A Different Culture in my Own Home Country With my Family

This past summer I experienced something that changed my life. Personally, I love in Florida in the United States of America. However, my family is Colombian and we’re very tied into our roots. My family loves to travel back to Colombia whenever economically possible. Usually we go back to my mother’s family in Bogota, Colombia. However, this summer we explored a whole new area of Colombia. We visited the beautiful city of Cartagena. It was something out of this world. I had been told how beautiful it was, but I guess I was not prepared as to how amazing is truly was. The best thing about our vacation was that we were all together. My sister lives far up in Baltimore, US. Luckily, she was able to fly down with us to experience this wonderful adventure. When we first arrived, I couldn’t believe where I was. I had only been to the inner rural city of Bogota. Cartagena on the other hand is extremely tropical and hot. The people everywhere say hello and smile for no reason. It was amazing. The hotel we stayed happened to be a five star hotel as my parents wanted to make sure we were there to experience this adventure to its fullest. On one of the days we were there, we went out to a local beach called Playa Blanca, meaning “white beach”. We went on a power jet boat through the inner coast of the Pacific Ocean. I have lived on the east coast my entire life so it was extremely thrilling for me to be in a different ocean, as simple as it seems. On the boat, we saw the houses of famous Colombian officials and icons. There were houses on their very own island, each more beautiful than the next. When we stopped on the tour, we witnessed the most beautiful beach we had ever seen. A completely white sanded beach is truly unbelievable. Another part of our adventure included going to a real volcano. It wasn’t the type with lava, though. The top was filled with warm mud that seemed to be good for the body itself so many people from all over the world come to it. There, one gets into the mud and simply floats. The density of the people and the mud keep a person from being able to swim and also falling down through it. Finally, we also visited some old war forts that the city is known for. I had seen the forts in St. Augustine, Florida, but these forts in Cartagena blew them away. They were not only huge, but also beautiful and so culturally involved with dances and parades circling all around them all year round. Our vacation was truly a way to see a different part of the world, together as a family. We cannot wait to go back someday to make even more memories together.