Clare DeVeau is a student at Hope College and an ISA Featured Blogger. Clare is currently studying abroad with ISA in Barranquilla, Colombia.
Everyone that knows me well knows that I love to cook. This means that when I travel a large part of the experience for me is trying the food of my destination. I love to see the differences and similarities between destinations, to understand the routine of meals, to try the typical plates. Lucky for me my host mom is an excellent cook and actually sells lunches as a family business. Needless to say, I eat well every day.
Breakfast: Desayuno
Here in Colombia breakfast is a fairly simple meal and is very comparable to breakfasts in the United States. On my breakfast plate I can typically find some delicious combination of white bread, ham, cheese or eggs. Plus I always start out the morning with some kind of fresh fruit juice: mango, passion fruit, watermelon, blackberry, you name it, my host mom has made it for me.
Lunch: Almuerzo
Unlike in the United States where dinner is the largest meal, here lunch, or almuerzo, is the largest meal. Most places have at least an hour off for lunch so that people can either go out to grab something or go home to eat. Almuerzos typically consist of soup, followed by rice, a protein and more often than not plantains. If you choose to go out to for lunch an almuerzo can run anywhere from $5,000-$10,000 COP (roughly $2.50-5.00 USD). However, lucky for me my host mom saves food for me every day so I can eat a small lunch while at school and head home to eat my almuerzo for dinner.
Dinner: Cena
Because of my daily schedule I haven’t experienced much of the typical dinner here in Colombia. However, based on the days I have had 3 meals per day at home and what I have heard from other people, I have been able to piece it together. Dinner here is typically eaten around 6 or 7, much like in the States. However, dinner here is much smaller than in the States. It typically consists of something small and simple like a sandwich, a smaller version of an almuerzo, maybe a hot dog, or soup; and like breakfast, for me, dinner is usually accompanied by some fresh fruit juice.
Overall I have really enjoyed the food here. It’s a little bit more filling than I am used to at home with lots of white bread and rice, but it’s truly delicious. My host mom is a wonderful cook, and I feel blessed to come home everyday to a home-cooked meal.
we have something like almuerzo here, but it cost cheaper than in colombia. those plate only cost not until $1 USD. my favorite when I eat this with sambal :D