After 3 days of travel, I have arrived in Cali, Colombia, my first experience of South America. The journey itself passed without a hitch, in fact the longest leg between London and New York was the easiest, having found myself sat next to a couple from my hometown of Plymouth. I spent a short and uneventful night in a hotel in Queens, NY, getting up at the ungodly hour of 4.30am to catch the hotel shuttle back to JFK airport. Although my flight wasnt until 9.00am, I was very conscious of the potential security delays now apparent at US international airports and in view of the long queue of Colombians at the check-in desk, I was relieved to have arrived nice and early. Once again the onward flight to Cali was straightforward and uneventful, to the obvious relief of many of the passengers who gave a round of applause to the pilot upon safe landing, an act that seems very quaint to the sophisticated air-mile collecting, Ryanair customer.
Despite my concerns regarding Colombian immigration, I passed through the first phase of passport stamping without so much as a word in Spanish and pleased with my progress, collected my rucksack. However a further queue had now formed for a second phase of immigration checks based on a chat with an official and the seemingly random preferences of a security doorway equipped with green and red lights. My anxiety was raised as having completed a conversation, the official and the passenger alike waited for illumination, a green indicating safe passage whilst an interviewee greeted by a red light was led away to who knows where. On confronting the official myself, he took my paperwork and immediately zeroed in on a problem, I didnt have a specified destination having forgotten to ask Joni for his address. Fortunately, the airport is very small and I was able to point to the masses and explain that I was staying with a friend who was waiting amongst the crowd. Without so much as an acknowledgment from the sinister traffic light I was ushered through to the exit and there was my host Joni and his friends to greet me. Had they not been there, life could have become a little more complicated.
Joni, Leticia and Maria Jose were the perfect hosts keeping me occupied and filling me with coffee, as the effects of jet lag and humid conditions began to enter my system. We initially stopped at one of the seemingly numerous modern shopping malls for which the Colombians appear particularly proud, presumably because of its modernity and the locals love of shopping. Certainly they are busy, modern, well maintained and have many of the popular brands so common on the western high street, however like all Malls everywhere these too suffer from a high degree of superficiality. Whilst my hosts indicated that Cali does lack a meaningful cultural life, the central neighbourhood of Granada is blessed with trendy bars, cafes and upmarket restaurants, all set to a backdrop of salsa music for which Cali is most renown. Late evening and we arrive back at Jonis apartment, a gated community in the south of the city. I never liked the idea of barriers around your home however Joni explained that these security arrangements are common in Cali, a symbolic and powerful indication of the role of violence in Colombian communities. I am strongly advised to take a taxi for any all journeys beyond this compound after nightfall and avoid carrying any valuables. Naturally, violence in the developing world is a persistent and endemic problem and its no different here in Cali, where its implicit if not actual presence is suggested most prominantly by armed security guards and few pedestrians. All this despite the friendly reputation of its people.
Having spent a day recovering and relaxing, myself and Joni went to a local university in order to discuss the scope of my dissertation and a subsequent plan of action. The location itself was a modern and very attractive private university, one of several in the city and will provide at least one location for quiet, private study during my placement period. With reference to an action plan, it is my intention to integrate the mini-research project (philanthropy) and assignment questions (private education for the poor) into the main data gathering process however I have yet to complete the necessary instruments. Consequently, it was agreed that the first week would be a useful period of orientation and meeting some of Joni connections whilst in parallel, I continue to develop my questionnaires.
That evening I had the pleasure of meeting the first and probably most important local contact, Rodrigo Ramos Sanchez a professor at the Cali University and somewhat conveniently, a close neighbour of Joni. Rodrigo has contacts within the local authorities and the Aguablanca area itself and is also extremely enthusiastic to promote the cause of education for the poor and Jonis research into private schools specifically. It soon becomes apparent that we are both very fortunate to know him as within hours he has reviewed and corrected the errors in my questionnaires and invited me to a university meeting on Friday, one in which Joni will present his dissertation paper and Ill have the chance to make some more local contacts. This clearly represents a good opportunity to promote the cause amongst a broader range of local educators.
In the meantime I have to read a couple of papers on the subject of philanthropy and further develop my questionnaires in order to fulfil all the placement and dissertation requirements in a single piece of work. Myself, Joni and Rodrigo agree to arrange my first visit to Aguablanca for the following week.