A BAD DAY By: María Camila Gutiérrez Jaramillo

December /2010

I had been studying physics all day for an exam before I received a call from a friend named Santiago inviting me to his birthday celebration that night at his home. I was hesitating about accept the invitation because I had to study and it was a really important exam. Finally, I decided to go to the celebration so I changed my clothes and chose a dress from my wardrobe. My friend used to live in the other side of the city at Santa Monica so I took a cab. While I was in the cab, I was putting on makeup as I could, I forgot to indicate the driver to use other way because the normal road was closed. So when he realized about that he got mad at me and he tried to make me paid even more than the fair price.

But the story doesn’t end there…

When I arrived to my friend's house, the doorkeeper doesn't let me enter because no one answered the phone, so I had to call my friend a million times to his cellphone until he finally answered. I was really upset.

I was just entering to his house when I realize that it wasn’t just a celebration with friends but with the family too, now I was upset and embarrassed. I decided not to worry about that and enjoy the celebration.

Later, while I was sitting in the couch with other friends, Santiago asked me if I could take his computer from his room to put some music. My friend’s room was in the second floor of the house so, I went upstairs, and I looked for the computer and took it with the charger and the mouse too. I was just coming down the stairs when I tripped on a rug and I fell down the stairs (I had the computer in my hands). I was trying to save the computer while I fell down, so I took it to my chest, hugging it tightly and I fell on my knees. Everyone was watching me and I just wanted to get out.

SPECIAL EXPERIENCE BY LUZ ESTELA OSORIO R.

SPECIAL EXPERIENCE

By Luz Estela Osorio R

 

 

I have had many wonderful experiences in my life and today I want to tell you about the birth of my children:

Alejo was born in March 1995, during my pregnancy I didn't  want to know the gender, The Afternoon before Alejo's  birth , my husband and I were doing a photo studio in our apartment, while the photografer was taking me a picture,  I felt that something was not right with me, I called immediately  my gynecologist and explained to him what I was feeling, and he told me to leave as soon as possible to the hospital, my husband and I took immediately  the bag with the  baby's clothes and went to the hospital and while we were riding to the hospital I was feeling great happiness that  my baby would be birth soon, but It was strange that we didn't feel  afraid ,only felt happiness, then when we arrived the hospital, just the doctor had everything ready and  got me into  the surgery room, only in this moment  I knew that it was a risk situation, but I was relaxed and prayed  God that everything went well and so it was, the cesarean was quickly and without complications and a lovely child was born, thank God was all well, I never knew the gender, but I had always thought it would be a girl and I was really happy to know that he was a boy.

When Alejo was 1 month old, I wanted to be pregnant again and when Alejo was 6 months ago, I got pregnant again, I was very happy,  deffinitely I loved to be pregnant, like in Alejo's pregnancy , I never wanted to know the gender of my baby, only until he was born, I knew he was a boy, during pregnancy I wanted  to be  a boy, I thought it was better for them to be two boys , and when my baby was born and the doctor told me he was  a boy, I felt wonderfully happy, I felt joyfull , instantly  I thought many things , I thought that I didn't need anything else in my life, I thought I didn't need to have lots of money, I didn't need to be rich, I felt I was really rich, I had a beautiful and happy family.

I always said I wanted to have  three children, but when Felipe was born, I felt that I had all and another baby wasn't necessary.

After the birth of my sons , I have  been really happy with them, I had a great love for  them and  we have been  a happy family.

does fate exist? by Luis Santiago Osorio

Long journeys between countries are always stressful. I was with my friends Camilo and Gustavo in Argentina, we just had some problems with security at the airpot of Buenos Aires about our tiquets. We were suppose to come back to Colombia by a Buenos Aires-Lima-Medellin flight but now we had to go on a Buenos Aires-Santiago-Lima-Medellin flight and as if that it wasn't enough we would have to wait 6 hours in Chile. On our flight to Santiago , we were going for about an hour when the plane started to move up and down with turbulence. I was very scared and all I remember was feeling my heart about to come out of my body and all I was thinking about was how that was suppose to happen. What I am trying to say is; what are the chances of boarding a plane at the last minute by the airline error and crashing. Our plane wasn't suppose to pass over mountain rages that produces this kind of turbulence so if I was there is because it was meant to be and if I had died there it would have been destiny.  I know it may sound crazy now but at the moment we were terrified. I remember Gustavo crying an praying for his life at the same time while Camilo was in shock.

Everything calm down and we landed just fine in Santiago, Now we were gratefull for the 6 hours we would have to wait there, we didn`t want to see more planes for a while. In Santiago we met this 2 girls who had this look in their faces , a look that tell that you just did something wrong but we talked for a while whit them and they told us that they were being deported to Colombia by immigration.

