Besides the chance to improve my Spanish my trip to Colombia was also fueled by my desire to experience the Colombian Culture once again, and what's culture without food?? This blog will be dedicated to the delicious foods of Colombia and a short/long (depending) description of each!

Frutas y Vegetales (Fruits and Vegetables)

Mango: By no means unheard of thru ought markets world wide, but nothing beats the taste of a fresh mango grown here in Colombia!

Oranges: Again, not uncommon world wide but a fresh glass of orange juice of Colombian oranges is by far one of THE BEST juices one could ever have.

Mamonsillos:

Tomate de Arbol:

Yucca:


Panes (Breads)

Hostel led by a very friendly Argentinian guy. So is the atmosphere, friendly and helpful, the facilities are not tooooo big but its good enough, it has a nice backyard with a small bar and TV-Lounge. If you like sports, the Unidad Deportiva is only a stones throw away, with a decent skate park and places for most of the other sports you know. Have a good time!

So, June 8th was my first day of school. I am back in 8th grade (woo hoo...) the grade my cousin is in. This is also the level of grammar I can comprehend, so it's convienient. (sp, no English spell check here!) School is... VERY different here than it is from the states. For starters, it's a private school. Then, it has all 11 grades (they have 11 grades) in the same space. As per the students, In my opinion they just don't care about their education. Students spend the class period running around, screaming, talking over the teacher, listining to their Ipods, texting, and even playing with LIGHTERS. (that was def. a new one for me!) There was one day we were actually in French class, the teacher also a foreigner and not used to the disruptions, was trying so hard to get them to quiet down. I had had enough at this point and screamed <QUE SE CALLEN LA BOCA!> which translates to <SHUT UP!>. They were kinda stunned, the teacher greatful, but lo and behold a failed attempt on my part, go figure. (though it made for a great story to tell friends and family!) And after all this disobedience, the principal told ME I need to re-move my nose ring for being unslightly. ($%#%/&"##&/!!!!) If I was fluent in Spanish and had no respect for authority, I'd have a few, unkind words for her... -_- Putting aside all bad aspects of the school... erm, putting school aside... I'm learning lots of Spanish. =D It's what I'm here for isn't it? If anything else fun happens, I'll be sure to write. God knows tomorrow someone might explode into rainbow confetti, at this point it wouldn't suprise me.


Note: I tell it how it is. This school is really like this. If how I describe it offends anyone, I apologize now, but know I have no intentions of sugar coating the facts of life. Sorry. Much love. <3

So, my journey to Colombia begins at 3 AM on June 30th just outside of New York City. The last two weeks or so having been spent with my family (both Colombian and American) in Pennsylvania and New York City, showing the Colombian half the sites and sounds of the States. With this adventure over the Colombians and myself will return to Colombia. Here, they will return to everyday life, work, school, etc. I however, will be experiencing a whole new world there until the end of August. As stated, this begins at 3 AM on June 30th just outside of NYC. I spend a good 10 minutes saying good-bye to my family and then we begin our adventure to the airport (trust me, it was indeed an adventure). The driver of our shuttle is a Middle-Aged Moroccan Man who speaks English, Arabic, Spanish and French. (beastly, eh?) So, we get to the airport and guess what our polylingual friend tells us? We need to pay the 200$ fee. Hmm, well, that was something my father failed to mention would need to be accomplished just 45 minutes earlier, wasen't it? So the next hour is spent attempting to get ahold of my family, exchanging dollar bills for quarters to replenish the pay phone in that attempt, and calming an angry driver threatening to call the cops (go figure). So, after that glorious hour I remembered the money I brought with me saved from my job (I knew I had that job for a reason...) So we gave the driver 200$ cash and we were on our merry way. After going through normal airport routine we board our plane for a 5 hour, non-stop flight to Medellín, Colombia. Holy $h!t... probably the longest 5 hours of my life. The flight itself was not bad, I don't mind 5+ hour flights. The thing that made me want to open the emergency hatch and leap into the Atlantic Ocean were the 5 or so SCREAMING children that screamed THE WHOLE FLIGHT THERE! Seriously, they took turns, while two or three screamed their lives away the rest were re-charging. *cringes*. Needless to say I was more than thrilled to finally land in Medellín and more than willing to spend however long it took to get through customs, regardless I needed to leave that building naked and empty handed so long as I got away from the screaming.... Not really, but you get the idea.
     The last time I came to Colombia (and the first time) it was about 8 PM and raining. This time it was noon and sunny. The ride home was gorgeous and I felt only a sense of happiness and pure bliss. Our first stop was my aunts house. We unpacked our stuff and I explored the house7surroundings a bit and then PASSED OUT. Dinner was a lovely meal of arepas and toast. (no sarcasm intendid what so ever). Then, some more sleeping. So concludes the first blog. =)

