NAME = OMAIR ALI

REGISTRATION #L1S13MBAM2062
COURSE NAME GLOBAL MARKETING
SECTION= B
ASSIGNMENT #3
ASSIGNMENT GIVE ON = 28-04-2017
ASSIGNMENT DUE DATES=19-05-2017
SUBMITTED TO =
PROF AWAIS QADEER

Country name= columbia

Geography
Colombia is nicknamed the "gateway to South America"
because it sits in the northwestern part of the continent
where South America connects with Central and North
America. It is the fifth largest country in Latin America and
home to the world's second largest population of Spanish-
speaking people.

Colombia is a land of extremes. Through its center run the

towering, snow-covered volcanoes and mountains of the
Andes. Tropical beaches line the north and west. And there
are deserts in the north and vast grasslands, called Los
Llanos, in the east.
Dense forests fill Colombia's Amazon Basin, which takes
up nearly the country's entire southern half. In
northwest Colombia, a warm, wet, jungle-filled area called
the Choc reaches across the Panama border.

Population Distribution of the Columbian

In 2 stands of red maple in Greene County, Georgia,

during 196567, most galleries of Corthylus
columbianus Hopkins occurred in the lower portion of the
bole, the number per foot decreasing rapidly with
increasing height, but with no apparent differences in
numbers between aspects. Galleries made during the
spring and fall were less concentrated near the base of the
tree than those made during summer.
Most brood beetles apparently established their galleries
on the tree in which they were reared. The success of
those beetles and their offspring, rather than an influx of
beetles from other trees, was responsible for any
population upswing that occurred in that tree.
The population within the stand during any one attack
period was concentrated on a small number of trees which
were distinctly aggregated in distribution. The population
increased and expanded within the areas of aggregation
as the summer progressed. The population and the
number of infested trees decreased over winter, and there
was an obvious change in the spatial distribution of the
population within the stand from one year to the next.
Trees of all sizes above 3 inches diameter at breast height
and in all crown classes were infested.
Dispersal occurred during every attack period. Most newly
infested trees were in the vicinity of trees infested during
the previous attack period. The data indicated that most
or all the trees in the stand were suitable hosts. The
aggregated distribution of the population probably
resulted from behavior of the adults within a generally
susceptible stand. Because most beetles tended to remain
on the tree from which they emerged, large numbers built
up in certain trees where survival was good, and
dispersing beetles tended to fly mainly to nearby trees to
establish galleries.
Unexplained declines of subpopulations in individual trees,
especially over winter, continuous dispersal, and the
buildup of subpopulations in new trees resulted in a
continuous change in the pattern of population
distribution. Over a period of years, most trees in the
stands will have been infested one or more times.

Few countries boast such striking physical variety as

does Colombia. Its broken, rugged topography, together with
its location near the Equator, creates an
extraordinary diversity of climates, vegetation, soils, and
crops. The Andean cordillera, one of the worlds great
mountain ranges, dominates the landscape of the western
part of the country, where most of the people live. North
of the border with Ecuador the cordillera flares out into
three distinct parallel ranges. Two great river valleys,
those of the Magdalena and the Cauca, separate them and
provide avenues of penetration from the Atlantic coastal
lowlands into the heart of the country. Volcanic activity in
the geologic past blocked the middle course of the Cauca
River to form a great lake that once filled the western
inter-Andean trough for some 120 miles (190 km) south of
Cartago. The river eventually broke through the dam to
leave the level floor of the Cauca valley at some 3,000
feet (900 metres) above sea level; today it is one of the
nations most productive agricultural areas.

The Colombian cordilleras belong to the northern portion

of the great Andean mountain system, which extends
along the Pacific coast of South America. The Andes are among
the worlds most youthful mountain ranges and among the
highest. The geologic history of this northern sector is less
well understood than that of the central and southern
parts. It is clear, however, that the entire cordillera has
been thrust up through the subduction of the crumpled
eastern margin of the Nazca Plate and, to the north, the
Caribbean Plate under the more rigid but lighter South
American Plate, which has been forced westward by the
spreading Atlantic seafloor. These tectonic forces, similar to
those found elsewhere around the Pacific Rim, continue to
operate, as is evidenced by the high frequency of often
destructive earthquakes. At the Pasto Massif, near the Ecuadoran
border, the mountains divide into the Cordillera Occidental
(Western Range), which runs parallel to the Pacific coast,
and the Cordillera Central (Central Range), which, with
its numerous volcanoes, forms the backbone of the
system in Colombia and runs generally southwest to
northeast. At the Great Colombian Massif of the Cordillera
Central, near the San Agustn Archeological Park, the
Cordillera Oriental (Eastern Range) branches off in a
more decidedly northeasterly direction.

Of the three ranges, the nonvolcanic Cordillera Occidental, which

forms the barrier between the Cauca valley and the rain-
drenched Pacific coast, is the lowest and least populated.
Two passes at elevations less than 5,000 feet (1,500
metres) between Cali and Buenaventura on the Pacific coast mark
the lowest depressions in the range. Elsewhere the crest is
much higher, reaching 12,992 feet (3,960 metres) at Mount
Paramillo in the department of Antioquia. From there the
Cordillera Occidental fingers north into the three
distinct serranas of Abibe, San Jernimo, and Ayapel,
forested ranges that drop gradually toward the piedmont
plains of the Caribbean littoral. A lesser topographic
feature on the Pacific coast is the Baud Mountains, separated
from the Cordillera Occidental by the valley of the Atrato
River, which empties into the Caribbean Gulf of Urab; the
Baud Mountains represent a southward extension of
the Isthmus of Panama.
The Cordillera Central is the highest of the Andean ranges of
Colombia, rising to an average height of 10,000 feet
(3,000 metres). It is a continuation of the
Ecuadoran volcanic structure. Crystalline rocks are exposed at
several places on its flanks and are the foci of localized
gold and silver deposits. Sandstones and shales of the
Paleogene and Neogene periods (about 65 to 2.6 million
years ago) are also a part of the older basement that has
been capped by ash and lava derived from some 20
volcanoes of the Quaternary Period (the past 2.6 million
years). Several of the latter reach well into the zone of
permanent snow, above 15,000 feet (4,600 metres). The
highest areMount Huila (18,865 feet [5,750 metres]),
southeast of Cali, and the Ruiz-Tolima complex (some
17,700 feet [5,400 metres]) between Manizales and Ibagu. The
fertile ash from their eruptions has produced the high, cool
plateaus of Nario department and the often steep slopes to
the north that support much of Colombias coffee
production. In November 1985 Mount Ruz erupted, melting the
snow and ice that covered it and sending great mudflows
downslope, destroying the city of Armero and killing more
than 25,000 in one of the countrys greatest catastrophes.
CONNECT WITH BRITANNICA

North of Mount Ruz, near Sonsn in the department of

Antioquia, the volcanic Cordillera Central gives way to the
deeply weathered, granitic Antioquia batholith (an
exposed granitic intrusion), a tableland averaging some
8,000 feet (2,500 metres) above sea level. It is divided into
two parts by the deep transverse clef of the Porce River,
which occupies the U-shaped valley in which is situated
the expanding metropolis of Medelln, Colombias second city.
The batholith contains gold-bearing quartz veins, which
were the source of the placer gravels that gave rise to an
active colonial mining economy. Beyond Antioquia the
lower, remote San Lucas Mountains extend northward
toward the confluence of the Magdalena and Cauca rivers.
The massive Cordillera Oriental, separating the Magdalena valley
from the Llanos, is composed chiefly of folded and faulted
marine sediments and older schists and gneisses. Narrow
to the south, it broadens out in the high, unsettled massif
of Sumapaz, with elevations up to 13,000 feet (4,000 metres).
High plateaus were formed in the Quaternary Period by
the deposition of sediments in depressions that had been
occupied by lakes. The most important of these is
the savanna area called the Sabana de Bogot. Farther northeast
beyond the deep canyons cut by the Chicamocha River
and its tributaries, the Cordillera Oriental culminates in the
towering Mount Cocuy (Sierra Nevada del Cocuy), which rises to
18,022 feet (5,493 metres). Beyond this point, near Pamplona,
the cordillera splits into two much narrower ranges, one
extending into Venezuela, the other, the Perij Mountains,
forming the northern boundary range between Colombia
and Venezuela. The Perijs then descend northward
toward the Caribbean to the arid La Guajira Peninsula, the
northernmost extension of the Colombian mainland.

