Aug 21 2009
The Other Side of Cartagena - Not Romancing A Stone
Being born outside of the United States and living in a third world country like Colombia has given me a different perspective of the world because I can see how different and varied is the world compared to the bubble I lived in for almost 2 decades called Cartagena de Indias. Cartagena for short is one of the emblematic cities of Colombia and as well one that shows two different sides much like A Tale of Two Cities from Charles Dickens and Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables because in the city there are two different panorama’s from the neighborhoods that are on the seaside peninsula where the old city it’s located and the commoners that live away from the ocean side.
Maybe it was an odd example to cite down Charles Dickens work but probably it was more appropriate because there are sprouts of revolution coming from the oppressed masses to search for a more equality living but also there are some in-conformity toward the dominant class because they have to pay more for basic service than the middle class and they say that is not fair that they have to pay more because they living in a more privileged location; so what to do to solve the problem? If at the end neither of the parties are happy with the way they live and specially if everyone is searching for equality how equality can be found? If living in the city in general its expensive because people earn in Pesos and they spent like if they were spending Dollars or Euros and acquiring a decent job that can give you a decent living is really difficult because you have to earn at least US$50.000 a year to live modestly and without worries and even so it’s not enough because jobs are scarce and there is inequality.
Check the photos below, they are part of a phenomenon called “rebusque” (Eng: To search for) where a person search for a different kind of job to survive in the jungle and most of the time the jobs they find are illegal and don’t follow any sanitation rule but what can they do? They need to survive and bring food to the table.
