Should I Stay or Should I Go Now?
5 September 2005 (Monday) – Medellin, Colombia
I had spent these 2 days walking around the centre of Medellin, admiring the numerous sculptures all over the city and visiting the odd sights here and there. I like the city, although the traffic pollution is horrendous, the city is relatively clean and pretty, and the people are pleasant and helpful. The metro is also amazingly clean and modern. There is always a cleaning lady mopping away somewhere. As the metro route is above ground, travelling by metro actually provides a great view of the city with the slum-areas along the hills. Some buildings are really beautiful. I even spotted a sign in the distance, stating something about Centro Comercial Singapur! Imagine, here in Medellin, Colombia, there is a shopping centre called Singapur! Gosh, incredible to believe.
The ‘sights’ as listed in the guidebook like Cerro Nutibara and Cemeterio de San Pedro are frankly, not as interesting as it read. Yes, I even went to the cemetery. Frankly, I was not sure what to do with myself if I stayed another day. I toyed with the idea of leaving Medellin tomorrow which seemed a shame, as somehow I felt I had not ‘known’ the essence of Medellin yet.
Then, I checked my email in the afternoon and found an email from a lady whom I had previously written to, to ask for accommodation through Hospitality Club. Well, I had arrived in Medellin earlier than I had planned. So, when I had received no replies, I stayed in a hostel. Although I was planning on leaving tomorrow, since I was still here, I decided to give Claudia a call.
As it turned out, Claudia works just 1 block from my hostel and she lives just 3 blocks away!! We were neighbours without knowing!
By evening, I headed to her office to look for her. Wow, she has such a great personality! Very chatty and vibrant, full of jokes and stories, and always always smiling. I was so glad I gave her a call to meet her! She is in fact hosting a German guy in her house now. This German guy, Oliver, had been travelling for more than 1 year by motorcycle and now, his motorcycle is in the repair shops. Also, last Friday, he had gone for an operation to correct his vision. So, for the past 4 days, he had been staying alone in the house, recuperating.
We went over to her house and ordered pizza. Her friends, Gustavo and Juan Carlos, popped by, and all of us got chatting til late in the evening. Gosh, this was great! We had so much fun and were laughing and joking all through the night. I had to do a bit of translation for Oliver as he could only understand very very little Spanish. I was also learning a bit more about the locals, who are called ‘paisas’ and about the towns nearby.
Up at Cerro Nutibara this morning, I had copied something from a souvenir shop without totally understanding them. I knew it was a joke, but only when I showed it to Claudia and her friends, did I realise what the true significance behind some of them.
It was a list of ‘Lies from Paisas‘. For example,
– Mañana le pago (Tomorrow, I pay you)
– Quiero a mi suegra (I love my mother-in-law)
– El último y nos vamos (This is the last one and then, we go)
– No vuelvo a beber (I am not going to drink anymore)
– Tu erés mi vida (You are my life)
– Mañana vengo (Tomorrow, I come over)
– Tengo finca (I have a finca — [a ‘finca’ is a holiday house in the countryside with swimming pool, horses to ride on, etc… usually friends and families go to spend a weekend or holidays together. But people say it to try and get someone to go over for sex, when actually the ‘finca’ they promised is just a motel.])
– Te quiero mucho (I love you very much)
– Nunca te dejaré (I will never leave you)
– La puntica no más (Just the head of the dick, nothing more — [Just a quickie])
I really enjoyed myself getting in touch with the locals, especially since I can more or less communicate with everyone in Spanish now. The problem had been that there are fewer members in Hospitality Club from Venezuela, Colombia, etc… So, it was more difficult to find a host.
Now, they were all expressing pity that I was leaving tomorrow and kept dreaming up plans for me tomorrow so that I would stay another day in Medellin. Claudia suggested I go to Santa Elena, a town up in the mountains tomorrow and visit her sister who lives there. OK, I would do that. Now that I have Claudia as a contact, it will be really nice to meet more people.
Tags: 06) Colombia Connection, Medellin
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