The isolated Santa Marta Mountains are an imposing fault-bounded

granitic massif rising to 18,947 feet (5,775 metres) at the
twin peaks of Cristbal Coln and Simn Bolvar, the
highest point in the country (for a discussion of the height
of the Santa Marta Mountains, see Researchers Note: Heights of the twin
peaks of the Santa Marta Mountains); the massif ascends abruptly from
the Caribbean littoral to snow- and ice-covered summits.
The Atlantic lowlands spread out southward behind it.
Although it is a distinct geomorphic unit and not a part of
the Andes, some geologists have suggested that it might
be considered an extension of the Cordillera Central, from
which it is separated by the Momps depression in the
lower Magdalena valley.
The steep and rugged Andean mountain masses and the
high intermontane basins descend into plains that extend
along the Caribbean and Pacific coasts and across the
eastern interior toward the Orinoco and Amazon river
systems. From the shores of the Caribbean Sea inland to
the lower spurs of the three major cordilleras extends a
slightly undulating savanna surface of varying width,
generally known as the Atlantic lowlands (also called the
Caribbean coastal lowlands). Dotted with hills and with
extensive tracts of seasonally flooded land along the lower
Magdalena and the Sin rivers, it surrounds the inland
portion of the Santa Marta Mountains. A much narrower
lowland apron extends along the Pacific shoreline from the
point of Cape Corrientes southward to the Ecuadoran border.
A wide range of features characterize the countrys two
coastlines. Steep and articulated bays, inlets, capes, and
promontories accentuate the shoreline on the Pacific side
toward the Panama border and on the Caribbean side
where the sea beats against the base of the Santa Marta
Mountains. These features are interspersed with sandy
beaches, along with barrier islands and brackish lagoons.
The eastern two-thirds of the country, lying beyond the
Andes, differs from cordilleran Colombia in practically all
aspects of physical and human geography. The eastern
lowland extends from the Venezuelan boundary along
the Arauca and Meta rivers in the north to the Peruvian-
Ecuadoran border stream, the Putumayo, some 600 miles
(1,000 km) to the south and from the base of the
Cordillera Oriental eastward to the Orinoco-Negro river line, a
distance of more than 400 miles (650 km). A region of
great topographic uniformity, it is divided into two
contrasting natural landscapes by a major vegetation
boundary. In southern Colombia the Amazonian rainforest, or selva,
reaches its northern limit. From the Guaviare River northward the
plains between the Andes and the Orinoco River are
mostly grass-covered, forming the largest savanna
complex in tropical America. This part of the lowland is
called the Llanos Orientales (Eastern Plains) or simply
the Llanos.
In the central part of the plain, between
the Guaviare and Caquet rivers, the eroded rocks of the
ancient Guiana Shield are exposed, producing a broken
topography of low, isolated mountains, tablelands, and
buttes with rapids in the streams. This slightly higher
ground forms the watershed between the Amazon and
Orinoco systems. Some 60 miles (100 km) south
of Villavicencio the elongated, forested La Macarena Mountains
rise 8,000 feet (2,500 metres) from the surrounding
lowlands, an isolated tropical ecosystem.

Climate
Because of the countrys close proximity to the Equator,
its climate is generally tropical and isothermal (without
any real change of seasons). Temperatures vary little
throughout the year. The only genuinely variable climatic
element is the amount of annual precipitation. Climatic
differences are related to elevation and the displacement
of the intertropical convergence zone between the two major air
masses from which the northeast and southeast trade
winds originate. Human settlement is more oriented to
vertical zoning in Colombia than anywhere else in Latin
America.
The climate of the tropical rainforest in the Amazon region, the
northern Pacific coast, and the central Magdalena valley is
marked by an annual rainfall of more than 100 inches
(2,500 mm) and annual average temperatures above 74
F (23 C). A tropical monsoon climate, marked by one or
more dry months but still supporting rainforest vegetation,
occurs along the southern Pacific coast, on the Caribbean
coast, and at places in the interiorthe Quindo
department and near Villavicencio.
The tropical savanna conditions of alternately wet and dry
seasons constitute the predominant climate of the Atlantic
lowlands; the dry season occurs from November to April,
and the wet season (broken by dry periods) from May to
October. This climate is found also in the Llanos region and
in part of the upper Magdalena valley. It is characterized
by an annual rainfall of 40 to 70 inches (1,000 to 1,800
mm) and annual average temperatures usually above 74
F (23 C). The dry season, accompanied by dust and
wind, coincides with the true winter of the Northern
Hemisphere.
A drier savanna climate prevails on the Caribbean littoral from
the Gulf of Morrosquillo to the La Guajira Peninsula in the
northeast. The rains normally occur in two brief periods (in
April and in OctoberNovember, respectively) but rarely
exceed 30 inches (760 mm) annually. The
average temperature is hotmore than 81 F (27 C)with the
daily range greatest where the humidity is low. This type
of climate also occurs in the rain shadows of the deep
gorges of such rivers as the Pata, Cauca, Chicamocha,
and Zulia and in parts of the upper Magdalena valley. The
climate reaches near-desert conditions in the far northern
department of La Guajira.
In the mountain regions temperature is directly related to
elevation. Average temperatures decrease uniformly about
3 F per 1,000 feet of ascent (0.6 C per 100 metres).
Popular terminology recognizes distinct temperature zones
(pisos trmicos), which are sometimes referred to as tierra
caliente (up to about 3,000 feet [900 metres]), tierra
templada or tierra del caf (3,000 to 6,500 feet [900 to
2,000 metres]), and tierra fra (6,500 to 10,000 feet [2,000
to 3,000 metres]). The majority of Colombians live in the
interior cordilleras in the tierra templada and the tierra
fra zones. The tierra templada has moderate rainfall and
temperatures between 65 and 75 F (18 and 24 C). In
the tierra fra is Bogot, which lies 8,660 feet (2,640 metres)
above sea level and has an average of 223 days of
precipitation, although the average rainfall is scarcely 40
inches (1,000 mm). The citys average temperature is 57
F (14 C). The climate of the high mountain regions
the pramos, ranging from about 10,000 to 15,000 feet
(3,000 to 4,600 metres)is characterized by average
temperatures below 50 F (10 C), fog, overcast skies,
frequent winds, and light rain or drizzle. At elevations
above 15,000 feet (4,600 metres) there is perpetual snow
and ice.

