Visit La Plaza del Chorro in La Candelaria many afternoons and evenings when the universities are in session (and it's not raining) and you'll see a group of mostly young people gathered on the steps of the chapel, probably laughing. They're not watching television or playing with their Ipods, but enjoying one of the oldest forms of human entertainment - storytelling. It's a tradition here, which not only entertains, but also helps pay storytellers' way through college. See Diego, one of the best-known storytellers, tell a crazy tale here.

The tales are risque and irreverent, unsophisticated but funny and full of belly laughs. You're not likely to learn many transcendent secrets, but you won't be bored, either. And when the storyteller passes the hat around, you may just be helping finance someone's college education.