“Every Colombian is a drug dealer,” is one of the many ignorant stereotypes we Colombians hear when we tell someone where we are from. Many don’t realize that Colombia isn’t just about drug dealers or a place where tourists get kidnapped.

Colombia is a beautiful country, full of kind- hearted people and full of culture. Colombia has a bad reputation because some people don’t know the true beauty of Colombia.

“Every Colombian sounds the same,” is another frequently used stereotype because of how they hear Colombians talk in a television series or movie. In Colombia, we have many regions and departments. Not all of us sound the exact same, and we all have different sayings and accents due to the region we are from. I’m from Cali, Colombia, and our sayings from Cali are very different from Antioquia, which is a department in northern Colombia where Medellin Is, which is home to the accent you mostly hear on any Colombian television series. That makes everyone think we all sound the same.

Colombian Culture

Music and dance make up a really big part of Colombian culture including Vallenato, Cumbia, Salsa, Merengue. My favorite is Vallenato; it has a romantic but also cheerful vibe that makes anyone dance.

Colombia has many different cultural events, including The Cumbia Festival, a popular event that pays homage to the most representative of all Colombian folk dances. In every region, we Colombians celebrate in many different ways at fairs, carnivals and cultural festivals.

Christmas is my favorite holiday to celebrate. We start celebrating on December 7, El dia de las velitas, when we get candles and put them outside in the patio or the balcony and light them up.

I grew up in the beautiful city of Cali, which is a city in the Valle del Cauca department, a warm humid place. My house was next to the stadium in San Fernando so I would walk around and spend time at the stadium watching fútbol. The teams you would hear playing were “America del Cali “or “El Deportivo Cali”. In Cali, we get very competitive when our teams play.

A place I would enjoying going was Las Canchas Panamericanas where I would spend most of my summer either playing or buying a cholado, which is an icy beverage with fresh fruit and sweetened condensed milk. There was also a stadium that was next to las Canchas where I would go to watch my best friend’s practice. Sometimes there would be competitions where hockey teams from all over the world would come compete.

Colombian Sports

The most popular sport in Colombia is of course fútbol. Whenever La Seleccion plays, we Colombians stop whatever we’re doing to watch our team. That’s the one of the many days you’ll see us Colombians wearing our jersey. Fútbol unifies everyone and especially with Colombia having qualified to the World Cup 2018 in Russia.

Another sport very popular in Colombia is cycling. Many cyclists from around the world come to the country to cycle the remarkable routes found throughout Colombia. One cyclist who is very known is Nairo Quintañilla, who won last year’s Vuelta a España and the 2014 Giro d’ Italia and was twice runner-up at the Tour de France.

When Colombia comes to mind, all I think of is home. Most of my life I’ve spent it in Colombia. Even though I was born in Miami, my heart belongs to my beautiful country. Everything about Colombia just seems like a dream because of how beautiful it is.

I fell in love with Colombia; I mean who wouldn’t? Colombia stands for not only its wonderful culture and fútbol team but it’s amazing spirit. Colombia is known to be the happiest country in the world which explains why most of us are joyful people who feel a deep passion for our country.