Resources
Colombia has an abundance of nonrenewable resources,
including reserves of gold, coal, and petroleum; its
renewable resources include rich agricultural lands and its
rivers, which have been harnessed increasingly for
hydroelectric power. Gold deposits, particularly in the west-
central section of the country, have been important since
colonial times. In some areas the gold-bearing gravels also
contain silver and platinum. The coalfields of La Guajira
are the largest in all of northern South America.
Ferronickel reserves are located along the San Jorge River,
and there is a large copper deposit in western Antioquia. The
Cordillera Oriental has long been an important source
of rock salt, marble, limestone, and, especially, Colombias highly
prized emeralds; the country is the major world producer of
emeralds.
Petroleum reserves have long been exploited in the
Magdalena and Catatumbo river valleys, and major new
fields were opened in the Llanos and in Amazonia in the
late 20th century. Colombias potential for hydroelectric
power is greater than any other nation on the continent
except Brazil, and hydroelectric plants generate roughly
three-fourths of the nations electricity; however, severe
droughts (notably in 199293) have occasionally
interrupted service, and supplemental thermoelectric
plants have been built in many areas.

HISTORY
Archaeologists think the first people to arrive
in Colombia came about 20,000 years ago. Some 8,000
years after that, settlers in the Magdalena Valley in the
western part of the country grew into a civilization called
the Chibcha. From the Chibcha arose the Muisca, an
advanced culture that became the dominant power
in Colombia by A.D. 700.

Spanish explorers arrived in Colombia in 1500 but didn't

establish a settlement until 1525. These settlers were
obsessed with finding gold and other valuables, and by
1538 they had conquered the Muisca and stolen all their
gold and jewels. Colombia remained under Spanish rule
for nearly 250 years.
By the late 1700s, people in Colombia had grown tired of
Spanish rule. In 1811, the city of Cartagena declared
independence and Bogot soon followed. Spanish soldiers
tried to reclaim control in 1815, but Colombian forces led
by the famed Venezuelan general Simn Bolvar defeated
the Spanish in 1819.

After independence, Colombia became part of a large

country called New Granada. This country fell apart by
1835, and Colombia became a separate nation. Fights
soon broke out between political groups over who would
lead the country. Since then, Colombia has had several
civil wars and relatively few times of peace.

Religion
The main religion is Roman Catholicism (an estimated
381m. adherents in 2010 according to the Pew Research
Centers Forum on Religion & Public Life), with the
Archbishop of Bogot ...

Most Colombians are adherents of Roman Catholicism. The churchis

deeply ingrained in Colombian society, usually taking a
leading and authoritative role in the communityand having great
influence in government. The church has not generally
been reform-minded, but some elements of liberalization
were evident beginning in the late 20th century. Religious
freedom is guaranteed by the constitution, and the role of
Protestant and independent Christian communities is small
but growing. There are also even smaller Jewish and
Mormon communities. A few Indian groups in remote areas
still follow their traditional religions.
Language
In Colombia much care has been taken to preserve the
linguistic purity of the official language, Castilian Spanish,
and there are close ties between the Spanish and
Colombian language academies. Spanish spoken in
Colombia is nevertheless marked by the presence of
numerous Colombianisms, many of which have been
accepted by both academies. In addition to Spanish there
are more than 180 indigenous languages and dialects belonging to
such major linguistic groups as Arawakan, Chibchan,
Cariban, Tupi-Guaran, and Yurumangu.

Colombian Communications
Handshaking the customary greeting in business;
dont rush it. Colombians take a long time in greetings;
they feel it conveys respect for the other person. Among
friends, expect the abrazo, or embrace
Titles are important and should be included on
business cards. Address a person directly by using his or
her title only. A Ph.D. or a physician is called Doctor.
Teachers prefer the title Profesor, engineers go
by Ingeniero, architects are Arquitecto, and lawyers
are Abogado. Persons who do not have professional titles
should be addressed as Mr., Mrs., or Miss, plus their
surnames. In Spanish these are
Mr. = Senor
Mrs. = Senora
Miss = Senorita
Most Hispanics have two surnames: one from their
father, which is listed first, followed by one from their
mother. Only the fathers surname is used when
addressing someone
Bullfighting is popular; dont make negative comments
Good conversation topics: history, culture, soccer,
coffee, gold museum
Bad conversation topics: drug traffic, politics, religion
Sociology
Sociology is the study of associational life. In examining
patterns of association, sociologists explore the
interactions of people, communities, and organizations. In
this sense, sociology is not the study of people; it is the
study of the relationships among people. This study
includes the associations between people and the
products of human interaction, such as organizations,
technologies, economies, cities, culture, media, and
religion. In the kinds of questions it asks, sociology is a
deeply humanist discipline and sociologists demand the
analytic rigor of scientific investigation.
In training students in our department, we encourage
them to ask big questions and we work to give them the
tools to provide answers. These tools might mean
ethnographic observation, pouring through historical
archives, looking at census data, analyzing social
networks, or interviewing people in various walks of life.
As a bridging discipline that seeks the scientific
exploration of questions that matter to human
communities, such as inequality and social injustice,
sociology addresses many of the same areas of life as our
neighboring social science disciplines. Yet we often
approach these areas quite differently. For example,
problems of economic and political life are a central
concern to sociologists. Rather than explore these as
independent or particular features of society, we seek to
embed them within the complex whole of the social world.
Students will find the Department of Sociology to be a
broad, demanding department that provides its students
with the conceptual and methodological tools to make
sense of the opportunities and social problems of the
global communities in which we live.
Anthropology
Anthropology at Columbia is the oldest department of
anthropology in the United States. Founded by Franz Boas
in 1896 as a site of academic inquiry inspired by the
uniqueness of cultures and their histories, the department
fosters an expansiveness of thought and independence of
intellectual pursuit.
Cross-cultural interpretation, global socio-political
considerations, a markedly interdisciplinary approach, and
a willingness to think otherwise have formed the spirit of
anthropology at Columbia. Boas himself wrote widely on
pre-modern cultures and modern assumptions, on
language, race, art, dance, religion, politics, and much
else, as did his graduate students including, most notably,
Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead.
In these current times of increasing global awareness, this
same spirit of mindful interconnectedness guides the
department.
Professors of anthropology at Columbia today write widely
on colonialism and postcolonialism; on matters of gender,
theories of history, knowledge, and power; on language,
law, magic, mass-mediated cultures, modernity, and flows
of capital and desire; on nationalism, ethnic imaginations,
and political contestations; on material cultures and
environmental conditions; on ritual, performance, and the
arts; and on linguistics, symbolism, and questions of
representation. Additionally, they write across worlds of
similarities and differences concerning the Middle East,
China, Africa, the Caribbean, Japan, Latin America, South
Asia, Europe, Southeast Asia, North America, and other
increasingly transnational and technologically virtual
conditions of being.
The Department of Anthropology traditionally offered
courses and majors in three main areas: sociocultural
anthropology, archaeology, and biological/physical
anthropology. While the sociocultural anthropology
program now comprises the largest part of the department
and accounts for the majority of faculty and course
offerings, archaeology is also a vibrant program within
anthropology whose interests overlap significantly with
those of sociocultural anthropology. Biological/physical
anthropology has shifted its program to the Department of
Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology. The
Anthropology Department enthusiastically encourages
cross-disciplinary dialogue across disciplines as well as
participation in study abroad programs.

