We settled into a nice routine during our two months in Medellín.
We enjoyed mornings on our balcony eating a little breakfast and learning a little Spanish while listening to the vibrant sounds of the city below.
For lunch we often visited one of the many small local restaurants for their menú del día. For 40,000 pesos ($10 total) we were both filled up on their homemade soup, fresh fruit juice, salad, chicken, patacones, coconut rice, and french fries... because you can never have too much starch!
Re-energized (and just a tad bit carb-overloaded), we would stop by the local produce stand to restock our fresh fruit supply or simply enjoy another beautiful day as we walked through the colorful streets of Sabaneta.
Eventually, our afternoon stroll would lead us to a decorative and delicious Colombian cappuccino.
If it was a Tuesday or Thursday afternoon, we would make our way to our friend Luis' office where eight of his employees were eager to sharpen their basic English skills with an hour of conversation and learning.
Evenings were the time to work on sharpening our Spanish conversation skills by participating in language exchanges at local cafés,
... joining in Karaoke and conversation with some of our former Primed students,
... or visiting dear friends whom we have gotten to know during our previous visits to Medellin.
These visits included a lot of Spanish practice as well as feasting on freshly made buñelos, Doug's new favorite Colombian treat.
We really enjoyed our colorful everyday life in Medellín!
I have always loved the chance to meet and get to know other people. And that continues to be the great incentive that keeps me working on my Spanish listening and speaking skills. When attending language exchanges, I talked with locals who also desire to learn English. They often were as hesitant about speaking English as I was about speaking Spanish. But mutual kindness and positive encouragement do wonders to boost everyone's confidence level. I was continually reminded that we're all in this learning game together, and when we encourage each other...
a new language is learned,
new ideas are shared,
and new friendships are formed.
In March we were very happy to hear that some friends and fellow vanlifers had made it to Colombia and were taking us up on our offer to introduce them to the Medellin that we love so dearly.
We first met Liz and Remy in Newfoundland when they were beginning their multi-year adventure of driving their self-converted van from Canada to the southern tip of South America. Since then, our paths have crossed in Florida, Alaska, and now in Colombia. Just getting their van to South America was quite a feat. Many people don't realize it, but there isn't a road that connects the two countries, so they had to ship their van from Panama to Colombia in order to begin the South American leg of their journey.
(Photo credit: Liz and Remy)
Their sense of adventure continues to amaze us ... as does their astute driving skills. We can't imagine driving Baby Beest on the crazy roads of Colombia, but they arrived with their ever present smiles still intact. They were ready to conquer Medellin.
But first they had to conquer the massive plateful of food know as the ''Bandeja Paisa''. This national dish of Colombia consists of a huge plate of beans, rice, avocado, plantain, egg, arepa, and three meats... ground beef, chorizo, and chicharrón. It proved to be an easy and delicious challenge for these international food lovers!
It had been four years since we had last welcomed friends to Medellin, so we were happy to tag along as Liz and Remy explored ''El Centro'' Medellin with Real City Tours.
Our guide held us spell-bound as he shared the turbulent, tragic, and transforming history of Medellin.
We wandered through the city square that Fernando Botero, Medellin's famous hometown artist, filled with twenty-three of his ''sculptures of disproportion''.
We were pleasantly surprised to see all the ways that the citizens of Medellin continue to improve their city. The walls of government center now support gardens of live greenery.
The top two floors of the Palacio Nacional were recently renovated into art galleries that display the colorful talents of local artists.
It's always fun to see Medellin from the new perspective of visitors ...
To see their admiration of the clean and efficient Metro transportation system.
To see their awe of the city views below them when riding the Metro Cable Cars up the mountainside towards Parque Arvi.
To see their keen interest in learning about the culture of Colombia, especially the special processions that are an important part of Semana Santa (Holy Week).
To see their excitement with finding an abundance of fresh produce in every neighborhood store.
To see their enthusiasm for trying all the ''new to them'' street food including one of my new favorites ... deep fried plantain chips!
Colombian food is definitely not as spicy as the Mexican cuisine that they had grown to love while in Mexico, but they still enjoyed trying the local empanadas and chorizo.
Colombians, however, do definitely know the secret to brewing a great cup of coffee, so we were happy to take them to some of our favorite cappuccino hangouts.
And after seven weeks of eating ''menú del día'' lunches, I am eternally grateful for our friends suggesting that we ''change things up a bit'' with a delicious curry lunch at an Indian restaurant in Poblado, the touristy barrio of Medellin.
This international eating extravaganza continued as Liz and Remy created some amazing meals for us in our apartment.
Colombian cooks seldom add any spice to their dishes. So after seven weeks of menú del día, our taste buds rejoiced when they tried Liz's delicious dishes prepared using the abundance of fresh local produce along with few fiery spices from their van's pantry.
Indian curry,
Italian pasta,
and Asian stir-fry gave us a small ''taste'' of what's in store for us when we expand our international travel destinations in the future.
But for this time around, we once again enjoyed our everyday life in Colombia as well as the joy that comes when visitors join us!
That's it for this year ... adios, Colombia! It's been a joy, but we are eager to see a solar eclipse and celebrate a family wedding back to the United States.
Five years ago we traveled to Medellin, Colombia for our first extended visit abroad. Our plan was to learn Spanish by taking classes for a few months, become a wee-bit fluent, and then travel to other Spanish-speaking countries in the following years. In the process of learning Spanish, we became connected with Primed Community, a non-profit organization that brings free English classes to many underserved barrios (neighborhoods) of Medellín.
