I have been in Cali, Colombia, for three months now. During these three months I’ve learned quite a few things about locals in Cali and about the Colombian culture in general. Here are ten such curiosities which have caught my attention and have once again proved that cultural differences still do exist! (Gladly!)

When I first visited Motel Kiss Me in Cali, it was for an appointment with Humberto Villegas — owner of Latin America’s biggest theme motel. Señor Villegas gave me a warm welcome in his penthouse apartment, on top of his own motel, with gel in his hair and his bright white smile shining like a lighthouse for lost sailors. Upon my second visit, however, I had a chance to speak to the workers of the motel and discovered a whole new world behind the colorful façade.

Germany room. A svastika on the wall and a Schumacher relief in the ceiling. Cuba room with a soft pillow on Fidel Castro’s lap. The “Clinic” for multiple couples. A never ending chess game between Osama Bin Laden and George W. Bush in the USA room – obviously without towers. Welcome to Kiss me – Latin America’s biggest theme motel!

Carmen Lopez (or Grupo de Danzas Folclóricas “Carmen Lopez”) is the performing folkloric dance group of the Universidad del Valle in Cali, Colombia. It was founded by a woman named Carmen Lopez in 1965 and was recognized by the university in 1978. The current leader of the group is former dancer Mr. Francisco Emerson Castañero. I went to their performance in Batallón Pichincha in Cali.

CauCaribe is a music group from Popayán, District of Cauca, Colombia. As the name itself reveals, the group plays mostly traditional Colombian rhythms from Cauca and the Caribbean, such as different variations merengue and cumbia. The lyrics of the non-instrumental folkloric songs tell about the history of Colombia.

I’ve been on this continent for 16 months now and during this time, I’ve often struggled with being a Finnish woman in Latin America. There are things that time after time annoy me big time and there are things I’ll probably never learn to understand or accept, having grown up in Northern Europe – the cradle of democracy and gender equality.

I have not had such great experiences with truck drivers on my trip so far (as they keep asking me for paid sex and have even masturbated on isolated roads upon my passing by), but finally I have met two decent representatives of this profession. Traveling from Yauca to Lima in the truck of Abel and Willy was an eye-opening experience — not just for me but for both parties. Here’s a short resumé of our conversations.

Waking up to the sound of one rooster is normal, but how about waking up to thirty of them? This morning, that was my alarm. As I stepped down to have breakfast with the owners of the hospedaje (bed and breakfast) I’m staying at (which the local priest paid for me, afraid I’d get washed away by floods if staying in my tent), I found out their son is a rooster fighter. Intrigued by this pass-time I knew nothing about, I decided to find out more.