Colombian Culture, Colombia Adoption and Raising Colombian Kids

The race to find out whether or not Colombia will go to the World Cup has begun. Yesterday, they played game #1 against Bolivia -- and won 2-1. Here are those ever important GOLES!!

Recently, Colombia's Coach for the national soccer team resigned in disgrace. Last week, a new coach was named == Leonel Alvarez. Learn more about him here:

Just had to share this video. So, Colombia!!!!

Last night I got to watch the game on ESPN 3. Colombia pulled out a controversial last minute win when James (pronounced HA mays not Jay mz) Rodriguez scored on a free kick. Here are the highlights:

Saturday Colombia beat Korea 1-0. This means that they are moving ahead and will play Costa Rica Tuesday in the Group of 16. Here is to hoping they win and move on to Quarter Finals :) For now, enjoy watching Colombia's goal against Korea.

Last night Colombia beat Mali (2-0), for its second victory in Sub20 group A play. Here are the goles.

Last week, the PRI program, The World, reported on the Under 20 World Cup. Here is a taste of what you can hear on the report: "Compared to the main World Cup, the U-20 is small potatoes. There’s no bidding war to host the event, which is played every two years...Still, it’s a chance for Colombia to show off. The matches will be played in Bogota and seven other cities. 500 million people around the world will watch them on TV. They’ll learn about Colombia’s natural beauty, booming economy and improved security, even as a drug-fuelled guerrilla war grinds on. Cristian Bonilla, the Colombian team’s goalkeeper, said they’re proud that so many countries are participating and so many tourists are coming.'Perhaps they will come away with a different image from what foreigners normally think about Colombia,' he said. Bonilla and his teammates will be playing for more than national pride." You can hear or read the whole report here: http://www.theworld.org/2011/07/colombian-...

Okay, if you were expecting Myths for Monday, you'll have to wait another week. This week I am dedicating the blog to following the Under 20 World Cup being held in Colombia. Today it is the amazing and decisive victory (4-1) of Colombia over France in the first game of the tournament. BTW, France was the European champion, so this is a BIG DEAL in Colombia. Here is a Colombian tradition, watching the GOALS -- GOLES (GO lays -- in Spanish) -- of the game. You can see the 1st goal, made by France. Then, it is a Colombia love fest as you watch the 4 Colombian goles. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!! DE COLOOOCOLOOOOCOLOMBIAAAAAAAAA!!!

The Under 20 World Cup is being hosted by COLOMBIA from July 29-August 20. Colombia is in group A and will be playing the initial rounds against France, Mali, and Korea. If you are in Colombia, you can catch some of the games. Team Colombia will be playing in Bogotá on July 30th at El Campín against France. They play again on August 2nd against Mali. Their final match in the group stage of the tournament will be on August 8th against Korea. Other matches are being held in Medellín, Armenia, Cali, Pereira, Manizales, Cartagena and Barranquilla. FYI, the USA did not qualify. But, here is a link to the other games: http://www.fifa.com/u20worldcup/matches/index.html

Last week Colombia won the Indoor Soccer World Cup in a stunning victory 8-2 over the former World Champions -- Paraguay. Celebrate with the Colombians :)!!

I realize this probably should have gone up before today, but I have to admit I don't follow sports. I didn't even know who won the World Series, let alone that a Colombian played for the winning team. This said, I discovered the winner of the MVP award was Edgar Renteria while listening to the radio. While I didn't know what team he played for, I 100% recognized his name. He is the lone Colombian in US Major League Baseball. Édgar Enrique Rentería Herazo was born on August 7, 1975, in Barranquilla, Colombia. In Colombia he is known as El NI~NO. He started his professional US career with the Florida Marlins in 1996 and in 1997 was instrumental in the Marlins 1997 World Series victory. Since 2003, Edgar and his brother Edinson are co owners of the La Liga Colombiana de Béisbol Profesional (LCBP), or Colombian Professional Baseball League. In fatc, the league's website is called www.TEAMRENTERIA.COM, and it is Colombia's only professional baseball league. There are 6 ...

We spent the afternoon of Independence Day eating and playing Colombia's official national sport -- Tejo. Tejo has its roots in the native Muisca culture. Originally called Turmequé, the sport has been played on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense for over 500 years. It was the sport of the Indian aristocracy, who used a gold disc and simply threw it into a circle placed in clay. Today, the game is played on a field called a cancha, about the size of one really wide bowling lane (2.5 meters wide x 19.5 meters long). On each end, you'll find an angled container filled with clay. In the center is the round metal target, called a bocin. There are also triangular pouches of gun powder (called mechas ) in the clay. The object of the game is to throw a tejo (a small metal disc weighing about 1/2 - 1 pound) into the bocin and blow up a mecha -- if you do this you get 9 points. If you throw the tejo and hit the bocin, but there is no gunpowder explosion, then you get 6 points. There are a fe...

Most Colombian community festivities (Fería de Cali, Feria de Manizales, and yes Ferias y Fiestas in Sogamoso) will include something called the CABALGATA. The English word is the Cavalcade. A cavalcade is a parade that usually includes horses rather than floats. The cabalgata in Sogamoso included hundreds of horses, most ridden my people from the Llanos (Yopal, Agua Azul). Most of the riders tried to show off their horses' ability with the Colombian Paso Fino gait. Check out this video to see what the Colombian Paso Fino gait looks like.

