THE COLOMBIA YOU DON’T HEAR ABOUT! (GETSEMANI & PALENQUE)

Hola! Bienvenidos! Welcome to beautiful Cartagena, Colombia! Buenas tardes! Good afternoon everyone and welcome back to Cartagena, Colombia. In last week's video we spent the day walking through the historic walled city and exploring its plazas and colonial buildings. Well this week we are taking you to the other side of Cartagena. Yhe one not so long ago was seldom visited but has gone through quite a transformation. We are talking about the colorful neighborhood of Getsemani. And we cannot wait to get started but before we do please hit that subscribe button and ring the bell so you don't miss out on any of our future adventures. All right let's do it! But before we head over to Getsemani we have to learn a bit about its history. As we learned in last week's video the Spanish came here in the 1500s and founded Cartagena which quickly became one of the most important ports for the Spanish Crown. As we know though where there are treasures and riches there are going to be things like Pirates and other Intruders so they decided to build a wall around the city where the rich lived and outside in places like Getsemani they displaced the in indigenous as well as the enslaved Africans. This one's seedy neighborhood we're about to head into is now one of the most hip and trendy places to spend some time in here in the city. And in 2020 it was actually named one of the coolest neighborhoods in the world by Forbes Magazine. But with this transformation there are both positives and negatives. The blessing and curse of gentrification which we've seen firsthand as we were here 9 years ago in this very neighborhood. And we also learned some more about it the other day on a free walking tour we took with Luis our new friend who lives here. We definitely recommend taking the Cartagena free walking tour just look out for the big yellow umbrellas because they will teach you so much about this neighborhood and its people. And maybe by now you recognize Parque Centenario from our last video. We've been back here multiple times and yesterday we had the most amazing sighting. This place is full of animals. They have sloths they have iguanas parrots and these little endangered monkeys. Though yesterday's sighting was Sloth-some! Yeah I mean mean even better than any sighting we had in Costa Rica. We saw this sloth go from like tree to tree to tree to tree and then it came down to the ground. I think it was using the bathroom! And it was just like right here two feet away from us. He's definitely like the Hussein bolt of Sloths because he was cruising. You know what we were talking about too, like we learned that in Costa Rica they eat this leaf that has kind of like a THC effect to it. And I wonder if because here this isn't like their natural ecosystem if none of those leaves are here so they're not like chilling all day. They're just moving and moving and moving. Yeah it was quite cool! But anyway we were wondering how these animals got here and we met a guy yesterday who was nice enough to explain that some tourists was trying to take a sloth home with him on the airplane and they were like no no no. You can't do that. So they confiscated the sloth and brought it here and let it go. It was a male sloth. After a couple years they said why don't we try and find a female sloth so they brought it here and now there are eight sloths here. So I think it had six babies! That's very cute. Very cute! Try to come here and enjoy the park before you head to the neighborhood but I think it's time why don't we head over together! Welcome to Getsemani. The first thing you're gonna notice is the color! The beautiful flags running over the road and the street art. You can see it's worlds away from the walled city over there. It's very tonal and mute and here it's just like this party of color! I love it! Artists have come together to transform this neighborhood here. They've used their paint brushes and the walls as a canvas to create something that will blow your mind! Every February there's an International Street Art Festival where people come from all over the world to create new and exciting art that expresses both themselves and the history here. It's something that if you have the time you should definitely come down and check out. And just around the corner here is this portrait of Gabrielle Garcia Marquez. He's one of Colombia's most famous writers you may have heard of his book 100 Years of Solitude. It's a good one. He's so famous they even put him on the 50,000 note right here check it out. I love that! And I'll be honest nine years ago when we were walking the street we felt much different. We were a bit scared. There was no one here we were pretty much the only tourists. There was garbage it smelled like urine. Nowadays you can see people are out with their families just on a little stroll so that is how much it's changed in just a short period of time. But I have to say this mural here is my favorite so far. You can see these three girls behind me. They got their fists up they're saying girl power! Where my girlies at? Put your fists up and don't ever forget you can do whatever you put your mind to! And over here is a parking lot. This used to be a community space, a Gathering Place. Keep that in mind because we're going to talk a bit about that more later but for now let's keep going! This one right here though is the one that stole my heart. It was actually here nine years ago when we came. It's called African love and it depicts this African woman with this huge smile. The details are minute and just stunning. And it's something that stuck with me all this time. And while you're walking along you are going to notice some gourmet restaurants and boutique hotels which were definitely not here last time when we came but they look really nice! We just turned the corner here and we are now on Calle De San Juan and you can see this beautiful artwork behind me here it just lines the street. We learned that there are over 20 galleries here in the neighborhood, countless artists as you can already see. You can