Pacho

Just like last week, we were invited to visit a town north of here in a little warmer climate.  The friends that invited us have been inviting us to their country home for many years and we never seemed to get there.  Well, I wish we had gone earlier, because it was a real treat.
Pacho is known for its orange groves.  Their oranges come in two types.  Navel oranges and juice oranges.    It was such a pleasure to drink freshly processed oranges for breakfast.  They also have many horse farms that breed "Paso Fino" horses.  For those of you who do not know what a Paso Fino Horse looks like, just imagine an average to smaller sized horse that prances so smoothly that you could put a glass of wine on its back and the wine should not spill.  They were beginning their two week long festival, so the town was really busy.  Our first meal was at a local restaurant where you can look at the pot and pick what you want to eat.  Very good and extremely large portions.  I ate all of what I was served for lunch, but I was not hungry until the next day.
Our host is one of the kindness and most generous persons I have ever met.  He is one of those hard working and dedicated people who has educated his three children and created a life for them that few people without a college education can expect to attain.  When we got to their very beautiful house, we found out that they had no electricity.  So, I went with him to walk around the neighborhood to find out what was happening and to buy some candles just in case.  He knew almost everyone we met, greeted them like best friends.  He asked about their family members and they responded just as enthusiasticly and warmly.  Mind you, most of these people, have worked for either building his house or helping him to maintain it while he is not there.  Very few of the houses was what we in the US would be considered "liveable".  In other words, they are poor.  However, these people were polite, fairly well educated, and obviously good honest people.  Their demeanor really impressed and reminded how wonderful the Colombian people are regardless of how corrupt their government and the governing elite is.  My friend treated all of them like his friend and they treated him as their equal.  It was a real lesson in civics. He treats them as equals and they respect and like him.  I doubt that even though he can not get to his country home more than once a month or so, it would never be robbed nor damaged.  His neighbors take care of it for him.
My point here is that no matter what you read about Colombia in the news, or read in travel magazines, there is another side to the story.  The real Colombia and the real colombians are never in the news and always suffer due to the lack of decency and civic responsibility that a few of their countrymen demonstrate.