14 Jan 2015

The Palace of the Inquisition which also happens to be the Local History Museum

 Where it was slightly absurd to see replica of torture instruments used more than two hundred years ago, and knowing that the instruments were used on all sorts of heretics, including witches and protestants.
 And then walk outside in the peaceful garden, stepping on to the gallows (here you can see the trap-door)
 In the garden, there was also a modern art exhibition
 and views of the peaceful-looking Palace of the Inquisition.
 In the courtyard, there was a long text in Spanish about the history of the house and of the Inquisition.
There was also a dad on the second floor.
Cartagena is one of the well-preserved colonial cities in Colombia, and was one of the most important ports in the country for a long time (actually, it still is). There were, of course, indigenous people living here before the Spanish came, and they were, of course, robbed not only of their gold, but also of their culture and land. Then the conquerers threw in some good old Inquisitioning on top, to bother even their own citizens. I think it's good to remember these things, especially when walking around in a beautiful colonial city - remember just what "colonial" means.

12 Jan 2015

Cartagena (aka My Caribbean Holiday)

 There were beaches: normal beaches, white beaches with blue sea, overcrowded beaches and almost empty beaches (the non-white ones with a slightly less blue sea), and we visited them all
 There were people, vendors, children, and lots of waves and sunshine
There was also a dad, who came all the way from Norway to Colombia to visit me
As my co-delegate Johanne went home to visit her family in Norway for Christmas, I stayed on in Cali, working almost until New Year's Eve. Then I hopped on a plane northwards, met up with my dad in Bogotá, the capital, and hopped on a new plane towards Cartagena. We stayed about ten days in the sweltering heat and absurd humidity, going on bike tours, beach trips and museum visits, and getting to know pretty much every corner (and café) in the old town.