Two New Young Colombian Friends

Life keeps flowing and it takes me to fantastic experience lately.

One and a half year ago, my old man pouted my decision on studying Spanish. It's not popular at all in Indonesia, and its use is questionable here. I did not get clear vision as well why I was doing it. All I knew was that I wanted to be able to speak more than English and Indonesian.

Now I can see, the decision has given me some memorable opportunities. Starting from the "exclusive" interview with Fabregas, to recently a Liaison Officer (LO) for Latin delegation in the International Symposium on Constitutional Democratic State, brought by Indonesian Constitutional Chamber.

I had been given a task to escort a Venezuelan delegation at first. A couple days before the symposium, he canceled. So therefore I was transferred to the spouse program, in which I had to escort the spouse and kid of Colombian parliament's member, Carlos Eduardo Hernandez Mogollon.

A day before the symposium, I knew that Mrs.Mogollon could not come. I would be accompanying two children of Señor Hernandez then, Paola and Santiago. These two youngsters from the city of Cúcuta are very charming indeed. Paola became an idol for male LOs, while her younger brother Santiago charmed the female LOs, plus the women of the Constitutional Chamber.

In between two Hernandez (left: Paola, right: Santiago)

Paola and I are about in the same age. Well, she is younger by eight months, but sometimes I feel she is more mature. Probably it's because she has the gut to be married in such young age, and she is a mom of a three year-old Isabella already. With my (currently) beginner level of Spanish, I thank God Paola speaks English too, though I kept on trying to communicate in Spanish. (That's why I was hired for!) Another thing I admire from her is the passion to be a politician like her father. Probably in the next visit, I'd meet her as a delegation.


Meanwhile, the 16 year-old Santiago reminded me of my little sister. Both love Harry Potter and the TV Series Glee. Santiago is a pop culture aficionado. I bet he knows all songs of Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and of course his home-country diva Shakira. Santiago and I share the same interest in film production. He has a plan already to be an actor and movie editor.

One thing they have in common is the shopping hobby. We went to two malls downtown on the first day, and supposedly went to the National Park on the second day. However, it turned to be a two-days mall tripping as they were animated to visit the biggest mall in Jakarta, located in Kelapa Gading area. 

Lunch Break in a Mall Tripping

Paola said that stuffs here are beautiful, and quite various as well. I was quite surprised that we have more branded shops here than Colombia. For example, we have Forever21 in Jakarta, while they have to go to United States to get one. Although they are smart shoppers (pick many, try many, but buy only a couple best), these two out of four siblings are also generous in shopping. They did not shop for themselves only; they have many gifts to be given to beloved people back home.

I like the flow of my life these days as it allows me to meet many new friends, especially these two young Colombians. They are currently enjoying Bali, and will be going home by the end of this week.