A few things I have learned.

• When leaving a restaurant, it is polite to ask permission to leave from the other people dining.
• Eat everything at lunch, even when it seems like you will explode, because dinner will be small.
• Getting "gordita" (a little fat) is a small price to pay for eating what you want - I don't know anyone who "watches what they eat".
• Language = power - the more I understand & am able to express myself here, the more responsibility I am given here at CAC.
• "Que mas" (which means what else) should be followed by "bien" (good), not "nada" (nothing).
• I should just suck it up and get used to people waiting on me - I think I have cleared my plate from the table at "home" once since arriving 2 weeks ago.
• Very few Colombians like to go hiking (I haven't met a single person who even knows what to tell me when I ask about how to go to National Parks and hike).
• A decade ago, driving from Ibague to Bogota was unheard of. Since then, it is about as dangerous as driving from Boston to New York. 
• Even kids with the most tragic stories are super respectful and polite, and I love them. 
• Colombia is not at all like it is painted in the US - it is safe, full of loving, caring, welcoming people, and gorgeous.
• Mountains surrounding a city does not mean that the city will feel like Cusco.
• When a boy asks a girl to hang out, a positive response = they are dating (woooooops).
• I much prefer Latin greetings to American ones - every day I give and receive scores of kisses :)
• Spanish is so different between cities, not to mention countries - a word means one thing in Ibague and something different (and horrifying) in another place.
• Aguardiente (locally made licquor) is made from cane sugar, has anise added, and is a little bit like jaeger - ugh, and friends will go through a few bottles in a night.
• The Colombian school system does a terrible job of teaching English, though everyone must take it. So far, I much prefer people speaking to me in Spanish to people speaking to me in English (their accents & lack of vocab make it literally impossible to decipher).