Medillin, Colombia

Day 1 (Saturday) - I made it to the Casa Kiwi (my hostel) around 8:30. I quickly showered and changed as I was hoping to catch some dinner and a group heading out that I could tag along with. The shower was my dirtiest thus far and I was glad to have shower shoes (flip flops). For dinner, I grabbed a sandwhich at a place two doors down that was too expensive but pretty good and convenient. I came back and joined a group sitting on the patio. There was Steven (Irishman who is working in Bogota), Rolf (Dutchman traveling for 10 months) and his Australian girlfriend Michelle (who has been traveling for 5 months). Soon James, a friend visiting Steven from Ireland, came out and replaced Steven. When Steven came back out, they were off to meet a friend another friend of theirs. I asked if I could tag along. They said yes and as quick as that we were off. I walked into an awkward situation. We showed up and Michael (the other friend) was there with a girl he met while there and two other girls. I had asked to be the seventh wheel and they generously agreed. I tried to stay out of the way as much as possible from the perceived triple date till we could get to our featured attraction, Carnivale (an electronica music club). But we first stopped off for a drink at another bar, which happened to be a Wild West theme. It was quite strange to see their interpretation and I got a big kick out of it. It continued to be awkward as the seventh wheel but I made a good time of it. The Colombians at the bar were very nice and I managed to join conga lines and then made friends with a group of girls behind us. One imparticular, Ealena and I really hit it off and I was trying my best to keep up a conversation with her but it was incredibly difficult with my poor Spanish and the loud music. I decided to take another approach and asked her to dance. She was a lot of fun. The dancing was reminiscent of middle school dances, swaying back and forth. It was my time to shine, so I did. I twirled, dipped and maneuvered her around the dance floor as best I could and she and her friends seemed to love it. They were taking pictures every chance they got. I was not sure if she was really enjoying herself or just intrigued until the first song ended. I stepped back to see if she would like to go back to her friends, at which she pulled me back close wanting to go another round. After the second song we went back to the
group. I tried to continue a conversation but we had tapped out my vocabulary. She found her way back to her friends and I found my way back to the table. At a little before 3, we left that bar to go to Carnivale. Once we got there, we found out there was an approx. $13 US cover. I was only planning to stay a few minutes anyways, as I was tired, so I just cabbed it back then.

Day 2 (Sunday) - Slept till around 10. I kind of lounged around till 11, then I got cleaned up. I was out the door just before noon. I stopped at a bakery on the street of my hostel and ordered a coffee and pastry. The coffee in Colombia is real coffee. I have been drinking the instant garbage for most of my trip and it tasted very good to have a strong cup that morning. I walked around a little bit trying to find a market and managed to do so. I bought a few necessary items and then decided to make my way back to the hostel as it looked as if it might rain. I grabbed my book and read out on the patio, enjoying the cool breeze until the rain came. Medillin is seated in and on mountains so it stays cooler than Cali, though it can get hot in the heat of the day. After a little over an hour, the rain did come but was not too heavy. I moved under an umbrella for a while and continued to read until I found a good stopping point. I then headed inside to upload my Cali information and was soon joined by Rolf and Michelle. Soon thereafter, Steven joined us and we just sat around and talked on the hostel couches for a couple hours. We were all pretty hungry by 7 but it was hard to get off the couches. We finally did make it off the couches and down to a little pizza place close by. I ordered the lasagna, which turned out to be about 3 noodles, ten pieces of pepperoni, a few pepper cubes and 95% cheese. I could not finish it but when I had done what I could, I was not feeling all too great. We went back to the hostel after dinner and watched a little bit of a movie before I felt like I was going to crash. I went to sleep a little after 11.

Day 3 (Monday) - I woke up around 9, though felt in no hurry to get my day started. I went downstairs and watched a little tv before I got cleaned up and went down to the main square of the Zona Rosa district (nice district I was staying in). I got a coffee and a crepe with cheese, mushrooms and ham. CHEESE, Colombians love their cheese apparently. I couldn't finish it but did greatly enjoy my coffee. I then walked throughout the district, combing the sleepy streets. Once done with Zona Rosa, I found a main thoroughfare and walked down towards the larger buildings. Along the way, I saw a mall, so I entered and found it incredibly dead for 1pm. 90% of the shops were closed. I continued on a little ways before I decided to turn back because it was getting hot. I was back at the hostel a little after 2, at which point I sat on the couches and cooled down a bit. 30 minutes later, sufficiently cooled, I walked back to the main district of Zona Rosa to grab a cool drink and maybe a little food. I ended up at a Tex-Mex restaurant (I am not sure where the obsession Medillin has with Texas comes from) and got a bowl of Tortilla soup. It wasn't great but it was at least as good as the tortilla soup in Ohio. I was surprised at how many people were out eating between 3 and 4:30. I am not sure if it was lunch or dinner but it seemed to be a popular time. I was wondering how these people didn't have to be at work on a Monday but hopefully I can solve the mystery later. Afterwards, I came back to the hostel to get all of my stuff in order before leaving and take care of a few pressing issues with banking and blogging. My bus to Cartagena is at 10:30 tonight so I will be leaving around 9:00 to get there. I did not have as much fun in Medillin as I did in Cali but I think it would be a more enjoyable place to live. The people here are very open and I had many locals coming up to say hello in English. I felt very welcome and had I known a little more Spanish, I believe it would have been very hard to leave. Should I choose to learn to speak Spanish in the future, I will have to come back and spend more time here.

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