I am not the intended audience for My Colombian War. Essentially, I am not the intended audience simply because I am not an American. The way in which Silvana Paternostro describes things like the taciturnity of Cachacos and the loudness of Costeños, the violent civil wars, Juan Valdez and Pablo Escobar, are similar to how Laurens van der Post describes Bushmen and their culture in A Story Like the Wind. The popular song Se va El Caiman, a jingle that I sang as a five year old at family gatherings, is translated to sound like an African tribal chant. Being able to read in between the lines, I can perfectly understand why she included that song to make a point about migration to large cities (the song is about a man who, turned into a caiman, travels to Barranquilla). I have often heard the same point made using the same example. She is from the Coast; her hereditary memory remembers when Barranquilla was Colombia’s “Golden Gate” and not just a decadent city characterized by the irresponsibility of its government.
The author and I have a lot of background in common. We were both born in Barranquilla, both descend from traditional conservative families with roots in a small town called El Carmen de Bolivar, we have experienced Colombo-American culture at school and real America by living there. Furthermore, I indirectly know her. My mother told me about her boyfriends and her grades, my father said that he has always found her personality to be obnoxious, my grandfather told me about her father. Having all this contexts and having met so many people that think and write like she does makes me feel as if the story was naked. As a reader, I am usually only exposed to what the author wants to show us.
Never had I noticed an accent in American English before spending a month amongst Britons. Previously, I could recognize and imitate most English accents except American. When trying, my default Colombian accent kicked in. Now, I don’t see American as the default English, gaining a more universal perspective of the language. I felt similarly after reading My Colombian War. Looking at the thoughts, opinions, and beliefs of a person similar to the majority of people in my immediate community, from an outside point of view and in a different language, really made me understand the mentality of one certain Colombian subgroup.