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Stepping off of a well air conditioned bus unto the 94 degree day in San Basillo Del Palenque, Colombia I readied myself to perk up my ears in awareness to the story of this land and people. “Aseenahway!” Chris our tour guide and Palenquero himself says, meaning Home away from home. Chris tells us to greet the people of Palenque in this way. He tell us do not attempt to speak Spanish in Palenque as the language spoken is Palenquero; a combination of Portuguese and Bantu. I was greeted with faces that beamed contrasts of bright white smiles on rich dark skin, hand daps that made me forget I was in a foreign country and wild farm animals that went where the wind called them. Visiting the town by stops on the bus—because otherwise we’d certainly pass out. By our 3rd stop was a monument of a man named Benkos Bioho. The monument stood 15 feet overall, on a 10 foot pedestal held his bronze upper body male figure. Chain broken around wrists, face held intense force, one hand held over the heart while the other is extended out to his people? To his freedom? To the sky. From Cartagena I and 11 other African-American tourists took the bus into San Basillo Del Palenque with not much to complain about besides the bumps on the road. Until stepping foot off of the 3rd stop I did not realized how deep and painful the road from Cartagena to San Basillo Del Palenque truly was.