Fifteen

While some of our more athletic-minded classmates chose to spend their Patriot’s Day Weekend running 26.2 miles, Jorge Camargo MBA ’09 and Diego Chona MBA ’09 led a group of sixteen students to experience the beauty, nightlife and delicious cuisine of Bogotá and Cartagena, Colombia.

Arriving on Thursday evening in Bogotá, we got straight to work at the aptly named nightclub, Paradiso. After a thorough pat down by security to get us in the mood, we danced the night away as the DJ played “Rumor 2008: Greatest Hits”. In the morning, many of us opted out of the hotel breakfast in exchange for Tropical Fruit Drive Thru. Here’s how it works: Our minibus stops at a traffic light intersection where a guy that looks nothing like the Chiquita Banana lady holds out several bunches of delicious fruits; there’s a 15-second exchange of pesos for fruit through the window; the light turns green and we were on our way until the next fruit pit stop.

With our bellies filled with a healthy breakfast, we headed to the Botero and Gold Museums where we marveled at Rubenesque painted figures (clearly, their diet consisted of more than just fruit) and pre-Colombian golden artifacts. You see, Simon Bolivar and the Spaniards came to South American in search of more than just mojitos and delicious fried bananas, tostones in Spanish. But the culinary fun was only just about to begin.  When our Colombian classmates told us we had dinner reservations that would last seven hours, we were pretty certain they were crazy… until we experienced the mecca of meat, Andres Carne de Res, for ourselves. With face painting, birthday ninjas, and fantastic food, ACR was like an adult version of Chuckie Cheese, with bowl-sized drinks.

On Saturday, we left the chilly high altitude of Bogotá for the warm beaches of Cartagena. After a great start to the night of sipping cocktails by the ocean, our classmates decided it was time to show our MIT pride and reenact our favorite scenes from ‘21’, of course, the casino did not mind the counting cards out loud because we still lost all of our money. For those of us who fell asleep in bed, rather than in a parking lot, we woke up bright and early for a boat ride to the private Isla de Rosarios. With more hammocks per square foot than anywhere in the world, Isla de Rosarios was the perfect Spring Break round 2 we were all looking for. The three amigos who decided to catch a few Z’s after a demanding game of poker were faced with Transportation Option B: a sketchy fishing boat without any gas. How do you say “Fill ‘er up” in Spanish without getting kidnapped? Thankfully, after a pitstop at the nearest Exxon Mobilá island station our amigos were able to join us on the island for a few hours of sun.

On Monday we returned to Bogota to spend one last night in Colombia. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Camargo and Jorge’s childhood best friend. Armed with enough Juan Valdez coffee to help power us through exams and final projects, we were ready to return to the US with a glimpse of the country that shaped our classmates’ lives. Our advice:  If you ever get the chance to travel with Jorge or Diego, GO! Vamos!