Time seems to be both flying and crawling. How is it already September?!
Last weekend was a birthday weekend. Mine was Friday and two returning teachers invited everyone to celebrate their birthdays Saturday. It included go karting, lunch, and a soccer game. I was an easy yes!
In true Medellin fashion, the go karting place was in a mall. After getting slightly lost, we finally found it in the top of the parking deck. Honestly, it is a great idea. They just had a whole corner of that tier of the deck and had organized a track. These were some serious karts. I got in on the old lady round so we weren't squealing tires as much as some other but we were still flying! It was so fun to watch the competition, laugh, and get to know some of the other teachers a little better.
We then headed to eat (a less than stellar meal in my opinion) before walking to the stadium. This is where the day gets even more fun. After walking around for a while, we finally found the group of people we were looking for. This game was not just any game. It was the clasico paisa. Medellin has two teams, DIM or Medellin and Nacional, and they are in the same division. They share the same stadium and their fans are obviously coming from the same place to. They were playing each other tonight so it was a huge rival game. Britta, one of the birthday girls and organizers, is a very loyal Medellin fan. She was pretty much the only reason we were able to get into this section in the stands (Norte). Therefore, by association, I am a Medellin fan now too.
We were told to be very, very cautious in coming to this game. Only bring stuff that you can keep in your front pockets, don't wear certain colors unless you want to get into a spirited conversation about the teams, etc. Some very not good stuff has happened at past clasicos but you just have to be smart.
The atmosphere outside of the stadium was electric. So many people. So many flags. So much drinking and smoking. So much red and blue (Medellin colors). So much fun!
A few of us bought a Medellin shirt to put on top of our neutral shirts before heading in. After going through some security, we headed into the stadium. We got to our section and lets just say it was really easy to spot our group of 30 gringos. You could tell that everyone there loved Britta but they were also very welcoming to us. We squeezed in. Literally, we started walking up the stairs and then we stopped. There was no more room anywhere so we just all crowded in and slowly pushed our way into the gaps. We were warned that we didn't want to be in the stairs when or if they scored a goal because people rush the stairs and people just start falling and piling up. Needless to say, we weren't exactly expecting it to happen at the beginning of the game too. Lesson learned.
Colombians care about their futbol. And they bring their A-game in the stands. It was beyond sold out. And there was constant singing, chanting, jumping, fist-pumping, etc. You name it, it was going on. No picture, no video can capture the atmosphere. It is a must-do if you are ever in town during a Clasico. I heard the other games are fun too but I will forever be spoiled in having my first game be a clasico.
Oh and we won.
Despite getting back quite late, I was determined to make it to a hike on Sunday. I saw it on Facebook and wanted a chance to get out and meet some non-school foreigners and some locals. It was a barrio a bosque hike meaning neighborhood to forest. It was also both a culture and nature hike. Ardilla Adventures was coordinating it and they do work with families that have been displaced by the armed conflict. We weaved in and out of the neighborhood (a strata 1 - lowest socioeconomic level) along random roads, some paved some muddy. We stopped at their community center to hear more about their organization. We also stopped at various houses along the way. About 18,000 people lived along this main road and over 60% had been displaced by the armed conflict. We stopped at families houses that the organization was sponsoring. We saw a bakery and arepa shop as well as an artisanal/ gold shop.
Once we made it out of the neighborhood we started climbing and I mean steep climbing for a little. It was fun to meet all kinds of different people. A couple were exchange students finishing up degrees here. A couple were here to study Spanish. A couple were here working with local schools. The extranjeros definitely outnumbered the locals. Although a goal of mine was to use this hike as a language exchange, I spent 95% of the time in English. It was worth a shot.
We ended up at Parque Arvi but we didn't spend much time there. The park is quite spread out and I
was ready to start making the trek back. I bought some goodies at some food stands before boarding the cable car back to town. I knew I was going to get a taxi back to the apartment from the metro station so I made a quick trip to exito to stock up on the heavy groceries for the week.
It was quite the exhausting weekend and one that I paid for all week, but it was oh so worth it. I can teach anywhere but I am only going to live here once so I have to make the most of it.
Along the same lines, when Roger invited me on his crazy Saturday adventure I already said yes before I even knew what we were doing. He told me he had just found these roads and wanted to check them out. He promised great views and anywhere from 8-14 hours in the 'beast' (his land cruiser) as long as we didn't get lost or the car didn't break down. I was wondering I was the only one crazy enough to say yes to him but, in fact, there are two other locos. Quick note: we are all new teachers who apparently don't know better.
All jokes aside, it was a wonderful day that made me appreciate this wonderful country even more. I am so not a city person. Any chance I can get out of the city, I am going to take it. Josh and Michelle picked me up at about 7:45 and we didn't get back until 7:00 that evening. It was a day of just exploring and I am so thankful that roger likes doing stuff like that and, more importantly, that he is always so inclusive.
The basic route was Medellin to La Ceja to Abejorral to Montebello to El Reitro and then back to Medellin. We came across a couple of beautiful waterfalls along the way. We also made a little stop and hiked to Casa del Aire. This is completely off the beaten path but it was something we had all seen and heard of before moving here. We had no idea that it was so close. They have constructed little houses along the side of the mountain. You can hike or zipline there.
The ride was quite rough due to the roads but the scenery made it worth it. Every twist and turn rewarded us with even more to see. Again, pictures can never do it justice.
Lastly, here are a couple of random facts that I learned throughout the day....
- At the end of Las Palmas, a road I take to school everyday, there is a restaurant where Anthony Bordain ate.
- Where we were driving is somewhere that even 10 years was not safe because of Farc. (don't worry, I'm alive and well) This just shows how much the country has changed and improved in such a short amount of time.
- We drove past so so many hibiscus farms. They are a huge export, with many of them going to Holland, Germany, etc
- You hear lots of honking when driving around. You have the typical warning short honk and the very long I'm-annoyed-with-you honk. However, you also have the short double honk which means thank you and you're welcome. There are lots of tight squeezes and people pass each other a lot so anytime a driver is helpful there are double honks going on.
- There was a large pipe running down the mountain side into a hydroelectric plant. According to roger, about 75% of the energy in the country is powered by hydroelectric power.
- It is very Colombian to put a suffix of its at the end of a word.
Today, I planned on taking care of all the essentials (grocery shopping, food prepping, working out, and grading tests/ preparing for next week). On that list, the only thing I really took care of was grading and doing a number on whatever less than exciting food I have in my apartment right now. However, I got to do one thing that was much more important and much more fun ... talking to the fam bam for probably more than two hours this morning.
Well, thats enough fun for the latest and greatest blog edition.
The Pope is coming to town this weekend!! The school is closing its campus and having a virtual day Friday because so much of the town will be shut down. Plans are still in the works for next weekend.
Until next time...
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