Medellin: A City with a Past

Up until 20 years ago, Medellin was one of the most violent and dangerous cities in the world. Home to the drug lord, Pablo Escobar, Medellin was a city where people were scared to walk to in the streets, and people were murdered daily. Since Pablo Escobar’s death in the 90’s, Medellin has been transformed into one of the most modern and urban cities in South America. In fact, Medellin is the only city in Colombia with a metro system, and it has been rumoured to be one of the best cities in South America to do business in. Within a few hours of being in Medellin, Ryan and I could tell the city was thriving. Medellin feels like it belongs in a first world country, and walking around, I don’t feel like I’m very far from home. You can find MacDonald’s, Domino’s Pizza, KFC, as well as fancy furniture stores and modern clothes botiques on nearly every street corner. The city is located in a valley with beautiful mountains on either side, the houses climbing up the sides of the mountains. The temperate climate causes the city to feel warm and humid all year long, for the plants to remain a deep, luscious green. The people of Medellin are know as “paisa’s”, a proud people who feel happy and fortunate for the improvements of their ciity. With a population of nearly 3 million, Medellin is busy and loud. In the city center, the streets are lined with shops selling hats, shoes, sweaters, watches, and an assortment of random items and toys. Vendors line the street trying to sell you whatever product or service they have to offer you, where it be lemonade, empanadas, mango, lollipops, cigarettes or chicklets. Despite the people and the noise, Medellin feels like a very livable city. Like the majority of the tourists, Ryan and I are staying in El Poblado, an area packed with restaurants and bars, and small green spaces.

Ryan and I arrived in Medellin to discover that I had messed up our hostel booking. Fortunately, the hostel we had booked at had people checking out early that night and we were able to snag that room for the night. It was a really nice private room with an ensuite washroom, TV and a desk. After having a pretty amazing sleep, we checked out and made the trek with our bags from one end of El Poblado to the other, straight up hill, in the heat. This was probably not the time to conserve a couple of dollars. After checking into our new hostel, Tiger Paw, we took the metro through the city to a cable car that runs up past the slums of Medellin to Parque Arvi. From above the slums, we could see clothes drying on the roofs of homes, and hear bass music pounding through the streets. We also saw the Spanish Library, which symbolizes the changes in Medellin, because this is a place where youth can go to become educated. Many young people in the slums do not have the means to learn to read, or the opportunity to use the internet, and this library allows them to do so. As we rounded the top of the mountain, the cable car proceeded to run for over 5 minutes over top of beautiful lush greenery that extended for miles in either direction. Because we were there on a Sunday, Parque Arvi had a massive outdoor market filled with crafts and food!

When we got back to the hostel, we were informed that the 2 city soccer (futbol) teams were playing each other that night and that we HAD to go. It was well into the afternoon by this point, so we hopped in a cab and headed straight for the stadium. We purchased tickets that allowed us to sit anywhere in between the Nacional and Medellin side. Because of the green hue of my jacket, we sat closer to the Nacional side (their jerseys are green!). The next few hours were absolutely crazy, and I spent more time watching the crowd than I did the game. Each end was packed with passionate fans for each team, making a sea of green on one side and a sea of red on the other. Each end has a band that plays for the majority of the game, and fans from each team take turns chanting back and forth at each other. Each end is also densely lined with police officers to prevent violence between opposing fans. As the players ran out, people on the field shot colored smoke (gas?) from fire extinguishers into the crowd, making the air a green, white, red and blue rainbow. I covered my face as the smoke made its way up to us, and when I looked again, everyone had pulled out colored umbrellas that they were twirling around to the beat of the chant. As the game got under way, the fans continued to chant back and forth, yelling and booing, depending on what was happening in the game. People were on their feet, hands in the air, jumping up and down. There were even people jumping on the railings, holding onto nothing more than colored banners draped down from the top of the stadium. Medellin was momentarily silenced when Nacional scored their first goal, but came back with a series of massive banners; one had a demon goat choking a chicken on it. It was insane because the stadium was not even selling alcohol! In the end, Nacional won the game, but Ryan and I left before the final festivities to ensure we weren’t caught up in some crazy Colombian riot. Regardless, it was an experience to remember!

Since the futbol game, Ryan and I have spent our days exploring more of Medellin. Yesterday, we made our way to the beautiful botanical gardens, where I could have spent all day napping. We spent the afternoon wandering through the parks, and finished the day with a spanish lesson, in hopes of being able to keep more consistent conversation with the locals. Today, we went on a 4 hour walking tour of the city centre, learning the history of Medellin, and exploring the government buildings and plazas, spotting the oldest churches in the city, and wandering some of the busiest, and most dangerous streets. Although Medellin has come along way in terms of safety, there are still many people who will steal your stuff or take your money, if given the chance. As our guide said, Medellin is safe, and it is beauitful, but you need to be smart. One of the highlights of our tour (in my opinion), was seeing more works of the famous Colombian artist, Botero. Although his work is intended to show disproportions, I enjoy it because everything he paints or sculpts appears fat. It’s hilarious!

We have one more day to explore a bit more of this wonderful city before we head further south to Salento!