Twice Colombia
Adventure, Friendship, and Adoption in the Andes Mountains
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As I looked around the airport and took in the smells, the sounds, and the people, the one thing I didn’t see was women with fruit baskets on their heads. I was visually jolted by the cosmopolitan and sophisticated people: the men with their aura of healthy pride and the women, in particular, who wore their smooth and chocolatey-textured boots, their professionally styled hairdos and their plush, soft, woolen ruanas – confidently and comfortably. It was exciting to be surrounded by this new environment and even the exhaustion of a long day didn’t dampen my enthusiasm.
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About the Book
Patricia Woodard had always wanted to live and work in a foreign country, but the dream seemed to be elusive. Then in the summer of 1975 while she was teaching summer school in her hometown of Whiteville, North Carolina, she received a telegram offering her a teaching position in Bogotá, Colombia. Excited and stunned to finally be realizing her dream, she accepted the offer and set off for a year high on a plateau in the Andes Mountains. Several years later, she returned to Colombia, this time to teach in sunny Cali, and along the way realized she had fallen in love with the country and its people. Twice Colombia shares the realities of being an expatriate in a developing country during turbulent political times, and the pleasures of discovering a foreign culture. From the capital city of Bogotá to the lively city of Cali, she not only embraced the country but eventually adopted a child there. Her excursions included a trip down the Amazon River, where she learned a novel way to open a bottle of wine, an Andean music festival featuring traditional music played on traditional instruments, indulgence in the succulent Colombian cuisine and weekends with Colombian friends who welcomed her unconditionally to their country. Throughout, she gives the reader a view of a country that few Americans have experienced firsthand.
About the Author
Patricia L. Woodard lived and worked in Bogotá, Colombia, and Cali, Colombia, as a high school teacher in private schools for over two and a half years. Now retired, she lives in New Bern, North Carolina. She hopes to return to Colombia on a permanent basis in the future.