ave maría pues (o ''aeemarÍa pues'')
Medellín has been... wow!
To all the people who made this experience so special I thank you from the bottom of my heart
Alberto y Yelitsa, buenos amigos!!
Alberto and Yelitsa are both fantastic people! Unfortunately they are no longer a couple, however during my time in Medellin they were almost always together running successful businessesAlberto and Yeli were my first real contact with this city and introduced me to a few aspects of Paisa culture. In the apartment Alberto was always cooking something with garlic and Yeli would be eating a tamal or making the apartment look nice. It was so great to get to spend my time with you both, you were key reasons for such a wonderful experience.
You both were incredibly open hearted and generous to me from the very start to the very end of my stay in Medellin. I really am indebted to you both for enabling me to have such a memorable experience with you, as well as with others. I so look forward to our next catch up!
I also had the opportunity to hang out with some of Yeli's friends like Diego and Brenda, and dance Porro with Alberto's mates Carlos and Juan Pablo, me dijeron ''bailas muy gringo'' :)
Hugo Ubeny y Juliana, mis vecinos
Hugo, Ubeny y Juliana, mis vecinos, me trataron como una parte de su familia y me enseñaron la diferencia entre ''coca cola'' y '''narco cola'' ...me gustó mucho eschuchar lo que Ubeny iba a decir en las mañanas con palabras así, ''hacer locha''
fue un gran placer visitar el bar favorito de Hugo en mi ultima noche en Medellín. Su hija Juliana es muy divertida y le gustaría ser abogada
¡Gracias a Dios por conocerles!
JuanPa and Maria, amigos míos!
It was such a pleasure to spend time with you both. Juan would always say ''Hugo eats a lot'' and I would say ''Juan drinks a lot'' Both statements are true. Juan is a deeply thoughtful guy who would generously cook afternoon barbecues at his apartment. He's simply a super cool guy. But he can drink more than me which makes partying with him super dangerous but awesome!
Maria has a strong Paisa accent and when she sees a dog in the park she can't help but give it a great big hug and shouts out! Her English improved a huge amount during my time in Medellin!
I will miss seeing you guys! I have a feeling wee will be friends for life
Milena, mi profesora
I tried a few different Spanish tutors and toward the end of my stay eventually found Milena, and we became great friends. It was great to hear her funny examples about why Colombians use the subjunctive so much and to hear her perspective on the culture.Really it was fascinating to hear Milena speak about dating culture in Colombia and what she thinks the country can learn from Germany where she lived for a while
She runs a volunteer program for children in poor areas of Medellin and is an inspirational, progressive person, with business ideas for the future.
Club Trotadores
My running group was fantastic. Every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday we ran at the local athletics track. Thank you to my running friend Laura and her husband John for inviting me to your farm and to pick fruit fresh from the trees. What a life! Oh and by the way, it is really hard to run 14km Sunday morning with a hangover. Thank you Steven, Octavio, …
Ramiro, el profesor
I was a volunteer at a local English school. The classes were delivered in Spanish and I got along well with the students and a couple of teachers. After the first week I only attended Ramiro's (or Frank’s) class on Tuesday mornings. He has taught for forty years and knows all the teaching tricks. His students love him! He had his own thriving business teaching Spanish to diplomats in the 80s, from Pakistan and London and other places, until the violence scared away all tourists ''they stopped coming'' he said, ''simply no one came'' ... needless to say, he told me that the day the police killed Pablo Escobar was a great day for the Colombia
I will update this draft and include another post to capture more of the characters during my time in Medellin.
There's so much more to the experience over five months, but that's enough. In Colombia people smile even when they have problems, really value time partying with their friends, and live with passion. Respeto!
Hugo