even catch some of them outside of their galleries creating this art. It's a great place to come down and just admire it and to buy some you know as we always say support the local economy when you can. And as we continue down the street the art has changed from canvas back to wall. I love this one behind me here. It's that powerful African woman and just below her they've turned the bench into individual little houses that kind of go around it it's so cool! And look at the great place for a photo op! Oh! And while you're walking around you're bound to see some signs that say for sale, se vende. Yeah. And after talking to Luis you know he was talking about a lot of the negative effects that we've mentioned come with gentrification. And one of those is the displacement of the locals. Like 10 years ago you couldn't give houses here away now they're selling for one to five million dollars! That's crazy! And that's because it got touristy. Forbes Magazine said it was the coolest neighborhood. You know people are here and it's this it's already been up and coming so investors, foreign investors are coming they see it as an opportunity an investment. And they're they're approaching the locals saying hey I'll give you a million bucks for your place and guess what they're like yes. Yes give me a million dollars. We actually learned that the average salary here is around $250 US dollars per month. So imagine trying to support a family with multiple kids on that kind of a salary. And then someone's like here's a million dollars for your house. Yeah but you know what comes with that and this is what Luis is trying to mitigate is the loss of community. And with only about 200 families left in this neighborhood what do you think is going to happen? That Heritage is gone it's just going to be left here on the walls. That tradition is the thing of yesteryear. It is and he said that unfortunately the local government isn't really supporting the people in this. Yhey're actually raising taxes and stuff because they're the ones that benefit the most from selling these at such high prices. And if you don't own your place if you're renting your rent's gonna go up everything's gonna go up probably utilities all that so that is a negative side to it. The positives there's positives as well you know it creates jobs. It's a lot less... it's cleaner it's safer there's so many things about it that are different now that we absolutely love. But if you take away the the heart of it. If you take away the people. What does it matter what it's like? We could be anywhere we could be in the suburbs anywhere. Yeah that's why it's such a hard topic very sensitive. Well all right we have a bunch more to do today so let's keep going. We find ourselves here in the Plazuela Del Pozo or the plaza of the well that you can see right here. It used to be a functioning well now it's The Well of the Kisses so you better pucker up back at home because I have some for you right here! This cute little plaza is surrounded by restaurants. We actually caught a live music show the other day from a guy dressed in traditional clothes. He had this long flute with this different kind of top on it that sounded so cool! And there's some really cool art as well. And I love this one here too on the side of this restaurant Bonche it says here and now smile! We hope that our videos always bring you joy. We know that you know people go through hard times and so do we but we hope that these are a little escape for you throughout your week and when you come here you leave feeling better than when you came. We love you guys! And while we're down here on this beautiful street enjoying the flowers the art and the breeze we want to dedicate this to our newest Patrons: Tim and Caroline! Thank you so much for joining our community. It means the world to us! Being out here today exploring this beautiful neighborhood seeing this art it's all because of you so thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Today is dedicated to you hope you're having a good one and if you would like to join our community we will put a link in the description below! Alright let's keep going! And while you're walking along you are going to see alleyways like this here behind me. They don't look like much. There's a few people strolling around right now during the day but at night let me tell you they come alive! People put bars in front of their little houses and stuff. They're sitting on the sidewalks walking up and down shaking up beverages it's pretty sweet! So that's a warning to you if you're are coming to stay down in this neighborhood it is a party. It's gonna be loud. You might not be able to sleep so definitely read the reviews of the place you want to stay before you book it! Or make sure to buy a bunch of drinks before you go to bed. And bring ear plugs. And I love that as we're walking around you can really feel that Community here. These guys right down here are playing Ludo. It's a dice game with some pieces they might be gambling a little bit but they're all laughing and having such a good time. Luis was telling us that this neighborhood is a place where if you're sick everyone takes you to the hospital. When you get home they take care of you. It's the community that you need to have here and that's what they need to try and preserve. I understand that people want to make money but what Luis is trying to do is show people that the way to the future is by keeping your heritage here so that it can go on forever. We have found ourselves here in the heart of the neighborhood this is Plaza de la Trinidad. Behind me here you can see the church that goes by the same name. During the day you can see there's not many people here because it is so hot but you can still find some locals playing checkers with bottle caps. Some down by some souvenirs and also some street vendors sample some delicious food. But at night is when this place really comes alive! We came down here last night and let me tell you it was not what we were expecting! When we came here last time it was locals with their kids there were clowns they were having