Réunions et rapports

Le samedi 16 février, une partie de cette délégation a visité le quartier de la Candelaria de Bogotá. Ensuite, après avoir été rejoints au cours de la journée de dimanche par les autres délégués luttant encore contre le décalage horaire, nous nous sommes rendus au marché de Paloquemao (ou Palo Quemado) – quelle profusion de couleurs, de saveurs et de sons! Peu de ‘gringos’ visitent ce marché, et nous avons été traités avec une aimable curiosité par les marchands, qui nous accueillaient avec leur habituel ‘a la orden’ (Est-ce que je peux vous aider ?). Certaines fleurs nous étaient familières, étant donné que bon nombre sont cultivées pour l’exportation et apparaissent régulièrement sur l’étalage de nos fleuristes en Europe. Par contre, la plupart des fruits et légumes étalés nous étaient inconnus, et les autochtones étaient plus que ravis de nous renseigner à leur sujet, de les couper en morceaux et de nous les faire déguster. Une incroyable variété de pommes de terre y étaient en vente (nous nous trouvions bien dans le pays d’origine de la pomme de terre) et nous avons savouré du tamal – du riz et du poulet servis dans des feuilles de bananes, ainsi qu’une étonnante guanábana (le corossol) de taille gigantesque.

La prochaine étape de notre visite nous a amenés au Parque Simón Bolívar, une destination de dimanche très populaire des habitants de Bogotá. Non loin de là se trouve la Biblioteca Virgilio Barco: Sébastien nous a rendu attentifs à la signification sociale particulière de cette bibliothèque qui serait à Londres et à Paris une bibliothèque tout à fait ordinaire: le fossé économique en Colombie était tel que l’éducation et la culture avaient tendance à être réservées à une certaine élite. Installer une source d’information comme une bibliothèque équipée d’ordinateurs en libre service dans un lieu populaire constitue un geste de grande envergure, le début d’une démocratisation de la culture, que nous, Européens, tenons pour acquise. La matinée s’est clôturée par une flânerie dans le quartier ‘des artistes’ d’Usaquén, suivie par un délicieux repas de poissons chez Abasto; après une balade sur le marché aux puces, nous sommes retournés en minibus à l’hôtel pour nous reposer.

Par la suite, nous avons visité l’hôtel Tequendama (ce qui signifie ‘portes ouvertes’ dans la langue des Indiens Chibcha) – point de repère de Bogotá et centre de la scène sociale de la ville. Le directeur nous a réservé un accueil chaleureux. Son titre - Général Orlando Salazar Gil - nous a un peu surpris. Mais rien d’étonnant, l’hôtel appartient au fond de pension des forces armées colombiennes!

Ce jour, le dîner fut servi Chez Gilles (Donde Gilles) – un restaurant normalement fermé le lundi soir, mais qui a exceptionnellement ouvert ses portes pour nous accueillir. Quel festin – il s’est avéré en plus que Gilles Rebierre, le propriétaire, était originaire d’une ville près de Libourne, de même que Jacques Bessou, un membre de notre délégation!

La prochaine étape au programme s’est révélée comme le point culminant de notre voyage pour votre correspondant – une visite à la plantation de café ‘El Agrado’ en compagnie de notre guide, Jaime Duque de la Federación Nacional de Cafeteros. La plupart d’entre nous n’avait jamais vu un caféier auparavant et furent fascinés d’observer tout le processus de fabrication du café, depuis la croissance des semis sous verre, leur repiquage dans les plantations de café, la récolte des graines en passant par leur décorticage, leur séchage jusqu’à leur torréfaction et leur dégustation au laboratoire du domaine. Nous étions surpris de voir qu’en raison des faibles variations climatiques saisonnières, un même caféier portait à la fois des fleurs, des graines vertes et des fruits mûrs – rendant la moisson assez compliquée. Après cette première partie plutôt ‘agricole’, nous nous sommes rendus au ‘bar à café’ – quelques tables rustiques arrangées sous une coupole de cathédrale, à l’endroit même ou une source d’eau ruisselait d’une colline; et ici même, dans cet endroit idyllique, Jaime a partagé avec nous son enthousiasme contagieux pour le café.

