Written by Magdalena Poling, (Carleton College), Student Correspondent for CET Colombia, Fall 2025
Reflection on my journey so far
Ever since I was a little girl, I have dreamed of visiting Colombia to learn more about my roots. Never did I imagine that I would get the opportunity to live here for over 4 months. This is why I am grateful for CET Colombia and the incredible people that helped make this journey possible.
Before coming to Colombia, I was nervous about what to expect as I hadn’t taken a Spanish course in a few years, had never lived more than an hour away from my home, and didn’t know what other unseen challenges the future held. When we arrived Luisa, our resident director, talked about the emotional rollercoaster of studying abroad which includes the honeymoon phase, the plunge, initial adjustment, confronting deeper issues, and adapting and assimilating. When I first arrived in Colombia, I fell in love with the country from the food, the people, the salsa music playing everywhere, and the exciting adventures ahead. I have learned a lot of lessons about myself as I began to miss friends, family, and my usual college life as I entered the new phases of my study abroad experience.
But now that I’ve passed the halfway point, I can say with absolute certainty that I’m incredibly grateful to have chosen this program. I’ve already learned so much about myself, Colombia, new perspectives, Spanish, and much more. Colombia has such a proud and magnificent culture and CET Colombia does such a wonderful job of exposing you to the beauty and the hardships. I am excited for the next two months and all the important lessons I will learn. Which is why you should definitely do a CET study abroad program and I hope you consider coming to Colombia.
Class Trips
One of my favorite parts of the CET academic program is the field trips we take that bring us out of the classroom. Whether that is making sancocho, a traditional Colombian soup, by the river after swimming or touring museums. I loved going to the Salsa museum with one of my classes as we learned the rich history of salsa throughout the world and in Colombia as Cali is the Capital of Salsa! We also got to dance a little salsa to different global artists as we absorbed the important history.
I also enjoyed touring Cali’s gold museum that is open to the public and learning more about Colombia’s complicated relationship with the gold industry and the history of the native people. Finally, my favorite part of CET Colombia is the Traveling Seminars we take as I mentioned my trip to San Cipriano and next week we are heading to Palenque and Cartagena! Through CET and its resources and support I have seen so much of Colombia and know I will be walking away from this experience with a deeper understanding and appreciation of the place of my birth.
The Wonderful People
Overall this program does an excellent job at surrounding you with many kind and supportive people. As much as I have been missing home, it has been fun to spend time with the people of CET including our lovely Colombian roommates. They have all been very helpful from helping me find the best grocery store to making sure I am feeling supported to inviting us to do random activities like a rollerblading class. They also helped plan a party to help celebrate El Día del Amor y la Amistad which is like Valentine’s Day but more centered on celebrating all your loved ones which is why it is called day of love and friendship. They also organized a cute video with videos from all the CET students’ loved ones from home which was beautifully heart warming.
Our Colombian roommates either go to Universidad Autónoma de Occidente (UAO) or Universidad del Valle. Although we attend UAO, we still have opportunities to interact with Uni Valle students which has been enjoyable because their university is a larger public school that gives us more new people to meet. Uni Valle has beautiful graffiti and art all around the campus as students are encouraged to use it as a tool for memory, peace and social transformation, and to express the political and cultural feeling of its community. We got to learn a bit about the school and get a tour from the lovely students during our Spanish class as we did a little culture exchange with some of the students there who are learning English!
We also got the opportunity to volunteer with Techo Colombia, a non-profit organization that partners with volunteers and communities to fight poverty by building emergency housing, promoting community development, and empowering residents across the country. This was such a valuable experience being able to help in our own community and meet many new people from the volunteers to the residents we were helping! CET Colombia offers a variety of volunteering experiences from working with children to programs like Techo.
As I have mentioned before, the people of Colombia are incredibly kind, from our neighbors to community members to business owners to other students, which has made it such a joy to learn in this space and so easy to practice Spanish!
Fall break: Support of CET and the Ease of Travel
During our fall break we had the wonderful opportunity to travel around Colombia. Which I was excited about because I believe that it is an important part of being in another country to explore it as much as possible. Traveling in Colombia in my experience has been safe and easy! Therefore, if you are interested in seeing places outside of Cali whether that is another city in the Andean region or the Pacific or Caribbean or more, this is the perfect place for you. Each region and city in Colombia has different sayings and culture which will offer new and exciting experiences.
For our fall break, we all went to Medellín, the second biggest city in Colombia, and a few of us went to Salento, which is in the coffee triangle of Colombia. With the support of staff and our professors we learned a bit about these regions before and after our visit of both the good and the bad history and dynamic of these cities.
In Medellín, we visited many tourist and historical destinations and in Salento we went to a coffee farm and went horseback riding through Cocora Valley (home to the largest palm trees in the world). We tried a lot of delicious food in both cities and both were experiences that I will cherish and learn from.
In Colombia, it’s best not to arrive with any specific plans as there is so much to do and often there is more in person versus online so if you decide to come on this program come with an open mind, ready to discover.