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VIVE COLOMBIA, VIAJA POR ELLA!
Ryan Rowe
Sunday, May 29th, 2005, 2:30pm
Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia

Last night, some new friends of mine took me on a small, impromptu tour of Medellín.  Sergio Montoya and his wife Paula are really cool people to hang out with.  I work with Sergio at the company where I'm doing my internship so I only just met him this week.  Still, he is definitely someone I would like to get to know better.  Paula runs a store in town and she is studying sign language.  Eventually she would like to volunteer as a teacher helping poor deaf children learn how to communicate.  I think that's a pretty cool thing to do!  Sergio and Paula have been married for a year and a bit.  Like most Colombians, they are very kind and friendly and would give you the world if you asked for it.  Last night they invited me out to see a bit of the city.  We went to Pueblito Paisa, a historical site on top of a small mountain in the middle of the city.  I tried a Colombian snack that is a bit like a hardened crepe or waffle.  It's very thin and slathered all over it is arequipe and grated cheese.  Arequipe tastes a bit like butterscotch.  It's pretty good! ;)

I also learned a bit about the history of Medellín.  A long time ago, there used to be a small village on the top of this mountain, which is called Cerro Notivarra. At some point or another the city decided to make it a historical site and a pictorial of typical Antioqueño life.  I'll be posting some pictures of all this stuff as soon as the gallery is working again.

Afterwards, Sergio, Paula, and I went to Las Verdes to eat some gigantic hot dogs.  They're not so gigantic here, they're just all like that! They're pretty good - very filling though!!  My new friends also showed me Calle 44 (aka San Juan), a major thoroughfare here.  We went through the El Velodromo neighbourhood which seemed to be a nice little corner of town.

At the corner of Carrera 78 and Calle 44, while we waited at a red light, a kid came up to the car and placed some candies on the dash.  He does the same to every other car waiting at the liught, in the hopes that some of the drivers will give him money instead of giving the candy back.  One of the candies in our car fell on the floor and we weren't able to find it before the light turned green.  Paula was scrambling to look for it while Sergio and I died of laughter.  So Paula had to give him a bit of money... It was the funniest thing - a good memory which I want to keep forever by way of posting it on this website!  You just had to be there... :)

My pure and simple goal while I live in Colombia is to get to know the culture, the country, the people.  When I was in Colombia last time on exchange, I was a Canadian in Colombia.  I was a visitor, a foreigner, just having fun.  This time, I am working here, living here.  My objective is to become a Colombian in Colombia.  To really immerse myself in the culture, to live it up and seize the day every chance I get.  I want to tour the country, I want to get inside the heads of the people, and I really want to adopt some of the Colombian values.  The people of this country are so kind and gentle that I can't help but think that Canadians, Europeans, Americans have a lot to learn... Using this website I intend to showcase the country, to dispel some of the fear that people have of coming here.

Sergio y Paula, gracias por el paseo!!

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