Written by Magdalena Poling, (Carleton College), Student Correspondent for CET Colombia, Fall 2025
Landing
When we first landed (most of us had arrived on the same flight), we were greeted by an incredible view of Colombia. First we saw the beaches, then the mountains, the farms, the rivers, and finally the city of Cali. I had never been this far away from home on my own, so I was nervous as I walked off the plane, but everything went very smoothly!
We went through immigration, which was very quick, got our luggage, and were greeted by the lovely Luisa and Beatriz, our Resident Director and Senior Academic Coordinator. From there, we got on a bus and got to see a bit of Cali as we drove to our new home for the next four months. We were greeted by our Colombian roommates and this sunset view!
Beginning of Orientation Week
During our first week in Cali, we had an incredible orientation week filled with lots of information on Colombian culture, health and safety tips/training/demos, advising on classes, and many fun tours of the neighborhood and Cali. All this information helped me feel excited and ready for the months ahead!
On the first official day, we stopped at the mall, which is within walking distance of our apartments and has an array of food options, many clothing stores, and a grocery store! Outside of the mall, there are also local vendors where you can try empanadas or cholado (an icy beverage with fresh fruit and sweetened condensed milk)! Then we stopped by this little panadería called Depeapan, where we all got bandejas (a combination of a type of meat, rice, beans, salad, juice, and sometimes a little dessert). After lunch, we received a tour of the CET house and talked through some orientation material. The cohort ended the day by going to a rooftop restaurant right next to the CET house and having dinner with an incredible view of the Colombian mountain range.
During orientation week, I also got to teach a few people, one of my favorite games, Monopoly Deal! The housing situation is great because we all live very close to each other and all have access to pools, so we can hang out and do lots of activities together.
Tours
At the end of orientation week, we had the opportunity to go on two tours of Cali. On the first day, we went with our Colombian roommates on MIO (Cali’s transportation system that we have access to) to San Antonio to ride the cable cars up the mountains and get some beautiful views of the city. Then our roommates took us to a restaurant known for serving fantastic, authentic Colombian food. My favorite food was the papa rellena.
The next day, we got a city tour of Cali on a tour bus and got to see some iconic locations in Cali, including the Cristo Rey, the Parque El Gato De Tejada, and much more, while taking some fun pictures. They also gave us some delicious food (pan de bono and luladas).
Beginning of Classes
The first week of classes at CET was informative and interesting as we got to know our professors and understand some of the material we would be covering. We also learned about the trips and our traveling seminar that we’ll be taking to help enrich our learning.
We have one class at Universidad Autónoma de Occidente (UAO) in which we get full access to the clubs and facilities. The rest of our classes are at CET, but for all of our courses, we get to occasionally do trips in other locations. For example, this week we went to a professor’s house and she made us lunch as we learned about our Race and Identity course, and afterward, we got to learn a bit of Capoeira (Afro-Brazilian martial art).
Colombian Roommates
Our Colombian roommates have been sweet and helpful during the transition, which has helped us begin to navigate our new lives in Colombia. They have helped out with tours, showed us cool places to go or eat, taught us how to cook new dishes, and made us feel welcome.
During our second week, we were treated to one of our best meals so far at the restaurant owned by the mother of one of our Colombian roommates. Later on in that same week, we were all invited back to help celebrate her birthday, and we got to enjoy some of the best empanadas and some wonderful treats!
Having this kind of support and such amazing roommates has been so fun, especially as they teach us a bunch of new Colombian sayings and help us feel welcome!