Sociocultural Anthropology

At the heart of sociocultural anthropology is an exploration

of the possibilities of difference and the craft of writing.
Sociocultural anthropology at Columbia has emerged as a
particularly compelling undergraduate liberal arts major.
Recently, the number of majors in sociocultural
anthropology has more than tripled.

Students come to sociocultural anthropology with a wide

variety of interests, often pursuing overlapping interests
in, for example, performance, religion, writing, law,
ethnicity, mass-media, teaching, language, literature,
history, human rights, art, linguistics, environment,
medicine, film, and many other fields, including
geographical areas of interest and engagement. Such
interests can be brought together into provocative and
productive conversation with a major or concentration in .
The requirements for a major in sociocultural anthropology
reflect this intellectual expansiveness and Archaeology
Archaeologists study the ways in which human relations
are mediated through material conditions, both past and
present. Particular emphases in the program include the
development of ancient states and empires, especially in
the indigenous Americas; the impact of colonial
encounters on communities in the American Southwest,
the Levant and Africa; and human-animal relations in
prehistory, religion and ritual, and the archaeology of the
dead.
Themes in our teaching include the political, economic,
social, and ideological foundations of complex societies;
and archaeological theory and its relationship to broader
debates in social theory, technology studies, and
philosophy. Faculty members also teach and research on
questions of museum representations, archaeological
knowledge practices, and the socio-politics of archaeology.
The program includes the possibility of student internships
in New York City museums and archaeological fieldwork in
the Americas and elsewhere.
interdisciplinary spirit.

Colombian Culture
Catholicism
Most Colombians would consider themselves to be Roman
Catholics.
The Church has historically been a very important
influence over personal affairs such as marriage and
family life.
The parish church is often seen as the centre of a
community, with the local priest representing divine
authority and leadershi.
The church also has some influence in areas such as
education, social welfare and union organization.
The Role of the Family
The family takes centre stage in the social structure.
It acts as a source of support and advice and therefore
great loyalty is shown to families. Although extended
families rarely live under one roof, apart from in rural
areas, many still live very close and frequent one
another's houses often.
It is still common for children remain at home until they
marry.
The elderly are generally revered for their age and
experience.
Hierarchies
Colombia can be termed a hierarchical society.
People earn respect due to age and position.
Older people are naturally perceived as being wise and as
a result are afforded great respect. You will always see the
oldest person in a group served their food and drinks first.
With this position also comes responsibility - Colombians
expect the most senior person, whether at home or at
work, to make decisions.
Etiquette and Customs in Colombia
Meeting and Greeting
Men shake hands with direct eye contact.
While shaking hands, use the appropriate greeting for the
time of day: "buenos dias" (good day), "buenas tardes"
(good afternoon), or "buenas noches" (good
evening/night).
Women often grasp forearms rather than shaking hands.
Once a friendship has developed, greetings become
warmer and a lot more hands on - men will embrace and
pat each other on the shoulder (known as an "abrazo")
and women kiss once on the right cheek.
Most Colombians have both a maternal and paternal
surname and will use both.
The father's surname is listed first and is the one used in
conversation.
Always refer to people by the appropriate honorific title
and their surname.
Gift Giving Etiquette
Gifts are given for birthdays and Christmas or the
Epiphany (January 6th). In Colombia a girl's 15th birthday
is considered an important milestone.
If you plan to give gifts in Colombia, here are some handy
tips
When going to a Colombian's home, bring fruit, a potted
plant, or quality chocolates for the hostess.
Flowers should be sent in advance.
Do not give lilies or marigolds as they are used at funerals.
Roses are liked.
If you are going to a girls 15th birthday, gold is the usual
gift.
Imported alcohol (especially spirits) are very expensive
and make excellent gifts.
Wrapped gifts are not opened when received.
Dining Etiquette
Dining etiquette is quite formal in Colombia as they tend
to give importance to decorum and presentation.
Below are some basic tips - if you are ever unsure the
general rule is "observe and follow":
Wait to be seated by the host.
Hands should be kept visible when eating.
Do not rest elbows on the table.
The host will say "buen provecho" (enjoy or have a good
meal) as an invitation to start eating.
It is polite to try everything you are given.
Unusually all food is eaten with utensils - even fruit is cut
into pieces with a knife and fork.
It is considered polite to leave a small amount of food on
your plate when you have finished eating.
Do not use a toothpick at the table.
Business Etiquette and Protocol in Colombia
Meeting and Greeting
It is courteous to shake hands both upon meeting and
departing.
Men should wait for a woman to extend her hand.
Greetings should take some time - ensure you engage in
some small talk, i.e. ask about family, health and
business.
Eye contact is viewed positively.
Wait for the other party to initiate a change to first names.

Business Cards
It is a good idea to try and have one side of your business
card translated into Spanish.
Include any university degrees or qualifications as this is
valued.
Treat business cards with respect.
Business Meetings
Although there may be an agenda, meetings do not
always follow a linear path.
An agenda will serve as a starting point and after that
issues are addressed as an when.
Relationship building is crucial - it may be a good idea to
invest time in establishing trust for the first few meetings.
Time is not an issue in meetings - they will last as long as
they need to last. Do not try and rush proceedings.
Colombians are termed as 'indirect communicators' - this
means there is more information within
body language and context rather than the words, i.e. if
you ask someone to do something and they reply 'I will
have to see', it would be up to you to read between the
lines and realise that they can not do it.
The reason for this way of communicating is to protect
relationships and face.
This means people that are used to speaking directly and
openly must tame their communication style as it could
cause offense.
Although they can be indirect, Colombians can also
become very animated. This should not be mistaken for
aggression.
Avoid confrontation at all cost. If someone has made a
mistake do not expose it publicly as this will lead to a loss
of face and a ruined

Sub cultures

Started at 80s and 90s

Old bogota
bogota use to have a conserved culture
now the the globazitation control the subcultures.
Old bogota
the subcultures in the old bogota was the hippies the
punks, rocks.

bogota use to be the capital of rock in Colombia.

New bogota

Colombia's Drug Trafficking Subculture: Its Literary

Representation in la Virgen De Los Sicarios and Rosario
Tijera

Orientation
Identification.Since declaring independence on 20 July
1810 and achieving it in 1819, Colombia has changed its
name seven times. Regional cultural traditionsare diverse,
with a broad range of distinct groups that have
uniquecustoms, accents, social patterns, and cultural
adaptations. These groups are classified into three
cultures: those in the interior, the countryside, and the
coastal regions. Only during elections, sporting events,
and beauty pageants do the regional cultures unite for a
common goal.

Columbian norms

There are norms for every culture throughout the world. In

Colombia there are things that you should and also should
not do. A common problem today is the LBGT population
who are fighting for rights to express themselves.
Since Colombia is high on religion , it is highly frowned
upon in today's culture. It has become a major issue
because no one will tolerate it but slowly but surely they
are gaining acceptance within their culture because they
are not the only ones dealing with it , it is a worldwide
issue. Sports are big in Colombia , the most anticipated
sport in Colombia is Soccer (football)

Every sport is common in Colombia baseball ,

boxing , basketball , etc , but nothing is as anticipated as
much as soccer is. Soccer is where all the most popular
social events are held and people just really enjoy getting
together and watching a good game of soccer.