Next to the tasting laboratory, where we were introduced to the mysteries of coffee brewing and tasting; many of us found that the approach was as scientific as professional wine tasting, including the need to make a loud slurping sound when assessing the taster. One major difference – no need to spit out the mouthful as with wine!

Tuesday afternoon was spent in the SENA gastronomy school in Armenia, taking part in a round-table discussion on the subject of rural tourism. The audience consisted of eager and bright-eyed SENA trainees and a dozen local hoteliers, some of them clearly spoiling for a fight over student placements.

That evening the SENA students had worked wonders in their mobile training kitchen, and the AEHT delegation spent a euphoric evening dining on the patio, then swimming, taking Turkish baths and sitting in the hot tub – in the pelting tropical rain!

On Wednesday 20 th it was time to leave our idyllic finca and to drive through the zona cafetera to take our flight from Pereira to Medellín; we booked in at the Hotel Park10 then left at once for the Plaza Mayor and lunch expertly served by yet another SENA team. After inspecting a convention centre catering operation also run by the SENA, we set off through Medellín’s appalling traffic jams to see a truly remarkable SENA installation in Pedregal , a deprived area to the north of the city. This training centre perfectly illustrated the SENA’s social mission – ‘Conocimiento y competitivdad para todos los Colombianos’ – knowledge and competitiveness for all Colombians, especially those living in underprivileged circumstances. We were shown round by two particularly passionate exponents of the SENA mission – Álvaro Ospina, director of the Advanced Manufacture and Design Department, and Carmen, one of his assistants, who was our interpreter. Álvaro explained to us that he had revolutionised the operation of the Pedregal centre, changing it from a teacher-focussed building by removing the internal walls and installing group study spaces where students learned autonomy and collaborative skills.

Our next round table discussion took place on Thursday 21 st in the gastronomy school located at the Antioquia headquarters of the SENA in Medellín. AEHT delegates delivered their presentations, followed by a very lively discussion with an obviously very well-informed audience. We also enjoyed a contribution from Julian Estrada, a researcher in Colombian gastronomy, whose field-work is shortly to be published in his report, Colombia Sal y Dulce. To give an example of the scope of his work, in one piece of field research he had identified no fewer than twelve different types of vinegar in use in a single village.

And so to a new region of Colombia – the Caribbean coast: we took a flight from Medellín to Montería in the Córdoba department, and drove along the Sinu river, (with a member of the tourist police inside our bus – they are trained by the SENA) with its riverside dwellings and thriving fishing communities; we checked in at the Alcira hotel in Tolú, grabbed our bathing costumes and headed to Dario Montoya’s cabaña (bathing hut – but quite a palatial one!) at the playa del Francés (Frenchman's beach); we swam in the warm sea, and as the sun set over the ocean we drank beer, nibbled plantains and cheese, and contemplated the future of the AEHT while watching the waves crash onto the palm-fringed beach.

We were never short of surprises on this trip: the Tolú SENA Golfo del Morrosquillo hotel school had prepared a banquet for us, and the evening turned out to be worthy of García Marques in every respect: following the delicious dinner of cazuela de mariscos (sea-food casserole, many of the ingredients of which had no doubt been swimming in the sea a few metres away early that same morning) we were treated to some ceremonies: first we were given the freedom of the town of Tolú by the Mayor, Sr Alonso González: each member of our delegation was presented with a large brass key by a delightful group of little girls – some of them extremely nervous; when I tried to kiss the presenter of my key, she ran off and had to be retrieved to complete her duties. Then came the poetess – she declaimed her raunchy verse in a deep, hormone-laden voice, to loud applause from our delegation; the sensuous verse finally defeated Sebastian’s gifts as an interpreter, but this did not prevent us from catching the erotic drift of the recital.