We weren`t surprised but we didn`t ask them more. The rest or our flight was very normal, we arrived in Medellin glad to see our families again and to finally have some rest. 

TRAVELING TO ENGLAND by Beatriz E. Gonzalez Settanni

One day of 2008 came to my mind an idea to learn English far to here; it was a quite difficult because for to take that decision, I will have to leave my job and my family, but thinking everything, that time was the moment. Before to take that decision, I had talked with a close friend who always said me: “go ahead, this is your opportunity”. It helped me to say yes and to start research the information. Several moments when I was thinking back, the word showed me that I should go, everything was on my side.

March of 2009, I was traveling to UK but it was through New York, other city impossible doesn’t know it, I decided to get a stop there in a friend’s house, she kindly offered me her home. I had an opportunity to be there two days, it was amazing.

My final destination was Bournemouth, a city in the south of UK. First I had to stop in London, other big and amazing city. There I had a close friend who I welcomed for one week; while she was working, I went out to see the city.

At last, I arrived to Bournemouth, a small but beautiful city; it had a beach with sand where you could walk because others cities in England with beach have stones. There, I had to work to pay my house and food, I worked in a hotel as a waitress, there I had many stories: the chefs were very rude; they shouted us when we hadn’t understood something or when we were wrong. But in the other hand, we had a funny experiences, for example, there was not allowed to keep tips, but we did, when a waitress or customer was talking with the manager, we keep the money in the apron.

All my travel or my experience was wonderful, I could study, know many places and countries, know different cultures and learn to work to live and to have just that I needed.

MY AUDITION by Maria Camila Arboleda Gil

The last year in January, I auditioned in the folkloric ballet of Antioquia who is tasked with 

carry to various countries of the world a sample of the multicultural richness of Colombia, in order to show in each scenario the positive image of the country and promote intercultural dialogue using dance as a common language. I wanted do the audition because I have loved dancing all my life, I started dancing when I was 3 years old and now i am 18 years old.

I have dancing in the folkloric ballet of Antioquia, I started at school and then I did many auditions and raised as a dancer in small companies, children and young company, then it was time to grow more and that day, I went to present the audition to belong to second company.

The requirements for the audition were:

*Be aged between 16 and 24 years old

*Be a height (1.60mts women) (men 1.70mts) Minimum

*Have mastery of ballet, folklore, dance hall, dance   contemporary and urban

*We had to carry a song with the rhythm that we wanted and prepare an individual choreography.

I was very scared but also very confident about my talent. This morning when I got there, we went to room for warm and stretch. In this place I saw about 60 people or more, people from different schools and the same. After to warm and stretch, we were called for our names, they put us a number, my number was 26. When we went to the main room, there are eight jurors (directors, teachers and principal dancers)

The audition was separated for three stages, the first stage the jury qualified folklore and traditional dances, when the first stage ended the jury eliminated some people.

The second stage the jury qualified classical ballet, ballroom dance and physical conditions, I mean, stretching and the end the jury eliminated more people.

In the last stage we presented an individual dance who the jury qualified. We presented different dances, some people presented classical ballet, others presented contemporary dance and others folklore, I was dancing Currulao that is my favorite in folklore. Currulao is a dance that came from Africa that is the representation when slaves when conquered their wives through a handkerchief, this was their communication and stomping the man did to show joy and enjoyment.

I passed the audition, I did not believe, I was really happy.

Shit, This Can Not Be True! - by Juan Jose Ortiz

I remember waking up that day very very slowly ,  because the  last night I  stay up late studying .When I saw my phone it was full of messages , and missed calls. Suddenly  I  remembered that I had agreed ,  with my friend Andres to go to a horseride  in Guarne. Two minutes latter . I  was in the shower , while my sister was making my breakfast. I put on what I found first and left almost running out of my house . Thanks to god , I arrives just in time. When I  enter to  the bus ,in which we were going to guarne. Everyone booed me. Until I showed the bottle of jose cuervo .That I had bought .In that moment  the party began . We all talked and laughed , but in reality there were just a few that knows each other. I sat next to my friend Andrés . There were a lot of girls , all of them were cute.The driver took him like two hours to get us to Guarne ,but they seemed like fifteen minutes. When we got to Guarne. We saw that the drink was ending .Andres said ; that's because, we had been drinking like three hours ago . we were all a little crazy, but still fine. So we decided bought another bottle for the ride . All of them gave me money .In that moment I felt that I was with the craziest people in the world.