Anyone travelling to Medellin should consider a private vacation apartment instead of one of the upmarket hotels. They’re cheaper, bigger and offer much more privacy. There are loads to choose from. I recently had a great week with apartments-medellin.com. They also provide airport pickup and can help you get the most out of the city. http://www.apartments-medellin.com - Michael

For the past week I have hung out in the City of Medellin, a place once the principal headquarters for Colombia´s cocaine cartels and home to Pablo Escobar, who was taken out of this world back in 1993.  It rains every day here, but I really dig this city, thus the reason for the long stay.  Part of it is the cooler temps, public transport and laid back vibe, but I´ve also found a great place to land for the week.  The hostel I´m staying in is a house in a chill neighborhood outside of the city center, and it is full of a host of characters who are all just a little off center.  There´s the guy from the states named Broadfoot who makes his own shoes and mopes around since his lady love left; the English bloke, a recovering alcoholic that wears his emotions on his sleeve who wants to save all the potheads here; the former Peace Corp. gal who is one of the potheads and doesn´t want to be saved; the Swiss guy who speaks four languages, including Espanol, who cracks a beer daily at 10 and sucks on Cuban cigars by nightfall; the Japanese guy who speaks no other language, thus we know very little about him; the Korean mother/daughter team who make smelly food each night; the English guy who spends his days on the computer and goes out at night to work on finding his Colombian wife; and the myriad people who come and go on a daily basis.  I´m not sure where I fit it in all this, but the point is, I feel like I fit in here. 

But what of Medellin…it´s a large city flowing through a valley.  It has the country´s first metro system and a great one at that.  They even have two cable cars that take you up to different parts of the city with great views across.  There are plenty of churches and museums for those who can´t get enough, and lots more Botero, who hails from this city.  A group of us have been venturing out to check out this place, which has made life easy for me given the fluency of some.  However, there is nothing terribly exciting to report.  We´ve had some great days and long nights.  I find I´ve taken few pictures despite the length of my stay, but I´ve just really enjoyed my company.  I do feel bad though because I´m with people who are fluent in Spanish, so I haven´t gained much ground in learning it myself.  I find the people are super friendly if you do engage them in conversation in their local tongue, but on my own I invariably find myself being confronted about not being able to speak Spanish and bungling my way through a little just to deflect looks of disapproval. 

I must break away and get moving, however. Tonight I set off with my Spanish-speaking Swiss friend to Popayan on my way to Ecuador, but first I will partake of the free barbecue at the hostel and bid farewell to my favorite clan of Medellin nuts.      

First time in the "City of Eternal Spring".  The ride from the Airport to the Hotel was a sight to behold.  Amazing and beautiful.  Downtown was a bit dirty and you can see obvious tranny prostitutes through the city in the early evening, nonetheless the city is very nice in the morning and early afternoon and outside of downtown, it's nightlife is great once outside of the downtown area.  I stayed in the Botero Plaza Hotel, which is a very nice hotel, 4 star, but by U.S. standards would be a 3 star hotel.  One of the most impressive things about Medellin is that there was a lot of city development which has occurred over the years since the death of Pablo Escobar.  They have a "Metro Cable", which is a Gondola system that takes you way up into the mountains where the impoverish people live.  It's amazing how different to the U.S. it is.  In the U.S. the wealthy live by the ocean and in the Mountains.  In Colombia, and most 3rd world countries, it's the exact opposite.  Well, going up the Gondola, you can see incredible architectural modernization in the Gondola going directly over some dirt poor housing.  It's quite impressive.  Another funny quirk was that in one of the malls there were about 12 hair salons and perhaps 7 or 8 other types of stores, clothing, food/drink, type stuff.  I thought that was pretty interesting.   We danced salsa in a club and drank Aguardiente while I learned a little about "Troa"