little dance contests. Last night it was a party with hundreds of people in the square here. They had a DJ. They had this spinning camera. Guys were holding up smoke sticks to get photos. There were so many people surrounding the vendors over here. It was just a little bit overwhelming. And that's something that we were talking about with the gentrification like this used to be the local hangout now it seems like it's the party spot. So it's not saying that's a bad thing I'm just saying it's changing. And just next to the church you will find this restaurant here called bololo. We've been here a couple of times and it's great. Great portions and affordable. They serve up Caribbean bowls. You can have it with carne, jerk chicken or vegetarian and it comes with rice and vegetables. Very fresh and healthy! So definitely check them out when you're here. Oh and they serve up some great fruit juices as well! On the Eastern side of the park here you will see some colorful and beautiful Palenqueras. We talked a little bit about them in last week's video. They are descendants of the first free African slaves that were brought here. We actually got to go to Palenque which is the first free town in the Americas where Africans ruled themselves and it was quite an experience so why don't you join us for that right now. Our day started with a morning pickup we met our lovely guides Brian and Liliana from Black Legacy experiences. During the two-hour journey to Palenque we were taught about the history of its people as well as a couple of phrases in their local language, Palenquero which is considered to be the only spanish-based Creole language left in circulation! And we have arrived! So welcome, officially welcome to Palenque. This is a piece of Africa in Colombia. And this is Antonio. He's a cultural leader here in Palenque and he is going to be our guide for today. We started our day off with a welcome beverages. (Up, down, center, inside). Afterwards we learned that their language was made up out of necessity since many of the Africans that fled Cartagena spoke different languages. It became a mix of two African languages, Spanish, French and Portuguese. Another way communication spread between the smaller villages was through the use of these drums which are called pachiche. Depending on the beats and songs played people were able to know for instance if someone had passed away or if there was a party later on. A little further up the road we got to learn about Afro Neto a rapper from the community who is a lead singer in a group called Kombilesa Mi. We all know what music comes dancing and that's exactly what we got to experience next! A talented group of young men and women performed the traditional dances of their enslaved ancestors. It was such an honor to experience their movement with one another with the beating of the drums. And we even get to get in on the action and learn a couple moves from them. Check out Adam groovin! Go Adam go Adam! Back in the Town Square we started the Monument of Benkos Bioho an enslaved African who in 1603 escaped from Cartagena and founded Palenque. Across the street we got to learn a few more words from their language. Sarangia = To dance. Lunga = To die. Kuagro = group or organization. And then we went and met a local doctor who practices and uses traditional methods for healing. We were able to try a hot tea they used to treat various sicknesses and gifted a bracelet and a blessing and a shot of rum. Another prominent figure from the community is Antonio Cervantes AKA Kid Pembele. He is known as one of the world's most successful boxers and a two-time junior welterweight world champion! So of course we had to visit the gym and learn some fighting sequences. Being in the ring and having local boxers and trainers teaches some defensive and offensive moves was something very special. I have to say it's great therapy! Now you know you don't want to mess with us! Afterwards we toured what a traditional house would have looked like back in the day including their bedrooms and kitchen areas. Here we also learned about the significance their braids held. They would braid their hair in all different forms and shapes some to resemble maps or directions for their escape others to be able to hold possession such as seeds for planting. And check this out they even put Adam to work! After that we made our way back to the restaurant where we enjoyed a delicious lunch. I have to say the whole fish and coconut sauce was the best! Then headed back to the city. We really hope you enjoyed that experience because it's something that's going to stick with us for the rest of our lives. It really is that was something very very special that we hope you can do when you're here! Well I think it is time for some food. I hear someone's tummy rumbling. I'm starving like Marvin! So let's go find a spot. Wow we are absolutely stuffed! We just stepped into Casa del Asado the roast house and let me just tell you we're blown away. It was a huge portion. We went with the sampler platter. They cook it in this big steel barrel or the stainless steel barrel and watching it was so cool but tasting it was even better! We got eight different kinds of meat on this platter. Chicken, steak, ribs, sausages. There was chimichurri, patacones, there was coleslaw it was amazing! All of it! And I think the owner is Roberto! He lives here in the house and he was just so so sweet. It's located, remember earlier when I told you to remember that parking lot. It's located here in what that used to be. It's a gathering space. Twenty families live around here. The middle here is where people it's like their backyard you know their parking lot as well as where they come out. And their businesses and their home. Yeah so it's everything! There used to be ten of these here where all these families live but over time this is the last one that's left because they've been turned into parking lots and they've built houses or hotels on them. So this is like a little piece of History right here and I'm really hoping that it can continue to go on. So this is a great place to come