Medellin

Marcela, Dieter and I went into Medellin. We took a bus into Medellin and then traveled by the train. It was nice as far as cities go. The train and the stations are really clean and nice (much better than the river unfortunately and gosh I am soooo grateful our water does not come from there). I love how people get up and offer their seats to mothers and children, the elderly and people with special needs. It is a common practice - even during rush hour/high traffic times. I love the respect that it shows and the nurturing that it provides for all! I did see a sign or 2 posted of these expectations, but it is a common practice. A teenager even offered me his seat the day Marcela and I were coming back from the airport and I had my backpack on.

M&D wanted to visit the language school that I have been looking into. The school is Nueva Lengua and they have 3 schools - one in Bogota, one in Medellin and one in Cartagena. I was originally planning on attending the school in Medellin, until I found out it would be about a 2 hour commute 1 way. We all liked the school and it seems like a good match for me. I will have classes each day in the morning and then I volunteer with an agency (school, orphange, hospital etc) in the afternoon 3 days a week. Eventhough, I am studying a lot here (Marcela has been great with correcting me and going over my daily paragraphs that I write discussing my days, the LiveMocha website has been a helpful tool and is even a social network connecting me to people who live down in Colombia, and I have been studying from my 2 Spanish books that I brought), I want some more structured learning as well as someone being able to explain the how's and why's of things. So my plan is to travel to Cartagena for a week. Studying Spanish at the Carribean mmm, shall I say anymore??!!! Cartagena is north, about 14 hours by bus, from Medellin. I will go for a week in October sometime.

Back to Medellin - the City of Eternal Spring - we went to a park, Cerro Nutibara where we got a good view of the big city and we explored a replica of a typical Antioquian village - the Pueblito Paisa. It was a nice park, small but with some awesome trees and sculptures. My favorite thing about Medellin was the cable car ride. Medellin is a hilly city. There are numerous barrios (neighborhoods) that are high up in the hills. So in one of these, they have created my favorite form of commuting - the cable car. It is just like the amusement park rides but it is an extension of the metro system. At one of the train stations, you go up the stairs instead of down and get on the cable car. We rode up and back just for the ride and the view. Supposedly, since they built this cable car, it has cleaned up the barrio quite a bit and has made it a whole lot safer. The city is starting to build an extension of the cable car so that it can reach the top of the mountain. I have loved commuting to work via biking or walking - propelling myself. I have always thought I would love commuting by ferry but I now have a new mode of transportation - the cable car!