The first and last time I was in Colombia, I was two and a half years old and it was 1973. Even though I’ve only been there that one time, I’ve always felt a strong connection to the country and its people. I was born in the US, North Jersey to be exact, and both my parents are Colombian. I grew up in warm and sunny Miami. The last ten years I’ve been living in Atlanta and terribly missing the proximity of the ocean. My frequent trips to South Florida are fun-filled days catching up with family and friends, indulging myself in delicious food, revisiting old haunts and basking on the beach.

In May 2012, I started working on a documentary film project entitled A Journey to Colombia. Through the film, I want to give the audience an insight into my search to understand my identity, family history and Colombian heritage. The goal of the documentary is to educate the audience about the beauty of Colombia and the Colombian people while contradicting Hollywood-stereotypes by displaying the country’s diverse culture, economic advances and the resilience of the people.

My initial plans to travel to Colombia this past summer had to be changed. Since then I’ve made several trip in the US filming other parts of the documentary. At this moment, I don’t know when I will be able to finalize my trip to Colombia but now this has also become part of my story, part of the journey to discover my roots.