At that point we were all best friends. We laughed about almost everything, we made jokes between us, and we were already matched. What else we could request . Everyone  chose a horse . The man's grabbed the aggressive horses ,and the ladies those who are more relaxed , and the horseride began. The guide was a boy of about thirteen years old. Which was good for us at the time, because we didn't feel any control. The night was falling . Andrés and I started to worry , because while ago we had left the bar , and nothing that we arrived .We were not to drunk as the rest, so we had the idea to ask the guide what happen .But we couldn't find the guide . At that time both of us  thought. God we are with a bunch of drunks riding horses and we are lost. Shit this can not be true.

Requiem For A Dream by Daniela Holguín Realpe

I've always wanted to be a fashion designer and I remember my mom used to give us beautiful dresses with gorgeous little details like bows and collars

One day I decided to do a little dress like those for my barbie and show it to my mom. I was like six years old. I'd found a needle, a thread and a scissor so I took all the dresses I wanted to use from the closet and I started to cut the details that I liked. I was so excited and happy.

I had been cutting pretty things for almost 10 minutes when my older sister and my younger brother opened the door and said to me: " What are you doing? You are destroying those dresses. We'll tell mom!" and I hadn't seen it from that perspective. I just thought I was creating something but when they went out of the bedrrom I got nervous because I didn't want my mom to get mad at me.

Apparently, they didn't say anything to her but I didn't knew it so I spent around twenty minutesthinking what should I say to her when she saw what I had done. Then, she came in and stared looking at me, like waiting for my explanation. I felt so ashamed that I started to cry before she said something. She scolded me and said how iresponsable and unconsidered I was for doing that without asking so with my broken heart and all my tears I stood up and picked up the mess I had done, helped by my mom. I thought it was all over and that I should quick. That day I made a long pause of my dream.

A VERY SPECIAL GIFT BY DANIEL MAURICIO MEJIA CALLE

When I was about eighteen, I was in first semester of international business program. I remember that my father had to do a very big effort to pay that semester and my mother had been thinking about how we are going to overcome that problem. Those days, my grandfather had been hospitalized because a cancer started to attack his pancreas. Days later, he had a procedure to analyze how big was the cancer and if the medical group could move away some part of it. While he was in the procedure, I was taking lunch with my girlfriend in Molinos Mall near the University; in that moment I received a call from my father and he told me that my grandfather was dying because something worked badly in the procedure. I left my lunch and my girlfriend was worried; in that moment, I explained the entire problem to her and we took a taxi on the way to the Leon XIII hospital; I had been in that hospital many times and those situations didn´t bring me good memories. When I was arriving to the hospital my father called me again and he told me that my grandfather had died. I was petrified. Minutes later, we arrived to the hospital and we ran to the surgery room. I saw my father crying and all his brothers and sisters; I can´t believe that. My father and my grandfather were the best friends; they always went out to play pool and sharing good comments about the soccer matches every single weekend. When I hugged my father, he told me that –minutes later of the death of my grandpa´, my father received a call from somebody of the enterprise that he have been working for; a that guy told him that I won a complete scholarship for my career and the tools that I would need in the future-. We was very grateful with that notice but at the same time very sad with the death of my grandpa´; in that moment, my father told me that took that situation like a gift that my grandpa´ sent me from the heavens. My father got calm me with that words and days later I had a dream where I got inside in a beautiful apartment and my grandpa´ started to tell me some advises that could be useful for me.

MY FIRST JOB By Geraldine Cuartas

When I was 15 years old, I did my co-op of high school; in a company called MUMA. The core business of this company is produce furniture. I worked for 1 year there. When I did the interview, I was the first selected.

I worked in customer service department; the job consisted in receiving complaints and processing it. My activities in one day were receiving calls, checking the     e-mail, register complaints in the computer, send correspondence and archive documents. I hated archive because the archive of the company was located in the basement, and this place was very dark and scary. I worked part-time from 2pm to 5pm, from Monday to Friday.

I had worked only a week when I realized that I liked it, I could have choosen to work less time but I decided not to do it.

My boss was very patient, respectful and fair. I had a workmate who was also my classmate she is very friendly; we would buy something to eat while we were taking a break.

I remember, the day that my teacher from my high school went to the company to do a test for evaluate my performance inside MUMA; I was very nervous but my great boss did an excellent evaluation of my job, I was very happy when I read my results.

My workmates were very friendly, sympathetic, funny, respectful, loyal and polite; they always helped me when I needed.

My last day of work was very sad; my boss invited me to lunch in a restaurant this was good, but when the time came to say goodbye to my colleagues, I cried for a long time.

For me it was a good experience, I enjoyed it a lot. I want to work in a future in a company like this with colleagues like I had there.

