After some time in the steamy pacific coast we set our sights north again to the cool mountains.  Johan had a friend in Medellin, Colombia’s second largest city, that said we could stay with him, and we were  both looking forward to a few lazy days and nights out.  Johan and Alfie had met in Buenos Aires at the start of Johan’s trip 8 months prior, and he was sure that we all had the same sick sense of humor to get along great. 

Alfie, a Norwegian, had a great, fully furnished apartment in the south of Medellin in the burrio of Sabaneta.  Once a small village that has now been swallowed by Medellin, the area still has a great community feel, and its not uncommon to see people and carts passing by with horses as you sit outside sipping a beer.  Our first night in town we stopped into El Bar, the small bar just across the street from the apartment.  We were introduced to everyone there, and were quickly included as friends and part of the group.  It was with many of these people which I met on the first night that I spent most of my time with in Medellin.  The neighborhood was great, and every time I would go for a walk I would run into people I knew.  We had our local pub and even our local pizza place next door, Rob’s Pizza Club.  Rob’s was a great place to sit and hang out with the owners and the rest of the neighborhood, and the pita burgers and pizza were main staples of my diet.

I decided to try and improve my crap Spanish and this was the place to do it.  There was a great university nearby, everyone around spoke constant Spanish, and even the other foreigners I was living with were close to fluent.  I did two more weeks of class, but really think it was the time spent out at the bar and pizza parlor that helped me improve the most.  My ears are now much better at picking out a few words to understand, and my speaking has gone from nonexistent to passable.  It was interesting to reflect on this one evening having dinner with Alfie, Johan, and a few of our other friends.  When I had first arrived I would just zone out, not getting enough of the Spanish to follow along, and not speaking enough to add anything.  By the end I could understand virtually everything, and even be a part of the discussion, likely to the dismay of the others.  I even picked up a few key phrases in Norwegian that are sure to get me into trouble whenever I head over there.      

Medellin is a red brick city set within a green valley of low mountains.  There are plenty of posh areas full of high rises, clubs, and department stores, but there are also some of the country’s largest slums.  It was interesting to get a better understanding of the city through staying there, and to see how much it has changed from the days of Pablo Escobar    There are enough tourist attractions to keep someone busy for a couple of days, but Medellin feels like much more of a residential town than a tourist destination.  The month I spent in Medellin flew by, but it was great to have a home and life again for a little while.  I’d forgotten how much I missed cooking and sharing meals with friends, going out to bars and clubs where the people know you, having friends drop by or call you up randomly, and of course movies and internet access.  It was a tough place and group of friends to leave, and one of the few locations so far this trip that I could see myself returning to live.

Categories: Colombia, Travel