Hey !
Ready for part #4 ?
▶ If you want, you can find the previous posts of this Colombia Travel Diary series right here ! :
- Colombia Travel Diary #1
- Colombia Travel Diary #2 : Breakfast, Witchcraft & Shopping !
- Colombia Travel Diary #3 : Cheese Empanadas, National Day, & Finca
- Colombia Travel Diary #4 : Dentist, Finca Lunch, and Gambling Games !
So, as I said in the previous post we had a dentist appointment that morning, and the next morning too !
Fear of the Dentist :
I don’t hate dentists, I know they only do what they do to take care of your teeth’s health. I just hate pain, and especially pain that involves touching my skeleton (maybe you didn’t realize this, but your teeth are the only part of your skeleton that pops out ! IT’S WEIRD OK ) I hate that vibrating and sharp sensation you get from the tools touching and filing your teeth, resonating though all your bones. Plus, I have sensitive gums that bleed easily, that doesn’t help at all with the pain !
Anyways, we always go to the dentist in Colombia, because for some reason they’re waaay better than the french ones.
They’re more professional, kinder and softer, they listen to you when you say you’re hurting, AND they have all the latest techniques and equipment from the United States. French dentists lack all of the above, so really the choice is pretty simple.
I went to get a regular cleaning, and also to try out teeth whitening ! I’ll show you how it turns out later !
Lunch at the Finca :
One of my uncles was inaugurating his new cooking kiosk, so we had lunch !
They prepared a Sancocho, which is a Colombian kind of “stew” soup made with hen meat (or chicken), tubers (plantain, potatoes, cassava/manioc…), vegetables (corn, carrots, peas…) served in a broth. I looove this soup, it also tastes like childhood to me (like almost everything in Colombia let’s be honest).
My uncle also grilled some meat on a mini brick grill :
It was really good !
We also ate some (obviously) homemade Guacamole :
And here are some Envueltos de Choclo, (to the left), they’re like soft moist corn cakes, wrapped in plantain tree leaves, it gives them a particular taste ! To the right, these are Chontaduros, a kind of weird fruit you eat with salt, it tastes terrible to me, but everyone in my family seems to love it.
Then we chilled a bit on the grass, chatting with some beers.
Also, my uncle has the cutest doggie, she’s called Avena (it means oatmeal in spanish) :
Gambling Card Games :
In Colombia we always play a particular card game, which is called 31, where the point is basically to get as close as possible to 31 with the cards you have, you have only three lives (that are represented with stones, corn seeds, or any small object).
The particular thing is that here, this game always involves money, be it a 100 peso coin or a 1000 peso bill. I don’t think we ever played without money at all, even when we were little !
♠♥♣♦
I know for some people it can be a weird thing to do, or even something that can make them uncomfortable. But for me the fact that it involves money has always been part of the game, so I don’t really mind.
My grand mother regularly meets with her sister and other friends, in the sole point of playing 31 all evening.
We stayed there playing, until the sun went down. The sunsets are always a nice sight in my grandfather’s Finca !
And for dinner, we went to a small restaurant and we had some Empanadas with Morcilla, a kind of blood sausage mixed with rice and blood (I don’t really like these) :
(Have you heard of my Colombian Empanadas Recipe yet ?)
The next day, we were taking a plane to Florencia ! Since Colombia doesn’t have a train system AT ALL, we always have to go to Cali’s Airport, because it’s the one with the most flight options.
So next stop : Florencia !
Do you also travel inside of your travel destination ?
Read The Next One Here :
COLOMBIA – TRAVEL DIARY #4 : FLORENCIA, THE AMAZONIAN FOREST, & WATERFALLS
That’s funny that you go to Columbia to go to the dentist. But if food as good as that is the after dentist treat, then maybe I should start doing it too!
Right ? But somehow, this is one of the rare things where Colombia is better than France haha ! ? And yes, the food completely makes it up for the pain ?
What fun!!!!
Thanks Ritu ! It really was ?
That sounds delicious! I like this game 31, it sounds more fun than 21 here, there are no extra lives! I think as long as everyone play expects to put up money, then it is fine. Why change a tradition? Enjoyed reading this!
Exactly ! Family traditions are comforting ?
Awesome pics and they look like you had a great time. Except for the dentist. 😉
Thank you Lisa ! ? It really was, I almost forgot the dentist afterwards haha ?
Looked like a wonderful time apart from dentist. Lovely photos!
Haha exactly ! Thank you ?
Great pics, looks like you’re having a great time! I LOATH the dentist and have quite a large fear of them, though it has got better over the years!
Maj xoxo
It’s nice to meet a fellow dentist loather haha ? Thanks for stopping by Maj ! ?
Super ton journal! Tes belles photos me permettent de suivre ton quotidien et mon interprète particulier m’aide à comprendre Dépêche-toi car le retour va arriver vite C’est quoi “cassa à et choclo”? Gros bisous à vous tous Nonna
Envoyé de mon iPad
>
Merci Nonna ! Oui je fais de mon mieux avec le peu de connexion internet local, mais on survit. Cassa est le nom anglais du manioc, er choclo est un type de maïs tendre ! Bisous à vous deux ??
I love the photo of the sunset over the trees and the flower. Sounds like such a good time.
Thank you ! ? It really was a nice day ?
My very best friend (also named Angela) was born in Cali. So I read your post with particular interest. I’m sending it to her, too. That soup looks amazing- do you have a recipe for that somewhere? Or even a kind-of recipe? Like, a handful of this and a few of that etc? I’d love to make it for my family or my friend as a surprise!
That’s really funny, I have an aunt named Angela, and she lives in Cali ? Thank you again for sharing my post with your friend ! Yes I actually have my grandmother’s recipe, I’m going to post it tommorrow so you can make a sancocho too ! ☺ I hope your friend will like it ?
YES!!
Mmmmm that food looks lovely
The good thing is that it tastes as good as it looks ! ?
I have to admit that I cringed *just a biiiiit* at the blood sausage part, but haha, at least It’s not only me who doesn’t really like them.
Oh don’t worry, I find those disgusting too haha ? But since it’s a particular recipe I still added it, because I know some people are interested in forein food specialities ! ?