LA CLARA BY WENDY TABORDA

This happened to me when I was about 15 or 16years old. I had gone camping with some friends to “La Clara”. La Clara is a really nice place to go walking and swimming. It has a little river and it’s full of trees and grass, and people usually say it is safe.

We were around 12 people. I was very excited because I had never been camping before. When we got there we started to organize everything for the evenight. We made our tents up and we got some wood for a bonfire. At night we prepared some hot chocolate and we sat around together just to tell jokes and stories.

Santiago -one of the guys, was telling a horrible story about a murder that had happened there in La Clara nearby the river. He told us that most of the people who lived there were still afraid that something like that happened again so they used to locked theirself inside their houses to be safe.

Of course we didn’t trust in a word that he said. We had been sitting there just talking for a long time when it suddenly started to rain so we just went to bed.

We had been inside like for 30 minutes when we heard something out. It was like if something was running in the river. At first we thought it was a horse or any animal. One of the guys even went out to see the animals, but he didn’t see anything around. So he came back in and immediately we heard the noise again. I was so scared that I couldn’t even move or talk.

Suddenly, we felt like rocks falling to the tent. It seemed like someone was throwing them to us, and the wind started to blow pretty much stronger. I had been blowing like that for a half an hour when it just stopped.

Obviously, we didn’t fall asleep immediately after what it happened. My friend Sara and I were still shaking from fear, and was about crying. Anyway, we were trying to pull ourself together when a thunderbolt made us jump from fear again. We got to see a shadow just at the door of the tent that looked like a giant person. Sara and I screamed so loud that the guys from the others tents came to see what was going on. At the same time it came out the giant shadow that was just our friend Santiago trying to gave us a heart attack.

Nowadays we still laugh at what happened that day!!

Camping Trip by Giovanni López Ceballos

Four year ago, I and some friends decided to climb the highest mountain in the village. It had been a big challenge for us because not anyone can climb it. This trip usually takes three days. We knew that it would be so difficult; we had to be far away of comfort amid extreme conditions. We left the village at 3 a.m. We started to walk with a huge bag; it was pretty heavy. Everyone had to take food, water, camp tools and clothes. When we had walked by an hour, unfortunately one of us stumbled with a rock and he fell down. He hit so hard his knee that he had to come back to home. 

About three o'clock, we had arrived to the last mountain; we were in the bottom of this and we had to pick some water because after that place there was not much water. We were so tired to increase the weight of the bag, but we had to do it. After that, we had to keep climbing; the name of that hill is "El Desconsuelo". So, you can imagine how difficult it was to get to the peak. It was six o'clock, when I arrived to the peak. I still remember how good I felt. It was so much satisfaction. However, after a moment I got a pain on my trapezius muscle; that moment has been one of the most painful moments in my life.

At midnight, we could see a lot of towns -of course, far away - and the only thing that we could see were lights that reflecting each town. The best part of that night was seeing lots of shooting stars. Notwithstanding, the weather was pretty cold, somehow we were frozen after five minutes outside the tent. The next day, we walked around the mountain. We found remains of a plane, a lagoon and we could see the most amazing and natural landscapes. 

This trip was really worth. I will not do it again, though. It is like being totally disconnected of the world, and this teaches you to appreciate everything you have around you. I returned to home as a new man.

THE UNSTABLE TUBE By: Jorge Alejandro Lopera Rodríguez

A prepotent doctor can put in risk the life of patients. When I was doing my medical practice in a town in Antioquia, a female baby was born with breathing problems. Baby couldn’t breathe and she was diagnosed with newborn breathing insufficiency. When I arrived at the Hospital the pediatrician doctor as anesthesiologist doctor were trying to help the baby. They were trying to introduce a little orotracheal tube in the baby to improve her breathing, but with much difficulty because the size the tube and the respiratory way of the baby were very small. I remember they spent approximately one hour in this procedure when normally this takes only one minute. When they achieved to put the tube the baby could breathe better. Baby should be transported until General Hospital in Medellín and I would care the baby during the travel. I saw they were exhausted for the procedure. When they gave me the baby pediatrician said to me:

    - You must be careful! You have to avoid that tube moves out from baby’s respiratory way. It’s vital for save her. If the tube moves out you’ll have problems to assure the baby’s breathing.

I felt terror in that moment. I saw the tube was easy to move from its place and I imagined how would be the travel towards Medellín while I avoided that tube moved out from its place. A nurse, an ambulance driver, the baby and I began the travel. I always tried to maintain the tube in its place with my hand while I measured the oxygen in the blood of the baby.

