Learning to Make Arepas and Fun Memories in Cali, Colombia

Written by Jada Jackson, (Howard University), Student Correspondent for CET Colombia, Fall 2024

Sharick’s Salsa Competition

On this day, my Colombian roommate Sharick had her salsa competition at her school, Universidad de Valle. This salsa competition brought together dance groups from various schools all over Colombia. There was hip-hop, bachata, and salsa. So many talented dancers! The energy in the room was electric as students stood and cheered when their school was being represented. She had been preparing for this for so long, so seeing the end result put together was really cool! She did so well and they ended up winning the whole thing! So super proud of her <3

Making Arepas

So, for the past week, I have been obsessed with trying to make arepas. I looked up countless recipes and was so excited to try my chef skills with Colombian food. The left image was my first try. Now, I know they don’t look like arepas perooooo (but) they still tasted so good! I realized I added too much water to the dough, so they came out way too dark. It was then I came up with a plan and told my roommates they would have to eat arepas every day until I got it right. And that we did!

About three days after receiving criticism from my Colombian roommate and Spanish professor, I tried again. This time, I decided to measure from the heart, and BOW! They came out pretty good, and they looked like arepas! One of my roommates made shredded chicken in tomato sauce to stuff inside and it was so delicious. I received the stamp of approval from my Colombian roommate, so all is well. My roommates can stop eating trial-and-error arepas now.

BlackGround Lab

On this day, my program and I took a trip to our Race and Identities teacher’s house. Known as BlackGround, this house serves as an artistic space for Black and Afro-Colombian artists to come and share their art and talents. Owned by my teacher, she has decades worth of collected art, even some one-of-a-kind pieces. She served us a curry-like chicken stew with coconut rice and a beet carrot salad, which may I add was made authentically by Black people. We conducted an observation exercise at a park nearby for our assignment, but the day’s main attraction was the beauty and history this house held. Truly an amazing experience being in this space that so many Black women have accompanied before me.

Karaoke Night

Last weekend, my Colombian roommate’s mom invited us over for lunch. She lives about 40 minutes from Cali, but the drive up was so beautiful. Along with two of my roommates’ friends, we ate some lunch from a local place while listening to music. As we were listening to music, we had an impromptu karaoke session! Everyone picked a song, and we sang, danced, and had full-blown performances.

Her mom even joined in with us! As this continued for hours, her mom made us drinks and this fried dough snack with cheese. We had so much fun that we were sweating, laughing, and completely out of breath. By the end of the night, we talked and her mom packed us some snacks to go. We took so many pictures, and this definitely goes down as one of the best days I’ve had here.