We started serving as volunteer English teachers and quickly fell in love with the people and culture of Medellín. And after five years, we have to say that the Primed Community is one of the ''Prime'' reasons we love to spend time in Medellín.
Primed's mission is to build up community through learning opportunities. By learning English, their adult students can often obtain better jobs as local tour guides and entrepreneurs. Their program, called ''Storytellers'', encourages each student to share their unique story (in both Spanish and English) with their friends, neighbors and visitors to their barrio.
The first year we assisted in the barrio of San Javier. Known as Comuna 13, this neighborhood was once considered one of the most dangerous in the world. But through the efforts of its local, city, and national leaders, Comuna 13 has been transformed into a cultural mecca. Innovative escalators bring citizens and tourists up the steep hills. Magnificent paintings tell the story of this community's re-birth. And thanks to Primed Community's free English classes, local tour guides now share their story, reflected in the local art, in both Spanish and English.
A couple of years ago, Primed expanded their program into another barrio known as Moravia. Moravia has a sad history in that it was the site of the municipal garbage dump for Medellin in the late 20th century. People, trying to escape the poverty and violence in other parts of the city and country, built ramshackle homes next to and sometimes on top of the piles of foul-smelling, decaying garbage. But recently, efforts have been made to clean up and improve the living conditions of this barrio, and citizens are working together to bring about a positive transformation. As this mural states:
No more garbage! Nature is sacred. Let's take care of our barrio.
We were able to experience a bit of this transformation first hand last year when Primed's Storytellers program spread to Moravia. We served as volunteer English teachers and quickly became addicted to the energy of our students. The following video is just a small example of the pride that we felt as we saw our students dedicate themselves to learning English in order to improve their own lives and the lives of their community.
The Moravia class ''graduated'' last September, and we were fortunate to be able to reconnect a few weeks ago with some of our former students. It was heart-warming to see the confidence of our students as they shared stories of how they are using their English skills to improve their job status as well as improve their community. One student is now an elementary teacher, and he is proud to be able to introduce English to his young students. Another student works as a barber, and his clientele now includes foreign tourists, all because of his ability to speak English.
This year we're happy to see Primed's Storytellers program expand once again into the barrio of Manrique. In the 1990's this community began as makeshift houses that were built on the steep hillside. Considered an ''invasion'' community by the city, there was no water, electricity or sanitation services for the original citizens. Through the efforts of community leaders, conditions for this neighborhood have begun to improve.
Bus service now connects them to jobs further down the hillside in the city. A reservoir in the center of town provides important water and hydroelectric power. And most recently, a project is underway to transform the neighborhood with colorful art.
Through a new program called Constellations, citizens of Manrique have begun giving tours of their newly revived barrio. Luz, one of our students, proudly showed us around her community one Saturday and shared stories of its past struggles and recent transformation. While our tour was in Spanish, I have no doubt that Luz will be telling her stories in English in the near future. In the meantime, I appreciated the fact that she spoke slowly and clearly so that I could understand... most of it.
Luz and her brother outside their childhood home.
Our tour started out with a Colombian coastal lunch of fish, coconut rice, and patacons lovingly prepared by Melida and family.
The fish may not have been smiling, but our enthusiastic patacón maker was!
Afterwards, we walked through the narrow streets as Luz told us stories of the barrio that are reflected in the street art.
Stories of how Melida and many like her left the Caribbean coast in hopes of finding a better life for her family in Medellin.
Stories of the simple joys of the children of Manrique.
Stories of hope for rebirth, transformation, and a better future for the citizens of this historically underserved barrio.
Primed Community's classes are an important way to help promote tourism in this revitalized neighborhood, and these classes would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of Cata, Primed's director, and Tom, the program's talented and passionate academic coordinator.
There is no hiding Tom's passion for teaching!
Originally from Great Britain, Tom now calls Medellin home and has devoted countless volunteer hours to start another two year program in the neighborhood of Manrique. Every Saturday he leads the three hour class with 40-50 students in the Manrique Community Center. But that is only the tip of the iceberg. This amazing teacher has developed the program's curriculum, written the weekly learning platforms, organized the weekly online review sessions, and recruited numerous volunteers to assist with the classes.
As volunteer teachers, we get to do the ''fun stuff'' in class. Tom sends us the detailed lesson plan a few days beforehand, and we show up ready to assist, encourage, and just have fun. When learning a new language, it is important that students have an opportunity for individual practice... and that's where we come in. Through small group practice, students gain confidence in speaking.
Fun and games are also an important element of each class.
And there's always plenty of friendly competition to bring out the inner child in all of us!
There are so many reasons to love Medellín, but it's...
the dedication of lead teacher Tom,
the enthusiasm of the many volunteer assistant teachers,
the determination of the students,
the shared smiles,
the laughter and friendships that cross language barriers,
the fun of learning,
and the desire to build a better world ... one barrio at a time
that has become one of the ''Prime'' reasons we love spending time in Medellin, Colombia.
PS...
Primed Community is always looking for more volunteers! If you will be visiting Medellin for an extended period of time and want to have more fun than you ever thought possible, visit their website to learn more.
PSS...
There are online volunteer teaching opportunities also. Experience some of the kindness and beauty of Medellin without leaving home. Contact Primed Community for more information.
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