Ambulance ran very fast. Vehicle took the curves with great violence for the speed. Inside of the ambulance I tried to maintain the tube in its place but it was very difficult. Each time that ambulance took a curve the tube moved out a little and the oxygen in the blood of the baby decreased, then, I put the tube in its correct place again. Finally, so curve gives us nauseas. Suddenly, my nurse took a bag and she vomited inside. My nauseas were big but I tried to avoid them because the baby’s life depended to me. However, my stomach didn’t resist and with help of my nurse I vomited inside of a bag too while I avoided to lose contact with the tube. Fortunately, the tube never moved out. It was a long travel, but the baby was always good. Finally, we arrived at the General Hospital. I remember I had pain in my right hand, I had been maintaining the tube in its place all time. Another pediatrician doctor, a woman, receive us. Our mission had been successful! When she looked the baby she said:

-               - This tube is unnecessary! This tube affects to the baby’s breathing!

I tried said the great need of that tube for the baby and the great difficulty to put the tube, but she didn’t hear me. Then, she retired the tube while my nurse and me saw her incredulous. Immediately, the baby’s blood oxygen decreased. I saw how my sacrifice finished sadly for the prepotency of an irresponsible doctor. Pediatrician tried to put other tube in its place but it was impossible. Doctor called urgently an anesthesiologist. Fortunately, the baby was saved for an expert anesthesiologist. After, we returned at the town thinking the ego is the most dangerous thing for a doctor and his patient.

Flooded Car By Ana María Meneses

Almost twelve or six months, my parents, my brother, and I travel to Coveñas because there, we have a summer house where we can go twice a year. Until now, we have always traveled by car. December 17^th in 2011, we went out from our home at 5:00 a.m. that morning we didn’t take breakfast because it was too early for us.  Everybody in the car were sleeping, except for my father. I remember that my Mom could not rest as she would had liked to because she felt that she had the responsibility as a co-pilot. My brother and I were asleep because we were feeling tired.

Some hours after we left home, we stopped to take the breakfast in Don Matías at a restaurant known as Los Comerciales. The food they sell there is delicious, especially breakfast. We continued with the trip and when we arrived 200 meters before going across the toll of Taraza, we had to stop because one kilometer ahead, The Cauca River flooded the highway and the town, so the cars could not cross the town to continue their normal way.

It was very hot, around 40 ºC, we had stopped in a place where there was a restaurant and some bedrooms; it was like a hotel but an informal one. Everybody that had been traveling that morning had to stop at that place, so all bedrooms were full. As time passed, we were waiting for the good news that we can cross the river, but that news never arrived.

We took our lunch there. During that time, the people who were there saw only big cars (cranes) crossing the toll. Some of the car drivers negotiated with the crane drivers; one of the car drivers said that he would pay him if he could go through on his crane with them in their car, and the crane driver accepted. So many people tried that method and they got to go across.

My father tried to do the same thing, but the crane driver failed to help him. It was around 6:00 p.m.   Suddenly my father decided to go on with our “trip”. When we had crossed the toll, one kilometer later, we found a long line of cars beside the highway. They were waiting that the water got down. We continued until we saw the water and then we drew up. At that very moment, my parents, my brother and I were frightened because we were on the limit to continue or not, so a driver of a big car told my father: “come on, that car can cross the river.” We knew that many cars broke down in the middle of the river or in the flooded highway. Without thinking twice, my father began to cross. Immediately he felt that the car was a little strange, and the water had already reached the windows, the water began to enter the car. The car was flooded and suddenly my brother reminded me that my computer was under the co-pilot seat, so I began to cry and shout, and I tried to get it but I couldn’t but my mother could. So when I checked, the computer was perfectly well and we got across the river. Although our clothes got wet; we, the car, and the computer were good.

I don’t remember at what time we arrived to Coveñas, but we got there. The next day my father had to remove the chairs of the car, so they could get dry. Since that happened, I learned that we can’t put the computer under a chair in a car.

Nowadays when the news says that there are problems on the highway, we travel by airplane.

A Positive Action by Katherine Quintero

In March when I was studying in my university, one day after clases a friend of mine told me something about a fundation and that information stayed on my mind, because always I wanted to be a volunteer but I didn´t know much about foundations.

The next weekend my friend invited me to the Colombia Crece Foundation, I remember that it was a saturday and I had arrived to 8:00 am in Belen Rincon because the clases started from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm but that morning had been raining since the night before and that day I had left my home at 7:40 am because I lived near to Belen Rincon and I was walking to foundation from home, I was thinking about if that was a good idea or if I really could teach to other people, it was a big challenge for me.

