Falling in love with Medellín

Growing up, my dad would dress me and my sisters up in traditional Persian costumes, turn on music, and let us dance the night away! It’s safe to say that dance has been instilled in my life at a young age.

I’ve connected with many individuals, groups, and cultures through dance. I’ve always believed that you can connect with anyone through the common language of dancing and motion; and that’s exactly what happened when I met a group of Colombians. We instantly connected when they realized I knew all the words to a J Balvin song. Singing turned into dancing, and the next thing I knew I was going salsa dancing every weekend with this group.

I didn’t see much of a difference in our different cultures: Colombian and Persian. Both cultures love gathering, dancing, eating, singing, laughing. In a new city it felt great to have such a strong cultural connection with a group that I was still learning about. It wasn’t until one of them invited me to their hometown in Colombia that I truly fell in love with the Colombian culture.

In February of 2017, I visited Medellín, Colombia. The hometown of the majority of my Seattle Colombian crew. The food was exquisite, the people were so friendly, and the dancing, oh the dancing, was unbelievably fun. Visiting Medellín reminded me of the various ways to connect with people, especially dancing.