On to Bogota In a Few

So I am halfway through my Colombian adventure. Things have not gone as originally planned, but what ever does?

So I arrived in Medellin last Saturday night and explored the town a bit. The area where my hotel was for the first couple of days was a more affluent suburb called El Poblado. Medellin is literally built into the sides of mountains and in a valley between said mountains. It is a very pretty city with a temperate cooler climate due to its altitude. Locals (nicknamed paisas) and visitors alike have crowned Medellin The City of Everlasting Spring. The people here are very friendly, amiable, and proud of their city. They are quick to tell you that Medellin is the best city in Colombia, if not South America hands down.

Sunday, I spent more time exploring the area on foot. I quickly learned that the social centers of Medellin are its shopping malls. Most malls have a grocery store of some kind, coffee shops, fast food restaurants, sit down restaurants, stores for almost everything from clothing to plumbing supplies to housewares, banking institutions, and more. If you are going to meet someone, the meeting point will be the mall. If you are giving someone directions to an address, the directions are usually from the nearest mall (or centro commercial as they are called). I met someone at a mall last week and bumped into a large aerobics class going on inside the mall. It seemed out of place, but as a community center I suppose it makes sense. El Poblado is one of the most upscale suburbs in Medellin and it is built on hills that make San Francisco's hills look small by comparison. There is a huge construction boom going on in Medellin right now and large towers of luxury style condominiums are being built wherever you look. The main streets of El Poblado are all torn up as new plumbing and water mains are being put in. There is a palpable hum to the city. After many years of being locked in a violent struggle between the government, the people, and drug lords, Colombia is shining its tarnished image and looking to emerge as an economic powerhouse in the new economies of South America. There is a very visible security presence in the streets, in the train stations, and around large buildings and centers. Military personnel, police, armed private security guards, and bomb sniffing dogs are everywhere. It is a scene that may become familiar in the United States one day if violence from other parts of the world finds its way across the pond.

Monday morning, I awoke early and headed over to the Language Center at EAFIT University. I took a placement test and rated a level 4 out of 9. I am still surprised with this result as I have never formally studied Spanish and totally bs'd my way through several parts of the placement test. Yes, I can communicate fine with people, but conjugating various verb tenses in a language of which I have zero formal knowledge is a very different story. Claudia, the language school representative, informed me that they need to have a minimum of two students per course in order to start a new section. There was no one else looking for an intensive course at my level. Greeaaat. She cheerfully informed me that they have students looking for courses all the time and likely I would be able to start my language studies later on in the week. Yeah...that did not happen. The main reason I had selected Medellin to visit was the language program at EAFIT. So this was the large wrench in my plans, so to speak. Claudia was able to hook me up with a good lead on an apartment though, so not all was for naught. I made contact later on that day with Alberto, a 45 year old architect who has a large apartment that he shares with language students from EAFIT. He is a very nice guy and he does not speak much English, so this definitely helped force me to communicate more in Spanish.

Luckily I had brought with me a couple of Spanish textbooks and their accompanying cd's. I have been studying 2 + hours a day in the hopes of this trip not being a total wash in my effort to improve my language skills. I have also been making a concerted effort to not read English media or watch English television programming if I can help it. I have made some friends here and thus far, things are going pretty well. Colombian Spanish is so clear and beautiful, it is an excellent place to learn how to speak properly.

Originally, I had expected to spend two weeks here in Medellin taking classes and then spending my last weekend in Bogota. Due to my lack of formal coursework, I will be flying to Bogota on Wednesday and spending the rest my time in Colombia there. Bogota, being the larger city, has more museums and more things to see. I am looking forward to exploring a new place and I am looking forward to returning home next Monday. It is always nice to get away and it is always even nicer to come home.

That is a little bit about what I have been up to. I am checking e-mail if you guys want to gab.

Cuidate.