On Friday 22 nd, once we had shaken off the effects of the previous night’s rum concoctions, we set off for a visit of school, followed by presentations from staff and local officials, including a fascinating description of a project to create a ‘gastronomy portal’ intended to record Colombia’s rich gastronomic traditions, still largely handed down by oral tradition. Then a short bus-ride to Ciénaga la Caimanera (Crocodile Creek) and a ride in three canoes through the mangrove swamps to a wooden platform where refreshments were served – among them oysters which our guides had plucked from the water minutes before. They were small and sweet, served to the more daring delegates with a dash of peppery sauce and orange juice.

Then another meeting with local journalists, a delicious lunch, then a bus-ride to our final destination – the lovely colonial city of Cartagena de Indias where we checked in at the El Marqués Hotel Boutique hotel for the final phase of our Colombian adventure. Cartagena was the most important port of the Spanish American empire, and all the booty looted from the Indians and destined for Spain had to pass through the city – frequently raided, burned and besieged by foreign pirates and corsairs. Within the impressive fortifications lies a beautiful colonial town, with balconies adorned with flowers, cool arcades (where once slaves were sold) and inviting inner courtyards.

We climbed into our horse-drawn carriages (the drivers are trained by the SENA of course!) for a tour of the city, then made our way to the Baluarte (‘bastion’) bar for drinks and dinner in the romantic moonlight.

Saturday 23 rd began with a visit to the Cartagena premises of the SENA – a historical building on the Plaza de la Aduana, the Casa del Marqués de Premio Real. We were given a warm welcome by the SENA regional director, Nora Luz Salazar then treated to a presentation from the Cartagena secretary for Tourism Luis Guillermo Martinez. Next came a presentation from SENA’s Francisco Cervantes on SENA’s tourism training activities in Cartagena – among them training of tourist police, of carriage-drivers and of beach vendors – taking place in specially erected tents on the beach! We visited the premises, drank coffee, then heard a presentation from Jacques Bessou , Wolfgang Latorre (Pedagogical coordinator of the Bogota Training Centre) and Nancy Cabrera (A famous Colombian chef currently employed by the SENA as a national advisor) describing a project on training accreditation being carried out in collaboration with the Nice hotel school in France.

Next a quick visit to the Sofitel – installed in a former convent – a delicious lunch of cazuela de mariscos at the DianaMar restaurant (with a very special coconut sauce) and some light shopping before a much needed siesta in preparation for the evening’s festivities – a sort of finale for a Colombian adventure.

The Cartagena SENA had pulled out all the stops for our last night – the first-floor terrace, with a plunging view over the city, had been prepared for our final banquet; as we sipped out casis espumoso, the musicians filed in and gave us a rousing concert of cumbia on their ‘gaita’ instruments , which they manipulated with consummate skill. Then the energetic dancers rushed on, leaping around in athletic movements to loud applause. Dinner was of the high quality we had come to expect, and was followed by exquisite miniature desserts. The more robust members of the delegation made their way to a tavern to listen to more Caribbean music.

All good things must come to an end: on Sunday February 24 th we left the tropical heat of Cartagena and flew back to Bogotá; some of us had to catch flights back to Europe, while other headed for the SENA once again for a final debriefing.

The AEHT is very grateful to Sebastien Longhurst for his great efficiency in organising this first AEHT overseas mission (we should emphasise that the members of the AEHT delegation paid for their own flights to Colombia, and that the SENA met all our expenses in Colombia). Sébastien is one of those enviable citizens of the world, moving effortlessly from one language and culture to another, and equally at home chairing complex debates and drinking beer with the boys; he is youthful, tireless, relaxed, inspirational, and the SENA is very fortunate to have such a dedicated proponent of its admirable social mission. Well done Sebastian.

Today, the SENA, through its learning centres, reaches out to the entire country and offers a very diverse range of services to students young and old as well as to national and foreign companies. Our three main missions are:

Le slogan du SENA

Salle de classe et cuisine de formation mobiles

Classe de pâtisserie