La llegada de mi mama!

(The arrival of my mom!) 

Wednesday October 4th was a big day. That evening my mom landed for our big fall trip. My school had the next week off so we turned it into a big adventure. On the agenda was exploring Medellin and getting to the pacific coast. 

Mom didn't get in until after 8:00 Wednesday night so that just left time for us to get home (enjoy the big city lights on the way down!) and settle into bed after a long day of travel for her. She of course wanted to see my school while in town so I brought her to school with me on Thursday. It was quite a boring day for her because I was testing most of the day. Nevertheless, she got to tour the school, meet the students and other staff, and even see a pretty neat school activity. There was a national event called TOM beginning at the school. It was really neat. Teams of students and other community members get assigned a person with some kind of physical limitation and they are given 72 hours to come up with a solution to help them. 

Before leaving for work..... She would regret wearing flip flops and not bringing a jacket later :) 

After a long day at school, we chilled for a little before heading to El Tesoro for a little dinner and exploring. The malls really are neat here. While sitting down to dinner, we were able to catch the last half of the Colombia v Paraguay soccer game and it was crazy (and devastating). It was an exciting game and it was fun to be surrounded by so many people enjoying it. The cooks kept running out of the kitchen to watch. 

test day

On Friday, I left her at home to relax. Friday was the end of the first bimester (something worth celebrating!) for me at school. That evening we journeyed out to see the city. We had no real destination but I thought she would enjoy seeing the city while riding the cable cars. Well, it was Friday afternoon so it was rush hour for the metro. It was packed! But we were determined to make it happen. After the cable cars, we came back to Poblado where we grabbed some pizza for dinner. 

Saturday meant more exploring. We began our day by going to the monthly San Alejo market. Lots of little individual stalls in Parque Bolivar. We really enjoyed checking out all the handcrafts and antiques and, of course, people watching. 

Very happy with our purchases, we walked a short distance to Plaza Botero to check out all of the large Botero sculptures. We took all the requisite pictures and I enjoyed some fresh pineapple while we sat on a bench and chatted with an old man about whatever history he knew from Georgia and the US. Next stop was the cable cars on the east side. We got to do this in the day so it was a completely different experience as well. 

Just one of the MANY modes of transportation we took this week. plane, taxi, uber, bus, train, cable car, tuk tuk, dugout canoe, boat.... 

Having conquered a good bit of the city so far, I decided we needed to take a day trip to Guatape on Sunday. It was something that I have always wanted to do but I haven't made the time for it. We were up and at em early that morning. We were leaving from the north bus terminal by 7:40 and I think we both had an even better day than we imagined. A little less than two hours later (on a very pleasant bus with plenty of leg room and views) we arrived at La Piedra (the rock).

740 stairs in case you were wondering 

We took a little tuktuk to the top of the hill where we began climbing the 740 steps to the very top. We took our time and soaked in the beautiful surroundings all around us. What a treat! This country's landscape is so varied. We grabbed some food and drinks at the top before making the knee-wobbling trek down. All that was left to do there was a little shopping (and haggling of course) at the bottom of the rock before heading into Guatape the town. 

nice of them to count the steps for us... over half way there! 

The waterfront was lined with probably a hundred stalls selling all kinds of souvenirs and food. We bought a few things here and there before stopping for some lunch. This was the first local restaurant we had eaten at so I made mom try the bandeja paisa (the local plate.... rice, beans, fried egg, horizon, fried pork belly, ground meat, plantain, avocado, etc). 

After lunch we left the water and went into the city. Guatape is famous for all of its colors and we certainly found them. The streets had plenty to enjoy. I had seen pictures a fun little area so we kept wandering until we found it and it was certainly worth it. Various musicians, artists, and performers took their turn entertaining the crowd. Perfect day trip from the city! 

Up next: Beebs and Kooks take on the Pacific coast (spoiler alert... and we see some whales!) 

Weekend excursions in September

Wow. I don't even know where to start. Its been over a month since I last blogged on here. I promise life hasn't been boring... I just haven't dedicated the time to getting everything up here.

Here's a very, very brief rundown of the last few weekends. I think I am going to let you make up your own narratives.
- weekend of September 8th... Puente weekend.... went to a finca in el Retiro. it was actually in the same neighborhood that roger lives in. I went with a few of the returning teachers and was so excited to get the invitation and to get out of the city life. Brian, Tyler and Alyssa, Veronica and her boyfriend, Kat, and Erin. A house full of fun. Lots of games - 5 crowns, cards against humanity, things in a box, etc. Good fun. Good times. Little escapes from the city are critical from time to time!

A little hike in the rain to get out of the house and stretch the legs. 

- September 23... I went to parque ecologic de el soldado in envigado with kathy and courtney. really fun day in a neat park only about 20 minutes away. just outside the park there was a somewhat crazy animal farm. I guess it was like a petting zoo but it also had a huge triceratops sculpture. just the perfect mix of weird to draw our attention. it is crazy how something so close can make you feel so far away from the city. We walked our way back through town where we grabbed some lunch to escape the downpour. we stopped at a restaurant earlier and after they wanted to serve us a huge, somewhat yucky looking banedja paisa we quickly moved on. I tried a catfish stew and it was very average just about like all the local food.

crazy critters. 

- september 24... went on another hike with Ardilla adventures. met some fun people and got moving. the country is just beautiful. I took the metro to the southern end where I met up with the group and took a little bus to Caldas. In the city square, we stretched a little and I people watched a good bit. there was a dance/ exercise class going on with some pretty loud music.

- september 30 ... I went to parque arvi with josh and kathy. we went to the comfama park within the park. We were the laughing stock of all the buses that zoomed past us on our long trek there. There is another park that is apparently a little more nature-y but this comfama park was all about adventure. the big attraction was the challenge course. They had four different levels of difficulty and it took about 2 hours to get through. There was some interesting technology that took a little bit of practice but it was very neat to be able to get through everything solo. there were a few people on the ground but we were all by ourselves up in the air. it was a fun, challenging mix of obstacles and zip lines.

Medellin... where we put flowers on everything... 

and lastly just another sunset picture over the city because I can:

Classico and a road trip

Time to play catch up. I didn't even realize I had fallen behind until I went to type up a quick recap of this weekend. Let's just say life has been busy. 

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...