Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR's international team shares moments from their lives and work around the world.
In the central plaza of this remote northern Colombian town, I came upon a ring of metal rods skewered with tenderloin, ribs and brisket, encircling a smoky fire.
Men in cowboy hats were making carne a la llanera, which means "prairie-style meat." It's a culinary tradition from the plains (los llanos) of southeast Colombia, where cowboys and cattle herds still roam.
But what were they doing in Monguí, which sits 9,500 feet high in the Andes Mountains?
Turns out carne a la llanera is popular all over Colombia. In Monguí, the succulent aroma helped draw hundreds of people to the plaza, where their purchase of a raffle ticket included a plate of the fire-roasted beef.
Tied to a nearby tree was a cute but nervous-looking lamb. I feared the animal was bound for the spit — but later learned it would go to the holder of the winning lottery ticket.
See more photos from around the world:
- Greetings from an Indian Railways coach, with spectacular views from Mumbai to Goa
- Greetings from the Rhône Glacier, where a gash of pink highlights how it's melting
- Greetings from the Mediterranean, where dolphins swim alongside a migrant rescue ship
- Greetings from Kyiv, where you might stumble across Zelenskyy taking a stroll
- Greetings from Guatemala, where one person's trash becomes another's colorful art
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