "Thanks for tuning in" in Guambiano. She had previously attempted to teach us all how to say "good afternoon" in German. That probably got the most laughs-- talk about lots of syllables!

He even took us fishing... and guess who caught the first fish! ;)