Medellin

This weekend was a quick visit to Medellin, my first time.

Deplaning in Medellin is the first time I've been handed an umbrella at the plane door to walk across the runway with. Nice touch I thought. I felt like crying when waiting for my bags; I was exited to see someone I had positive memories of and hadn't seen in years.

My cousin is awesome, her way bigger than average Colombian guy husband whom she met and fell in love with in her 20's when she came down here to study spanish for a year is so nice, and the daughter who was here is entirely delightful (the other is with grandpa on vacation right now in the US). Of my two datapoints, there's a tranquility to 10/11 year old Colombian/American girls that's second to none; had a super fun time hanging out with my newly discovered relative (and briefly saw our business friend's daughter this trip too). Maybe its naive of me - I figured she'd speak english - but I didn't realize it'd be perfect.

We stopped for an open air country kitchen style breakfast which was great to start breaking the ice. Medellin is steep and hilly; we saw three svelte road racers heading up the highway as we were coming in from the airport.  We rode the above ground commuter train, a gondola up through what used to be the dangerous old part of the city that you didn't go in until it was integrated with transportation links to allow better commuter travel for employment. Walked around and checked out a state park, which has mountain biking in its future, it may just not know it yet ; ) It has the potential to be like a Moose Mountain "south" edition.

Had a great snack of whatever the local stew type stuff is, full of potato and yucca chewy doughy stuff, plus chicken. Foods taste so good - the cooking styles are a bit bland, but the ingredients themselves just taste so real, so natural. At the top there was also this convenience store/TV watching place.  Neat wall art.

After coming down from the park, we walked through the nice downtown neighbourhoods for a thai lunch complete with chop stick practice, then through some street market/festival.  These kids were going to sell donkeys, they aren't very expensive.

In a decently busy but less than crowded festival, the atmosphere is so calm - nobody seems pushy, obnoxious or in a hurry.

A fitness machine kids playground got us hooked up with some gregarious little toddler sized kid who took us where there was chocolate making to participate in. 

Familia.

Funny kid.

Chocolate.

After that we strolled through the downtown financial district and by cousin's university where she's an international business professor. All in it was about 10 hours of on foot exploring and snacking at empanada stands.

And it must be mentioned that I saw a few, but not a ton, of the storied Medellin women. The ones I saw were a bit too California to be amusing to my eyes - fake noses, fake rack, etc. The pursuit of fashion in the magazine sense does seem popular.

Next time need bike, especially for the road up to cousin's house - it's entirely La Ruta-esque - long, incredibly steep, and with various animals and washouts along the way to spice up the driving.  They have a big rural house with lots of animals, and probably a great view that I missed since we came and left after dark. There's a stream going across it too. Next time I come it sounds like the other property with waterfalls is on the visit list.

After the massive climb up the road to the house, we drank coffee and talked all night. Everything from growing up with lack of seasons, one wardrobe, but still having warm jackets for when its "cold", when next trip to see grandpa was, which pets are favourite, to the dynamics of leaving a "better" country for love and the reverse family effect of being the gringa wife here, even after being 20 years fluent and having a complexion/hair color that isn't short on pigment.

It's a world away from home, but a totally nice seeming place to make life.