So, I’ve been out in Medellin, Colombia for about 6 weeks
now. Wow, what a time it’s been..! We stayed in an Airbnb, in an authentic
neighbourhood, in an incredible flat, for an amazing price – but then decided
to move to a far more convenient flat (in terms of being closer to the metro
line, social meet ups, sports and generally being able to get about on foot to
places), but are sadly living in a really not-so-great-place at anymore… doh!
It’s not horrendous – just completely unreliable Internet; noisy walls (you can
hear people speaking as if they’re right in your face) to dodgy electrics,
sparseness and the occasional cold shower. All part of the experience, right..?
I’ve had lots of initial impressions on the city and
country, so here goes: the people are short (the bathroom mirrors are in line
with my chest); there’s always a child-sized toilet; you have to take toilet
roll from the main stand into the toilet cubicle with you before using it; you
need to put toilet tissue in the bin (like everywhere); people move slowly;
people smile more; there are around 10 murders a week that take place in the
city (down from around 10 a day a few years back!); they put sugar in bread (a
lot) – and cheese; the local food is largely all deep-fried and served with a
kilo of cheese - for good measure, clearly; people are health conscious from an
exercise perspective (but not at all from a nutritional one – a very real and
bizarre disconnect); the metro and transport system as a whole is relatively
advanced and well run; the Colombians do not trust the police; there are a
*lot* of Americans here; old Americans come here to retire; younger ones come
over to work and travel; the Colombians are extremely friendly and helpful
people; the taxi drivers drive like maniacs; Uber is illegal, but still in use
(we have the app); the traffic is a bit crazy; there’s a lot of pollution; the
city is set in a valley; people smile from a very natural and organic place (I
suppose that would be from the heart?); hot dogs are the most consumed food by
the locals wanting street food; the fruit and veg here is AMAZING (we try new
ones each day); it’s hard to get a mobile phone network up and running as you
effectively need to be a resident to get one; the streets are very clean;
people vigilantly pick up their dog poo; there’s a large digital nomad community
in the city; the Colombians wear sporty clothes – it’s not unusual to see a
(beautiful) woman in a polo shirt, jeans and trainers; people are big on their
beauty - there are barbers and beauty salons *everywhere*; a lot of expat
restaurants are geared towards Americans (quarter pounders, heavy meat and all
that jazz); foreigners are known as ‘gringos’; they get confused with who I am
- I get stared at a lot, as a result of this confusion; as well as hot dogs,
people LOVE their dogs *big* time – vets, pet groomers and shops are
*everywhere* (built in between the human beauty salons); ‘tranquillo’ (it’s ok,
chiiiill) leads the way; music is the
king – it blares out from everywhere; some parts of the city look like what I
imagine the US to look like (wide streets, big leafy trees, suburban-feeling;
AC is not needed – the weather stays a perfect 28 degrees (approx.) all year
round…
Here are some pics:
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| The central mid-town area in Medellin from a bridge |
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| It's very common to see street vendors selling fruit - much to our delight! |
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| Evolution taking place... |
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| What's interesting about Medellin is that it's based in a valley, so all homes are built upwards, often not on the most stable of foundations. An amazing sight to see |
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| The beautiful graffiti in 'Comuna 13' - an area now, on most occasions, safe to visit. It was previous over-run with gangs and was deemed far too dangerous to go to |
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| Me in the botanical gardens. Open for free to the public, and absolutely beautiful! |
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| Some of the stunning views across the valley, at disk - taken coming out of a metro station... |
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| The view outside our apartment. Amazing how leafy and nice it looks, right? |
Until next time! I’ll talk about the sites I’ve seen in the
city (and beyond, I hope at this point).