Columbian Values
Columbia's culture can be traced back to Spain of the 16th Century. School is valued , education is
important to many in Columbia but most schools are not free. There are many private schools that are
affordable for children and the primary years are from 1st to 5th grade. Classes begin in February and
finish in November , Students usually only take 5 years of school , so therefore the usually start at age
5 and end around the ages of 10-11
Food is also highly valued in the Colombian culture because recipes can pass down through
generations. The most common Colombian food is Rice , which you can say is common for
most Spanish cultures. Columbia is also high on folk tales and and traditional stories. They hold special
festivals for different times of the year were people come together and enjoy free time.
Religious Beliefs In Colombia

Share of Contemporary
Rank Belief System
Colombian Population
Roman Catholic
1 75%
Christianity
2 Protestant Christianity 15%
3 Atheism or Agnosticism 5%
Other Beliefs 5%

SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS
Justice
Education
Health
Welfare

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Aesthetics Unbound: Contemporary Political Art in

Colombia
DOW N LOA D

1
AESTHETICS UNBOUND
:CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL ART IN COLOMBIA

Ruben Yepes
There is an aesthetic dimension of politics and a political
dimension of art.
Chantal Mouffe

Politics

is said to be the driving force of many of the practices and

discoursesof contemporary art, to the point that discursive
association between the terms

art

and

politics

has become mainstream. However, I consider that much

of the so-called political art

in Colombia, as in the international art scene

amounts to little more thana reaffirmation of the status-
quo, even against the honest interests of many artists,
criticsand curators. It seems to me that the
de-politicization of the political
is what predominates in the institutional field of art, whose
hegemonic discourses typicallyinsist on locating the
transformative potential of art either in the formal
qualities of theartwork or in its

content

.
1
Political investment has been relatively scarce in the art
produced throughout the
twentieth century in Colombia, due, in part, to the
countrys political violence. The
opposition between conservatives and liberals in the
1940s and 50s hindered politicalengage
ment by artists and writers; indeed, a significant number
of the countrys
intellectuals became exiled during that period. This
violence, in turn, led to the creationof the first liberal
peasant armed groups, whose initial motivation was self-
defenseagainst the violence unleashed by the
conservative state, although they quickly turnedinto
guerrilla groups imbued with Marxist ideology; in this
context, being seen as acritic of the status quo meant you
could easily become a target of the conservativeregime.
This situation worsened towards the end of the 1970s,
when the first paramilitary groups were organized, which
quickly began to target left-wing

2
intellectuals and university professors. As a result, artists
turned either towards formalaesthetic problems or the
expression of their own interior.
2
With a few meritorious exceptions, we may say that only
since the 1980s havesome artists consistently turned their
attention towards politics.
3
However, this impulsehas been dying out. The first artists
to be consistently political were strongly imbuedwith leftist
ideology, a tendency that lost stamina towards the end of
the 1980s. In the1990s, Colombian artists, as a general
norm, became more nuanced in their treatment
of political subjects and intentions, the presence of which
has diminished even more in theart produced during the
first decade of the 20
th
century.
4
However, I wish to stress thatthe relation of art to politics
as it takes place in the work of Beatriz Gonzalez,
JuanManuel Echavarra, the art group ekolectivo, Ludmila
Ferrari and Fernando Ariasacquires a significant dimension
on at least two levels. On one hand, the work of
theseartists is significant as artwork in the institutional
sense; on the other, it functions on amicropolitical level as
a form of political agency akin to what anthropologist
DavidGraeber

who to a significant extent has inspired some of the views
I take in this paper

calls
direct action, i.e., a form of intervention that seek
s actual transformative resultsinstead of merely symbolic
actions.
5
From the context of contemporary art theory, Jill Bennett
has recently argued for a turn towards a
practical aesthetics,
a perspective from which art figures as an
aesthetic operation (a way of doing, as opposed to an
object
of philosophy) that takes asits subject matter the already
aesthetic nature of everyday perception.

6
Existence is anaesthetic experience: we are surrounded by
forms and configurations of space, sensuousobjects
invested with affect with which we engage on perceptual,
affective and semanticlevels. We are not unaltered by the
objects that surround us: they affect us, wesubjectivize
through our relation to them; in this sense, it seems
plausible to argue that

3
the work of the aesthetic has actual effects in real-life
contexts. In this paper, I will look at artistic practices that
explore what we may call forms of aesthetic direct
action.How may we understand the political potential of a
practical aesthetics inrelation to a social and political
context such as that of Colombia? My interest is not
toexplore these questions from the habitual precepts of art
theory or aesthetics which, asJulia Rebentisch has recently
asserted, cipher the politics of art in the option between
formalism and contentism mentioned above.
7
Today, such an option is a hackneyedone. Instead, I will
insist on the following thesis: in a country such as
Colombia, the political potential of art lies, not merely in
the artwork, but in the contextual relationsthat it creates
and installs; this however, does not signify a denial of the
institutionalspaces of art, but rather points to their borders
as a strategic site, a liminal space fromwhich and through
which artists may deploy their politics.I will bring forward
questions of practical aesthetics in relation to the work
of the abovementioned artists. The artworks I refer to here
stands out in the context of Colombian art because their
political agency is located, not exclusively in
the works
aesthetic qualities, but in its relation with specific social
contexts. Gonzalez andEchavarra are well-established
artists, known both in Colombia and abroad. Arias iswell
recognized in the Colombian context, while ekolectivo and
Ferrari are relativelyunknown. These artists are interesting
in the context of this paper because at least someof their
work is located, not in the habitual spaces of institutional
art, but at its borders,where the field becomes fuzzy and
other experiential contexts begin.
8
I argue that, inthese artists, the field of art is not the locus
where the politics of their work becomesrelevant, but
neither must we locate it in some notion of an

outside

of the field. Rather,the site of their politics is the

border
, understood as a liminal space where meaning
isexchanged between the institutional field of art and
other contexts.