somehow it didnt click for me with medellin

even though i have a lot of respect for what they did with the former most dangerous city in the world just 15 years ago... it (feels) absolutely safe, definitely safer than other south american cities like rio, lima, cusco, etc. walked around at night in the areas near the metro or the upper-class poblera where my hostel was.

but they just overdone it. its like a bad clone of miami without any substance or style. parque lleras, the tacky center of nightlife features nice restaurants but the bars & clubs around it are just ridiculously bad. have to admit that i didnt make it to the real clubs in the outer skirts of the city

and way too much plastic surgery... looks like a zoo there... every second girl runs around with a bandaid on her nose and supersized other parts of their body. it's not even funny anymore.

i did have a very nice "guide" from couchsourfing showing me around and to see all the impressive sights was a fun thing to do, but still, i don't get this city :)

... is quite bumpy

but no problem with the local special pill good for motion sickness and if taken in pairs will knock you out completely... its even a proper, legal one at that!

but first, the bus station in bogota is nice, clean, simple & efficient. took the most expensive option, bolivariano with huge comfortable seats & legroom... aircon, toilet and english-subtitled movies included. although i thought blood diamond is a strange movie choice in colombia...

bus started southamericanesque 30 minutes late and arrived a bit longer than planned.

of course, no incidents at all on the way. i dont know what people think when they say busses in colombia are unsafe. the road  was very busy. unless the guerillas want to play find the gringo / oil baron in one of the 5 busses in a row theres not really a big chance of anything happening...  they do let people in on the way though without passport checks as at the busstation, but still, no significant risk.

in the jungly hills before medellin, every 500m there was a double army team patrolling the road. well, actually hanging around laughing and reading newspaper - but still,  it had an effect. even though im not sure if i felt more or less safe :)

the scenery is impressive, the last bit coming down into the valley of medellin is absolutely stunning.. forget la paz!

arrived at the nord bus station in medellin for some reason. a taxi driver picked me up, giving me a nice little city tour on the way and my conversational spanish is improving... still didnt understand much of what he was blabbering.. .people in bogota had a nicer accent! nevertheless he was friendly, and for the first time i actually heard some reggeaton music somewhere in colombia!

but the first impression of medellin will need another entry... .its... strange here! let's just say for now that i will probably be haunted by nightmares of silicone tits chasing after me! (now thats a cliffhanger!)

I am traveling on a tight budget and am always looking for deals. Medellin normally is not one of the places in Colombia to find the best deals, but I found a pretty good price for a hostel bed. Casa Mayde is right by the Zona Rosa and charges 12 000 pesos for a dorm bed, few thousand pesos less than the other hostels in Medellin. The place was recently opened by the bit eccentric but very nice Mayde and has most things you would expect from a hostel including a kitchen and dining area, laundry and cable TV with a few channels in English and German. There is only space for about 10 people, which creates a pretty familiar atmosphere. On weekends the street gets pretty noisy, but the dorm room is in the back of the hostel and is reasonably quiet. But even so, if you are not into the nightlife, it is better to come here during the week.

If you are in Medellin and in the mood for some great steaks... Go to San Carbon. It is an open restaurant located in trendy area of Parque Lleras. While you are eating and drinking with your friends, you can people watch. They have great service! There are San Carbon Express cafes in shopping malls which is more like a fast food version. Overall, great steaks, excellent service!

Hello all,
This morning I was determined to get out and see the sights in Medellin.  From my hotel it is a 15 block walk to the closest Metro station.  I have walked it every time so far, but I wanted to figure out the bus situation to prove I could do it.  I walked over to Calle 10a, the closest main road that heads west and waited until the first bus came along.  There was a sign that actually said Estacion Poblano on the front.  That was easy, and I made note of the number for the return trip.  The cost for the bus was about $0.57.