eat some food and enjoy just you know the locals hanging out enjoying their afternoon. The barbershop over here is pretty sweet too! Yeah and everyone's just so nice saying hi. Well you know what the sun is up creeping down so we better get going because we got a couple more things to show you. Come along! And as you can see as the sun is going down the temperature is cooling people are starting to come out. More vendors are showing up. People are out here relaxing definitely come down a little later on if you want to party. And check this out! I don't know if you watch Wednesday the series on Netflix. Sown here it's called Merlina. Check it out this is the siren from that! It's so cool and it really looks like her! I know like the eyes they're so very penetrating! Yes that's it. And yet again all the color and the culture this beautiful afro-colombian woman with her fruit and these little these kites up here in the background is that a little AC DC playing too. Quite a little mix here! So we were just walking down Lomba street and we came by the lom bar where we bumped into our friend Luis who is one of the most passionate person that is filled with so much information about this area so when you come down here you gotta find him let him teach you about this neighborhood on the free walking tour because he is the man! Yeah man! And he can make you a delicious drink as well. He also make some delicious beverages at excellent prices! Yes yes yes try to come here to enjoy any cocktail. Also this best one if you don't like it don't pay here! Oh! I'll try one of everything! It's a good deal! Thank you! Yeah thank you! I'll wait for you again. All right all right. I can't wait! Mi Vale. Mi Vale. Wow I'm so glad that we got to bump into him because it's like it came full circle. He's the one that taught us about this place. He's the one that made us so much more passionate about it. And he's the one who makes the best drinks in town! And I love it! The neighborhood you know it's your house you just come out here you can make a little business or you just sit in your chairs. Your best friends your neighbors are just across the way you see each other every day! That's the community I think that we miss back home. We put up fences we you know buy properties and want to get away from everybody but this is that joy that connection that we miss. And that makes us very happy. It does! We've made one of our final turns of the video here and these are two very special pieces of art. You can see right here the gentleman playing Ludo. It actually looks like the guys on the street right down to the shirt being pulled up over the belly. They also love dominoes and cards here too so keep those peepers peeping because you'll see some of that going on! And right here this is very important because here in the Barrio and Cartagena baseball Reigns King here. They don't like soccer so much or basketball this is the game that they all love and right around the corner here there's a very special field that we want to show you. We took a little walk up onto the wall so that you could get a view down onto this baseball field right here. There's home plate on the sidewalk across the street. Then the lines run over to here. There's home plate home plate, no pitcher's mound. Pitcher's mound first base second base third base right there. Third base is over there. I'm not a baseball player what so you want me to do? But he was telling us that in June I believe they get permission to shut down this road and this is their baseball field right here. There is a rule that I loved though. If you hit a home run you'd think oh I hit it over the wall or out of the park. That is three outs automatically because not only did you lose the ball but you ended the game. So the point is you got to keep the ball down down here in the park and play. And if you fight you get a ticket. I love that. Yeah you gotta play by the rules you gotta play nice! You gotta play nice! Isn't that baseball field just so cool?! I wish when we were here there was a game going on but hey it is what it is maybe when you come you can check it out and send us some photos! That would be awesome because I'm really interested to see what the crowd is like when they're having one of these awesome events. I know you could just grab a beer or something sit up on the wall and enjoy it. Actually I don't know if you can, maybe. We don't know so let us know. And then behind us here this is Castillo de San Felipe. It's not a castle but a fortification built by the Spanish in the 1600s which you can tour. We did it last time and it was really fun. But go early because it gets smoking hot! Yeah it's always hot here. It's true. I think we're getting a little used to it by now. Oh yeah definitely I'm just drenched right now. Yeah drenched all the time. And so yeah we hope that today opened your eyes here in Getsemani. It's a beautiful neighborhood filled with so much culture and heritage. Definitely when you're here you're gonna go to the Walled City but hopefully now you'll come here and experience this. The truth is if you don't come here on your trip to Cartagena then you haven't experienced the heart and soul of what makes this place so special. So don't do it to yourself. Come down here for the day, check out one of Luis's tours and then come down here at night and have a drink on one of those little side streets or hang out in the plaza where everyone's having a good time. And you know the city was built on the back of these people's ancestors. The enslaved Africans and the indigenous so yeah it's just it's a part of the city that has to be seen as well as Palenque. What a special experience I'm so glad we did that. I cannot recommend it enough to go down there and just experience what we did when we were there. Yes but thank you so so much again for joining us! It would have been nowhere near as much fun if you hadn't been here to share it with so thank you for that. If you enjoyed this video please give us a big thumbs up comment subscribe and don't forget to DLING, DLING, DLING, DLING the Bell! We'll see you next time! Adios!