So, I arrived to the foundation and I could see and feel a lovely environment because all volunteers were so young like me and they looked so happy. I felt  motivated because since I was there everybody received me with love like a family. When I was with one grupe, I started to talk with Omar, he was a director of a target by foundation and he explained everything to me about the system and he invited me to a class with mothers because they were looking for volunteer teachers. In that moment I could understand the importance of education with that I could see how the education is a constant cycle and how it affects our future. I saw some moms didn´t know read and write and how it affected their children because they had´nt somebody in home that could help them with the school tasks, for that I decided to be a part of Colombia Crece Foundation, I became in a geography teacher all saturdays, and I had been teaching to moms during six months and I could learnt so much about the real life that is invisible for many people when mothers have to take a roll of  a father and mother at the same time, when the children some days couldn´t go to school because the neighborhood is dangerous because inside it has invisible barriers, I leart that and many other situations but the most important was the positive actitude of that women that didn´t matter the circumstances they were studying for their children, for the future.

This experience was incredible for me because I learnt real things about life and I could knew how with my time and my knowledge I could did a positive action without money and I know that I changed some lives with my action.

Today I´m not part of Colombia Crece because I don't have enough time but I want to come back in the future because we have to do something for the world. We are not alone, we have big problems that we are living every days, and It needs a solution.

The first time in San Andrés by Víctor Monsalve

It was amazing when I went to San Andres for the first time. It was 10 years ago. My aunt wanted to enjoy the holidays but she didn´t have someone to go with,  so she decided to invite me. I remember that when we arrived to the hotel the air conditioning in the lobby felt like heaven because we'd been waiting for a taxi in the airport for one hour. I was starving because we didn't have time to have breakfast so while  my aunt was in the room organizing the luggage, I went to the restaurant and ate all the food that I could. Then I went to the beach in order to take advantage of the great sun and enjoy the big waves. The evening came  and my aunt hadn't arrived yet. I starded to worry about it and I came back to the hotel to look for  her. For my surprise she was slept in the room and seemed to be drunk. I asked  the bartender and  he said to me that she  had been drinking all afternoon. It was very funny as my aunt doesn't drink a lot. The next day when we were having lunch, I asked her why she never went to the beach and  she answered, "Oh, I was very tired because of the flight and I thought to take a Nap." I acted as if I didn't know what really happened and we continue talking about other things. Then at night, we went to take a trip around the Island in a golf car which couldn't get a higher speed than 30 km/h. We had been driving for two and a half hours and the Island seemed to have no end. Then when we finally finished the trip, we decided going to the night show in the hotel. There were a  lot of people from different countries like Canada, Holland, USA etc., but unfortunately I didn't have any idea what they were speaking because  my English was dreadful. I just knew how to nod. It was a great  experience, not only for the fact that we rested  but also because I had the oportunity to know the other side of my aunt who I thought was an innocent woman.

Visiting Costa Rica by Laura Guzmán

Thanks to my job, I’ve had the opportunity to travel to some countries.  One of them is Costa Rica, which is known for Ecotourism which is extremely popular among the tourists that visit the extensive national parks and protected areas around the country.

I take all the trips with my boss Luis.  In these trips, we implement information systems in the group’s companies which we work for.  During the week, we work hard; but the weekends are completely free for us.

In our first travel to Costa Rica, we had two free weekends, then we decided to do Ecotourism, then we visited three National Parks where we could see three amazing volcanoes and one of them was in eruption.  It was a fascinating and unforgettable experience.

In our second trip to Costa Rica, we only had one weekend, but this time, we wanted to visit some beaches, during the week we were doing some inquiries, and after analyzing some options, we decided to visit Jacob Beach.  This beach is near to San José, the capital, is cheaper, clean and has a nice night life.  It had everything we were looking for.  The week before, we were planning our trip and we were looking for the cheapest way to go.  Going by bus was the best option that we found, since taking taxi is very expensive.

The next Saturday we couldn’t wait to get started.  We took our breakfast early in the Hotel and we were ready for our trip.  Before taking the bus that would take us to our destination, we went to the Supermarket that is next to the Hotel, and we bought things likes sunscreen, repellent, snacks and some beers.  Now, we were really ready for our great adventure.

Quickly we went out of the Supermarket and started walking to the bus station.  we had walked only a few meters when suddenly Luis fell into a manhole that had no cover.  Fortunately He could avoid falling completely into the huge hole with his arms.  But unfortunately his leg had a big cut and was bleeding profusely.

I ran to the Supermarket and I bought some first aid stuff and I applied it to the wound.  When He could walk, we returned to the Hotel and as the leg didn’t stop bleeding, we decided to go to the Hospital.  There Luis’ wound was stitched and four hours after we could return to the Hotel.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t visit a beach in Costa Rica, but we were fortunate, because the accident could have been worst.