Narco-aesthetics: How Colombias drug trade constructed

female beauty

The body either saves you or condemns you. The motto is:
Have the body you desire, not the one you were born
with.
Narco-aesthetics: the word encapsulates the
phenomenon that is the Colombian perception of beauty,
a world-famous sex-appeal that has a much darker,
criminal story behind it than the image of the countrys
women with their perfect breasts, voluptuous curves
and sizable behinds would suggest.
The drug-fueled war that has had Colombia in chains for
the past few decades has not only tarnished the image of
the nation to one of bloody crime and dirty money, but
entirely molded the image of its women more often than
not aided by its proliferous aesthetic surgery industry
into that of the perfect female form, and the object of
universal male desire.
A history of sex, drugs, and rock-star Escobar
This goes back to the 70s, when the first Colombian drug
traffickers went to the US to make contacts for their
exports, so begins the history of narco-aesthetics as told
by Ilvar Josue Caranton, a lecturer at Medellin University and
a specialist on the topic.
The professor recounts how, during the dawn of
Colombias illegal drug trade industry, brothels became
the natural meeting place for North American and
Colombian business-doers looking to expand their drug
trafficking horizons.
Combined with the peaking popularity of mens magazines
such as Playboy and Hustler, the South American criminals
were exposed to a novel, highly sexualized image of
womankind.
The female ideal that they found had voluptuous
buttocks, voluptuous breasts, [and] was blonde, Caranton
tells Colombia Reports. [This] was the prototype of
prostitutes at the time.
It was exactly this prototype that the drug traffickers
would then bring back to Colombia. At that point in time,
they knew exactly what they wanted, and their increased
wealth and power meant they knew exactly how to get it.
Drug trafficking has the money and it writes the rules:
what kind of woman we like the aesthetic of the
desirable woman.
The key change that took place as this aesthetic ideal
bloomed, was that the millions of dollars flowing into the
hands of Colombias drug barons made this body so easy
to obtain by plastic surgery that those who wanted their
perfect woman could easily pimp out in vulgar but
popularly used terms any girl they wished, rich or poor.
This idea of godliness almost, that they [drug traffickers]
can create the woman, the female form, we also call the
Frankenstein, Caranton explains.
This very arrogance, some believe, is one of the essential
pieces of the puzzle linking the countrys narcotics trade
to its beautiful but highly fabricated women.
Sex and drug trafficking have always gone hand in hand,
Diana Patino, political expert living in Medellin, tells
Colombia Reports.
This marriage has come about because as Diana
explains the highly sexualized, trophy-like and artificially
curvaceous female image is a reflection of the showy,
lavish attitude and essentially macho mentality innate to
the drug baron lifestyle.
And the most showy of them all was none other than the
legendary Pablo Escobar.
The fact that he has that much infamy, that much
notoriety, thats how [the drug trade] shaped things,
states Kristin Eckland, a nurse practitioner and writer on
surgery in Latin America, tells Colombia Reports. Photos
of him, his cronies, his women, his lavish lifestyle were
pasted everywhere. He was the super rock-star of the day.
Anything he did became that big and lavish.
Pablo Escobar liked his ladies, and he often liked them
operadas, or [aesthetically] operated. In a sense, the
biggest drug baron in history set an example to follow for
those who had the means to do so.
Pablo Escobar made [aesthetic surgery] more socially and
culturally acceptable, Eckland says. He almost made it
unacceptable to not change.
Plastic surgerys increased accessibility and rock-star
appeal may indeed explain just how the prostitute
aesthetic, as Patino calls it, eventually transcended the
borders of the illegal trade and became a nation-wide
phenomenon.
The body is becomes their reason for living, their
salvation from this society: self-objectification
Beauty as consumable, commercial, profitable, and a
ladder into higher society some may say that in no place
is this phenomenon felt as strongly as it is in Colombia.
A perhaps hard to believe but undeniable truth is that
many of the countrys women (consciously?) do all they
can meaning taking out loans to get a boob job or
spending all their savings for a Western-style extreme
makeover to live up to the narco-macho-version of how
they should physically look.
Whether or not this conformance is voluntary remains
debatable as Caranton says, the entire [aesthetics]
industry is a brainwash. What is certain, however, is that
many Colombian women have embraced the prototype
and actively use it to their own advantage.
Contemporary society has told the woman that
everything lies in her body, explains Caranton. They
themselves assume their role as an object They want to
have the body that is desired, otherwise it wont have
people providing them with economic prospects.
The exploitability of Colombian curves is perhaps
exemplified in the example of Karen Upequi Araque, a 28-
year-old Colombian woman who only recently had
liposuction and gluteal (buttocks) reduction for work-
related reasons.
A professional night club dancer, Araque was almost
compelled by her managers to take the plunge two years
ago.
I felt pressurized by my bosses. [Theyd say things] like:
Karen, youre chubby, Araque tells Colombia Reports.
[So I got] lipo.
Despite being only 28 years of age, Araque had her first
breast enlargement at the age of 21, and assures us that
the majority of the girls she knows have also gone under
the knife.
And, unlike her, most of them undergo surgery with one
sole aim.
I know many friends, including young girls [who do it]
with nothing but money in mind, she says. In finding a
rich man, a drug trafficker.
Often as a result of no way out poverty, many affirm that it
is common practice for girls to enter certain prestigious
universities just to gain access to the upper classes of
society and those frequently linked to the illegal drug
trade by using their body to try to achieve a better
quality of life.
On many occasions, these girls come to be prepagos,
the countrys most exclusive and desirable prostitutes.
While Caranton also believes that plastic surgery in
Colombia has taken the darker route and become
womens literal invest[ment] in their body, he also
uncovers a somewhat eerier side to this narco-aesthetic
trend, one which targets societys most vulnerable.
The snatched daughters
Men will grab a young girl from any community, tell her
mum that theyre taking her away, and she becomes his
object, his trophy, his exhibit, Caranton explains.
This is a narco phenomenon.
This less sophisticated, small-scale form of human
trafficking is very much common knowledge in Colombia.
Many girls from rural villages, or even from the lower-class
neighborhoods of cities such as Medellin, either voluntarily
leave for the city in the aim of being picked up by drug
traffickers or other wealthy men, or these people come to
them.
The final objective is, of course, for them to be
transformed into the picture-perfect model.
You know that they buy girls, as long as theyre
operated, Araque says casually. The majority of
operations are down to this.
Whether these girls are taken by force or in agreement
with prospect-less parents to then be pimped to
perfection; or whether they themselves take the initiative
to go to the big city in an attempt to make it big and
eventually have their economic issues resolved by a rich
man, they exemplify the underworld-fed aesthetic that
permeates society today more than

Colombian Wedding Traditions

Share
Most things are personal to each couple, but there are
some traditions that everybody sticks to: it starts as soon
as youre engaged; off to the brides family home to be
blessed by the local priest. With gold rings and arras
which are little gold coins (usually thirteen) that lay with
the rings on the pageboys cushion to signify abundance
in hand, both sets of parents standing by, and usually
whichever grandparents you can rustle up grandmothers
are key here, being the matriarchs of the household. The
priest blesses you, your wedding rings, your arras, you
future kids, your good fortune in finding each other:
everyone and everything. That done, youre off to start
planning your big day!

At the bridal shower, the

brides mother will give her a variety of monogrammed
items to take to her new home: towels, pyjamas, bed
sheets, and table clothes are an example. Then the night
before the wedding, the bride is thrown a serenata by her
groom in her family home; family and close friends
congregate to drink aguardiente an anise-flavoured
liquor favoured by Colombians eat mini empanadas , and gift
the bride and groom silver goods plates, platters, and
tea sets to name a few for their new marital home; then
the groom supplies the entertainment: typically
a mariachi band, who are a group of sombrero-ed
Mexicans that sing traditional rancheralove songs, and if the
brides very lucky: maybe the groom will join in.
On the wedding day, the church will be abundantly
decorated with flowers as will the venue for the
reception, usually held in country clubs or haciendas
estates. There are no groomsmen or bridesmaids;
accompanying the bride will be little flower girls wearing a
floral circlet that matches her own and carrying little
baskets filled with petals, and a page boy carrying a
cushion with the blessed gold rings and arras covered in a
piece of lace which will later be turned into the first childs
christening hat. After the bride and groom exchange
rings, the groom lights the candle on his left, the bride the
one on her right; together they light the central candle,
and extinguish their original ones. This is to signify that
they have become one body, and then they dance out of
the church holding the lit candle.

The reception will have

lots of floral table designs which are for the women to
take home alongside being extravagantly decorated
throughout, as well as having well-manicured gardens,
using garlands and wreaths to bring in more colour. Silver
sugar-coated almonds arranged like flowers are scattered
across all across the tables, and the wedding cake is
always black fruit cake soaked in red wine the cake
plate, knife and slice will be decorated with flowers as
well. After the groom throws the garter into the audience,
all the men put their shoes under the brides dress for her
to pick a shoe at random, thereby selecting the next man
to be married. There are no speeches just a lot of
champagne and the main event is dancing; there will be
a band playing throughout the evening, playing all the
traditional styles of music loved by Colombians across the
generations vallenato, reguetn and merengue being
some of the favourites.
Before they leave, the couple will be toasted with
champagne their champagne glasses will be
monogrammed and they will drive off into the night to
start their married life together; and the guests will party
on in their honour.

