Your latest entry I'm glad you have this blog. It is interesting to see what interests another person when they travel. Like that ugly but secure house...when I saw that photo, I thought it looked like a really tall (extra story) Vancouver special! Take care and see you soon.
William I envy you Retirment seems to be treating you well enough. When I was a kid this is the life I would have wanted, hanging out, playing sports, meeting people socializing this is all very good. Perhaps at some point you may want a new challange but in the mean time, not bad at all! Good for you!
Dating Renting & Cell phones Hey Dwayne: Well the Spanish is advancing. Still a long way to go. Sometimes it goes very well and sometimes not.
Got a cell phone for about $50 bucks with 70 texts and maybe100 minutes. I do a lot of texting. Much easier than talking in Spanish.
I moved to Marta's because I needed a change. Learn about a slightly different area better. Too long in the hostel, prvt room $450/month, but some great people there & I am getting to bed earlier now. This is half price $225/ month. Bigger room, own bath, Marta is about 50 learning English, we hang out and get on well.
The Neighborhood that works best for me is near Estadios where my tennis club is. So now I am 20 minutes the other side of Estadios where I used to be, a little longer walk but that is part of the enjoyment. I have lived in the best part of town, its a bit sterile (and now a total of 5 areas). I might like farther out (Sabaneta) it is more country-like and seems great but you have to live there to really know. I would have to take a bus 15 minutes then the train 25 minutes to get to tennis everyday. Big problem for me.
Yep I have been dating but nothing romantic has happened yet. Met some very nice ladies though and went out many times. Still looking. Glad to hear from you Dwayne. Hope we play some tennis in the summer. It would be nice to see Sherry and Shawn also. Take care. you cousin William
PS I will post this as a comment if you don't mind since it covers some questions. This post was from Dwayne's Prvt message
Monica I will edit my post.. I think your right, my tennis "Jovani" coach agrees. Of course it probably is not as safe as Poblado but also not the most dangerous area.
Monica thank you for your comment. I didn't know you could put a foto in the comment. That is really cool. Thanks for those who don't know the foto is in Itagui. Many people in Medellin think Itagui is dangerous but I know you have to spend time in a place to really know. Monica knows better than others, the situation that exists there. She is Soledad's daughter and the view is from her balcony. Thanks Monica.
It's not dangerous place I know this place many years ago, and nobody has robbed or threatened. Medellín have many other places that are really dangerous :) Good luck!
Hi Chris, I thought maybe too many fotos this post. I missed some fotos during a night at Edgar's a couple of days ago unfortunately. He is a friend from tennis (we played a couple of games this morning) He and Margarita were so hospitable to Maria Elena & I in their wonderful penthouse in Poblado. He is a doctor doing nothing but 6 month pilot exams. Dwayne and the rest of the Mcalistors will be interested in that. So he plays tennis in the morning and is lucky enough to see only pretty healthy people in the afternoon.
Dear anonymous thanks for commenting No reason to be nervous here. Unless someone jumps of a motorcycle with a weapon. You get so much advice here on safety, much of it overkill but things can happen. An older friend at tennis this morning related being attacked last year by a guy with a hammer. He had some martial and subdued the attacker. He had been here for 3 years but the attack was in Ohio while he was back there.
Catica is spanish class still going strong? Yes blood has its supporters and it tasted fine. Pigs ears in the butcher window. Haven't seen them on the menu though. Probably I will not get out of Medellin except for maybe a trip to a finca (farm) nearby, many people I know go often to their (or a friends) finca. I hope to come back for longer next year and might explore more then.
It looks like your trip is going very well... So many interesting people, places...and cuisine. Your new accommodation looks much more comfortable than the previous. is it a house? Keep it coming with the great pics!
I'm off work at 1600 all week so feel free to try and call.
Talk to u soon.
Love chris.
Aida & maybe others? I will invite everyone again. Thanks Catica (Cathy from my Spanish class). Maybe people don't know that to get a second email notice of a new blog entry ... they have to click "subscribe". I would love to bring the Spanish class here. Such friendly people and great place to learn more Spanish.
Food glorious food I don't think I could do justice to that bandeja paisa without someone to help out! Glad tennis is going well for you. As for the rain, well it is a La Nina year for most countries. Going anywhere else or staying in Medellin the whole trip?