MEMORIES OF A TRAGEDY By Sebastián Wachter Cifuentes

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Perhaps this will not be a mythic experience or an extraordinary deed; it´s not a contemporary thriller, much less the start of an epic saga such as the ones that teem everywhere on the shelves of the prestigious inner-city libraries.  Sorry to disappoint the reader this time; this is simply the true story about a life changing experience. I hope, however, this will be to your satisfaction.

In June of that year, I was sent to the stiflingly hot town of Tibú, located in the Department of Norte de Santander in Colombia.  Tibú is a popular town among the locals and among any who follow the sociopolitical news of the region. It had turned into an evil den of criminals: thousands of slaughters were committed in its streets and according to urban myth, in the airport hundreds of corpses were stacked, countless numbers, for the vultures. I remember well my arrival in Tibú, because this was the date of my birthday and the experiences that happen on those days are emotionally important –according to what I recently read in a dynamic psychology article.

When I reached the town, I participated in a religious event just at the time when the sun becomes what it is: “The king star”. When the cleric was giving the final blessing, I was riding in a Jeep Model 75, the same used to transport bags of coffee in the Coffee Region; the same that gave such good results in the dusty battles of North Africa during World War II –such vehicles were witnesses to the Montgomery and Rommel deeds, who for a brief moment allowed us to forget the ignominy of central Europe-.

The driver was calm. The route towards Campo Raya, the farthest lane of the town, was something routine for this man; the beads of sweat running down his face were tiny and did not trouble his actions at the wheel. Instead, my body seemed to feel a suffocating evaporation.

When we were arriving, I perceived a nauseating smell, my humanity cringed and I felt sick to my stomach. I violently turned my face and saw her, she was there, an old lady, extremely enigmatic; she knew what I would know in a few moments. When the driver stopped the vehicle, I stood there for a couple of minutes and she fixed her eyes on mine. I took a deep breath, filled myself with courage and put my left foot in the cluster of leaves that were on my left, I usually do that, since childhood I feel some security when my right leg is free to act.

Because of a certain air of chivalry, I was led to meet her, but undeterred she saw how my body sank into the deep ground. It was an electrifying fall, it seemed like my whole life was consumed by that hole. Neither the driver, nor the lady rushed to help me; they knew and this was familiar for them. My eyes immediately protested against the fact, and the tremulous voice of the old lady was heard: "You have fallen into the pit, where I found the mutilated remains of my only son."

 “Happy are those who know that behind every word, there is what can not be said”.

Rainer María Rilke

A PAINFUL AND EMBARRASSING MOMENT By Andrés Felipe Pérez Guizaho

There was a time when my family and I traveled a lot, I was 7 years old and We were traveling to the amazing Coveñas's beach, there are beautiful beaches right there and the weather is perfect or so I think. Well, we were staying in my grandmother's friend’s house and it was great because the house was just in front of the sea, and the view was pretty cool. However, as any good kid would, I ran to the beach, I took off my cloths and I jumped into the sea, this was the second time that I was in the ocean but it felt as if it were the first time.

Therefore, I’d been playing in the water for hours when my parents and my grandmother took the decision to go out of there and go to eat, that’s why they went out of the water but, I stayed in there, I didn’t care about anything, I was just playing with the waves and the lunch wasn't important enough to make me come out of the water, I don’t know if it was the destiny, karma or what, but in the moment in which I decided to disobey, suddenly a jellyfish grazed my arm and when that happened I felt the biggest pain in my whole life, a burn sensation ran around my arm and I was very scared and started yelling for help and ran away from the water, I didn't know what happened with me in that moment, I just knew that something stung me on the arm and I had to keep me out of the water, but my grandmother and a friend of her had been near me, watching me ,so immediately they ran to help me and to find out what was going on with me.

However, they arrived where I was, then my grandmother saw a large red spot in my arm and her friend yelled two possible solutions to my unknown source of pain (to me of course), one of them was to bury my arm in the sand, and the second one was to pee myself on my arm, so I don’t know why the second option sounded better to my grandma, but quickly she asked me: dear, do you want to pee right now?  But unfortunately I didn't, I tried, I swear! But, I didn't, so my grandma told me, don’t worry son I have to pee, so it isn´t a problem, and I was in sock not only because the painful wound, but also by my grandmother’s courageous action. Believe it or not, the pain was despairing for me but there isn`t any scar that puts in evidence the embarrassing moment that I had to live, but it will always be my mind as a funny and also shocking moment of my life. 