Colombia

Dietary preferences

Colombian fare is colonial Spanish in character with the

authentic flavors of the indigenous population. Foods are
cooked with olive oil, heavy cream, coconut milk, or
cheese and flavored with ground cumin, annatto, parsley,
cilantro, chopped onions, tomatoes, and garlic. The
Colombian diet includes a lot of meat, and grilling is a very
popular cooking method. Guascas, an herb native to
Colombia with a flavor similar to boiled peanuts, adds a
distinct flavor to many dishes. Hot chile pepper sauces are
often used as an accompaniment to the meal. Tropical
fruits are abundant and eaten for dessert, snack, or as a
garnish to the meal. Potatoes are an important part of the
South American diet. In Colombia, tubers (oca, yacn)
similar to potatoes are eaten raw or cooked. Milk is not
often consumed as a beverage but is used in fruit-based
drinks and in desserts or added to coffee.
Most Colombians consider themselves to be members of
the Roman Catholic Church. However, Catholic practices
are often combined with indigenous, African, and sixteenth
century Spanish customs and beliefs. To honor religious
deities, some people will eat or avoid certain foods. In
addition, some South Americans may follow a hot-cold
classification of foods as a healthful way of eating.
Depending upon beliefs, certain foods may be eaten at
specific times of day and combinations of some foods may
be avoided.

Common Foods:

Milk/Milk Products cows, goats milk; evaporated milk;

fresh and aged cheeses

Meat/Poultry/Fish beef, goat, mutton, pork, indigenous

meats (alligator, armadillo, capybara, frog, guinea pig,
iguana, llama, rabbit, tapir), chicken, duck, turkey,
abalone, bass, catfish, cod, crab, eel, haddock, lobster,
oysters, scallops, shrimp, squid, trout, tuna

Eggs/Legumes chicken, quail, and turtle eggs; beans

(black, cranberry, kidney), black-eyed peas

Cereals/Grains amaranth, corn, rice, quinoa, wheat

Fruits acerola, apples, banana/plantains, caimito, cashew

apple (caj), casimiroa, cherimoya, custard apple, feijoa,
guava, grapes, jackfruit, jabitocaba, lemons, limes, lulo
(naranjillo), mammea, mango, melon, olives, oranges
(sweet and sour), palm fruits, papaya, passion fruit,
peaches, pineapple, pitango, quince, raisins, roseapple,
sapote, soursop, sweetsop, strawberries

Vegetables jicama, apio, avocado, cassava, green

peppers, green pumpkin (calabaza), hearts of palm, kale,
okra, oca, onions, roselle, squash (chayote, winter), sweet
potatoes, tomatoes, yacn, yams
Seasonings achiote, allspice, chiles, cilantro, cinnamon,
citrus juices, garlic, ginger root, oregano, paprika, parsley,
pimento, scallions, thyme, vinegar

Nuts/Seeds Brazil nuts, cashews, coconut, peanuts,

pumpkin seeds

Beverages tropical fruit juices, coffee, guaran, soft

drinks, sugarcane juice, tea, yerba mat

Fats/Oils palm oil, olive oil, butter

Sweeteners sugar cane, brown sugar, honey

Meal Patterns:
Three meals a day with an afternoon snack is traditional
among middle-class and affluent people, but the poor are
often limited to an early breakfast with a large dinner
around 6 p.m. Breakfast is typically a light meal consisting
of bread or a roll with jam and a cup of coffee and may
also include fresh fruit, pastries, or ham and cheese.
Lunch is the main meal of the day for those who can afford
more than two meals daily and is consumed leisurely
among family and friends. Appetizers may start the meal,
followed by a meat or seafood stew or a grilled meat dish.
Side dishes of rice, manioc, beans, potatoes, or greens are
served with the meal. Dessert consists of flan, sweet
custard, or pudding. Dinner is lighter and may only consist
of cold cuts, a seafood salad, or a serving of soup or stew.
The meal is served around 9:00 p.m. and often continues
past midnight. Fruit juice and soft drinks are popular
beverages. Colombian coffee is world famous and is
consumed often. A snack may be fresh fruit, a few arepas
(bread made from cornmeal), a sandwich, or a pastry.
Street vendors offering snacks are common in urban
areas. The poor often skip lunch and eat a larger dinner
earlier, which consists of soup or stew with a side dish of
potatoes, plantains, cassava, corn, or rice and beans.
Family life is very important in South America. In Colombia
the father holds authority, and children are taught to obey
their parents. Traditionally, women prepared meals and
served them to men, who ate their food first. This custom
is still practiced in many rural and even some urban
homes. European-style dining is common, and all food
items, (except for bread) are eaten using fork and/or knife.
All items are passed to the left. When not eating, the
hands should stay above the table with wrists resting on
the edge. The meal does not start until the host says,
Buen provecho!
Transition Foods
The transition diet is one you develop to help bridge the
gap between your childs native diet and what eventually
will become his or her regular diet at home. The transition
diet often includes recipes and foods from the native diet.
A good way to start the transition process is to ask exactly
what foods your child ate in the orphanage or foster home,
using that as a base for your cooking at home. As one
parent put it, I would encourage all parents to adapt the
foods they present to mimic what the child had at the
orphanage during the first months home. It is an easy
adaptation that parents can make to create a more
familiar environment during what can be a hard
transition. It may also be helpful to watch the caregivers
feed your child at least one meal before returning home.
Simple things such as the temperature or texture of foods
may be important to your child. One mother wrote, Our
daughter was on formula at the orphanage but they gave
it to her very, very hot. It took us a while to realize she
wanted everything HOT and would cry hysterically if it
wasnt hot. Even if you dont know exactly what your
child ate previously, incorporating native foods into his or
her diet is a great way to help your child transition to a
new culture, as well as preserve traditions from his or her
first culture.
Some common Colombian foods include changua (a
breakfast soupsee recipe below), arepas (corn patties),
and granadilla, which is an exotic fruit more commonly
known as passion fruit. To eat it, simply cut it open and
use a spoon to eat the seeds and pulp inside. Other foods
that were readily eaten immediately after adoption include
soft boiled eggs, rice and beans, soups, yogurt, bananas,
and Avena (an oatmeal drink).
Here is a recipe for changua from blogger Colombian
Mommy. She says, If you have adopted from, or are
adopting from Bogot, Cundinamarca, or Boyac, it is
likely that your child/ren has eaten this unusual soup
which is a descendant of the native Chibcha indians. Visit
her Colombian blog, titled Colombian Culture, Colombia
Adoption and Raising Colombian Kids
Recipe:
Changua (sounds horrible, but it is healthy and my son still
eats bowlfuls 2 years later)

1.5 cups water

3-4 green onions cut into 1/4 inch pieces (cebolla larga)

1/4 garlic tooth (diente de ajo)

Salt to Taste (sal)

Boil these together until the water turns yellowy. Take out
the onion pieces and garlic. Crack 1 egg and let it cook in
the boiling water.
In the meantime make a piece of toast and butter it (use
lots of butter or margarine just not the lowfat stuff). If
you are in Colombia, ask for a Calado, oft pronounced
Calao. In a bowl, break the Calado into small pieces, or if
back home, break the toast into little pieces in a bowl. Add
cup cold milk to water/egg mixture and dump the whole
thing on the bread in the bowl. You get 1 serving of milk, 1
of bread and 1 egg. My mother-in-law puts little chopped
up cilantro in it, but I leave it out as my son kind of chokes
on it.
 Colombia

Traditional Colombian Worldview

Strong Group Orientation

Identity is defined by group; group welfare supersedes individual concerns;
interdependence

Cooperation
Although ambitious, winning at all costs is not the general rule; harmony within group
is important and there is strong need for consensus.