I grabbed the metro and headed towards the city center.  I got off of the metro at the Parque Berrio stop.  I headed west and ran smack into the Plazoleta de las Esculturas.  This plaza is filled with sculptures by Fernando Botero.  Botero has donated over 20 of his works to be displayed here, and they are amazing.  Everything is done in bronze and they all have the same general theme, all of the people and animals are very round and fat.  I couldn't decide if they were all hideous or beautiful, but I think it's more of the latter, with a bit of the former.

Medellin has a good share of great old churches, and open space plazas or parks in the center of town.  This really gives the people a place to congregate and get together for the buying and selling process.  Today also happens to be Ash Wednesday, so there were huge crowds of people going in and out of every church.  By the way, here in Medellin the priests really seems to attack the forehead with great fervor.  I have seen some really well placed and dark ashen crosses down here.

I made the circuit of the downtown area a got back to the Metro.  I made the trip to a station in the north of town that connects with MetroCable.  MetroCable is a cable car system that is part of the Medellin Metro, so you can ride it without paying an additional fee.  Metrocable goes up a steep hillside that would have made a traditional leg of the metro very difficult.  The cable cars themselves are very similar to any other system, but there are three stations along the way.  It seems like a very creative solution to reach a poorer neighboorhood that would have been very difficult to attach to the system.

I then took a ride on the metro until I got to the northern terminus, and then traveled back.  It was a nice, cheap way to see some parts of the city.  I got off at my station, and checked out the local Exito store.  This department store and grocery store was very busy, and I love getting a look at what things cost, and what types of produce and meat the locals buy.

Getting the bus back to my neighborhood was easy now that I had the bus number, and then I went back to the hotel for a nap.  I grabbed some chinese food at a local establishment that was delicious, and then did some research on my Friday airport trip.  My flight leaves at 7:30am from the Medellin airport, which sounds great but the airport is actually in Rionegro.  Rionegro is an hour drive from the center of town, and that makes it worrisome and/or expensive to get there that early in the morning.

The hostal was kind enough to make a call for me, and they confirmed that there is a shuttle bus that makes the run from a downtown hotel starting at 4:15am.  So now I may still have to take a taxi downtown, but that is much better then the possible $20 I would pay for a taxi to the airport.  Then again, the metro does start running at 4:30am, so I may be able to swing just a taxi to the station, metro to the hotel, then shuttle to the airport.  We'll see what kind of risk I feel like taking Friday morning.

Tomorrow I am not sure what I will do.  Maybe I'll take a little daytrip to a nearby town.

Later, Phil

Hello all,

It's been about a week since I had a 'do-nothing day', so I guess that today qualifies.  I ventured out for lunch at around noon and discovered that I was very close to the ultra-hip Zona Roja.  I strolled past a sushi place, and decided that it was time for a splurge.  I loaded up on the raw fish and actually broke $20 on the tab.  I wouldn't blink twice at this bill in the states, but I somehow flet a bit dirty for spending this much here.  Oh well, it was delicious.  And I topped it off with a ultra-tasty raspberry smoothie, and then stopped by the Juan Valdez Cafe for one of those blender coffee drinks too.

I went back to the room for another five hours or so before felling the hunger hit again.  I actually took the recommendation of the Lonely Planet guide and went to a nearby italian restaurant for dinner.  It was another pricey meal, but I managed to keep it around $15 so I did a bit better.  I do have three more days here in Medellin, so I make a promise to myself that more will get done tomorrow.

I'll just add a few observations about my trip since this is a short blog.  One thing that Colombia really seems to get, at least in the cities I've been to... street addresses!  Adresses in Colombia are useful.  Streets are quite often numbered.  Calles go one direction, and Carreras go the other direction.  Street numbers are usually the number of the nearest cross street, then a hyphen followed by a number corresponding with location within the block.  Also, businesses and private homes alike seem to actually post the numbers on the buildings.  This may seem like basic stuff, but I've found it to be a pretty rare thing in South America.  Kudos!

