UF in Colombia Day 9: The Seamstress in the Rain

Hola!
On Monday morning we went off to a meeting in Santa Marta. We visited the local organization Fundehumac that works with development in the area, with a focus on strengthening the rights of indigenous people, women and children. Among other things, they have art projects where they invite children to portray the conflict through painting. Alba Lucia Varela Moreno, the president of the organization, showed us their collection of paintings and told us about the story behind each artwork. We enjoyed seeing the questions portrayed in a different way and from another perspective; such as the local perspective and the perspective of children. After the tour we had a group discussion were we all got the chance to ask questions and talk about our experiences in Colombia.

Just when we were supposed to round off the meeting, the sky opened up and suddenly we were in the middle of the heaviest rain Santa Marta has seen in two years. The thunderclouds were just above us and the house lost all electricity for a while. The roads quickly
became filled with water and we had no choice but to stay in the gallery and wait for the storm to calm down a bit. Even though this may sound dramatic, we had quite fun looking at the people that came out from their houses to enjoy the rain.

Since we had some trouble getting back to the hostel in this rain, we decided to take the afternoon off and everyone had time to do what they wanted. Some of us had lunch while others went shopping for coffee, candy and other souvenirs to bring back home to Sweden.
Later in the evening we went out to have a last dinner with the travel group. We ate at a cozy Mexican restaurant that offered a great menu and great vibe. We were also fortunate to hear speeches from two people in the travel group. <3 After dinner we went to a rooftop
bar where we danced all night to the tunes of reggaeton music.
Ciaoooo,
Aline
Regnell and Johanna Löfgren