Relationship Orientation
Interaction takes precedence over time; quality of life is important; people in general
both work and play hard, in a spirit of rumbero )

Moderately Hierarchical
Well formed patterns of rank authority; status is well defined; formality is pervasive in
public life (especially inland and in the capital city) with considerable inequality of
social status and wealth

Strong Need for Certainty

Preference for rules and process. Need for stability; managerial guidance expected; in
general, uncomfortable with ambiguous situations

Particularism
Rules exist but they are flexible and can be bent; reference to context is required to
understand a certain situation

Fluid Time
Approach to time is relaxed and flexible, in service of the circumstances, whether
business or social
Strong Group Orientation

Cultural Notes:

4th largest country in South America, with 3rd largest population, with Spanish (castellano) the official
language and at least 40 indigenous languages. English is not widely spoken.
Through recent efforts to improve economic policy and democratic security strategies, there is
increasing confidence in the economic and business sector and hope for the decrease of violence
Very diverse geographically, with 3 mountain ranges, two coasts, plains, and jungle
 Traditional Colombian Cultural Assumptions

Family is the primary (and extensive) social unit

Family representation is prominent in the business community
Personal relationships form the basis for success
Social stratification is steep and ordered by skin color
Catholicism is prominent (90%) and with it a fatalism evident in the phrases Dios quiere (God willing)
and Que sea lo que Dios quiera (whatever God wills)
Cultural richness and diversity derives from the mixed ethnicity of the people (58% mestizoSpanish,
indigenous & black; 20% white, 18% Afro-Colombian, 3% black-Amerindian, 1% Amerindian)
Status is reinforced with formality as displayed in dress and use of titles
Women are very active politically despite strong gender role differentiation

Traditional Colombian Communication Style

Indirect
Strong support for face through indirectness and non-confrontation; look for true
meaning of yes in non-verbal cues

High Context
The context in which the message is conveyed is important; background knowledge is
assumed and needed for thorough understanding

Formal
Status and hierarchy are important and are considered when speaking; use of last
names and formal titles (Seor, Seora, Profesor, Licenciado, Doctor/aused in
respect for seniority, even when not technically true), are common in professional and
more formal social contexts

Emotionally Expressive
Display of emotion is common and accepted; Colombians are warm people and tend
to get close while speaking; touching the others hand and/or arm while speaking is
common

Non-Verbal Dynamics

Greetings & Gestures

Colombians engage in elaborate extended greetings. Expect expressive hands and face
with excited speech, but more so on the coast than inland. Beckoning others is done
with the palm down and waving the whole hand or just fingers; pointing is impolite.
The closed circle of thumb and forefinger is vulgar, and placing that circle over ones
nose implies that someone is a homosexual. Yawning in pubic is impolite.
 Touching
Women many clasp forearms in greeting. Handshakes are common between men (not
vigorously), with the abrazo (hug) and back slapping between friends and relations;
hand are shaken again on departing. Young females may exchange kisses, as may
young people of opposite sex. Touching during conversation is not as common as in
other South American countries.

Space
Maintaining eye contact and standing close are important; backing away is considered
rude. Distance, however, is greater than in some other South American nations,
though closer than in the U.S.

Guidelines for Communicating with Colombians

Primarily, learn to engage in and enjoy the drawn out greeting rituals that Colombians are famous for.
Expect questions on your travel, your health, your family, and any common acquaintances.
Spend plenty of time building personal relationships, which are the key to your success in Colombia, a
country with serious trust issues.
Accept social invitations as opportunities to build trust and personal relationships.
An interest in food, local sports (ftbol), bullfighting, or the popular music and dance of Colombia will
start enthusiastic conversations, as will classical music and literature.
Avoid the topics of drugs, terrorism, and politics.
The better your Spanish, the greater your opportunity in Colombia.

Colombian Business Practices

The following are examples of various business functions common to all cultures and
provide broad generalizations of business behaviors.

Problem Solving Problems are sent up the hierarchy whenever possible; solutions consider
well-being of the group more than the individuals.
Most situations are seen as unique, rather than patterned.
Motivating People In the traditional hierarchical business environment, paternalistic concern
subordinates is powerful and generates loyalty, a primary value in any
organization.

Appraising Performance Generally informal and strictly top-down.

Performance Expectations Cooperation and trust more valued than individual initiative. Successful
completion of tasks, rather than creative problem solving.

Negotiating, Persuading Formal protracted processes, conducted in Spanish, with little sense of
urgency. Creation of trust is crucial and negotiations are personal,
between individuals, rather than between companies. Change the team, a
you start from the beginning, if at all.

Decision Making Process Top down; not consultative.

Participation in Meetings Hierarchy and formality determine the tone and process.
Much business is conducted at lunches, which may go on
for several hours.

Superior/Subordinate Relationships Traditionally hierarchical and paternalistic; generally formal.

Hiring/Dismissal Relationship overshadows resume and loyalty overshadows performance.

Customer Relations Degree of trust and relationship determines priorities

in serving customers.

High and Low Context Cultures

Halls Culture Context Model (1976) identifies and

compares high context and low context cultures. A high
context culture is characterized by long lasting
relationships, clearly identified insiders and outsiders of
the culture, spoken agreements, and ingrained and slow-
to-change cultural patterns. Though what is said is
important, the context, that is, how and where it is said, is
significant and gives meaning to what is said. Low context
cultures, of which mainstream US is an example, are
characterized by comparatively shorter relationships,
preference for written agreements, less clearly identified
insiders and outsiders, and quicker change in cultural
patterns. What is said is less dependent on the context;
that is, the content is more important than how or when it
is said (Hall, 1976; Hall & Hall, 1990; Hall as cited in Cagle,
2004).

In a work environment, a low context culture expects work

before friendship, the earning of credibility through
performance, formal agreements and efficient
management of time. On the other hand, the high context
culture seeks to create a cordial and congenial
atmosphere where credibility is earned due to the
relationship, agreements are spoken and rituals surround
aspects of business (Hutchison, Poznanski & Todt-
Stockman, 1987; Cagle, 2004). What may seem like small
differences in how work and other relationships are
addressed can negatively affect work teams and the office
ambience.

References
http://www.going2colombia.com/climate-of-colombia.html

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/countries/colo
mbia/#colombia-dancing.jpg

https://www.britannica.com/place/Colombia/Economy#toc
25353
http://www.statesmansyearbook.com/
http://www.commisceo-global.com/country-
guides/colombia-guide
http://www.academia.edu/3876856/Aesthetics_Unbound_C
ontemporary_Political_Art_in_Colombia
http://adoptionnutrition.org/nutrition-by-country/colombia/