I don't like high-altitude cities in Latin America....  I LOVE THEM!  I want to choose a location to come down soon and spend a few months.  I want it to be cheap, easy to get around, and nice and cool.  I want to finally get over this hump I have with learning spanish.  Cities currently in the running are Antigua (Guatemala), Quito (Ecuador), Bogota (Colombia), and Medellin (Colombia).  Of places I haven't been to, I would also consider a high altitude city in Argentina.  Antigua is a great town, but I'm not sure if it's cool enough, and there alot of gringos there so the temptation to speak english would be great.  Quito and Bogota have my favorite climates, so they are the front runners right now.  They were also the easiest to get around in.

I try not to make alot of judgements about people when I travel, but Colombia and it's people are certainly unique.  They have had alot of hardship with almost constant civil war, and drug related violence for the last 40 years.  In that way it reminds me of Nicaragua.  But where Nicaragua has a decimated economy, and hasn't figured out a way to pull itself up, Colombia has found opportunity.  The people seem to have a great optimism to them.  The demonstration on Monday was a great example.  Faced with one remaining guerilla group (FARC), the people really seem to have finally had enough.  That attitude, along with a recent government amnesty and reward program for terrorists leaving the group seem to be the best chance to pull the country out of these difficulties.  My views are simplistic to be sure, but I sense a change here.

Later, Phil

July 19th:

A trip I’d been waiting to take for what seemed like an eternity finally came, Colombia! Our bags were packed, the animals in good hands, and we were off! We met my Aunt Sue and her two youngest daughters, Debbie and Celeste, at the Philly International Airport. Mom, Dad, Monica (sister), Aunt Sue and I had a flight out of Philly to Miami. Here, in Miami, we waited for Debbie and Celeste who had a later flight to Miami. We also met up with Aunt Sue’s oldest daughter, Christine, who flew in from L.A. Our flight from Miami to Medellín, Colombia was roughly four hours. I remember flying over the Caribbean, Cuba, Jamaica, Venezuela and then finally arriving at Medellín International later that evening! (There’s only a one hour time difference in Colombia compared to Pennsylvania). I’ll never forget the words my aunt spoke a few moments before decent, with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face she said “I’m home!” My aunt had not been back to Colombia since she left more than forty years ago to come to America at only five years of age. My abuelita passed away this January and not being able to see Colombia with her hurt my aunt immensely.
     I’ll be honest and say that the amount of space from the exiting of the plane to the doors past customs was roughly… 50 yards? Taking a total of close to two hours to get the whole 200 yards! In the end though it was all worth it. We met my Cousin Mónica, my Aunt Gaita, and Mónica’s husband San Jo outside of the airport. At this moment I was probably the happiest person alive. Though my native tongue is English and having had only a year of formal Spanish class, in fifteen minutes I was picking up and understanding more than I ever thought to be possible. I credit this with the fact I was raised around the Spanish Language and am able to utilize it outside of school and do so whenever possible. This was an incredible feeling, an incredible feeling indeed.
     Having picked who was going with who, we entered our vehicles and began the forty-five minute drive into the city. Monica (my sister), Aunt Sue and I took the car with Juan Jo and Gaita. It was night time, and rainy, but I could see clearly that we were sure as hell not in America anymore! Lush tropical trees and plants grew up and down steep mountain sides and huge forests of Guagua. Our conversations switched back in fourth between our own personal lives in both countries and the various events that were to take place thruought the next ten days. Soon we were pulling into Gaita’s house, a beautiful two story white stone house surround my upscale high rises and beautiful tropical trees. Inside we met Ester (the maid),  Juan Camilo, and Pedro (whom I hadn’t seen for roughly seven or so years since he visited us). We all placed our suit cases thruought the house and proceeded to eat arepas!!! My cousins and aunt then grabbed their stuff and went to Mónica's where they were to stay. My family and I headed off to our rooms to get some sleep to prepare for the next day's journey to Armenia, Colombia to LA FINCA!

Not much to say about Medellin. I didnt like it too much although it has a really nice zona rosa area with bars and restaurants. We had the worlds worst drink there, a Michelada Super Especial, which sounds brilliant when you order it but turns out to be beer mixed with tomato juice and a triple tequila and salt. In a plastic cup to top off the experience.