WORLD
Colombia’s love story: is it a toxic one?
By: Isabela Castillo 10A
We can all agree on something: everybody adores a good love story. People like to hear about the perfect guy, who falls in love with the perfect girl, and ultimately it ends up with them getting married and having perfect kids. Why do we like to hear a lot about queens and kings? Why do we like to dream about fairytales when we have in front of us the most dramatic, interesting and involving love story? Colombia’s love story.
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Colombia is a beautiful place full of amazing and diverse people. Yet, to say the least, the relationship with our country is complicated. In the 1800s we fell deeply in love with the republic and with the idea of liberating and owning it. A couple of years later, after a war full of hatred and detriment, we accomplished what we considered to be impossible: our independence. On July 20th, 1810 we started a long, harsh and constructive journey. As you may know, every relationship must face a couple of problems at the beginning. Well, we were no exception; we had lots of economic, social and political crisis. We fought a lot with each other during the time known as “La Patria Boba” because we could not understand ourselves and what we aspired as a community. Afterwards, we lost many extremely important revolutionary figures such as Policarpa Salavarrieta (most commonly known as “la Pola”), Manuela Beltrán and José Antonio Galán, among others. But, we managed to find our way out of the problems (more or less) and with time, the situation started to change.
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At the beginning of the 20th century, we had many advances in relation to communication. We gave many gifts to our beloved country: the radio and TV, represented a new era for education and identity. In addition, we began to think about equality and somehow, we achieved women’s vote. Even though there were certain things that were wonderful in our progress as a “couple”, we continued to perceive our relationship as a bad one. Therefore, it developed into what we thought of it. There were many moments and situations that completely damaged the perception of our country. Assassinations of amazing leaders such as Gaitán, Galán and Garzón vanished hope from our vocabulary and it was replaced with fear. Figures such as Pablo Escobar and Tirofijo began to appear in every newspaper cover. They were the causes of the suffering for hundredths. Because of this, we did not pay attention to Colombia and forgot that a relation needs care and mindfulness to prosper. As a result, everything went downhill, and a longtime secret of our lover was revealed: corruption. Suddenly, unbelievable things started happening; not even Macondo had seen something like that. Just think of it: ex-president Ernesto Samper had an “elephant” just beneath his nose and he did not know. It is weird that he had not noticed it, right? However, the most important aspect here was that inconformity was abundant whereas leadership was lost in despair. Time passed by, we had numerous problems and scandals, but in a way, we were evolving and getting better.
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By now, it should be clear that our love story has been like a roller coaster ride: full of ups and downs. But not everyone conformed with just being sad and demotivated. Some people decided to change things up a little bit. They decided to treat Colombia the way it deserves. On August 26th, 2018 a opportunity took place and it was called “Consulta Anticorrupción”. This was a participation mechanism that presented seven agreements that were carefully thought to end one of the things that is killing our love: corruption and its peers. Still, it was tough to make it happen because, again, we did not understand ourselves and what we wanted for our future. Long story short, not everyone cared and hence it did not happen. The percentage of people that forgot about their responsibility was extremely high.
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After having a brief recap of Colombia’s love story, I have concluded something. Yes, we do have a toxic relationship with Colombia. We do not comprehend our past but we want to change our future. Even when the odds are in our favor, we stand peacefully still against the shadow of indifference. We have let the poisonous atmosphere surrounding us define what we think of our republic. Moreover, we are comfortably accustomed to remembering Colombia as a problematic and unhappy place. Our relationship is falling apart because of our fault. We need to start seeing our lovely home as we used to see it; we have to fall in love again in order to start being productive again. Colombia is wonderful; the place where the sun kisses the hearts of the people and their smiles irradiate pride; the place where culture is the perfect mix of the best ingredients; the place where in tears and shadows we manage to stay strong. We are not a couple, we are one whole. So, you may fall in love just for chance but you stay in love for choice. Are you ready to commit with this relationship?
HOW DO PEOPLE AROUND THE GLOBE CELEBRATE LOVE?
By: Carolina Rodríguez 10C
Picture the abominable extensity of the universe; in one tiny spot of it, there exists a peculiar planet. It is full of people, nature, life, in other words: magic. We live in it. It is the only one, at least for now, that can carry life in it; it is as well full of countries, each one holding in their insides a wide variety of diverse cultures. Have you ever asked yourself how countries around the world celebrate special dates? Love and Friendship Day has come a long way since its modest origins as a Roman holiday. Nowadays, this, is the global celebration of love that has merged different traditions between each country.
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The word love has multiple meanings depending on the culture. Love cannot only be described as the feeling of affection, but also as the interest and pleasure in something. Across the globe, there are different, but very interesting traditions for this holiday. In Japan, as well as in other places, chocolate is used as a symbol of affection. It may sound effortless buying a box of chocolates for this event, but here is were this simple tradition of sharing chocolates turns out to be a surprising event. Japanese have the tradition to play a gender role game for this day, so women are pushed to share a chocolate to their true loved ones. Perhaps, the real twist in this, is not who is giving the chocolate, but what the chocolate symbolizes. An unexpected love?
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Next, we have one of the most romantic countries, Italy. As many may already know, it is where the romantic language came from. What can be more romantic than sending multilingual love notes? Well, adding a traditional dessert “Baci Perugina”, which is a chocolate covered in hazelnut, to the message. Want to know what is even more romantic? On Love and Friendship Day, Italians are known for having an unusual menu, instead of food, they hand out a love letter translated into four different languages.
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Hold up, what about our country? In Colombia, Love and Friendship Day is like the U.S Valentine’s Day. However, the idea of this day is to spend time with a group of friends; get together, play secret friend, have dinner and even to make a special gift delivery. What makes important this celebration for Colombians is that often, we take the time to recognize the true sense of friendship, which goes beyond just a sentimental union between two.
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As mentioned before, love can be described in multiple ways, it depends on which context you want it to be. If there is one thing sure, that love goes beyond a present or a holiday; why do we need for it to be a special day to remind us about the importance and value of having a great friend or special someone by our side? Despite the country, the gift, or the day what really matters is that love must have a common definition, that can be understood no matter the language. Love has only one meaning, one purpose, and it is being able to feel something strong for someone or something. Don’t worry for the gift, or if your date went right; make sure the one whom you spent Love and Friendship Day knows that you appreciate him or her, make sure they know you love them.
