First of all, Medellin is beautiful. The city of eternal spring nestled in the mountains. It is breathtaking and the people are so incredibly kind and helpful. I have never been anywhere quite like Medellin.
Raphael Uribe Palace of Culture. Across the street and around it are about 22 fat statues donated to the city by Fernando Botero. It is an absolutely amazing place to stumble on when wandering without a map.
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Fernando Botero´s el gato. Mreow! One of many of his works.
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The cable car is part of the metro system. So it only costs about a dollar to go up and get some really spectular views of the city.
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Me in the cable car. =)
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My friend Martin from Austria. There was a second cable car that you had to pay extra to go on, and we just assumed it was to get to an even better viewpoint. So we went up it, and went up and over the mountain into a national park. The cable car ride was our entrance into the park. We were only planning on going up to the top of the mountain to see the view, but we ended up hiking around the park for the day, going to a lake, meeting this little fellow, and eventually getting to a view of the city that my camera just could not do justice, but I will never forget.
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The first part of the metro cable is part of the metro because it does take you to parts of the city. The food was cheap and delicious, and there was some amazing local artwork to be seen on the walls of many of the buildings.
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Much of the artwork came with deep meaning. The pieces above are protesting violence and sexual violence.
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There were many massive photographs of different people, various cultures, and some with writing like this posted like billboards on the walls of buildings, so that you could see them when you are going up or down the cable car. This is one of my favorites.
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While up at the top of the mountain in Medellin, we walked passed a school yard of kids playing soccer. Everyone was wearing really traditional uniforms except for the girls that were actually playing. The kids were chanting, cheering and screaming. You can see how their love for footbul starts at such a young age, and is such a large part of the culture.
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This was a pretty intense Colombian PETA protest we came across in a park. The girl is washing herself in blood (fake I believe... or at least hope) and is protesting testing products on animals. Really quite visual.
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At the botanical gardens in Medellin. I liked the workers shirts so much I had to get a picture.
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La casa de los mariposas. There was a butterfly house in the Botanical Gardens. It was only fitting that I get a picture with one, as I was going to be, and now am, a Mariposa Amarillo. (Thats the organization I am currently volunteering with. I will tell more in my next blog post, but right now I am focusing on Medellin.)
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Everyone drives motorbikes. Alright maybe not everyone, but a lot of people. Particularly the young ones. This is a picture of the university. You can see the double line doing all the way down the street. Everyone is always warning me to be careful in Colombia, particularly all of you back home, well if you are going to worry about me, I would worry about me getting hit by a car of motorbike. They drive crazy here, and it is absolutely not condusive to Boton style walking. It is by far the thing that makes me the most nervous.
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This is a man I started talking to. He could not actually speak, he had pieces of paper with a few sentences written on it. I did not even mean to start talking to him, but I thought the oragami made out of leaves next to him was a really animal... and of course I wanted a picture. I gave me Gri Gri, the bug looking thing next to him, and made me a hummingbird out of leaves. I left them with my hostel the Wandering Paisa as I did not think I could bring them with without destroying them. I took them into the Botanical Gardens with me when I went back to sit and study my spanish, and all sorts of Colombians get stopping to ask me about them. It was really quite funny.
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I actually ending up picking up these Colombians with Gri Gri. They were quite lovely. Another example of the amazing kindness I was greeted with when travelling around Medellin. I hung out with them the rest of the day, and part of the night, having a blast practicing my spanish, and working through the language barrier. Thus far, it has been one of my best days.
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Torry, one of my Colombian friends, in the Casa de los Mariposas, with one sitting on his rosta hat.
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A few other notes.
- My hostel was perfect. Its called the Wandering Paisa Hostel. I left a review on Hostelword.com. Its friendly, fun, and a great please to meet people and go out, without being a crazy party hostel.
- I am sorry I have not been on top of my skype account. The hostel I am currently at has free internet, but no headphone or microphone. I will be finding an internet cafe tomorrow to remedy that.
- I will be updating again very soon, because I have a lot to tell about the beginnings of Santa Marta, but I figure this is enough with just Medellin.
- I will write soon, with less time in between this time, I promise. Once again, my apologies.
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