By Joe Pantorno, Sports Editor
If I were to give you a map of the world and ask you where Colombia was, could you point it out?
Let's forget our map reading ability skills for the moment to realize that we are all a little closer to Colombia than we think.
Meet the Charry sisters. Senior middle blocker Erika and junior setter Catalina; a pair of Colombian stars that have provided a style of play for the Hofstra University volleyball squad that has grabbed the attention of the Pride's opposition.
Hailing from Santiago de Cali, Colombia, or simply "Cali, Colombia," according to younger sister Catalina, the Charry sisters grew up not just playing volleyball.
In my country we would just play the other grades of my high school," said Catalina. "I also played basketball and soccer, I never really practiced soccer but I was good at it and I've played basketball since I was six years old."
No matter what sport though, these sisters have been together even though one needed a slight push from the other.
"We started together in volleyball and I was the one who wanted to come and play volleyball first," said Catalina. "She [Erika] wanted to be a model, something very nice and I was more like the tomboy. Erika gave me some of her style to be more girly and I gave her some tips to be stronger. We compensate each other."
Competition and the way of life was not enough for the Charrys and in 2009, were recruited by Salt Lake Community College in Utah where they both excelled, leading the Bruins to conference and regional championships.
"I saw some of the volleyball players in my country go to the United States and when I was little, I was the crazy one and wanted to experiment with living outside the country," said Catalina. "I wanted to leave my family, my sister was more like ‘I love my mom, I don't want to leave my mom,' and things like that so I was pushing her and telling her that this was going to be a great opportunity."
It was a tough move for the sisters, but the Charrys found solace with one person in particular.
"My father asked me if I would ever get a chance," said Catalina. "He pushed me. He said that I have to start my school."
After growing up in an urban area of Colombia, location had much to do with the choice of where they were going to bring their talents.
"I wanted to go to a city part," said Catalina. "We decided on Salt Lake City because it was the capital of Utah."
For anyone coming to a new country there are always hurdles awaiting, this was no different for Catalina and Erika.
"We knew if we were coming to this place we were going to learn English, because we didn't know any English," said Catalina. "We wanted to play Division I, but in order to play Division I, you had to know English. For me, it was not as difficult as it was for my sister."
Some mainstream American culture helped Catalina get ahead of the English curve.
"I used to listen to punk bands like Blink 182, Papa Roach, Limp Bizkit," said Catalina. "I related to American songs and wanted to follow the lyrics so it was easier for me to get used to it, but for my sister it was a little bit tougher, she used to cry a lot when we came here. She was shy to talk."
The Charrys grabbed Hofstra's attention when the sister's team went to national competitions in 2009 and 2010. Though a University in northern America was not the most desired destination due to weather, there were a few big things that factored into their decision.
"We have some friends in New York," said Catalina. "I think that was the one thing that pushed us there and we decided to talk to the coaches at Hofstra. We came for a visit [and] we liked the team. They were giving us a lot of security like they were going to take care of us. We felt like we were in a family."
Though New York is much different than Colombia, the Charrys are taking it in stride.
"I really like it here, I like it a lot," said Erika. "The girls here are great and I feel like a family here on this team. I feel comfortable with every girl. Times Square is great and the city is great for shopping."
"I love Manhattan," said Catalina. "I like the lights. You can find whatever kind of person you can imagine. You can find the crazy one, the model, and the famous people. You can find whatever you want in New York."
Keeping the trend of playing together through college is a dream come true for these sisters, even though they have disagreements like every set of siblings.
"We're very good friends on and off the court," said Catalina. "Sometimes on the court we have some differences; we fight sometimes because I know she can do it better or maybe because I set her bad or something or I'll get mad at her because she doesn't get a point, but that's just how it is."
When anyone is as far away from home as these two are, there will always be feelings of homesickness.
"We miss our family," said Catalina. "We have a little brother, he's eight years old and he is the sweetest person. There is a hug and a kiss for us every single time we see him and he is always excited when we come back and he gets sad when we are leaving."
"We also miss the food," said Erika. "Especially the salsa."
Hofstra's food may be lacking compared Colombia's cuisine, but there has not been much slacking from the volleyball team, especially the Charrys, as a 9-6 record going into conference play has brought a new, foreign swagger to the Pride.