Had tea at Brigitte's this afternoon while she copied some of my spanish music cds. You should add Aida to your blog list as Barry and I were telling her about it in class and she said she only got the first one.
Don and Catica I agree. I guess a good combination of lots of reading for vocab, movies with subtitles, practicing one verb tense at a time with a native speaker. Maybe even recording a conversation (with street vendor for example)and the reviewing it to know what I didn't understand and why he didnt understand me. It becomes like school then and I really need someone who is very serious about language learning.
Larry might be right TItle of post is Jan 26th and I'm able to get my comment in on the 25th. Didn't realize they moved the international dateline when I wasn't looking. Anyhow, I think structured instruction combined with unstructured conversation is the way that I would learn best, but everyone has their own style. The problem is that without the structure, you can keep making the same mistakes without realizing why. The structure helps you understand the proper tense/mood/whatever so that you are able to then use the rules to create your own sentence structure without just learning it from rote.
Today's entry O.K. William, today's entry is dated for tomorrow so I guess you can have tomorrow off...hahaha
Brigitte and Lynn were here for lunch today, amidst the basement carpet guys' noise and smells, and with no hot water (I'm trying to deal with it!). I want to be on holidays.
I think that instructor is right about needing some structure so you can actually see improvement. But then I like the reading and learning grammar, etc. and do better at it than speaking/listening.
Enjoy the nice weather and tell me more stories!
Catica it is Sedi (Saydi Hawkins) In fact we are talking about his last trip where Sedi said the customs went through his pictures on his camera, then asked for his password for his computer. I amgoing to check to see if you have to give up that info.
busy boy Could the guy's name be Sahib? Have you given up the house hunting for now in favour of couch surfing?
I like the idea of this travel blog with all the info and photos. It will give you something to go back to when you are old(er) and your memory fades! Tell us more of the food and shopping, por favor.
Michael: Thanks for your input. You have very amazing fotos. Can I use some when they are about my day? Fotos like the paragliding make a person want to do it much more than someone just saying "paragliding is a good thing to do":-) Thanks Again, William
Hi William
I'm an Austrian currently living (contracting) in Holland. I do contact you because we do have 1 thing common. We love Colombia. I just returned from Medellin on January 16th. …means actually have been there several times (I even used to work in Bogota & Medellin for 6 month in the year 2003), and my dreams (or plans) are to return for a longer period as soon as my contract ends over here. So I'm curious what's going on over there. That's how I came across your blog. …just read that you had a boring day. You may try Santo Domingo (Bibliotheca Espana) and parque Arvi (cable car) => nice (safe) hiking in a totally different Climate (a bit colder). Or paragliding in San Felix => even if you don’t fly it’s a good (short) trip with great views. I always took the Metro to 'San Javier', than the cable car to 'Vallejuelos', walked up (10 min) to the main road and flagged down a bus to San Felix. You ,ay also take this bus from the terminal norte, sure locals (hostel, friends…) can help you.
…hope I will read some more stories from you…and pictures!
Here my pics from this years trip:
http://cid-2202b8f5aba6c05e.photos.live.com/browse.aspx/Colombia%20II
…and from my 2009/2010 (4 weeks) Christmas trip:
http://cid-2202b8f5aba6c05e.photos.live.com/browse.aspx/Colombia
Best regards
Michael
Hi I am William from Vancouver, BC. Retired and divorced and I have just started a 2nd trip to Medellin, Colombia, from Jan. 6 to Mar. 12.
The 2 girls are my daughters Melisa and Christine and I am waiting for a foto with my granddaughter Jordyn in it.
I will blog about what my day is like to hopefully keep in touch with friends and family and travelers who have similar interests may find it interesting. I will eventually, I hope blogging about buying realestate and living in Colombia either Santa Marta or Medellin I am pretty sure.
Interests at home in Vancouver, Canada are probabl... full info
cathy
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Your latest entry
I'm glad you have this blog. It is interesting to see what interests another person when they travel. Like that ugly but secure house...when I saw that photo, I thought it looked like a really tall (extra story) Vancouver special! Take care and see you soon.