City Of Eternal Spring

 

Plaza de Esculturas ( Plaza of the Sculptures)

It often takes me a while, but after a week-plus here I am getting a feel for the country of Colombia and am drawing a few conclusions.  Here are some then, in no particular order:

To begin with, to my list of my favorite cities in the world, I now have to add another -- the aptly named "City of Eternal Spring," Medellin.  So-named because the weather remains spring-like almost year-round. The place so maligned in U.S. media, especially in blood-spattered tv shows and films, that I drew frowns and semi-ferocious warnings from people back home when I said I was going there.  So much for the U.S. media...and the attitudes that they sow into people.

But to return to more pleasant subjects...Ahhh, yes, Medellin...Europe has its Paris and this part of South America has its Medellin.  It has been said that the most beautiful women in the world can be seen passing by the cafes here.  After sitting in my share of these by now, I can say that if they aren´t the most beautiful per say they must certainly be among them.

Liliana, my companion about town for a day

Medellin...situated long and narrow in a valley between mountains often shrouded in mists, the city has a magical quality about it, and a metro train system that whisks you the length of the place in minutes, to add to the enchantment.

Why haven´t there been romances made about this place?  Or comedies say?  Plots of flowers and statues decorate almost every intersection in center city.  Not to mention the alpine-like scenery.  The place is a veritable song begging to be sung.   

What is a city but steel and concrete and fumes if not for the people, and the people here are some of the friendliest and most open I´ve ever met.  And helpful, did I say helpful?  It´s as if they´re out to disprove the reputation that´s been foisted upon them by worldwide news.

In judging a place, I have found, sometimes it´s the things that don´t happen to you.  Let me tell you a few things about my first full day out exploring this city, and what didn´t happen there.    

• I walked about center city and rode buses and the metro and never saw another white face all day long.   Nary a Caucasian to be seen.  This is by no means an international city, not yet anyhow (except for perhaps the El Poblado District, which I didn´t spend much time in).   It´s as if the place has been thriving unto itself, in splendid isolation, for decades.

• It took me a while to realize, but I never saw another person wearing short pants all day long either.  I never saw another adult´s bare legs, in other words.  I was wearing my frumpled but trusty trekking shorts and felt quite self-conscious by day´s end, as if I were doing something disrespectful, in violation of the culture.   I don´t know the significance of this but it was noteworthy, I would say.

• Center city was mobbed, yet only one person tried to sell me anything or to foist anything upon me as I was passing by.  Only one.  And that was some guy trying to sell me a lottery ticket.  After experiencing the cities of S.E. Asia and of course the U.S., this seems significant.

As small and general as these observations may be, I somehow find them amazing.  At the least they´re a window into the mannerisms of the people here.

 

Marvelous Metro

Not that it´s all wonderful, of course.  Expanding slums cling to the mountainsides.  Unlike in the U.S., the poor folk are squeezed to live up onto the higher slopes; there they get the view alright, but not the good digs or services.  The air is somewhat dirty and I end up gagging after hiking about town for a few hours.  And for the economicos, those of us on a budget, in other words, the food and such is somewhat expensive -- three to four dollars U.S. for a good full meal, for example.

As they say in Chinese culture, there´s Yin and Yan, up and down, to everything.  And what do you get on the up side here?  Well, let´s see, there´s that climate, the friendliness, the transportation, the scenery, those women...Ahhh, sie, que bellisima...the women.

One of the cafes of Medellin