Parapentes

Because of its location, Medellín is said to be one of the best places in the world for paragliding. I developed a certain (possibly unhealthy) interest in jumping from great heights after I tried skydiving so this immediately caught my attention, and at a price of only $45 I was easily sold. I took a bus ride up the winding roads in the mountains outside Bella and got off at El Voladero. There was a narrow staircase leading up to the takeoff site and although it was only a five minute walk the air was so thin I had to stop to catch my breath. It was well worth it though, here is a picture I took from probably around a mile up in the air.

There were actually hawks flying around as close as 30 feet from me at times and the view of the city was spectacular. I also spotted farms and forest and a waterfall, plus a blue sky full of cumulus clouds (my favorite kind). There was a Korean girl in the air at the same time, and this blurry picture was all I could catch to show what paragliding actually looks like. Anyway, here's a video of the actual landing.

Caballeros

I was talking to a California backpacker who'd come here from Argentina about the differences between Buenos Aires and Medellín, and he said Medellín is more Latin. I was confused and asked him to expound. He told me B.A. feels like Europe, not just in the architecture but in the culture, whereas here things are more old fashioned. "Like, people still riding horses," he said.

At first I thought this a bad example, since horseback riding is a common hobby in the U.S. as well, although not quite so popular there are saddle stores in the malls like there are here. I found out later, much to my surprise, horseback riding is not just a popular pastime in Medellín; it seems to also a legitimate mode of transportation.

No Disfruta This Fruta

We went to a gigantic fresh local fruit market in a warehouse and bought a ton of stuff to make juice. I tried several while we were there and this was the only one that was really unpleasant. I've forgotten the name but it looks vaguely like a green orange. You peel it like an orange too but you have to slurp the insides, which are the consistency of boogers. Perhaps it'll taste better as a juice.

Amigos Colombianos

Everyone says the main attraction here in Colombia is the people, so I figured I should post a little about some of the Colombianos I've met so far.

This is my friend Jorge. He's from Bogotá but he went to film school in L.A. and is fluent in English so I've been practicing Spanish with him. He looks all thugged out in this picture but usually he dresses like a hipster. I took this picture in a bar underneath the call center he works for. He's also a DJ by night, and I went with some of his friends from work who also all speak English to hear him spin.

These are the friends, both of whom lived in the U.S. and are fluent in English. The one on the right, Claudia, is actually the boss, which is unusual in patriarchical Colombia. They sell extremely expensive memberships for an airplane parts locator website to businessmen in North America and Europe. Business has been bad lately due to the rise in gas prices though.

I met this guy one night at the hostal and nicknamed him DJ. He's a DJ too and has apparently played all over the world, so I asked him for a picture in case he gets famous. He promised me he wouldn't. I'll never find out either way because I only know him as DJ, which is definitely not his real name.

This is Vadir, he's probably my favorite. Everywhere we go he seems to know the people there already. He's endlessly patient with my terrible Spanish and I've met a lot of interesting people through him. I've also gotten a lot of good travel advice from him, as he's an experienced backpacker and well aquainted with Colombia and a lot of Latin America as well. We took this picture outside a show in Parque Poblado. Neither of us look too hot in this picture, probably thanks to the fact that drinking in public is quite legal in Medellín and beer is quite cheap in Parque Poblado.

There are more people who I'd like to write about but I don't have pictures of them yet. Perhaps when I get more photos I'll post a part two.

Smog

I went to a lookout point with Livia the other day to check out Medellín from up on high, and was startled to see L.A. style smog hovering over the city. Apparently the pollution here is getting out of hand due to a booming economy and an endlessly increasing number of cars. The traffic has gotten so bad they restrict driving at peak hours. It's reminiscent of the 70's oil crisis; you get to drive at different times depending on your license plate number.

Skinheads

Yes, that does say nazi on the curb, and yes, that is a swastika. I know it seems ridiculous seeing as Colombian people aren't exactly aryan in appearance. There actually are some locals here with blue or green eyes, and even fewer with blond hair so at first I wondered if perhaps they were the only ones who could be skinheads, but according to Vadir the skinheads are mostly mestizo. I'm endlessly amazed by what gets popular here.

Beer or Book?

I haven't heard any explanation for why this is the case but for some reason books are extremely expensive in Medellín. I discovered this in a local bookstore trying to find something written in relatively basic Spanish to practice with. As a result, counterfeit books are one of the products that street venders try to stuff through car windows while they're stopped at red lights. Livia's an avid reader in spite of this and this is a book that cost her 100.000 pesos. For frame of reference, a beer costs around 2.000 pesos. I wonder if this has an effect on how much people read here. I mean seriously, if you had to choose between a book or 50 beers, which would you pick?