The streets of Cali
Cali Streets from
January 20, 2009
The people who make it happen
the whole gang -- folks from Fundacion Carvajal, the grad students and CEO/founder of Frogtek, me
One of the reasons that David has access to many of the micro-retailers based in Cali is because of a local foundation, Foundacion Carvajal that has long-standing relationships with hundreds of the shop owners around the city. They have been incredible liasons, taking us down narrow streets in remote slums to talk to the people who sell meat, produce and other products to their communities.
Carlos, Andrea and Donald have been working especially hard on behalf of Frogtek and after spending the past four days with them, I feel I'm must give a shout out to them in the form of posting some pictures.
Cali the city compared to Cali the U.S. State
While vastly different, there are certain similarities between Cali, Colombia and Cali[fornia]. Here's the list I've been compiling:
- in both locales the song "Going Back to Cali" is the repeatative soundtrack running silently in my brain.
- both places can boast bountiful quantities of creamy, ripe avocados.
- both have a serious driving culture. It's rare to see people walking on the sidewalks and streets. Like California, Cali, Colombia is a sprawling city. As the city developed is was built out, instead of up. This means there can be considerable distance between point A and point B. I'm also told that traveling by foot introduces the potential for a mugging. It's better to be in rapid motion than walking at a 3 mile per hour clip.
- Cali is the plastic surgery capital of South America. I've seen more face lifts, artificial curves created by tummy tucks and butt augmentations in Cali, Colombia than I have ever seen in Los Angeles. But I'm sure they are in close competition for each other. To partake in the local culture I've considered having a pinky finger augmentation.
January 19, 2009
Drive outside of Cali
January 18, 2009
Introducing the cast
I am part of a small entourage made of up three business students and David, a recent business school graduate whose early-stage social venture, Frogtek I am here to cover. In Colombia there are between 400,000 to 500,000 micro retailers selling groceries and products in storefronts -- everything from Procter & Gamble toothpaste to local produce to flaky pastries filled with warm guava paste. David is developing a product aimed to help these shopkeepers increase profits and efficiency, while simultaneously developing a social enterprise that will make investors money.
My home in Cali
the entrance to my home.
My accommodations while in Cali are at the Casa Santa Monica -- and it's really more like an apartment set up than a hotel. I have my own room and bathroom but I share a common space with the entourage I'm filming. It's a great set up. There's an abundance of electrical outlets for charging my camera batteries. And I have a wireless internet connection so I can update my travel blog frequently.
The hotel is situated on the side of a mountain. The foliage is too lush to allow for views of the city below. I feel like I'm in an urban rainforest. There was a heavy down pour a few minutes ago.
Here's the view looking up from our doorway:
January 17, 2009
The flight and arrival
Within 12 hours my luggage was lost, but then found -- and delivered to my hotel.
When we dip beneath the cloud blanket to refuel in Medellin, Colombia that's when the reveal happens. Dark green mountains thrust through the clouds. These mountains are angular, almost more black than green. My initial reaction to the mountains is to parachute down. Why continue on to Cali when utter beauty is before me.
We land about 40 minutes outside of Medellin at the new airport. My seatmate tells me that the old airport was located in a mountain bowl in the center of the city. The necessary steep nose-dive landings didn't do much to keep crash rates down, so they moved the airport. It's a lively bunch on board my plane. There were great whoops of relief and cheering when we landed, despite a nose-dive free landing.
We take off a few minutes later and I take in the lush land swells -- the mountains are covered in a messy grid work of grassy fields, stitched on their borders with darker trees.
My seatmate makes a list of dishes I must try while in Colombia. Ajiaco, a stew of chicken and potatoes is high on the list. I hope to pack in a potato sampling, to try the numerous varieties grown in the area. I also hope to find a big bottle of tipple -- sugar cane liquor -- to take home. At my summer barbecues, the corn liquor I brought back from Vietnam had quite a following. I think all barbecue guests would partake in tipple shots.
We land. I meet up with the three business students I will be filming over the next week: Julio, Rafael and Eduardo. We retrieve our luggage. All bags arrive except mine. We wait and wait and wait some more. It's getting late and we need to go to a presentation led by Fundacion Carvajalon micro retailing.
After the presentation, we go to La Papa Papa restaurant. Eduardo tried to order the Ajiaco. We were told the dish is only served domingo (Sunday). I will have to put the tastings on hold. We return to our hotel -- really more of a multi-bedroom apartment (complete with wireless internet). There sits my lost luggage.