Botero - lady on top.
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.
One of his reclining figures.
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.
The famous hand nearby an amazing church.
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.