Mongui is known as the soccer ball capital of Colombia. The balls are all hand made. Here are the steps we got to see in our tour of a ¨fabrica de futbol¨. Step 1: Take the preinflated bladder (the green ball). Cover it with several layers of string and glue, and then allow it to dry. Step 2: Place the cover on. This can be done with hand sewn leather or a synthetic rubber. Step 3: Polish and prepare to sell.

Playing professional soccer (futbol) is the dream of thousands of Colombian boys. For 50 boys who are currently in the ICBF system, this dream has taken one step closer to reality. Last week, ICBF signed an agreement with the professional soccer team, Independiente Santafe, located in Bogota. In this agreement, the team will provide training in their farm leagues for 50 boys, ages 8-18, who are currently under the protective care of ICBF. The boys that will participate were selected by 5 trainers from the professional team. The participants demonstrated not only outstanding soccer skills, but an ability to cooperate and work well as a team. You can read more here: https://www.icbf.gov.co/icbf/directorio/portel/libreria/pdf/BOLETIN_ACUERDOCONSANTAFE_14-03-10.pdf

We all know that Colombians love soccer or Fútbol as it is known there. Unfortunately, the National team has been somewhat of a disappointment as of late -- especially when it failed to qualify for the World Cup that will be held this summer in South Africa. However, Colombians have a new, and what some would consider surprising, reason to rejoice. It is not the Mens ' National team that will he headed to a World Cup Event this year-- NOPE! It is the Womens ' National team. This summer, representing Colombia at the Under 20 Women's World Cup in Germany will be a group of feisty females. This will be Colombia's first experience at the Women's Under-20 World Cup. Two years ago, they did send a team to the Under-17 World Cup and now many of those women have grown up and are ready to take on the world. You can read more about their qualifying win and see pictures here: http://www.eltiempo.com/deportes/futbolinternacional/historica-clasificacion-de-colombia-a...

Families that are in Medellín pickin gup their children will have a special treat this week. They will be joined by hundreds of athletes, coaches, and journalists from all ove South America as Medellín hosts the 2010 South American Games (Juegos Suramericanos). The games start tomorrow (March 19th) and will run through the 30th. I can imagine that hotels will be full and the town will be hopping. There will be athletes from 15 different countries participating in 42 different events (31 different sports). The picture is of the park that will host the games. Here is a little bit of interesting trivia. Like in the Olympics, the game sports an official flame. However, this flame doesn't come from Athens. Nope! It was lit by indigenous priests in Bolivia at the Puerta del Sol (Door of the Sun) in Tiwanaku. The flame then travelled to the airport in La Paz and on to Medellín. Over the past 2 weeks the flame has travelled to different neighborhoods in Medellín and today can be found foll...

While Cynthia Denzler never really thought she could hope for a medal in the Olympics, her goal was to finish in the top 30 as the first Colombian representative in any Winter Olympic sport. Unfortunately, on February 22nd, in the Giant Slalom competition, halfway through the race, she missed a gate and was disqualified from the race -- DNF. On February 24th, Denzler made a second attempt and came in 51st. See a picture and read an article here: http://www.eltiempo.com/deportes/otrosdeportes/ARTICULO-WEB-PLANTILLA_NOTA_INTERIOR-7307127.html

This year, for the first time, Colombia is participating in the Winter Olympics. (By the way my little beef with NBC is that for the last 3 Olympics, where Colombia participated, they always cut away on Colombia and then say, "While we were away, Colombia and, X, and X entered the stadium ." Couldn't they choose different countries to chop out each time?") Anyway, as a country where very little snow falls, winter sports are not particularly popular or available. Therefore, it will not come as a surprise to find out that the lone Colombian participant, Cinthya Denzler , wasn't actually born -- or even raised -- in Colombia. However, she does have dual citizenship. Ms. Denzler was actually born in 1983, in Santa Ana, California, the daughter of Swiss parents. It was in the Alps that Cynthia spent her youth and it was also there that she developed a love of skiing. Then, ten years ago, her father, Hanspeter Denzler , went to Colombia to open a clothing manufactu...

The professional soccer leagues in Colombia are found in most of the major cities. In fact, there are 18 different teams in the A League, 18 in the B League, and 18 in the C League. They also have female leagues, under 20 leagues, under 17 leagues, juvenile leagues, you get the picture. Soccer is very important in the country, and so is knowing which team is "YOUR TEAM"! Everyone has a favorite team. Usually, it is the team in the city where you are from. In cases where there is no team, families can divide their alligences. In the case of my husband's family -- there was no team in Boyacá until recently -- there are fans of América (from Cali) and Millionarios (from Bogotá), and now many are fans of Boyacá-Chicó (from Tunja). Perhaps one of the best SOUVENIR ideas for your Colombian child is to get them a team jersey from the city or department where they were born. Or, if you would rather, get your child a jersey from the Colombian National team. These shirts are availa...