February 2025

Greetings are an important part of any culture. When you begin to study another language, saying “hello” is the first thing you learn. As I compile my list of little cultural things I’ve observed in Colombia, this one comes up most in my daily life. If you want to be polite and fit in, especially in the part of the country where I live, you need to get greetings right. But getting it “right” sometimes feels unnatural or uncomfortable for me.