South America,  Colombia,  Travel

Medellin (2)

November 19, 2019 /

Recommended by a friend, I participated in a free city walking tour of Medellin (just give a tip), and decided to go to the one at nine o'clock in the morning. The tour guide was very interesting, using his personal experience to let me understand the more real history of Colombia and Medellín, not exactly what was depicted in the TV series "Narcos". Medellin was once called "the most dangerous city on earth". The big drug lord Pablo Escobar is not always respected and loved by the locals and regarded as a hero as the outside world says. Pablo did donate money to the poor at the time, building hospitals and schools, but it was all for political reasons, and the poor are of course easy to buy. Others hated him deeply. The tour guide and I are of the same age. When I was a child, I witnessed explosions and corpses lying in front of my house. There were also innocent civilian friends around me who lost their lives. The pain experienced by the relatives of many victims is immeasurable. Afterwards, I visited the Museo Casa de la Memoria, a museum commemorating the dead of that period. I saw many videos and photos and was very shocked. Locals have struggled over the years to shed an image associated with drugs, gang warfare and gun violence. The earth-shaking changes in Medellin in recent years have brought them hope for a new life. After experiencing so many disasters, they cherish the life in front of them very much, and any small happiness will be magnified. Afterwards, the tour guide took us through a small coffee shop. The board at the door said "Un tinto $2500. Un tinto, por favor $2000. Buenos días! Un tinto, por favor $1600." It means that when you order coffee, if you say " A cup of black coffee" costs 2,500 pesos, a "black coffee please" costs 2,000 pesos, and a "Good morning! Black coffee please" costs 1,600 pesos. Politeness works everywhere, haha.

Another local public transport was taken today: the tram. A bunch of heavily armed armed police surrounded the station gate, probably in preparation for the protest march of labor unions across Colombia on Thursday.

In the afternoon, I went to visit a super luxurious castle museum, Museo el Castillo. The hourly explanations in the castle were purely in Spanish, and I basically didn't understand anything.

In the evening, I went to eat Bandeja Paisa, a traditional food in Medellin, with a new local girl. It was a hard meal, and the little girl could barely speak English, so she couldn't communicate in Spanish, so she even made gestures and guesses, but it was quite interesting. She is about to graduate from university, majoring in photography art. In her spare time, she can make handmade accessories (necklaces, bracelets, etc.) and sell them online.

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