The Worst Party Ever by Laura Giraldo.

Two years ago, when I was in tenth grade, one of my friends, the youngest one, Daniela turned 15 and she decided to celebrate it by planning a big party with all of her friends and her family. She invited a lot of people, including me, so the party was going to be really good and all of my friends were going and I didn't want to miss it, but the party was in a ballroom, so we had to wear cocktail dresses and high heels, but I didn't have any of that so my mom and I went to rent a dress and after we had been looking for an hour in several stores for a pair high heels, my mom told me she will lend me a pair high heels she had.

The day of the party, I had fought with my dad and I didn’t know if my parents were going to let me go to the fifteen party, I was convincing my mother to let me go and finally she agreed, so I dressed up and went to the party. When I arrived,  there was a lot of people including my friends, so I was talking to all of them and saying hi when Daniela came down the stairs with her beautiful dress and then she danced with her father, after that the waiters served the meal, it was chicken, although I don’t like it very much, I ate it because I was hungry, and I hadn’t eaten in the whole day, then the music started and the waiters offered us beer and ron, my friends and I were drinking beer, laughing and they decided to go to dance but I didn’t want to so I stayed in the table drinking more beer until they came back, but then my friends went dancing again so I went with them, we had been dancing for almost twenty minutes when I started to feel sick and dizzy, maybe it was the food or the beer but I came back to the place we were sitting to leave the high heels under the table, along with my friends' heels, because I was tired  and as soon as I got to the bathroom I started vomiting, but I wasn’t drunk.

 It was 1:30 am when my best friend came and told me she would drive me home, so I went to the table to grab my things and discovered that my high heels weren’t there, somebody stole them, there wasn’t much that I could do, other than going home barefoot, it was late and I was sick.

When I arrived home my mom was waiting for me, when she saw me barefoot and dizzy she got really mad and at that point she thought the worst things,  I explained her everything, but she still thought I was drunk and because of that I threw the heels away, of course she punished me after the scolding. The next day, when I woke up my friend told me that the person who stole my high heels, also took other things, like another friend’s phone and money, after all I wasn’t the only one who was unlucky and had a bad night.

Laura Giraldo Ruiz.

The Day I Worked In A Movie by Javier Vanegas

It was a sunny day in New York City. I was walking by the Hudson River Greenway with my best friend Omar. We were taking pictures with Jersey City in the background, and also to the One World Trade Center (a very huge and emblematic building recently finished.) Suddenly an old man with a colorful t-shirt approached us and started talking. The guy offered us a one day job in an HBO movie that was being filmed in the City those days. The only condition was that we had to dress up 80’s style clothing and we had to pretend be dancing in a club.

Filming day was very exciting for me. I had searched online information of the movie, “The Normal Heart”, by the way, and i realized that Julia Roberts, Mark Ruffalo and Jim Parsons were in the cast. They are three of my favorite actors.

We arrived to the 94 pier at 10:00 a.m. There was already a bunch of people working. A very gentle man guided us all the time. He was one of the Director’s assistants. He told us that the filming was delayed and we had to wait for about an hour to begin.

At 11:30 a.m. the time was becoming endless. Even when we could eat whatever we want from a buffet, we were just sitting with a group of “extras” doing nothing but chatting. The director’s assistant hadn’t said anything else to us since we arrived there. Finally he appeared and told us to go to another place. The entire group walked two blocks to the filming set.

The set was organized inside an empty warehouse. It represented a night club. The scene was about a celebration to raise money for one of the pro-AIDS groups in the 80’s. At first all the “Extras” had to wait in the second floor. The actors were doing something we couldn’t understand. Maybe they were rehearsing. The rest of the staff were organizing and doing their jobs.

Around one hour later they called us to go downstairs, marked our places and gave us a few directions of what we had to do in the scene.  We had to dance all the time. The most exciting moment for me was when I saw Mark Ruffalo just a few inches near me. I really admire him.

Finally we started recording.  There was a crane in the middle of the set that had a video-camera in its top. A blond actor, we didn’t recognize, was the main character in the scene. He was on stage and asked the D.J. to stop the music. Then he called Mark Ruffalo and they both announced to the people in the disco that they had collected 53 thousand dollars. After the shout of celebration they called Jim Parsons, Matt Bomer and the other actors to the stage. They were all hugging each other, laughing and jumping. At last they let the party continued.

We had to repeat that single scene over and over again during almost 6 hours, from different angles and planes. Although I was pretty tired, i felt really excited and happy because movies are my passion and I had the opportunity to be a part of one.

P.S. We weren’t allowed to take pictures, but during a break I asked Jim Parsons to take a picture with me.