Medellin

First impression:  This city is big, damp, lush green, and very hilly.

 We waltzed right through immigration and booked a ride with UBER.  Finding the car and driver was a challenge but we finally did and as we drove along we found out why.  The driver managed to tell us that if police stopped us we should say this was a hotel car.  UBER is not legal here, but if you order a car on the UBER app, a car will arrive.  Hmmm.

Barely leaving the airport, we entered a tunnel, Santa Elena.  This tunnel is 8 kilometers long and we drove at 70 km per hour.  We now know there are 11 tunnels through the mountains, several aerial cable cars and 17 bridges connecting the mountains that surround Medellin. to each other and to the valley below. Those coupled with superhighways, a superb metro and bus system is how the nearly 3 million people who live here get around and about.

When we exited the tunnel through the mountain, we saw that we were in a cloud.  As the mist broke here and there, the city lay both below us in a valley and above us where edificios, high-rises, and houses coat the mountainside like frosting left in a bowl.

From this early vantage point, Medellin appears to be a very modern and pristine clean city, but I am sure it has its struggling neighborhoods. Our apartment building is nice and our area is lovely.  Because we arrived so early in the day, we knew we wouldn’t be able to check in.  The security guys were very accommodating and let us store our luggage in a safe place.  We sat on the patio and had a little lunch – packed from Panama City.  The weather felt damp and cool.  While we waited, we began to look online to find a grocery to stock up on essentials.  Navigation indicted one was nearby.

Normally, Stan is a compass, a sexton, and a weather vane, combined all in one.  I have learned it’s best not to argue with him on where we are and how we need to get where we want to be. Here, however, he was a bit off.  We headed in the direction he suggested and walked uphill, down a big hill, across and up and down again.  The trek was mostly downhill.  I kept thinking about the uphill walk we’d have to take a little later on.  Thank goodness the temps here are much, much cooler than in Panama.  Still, we did not know where we were going and everything seemed wrong.  Stan asked a security guard at a private residence we passed and was told the nearest supermercado was a long way downhill.  We’d already traveled a long way downhill.  We decided to turn around — uphill. Then I greeted a young couple working at a flower shop.  They were delighted to help us and said a supermarket was only a 5-minute walk and away and pointed us in the direction.    I must have missed something in the translation. 

Finally after a long while we found a supermarket.  We bought groceries enough for a family of four for a week.  We never buy that much at once but the prospect of finding a grocery again in the next day or so did not seem inviting.  We were walking zombies.  We took a taxi back our apartment. 

For dinner we sliced off pieces of one of those roasted chickens you see in all grocery stores but here the chicken comes with a few steamed potatoes and a few grilled arepas.

Having been awake since 3 am, we were flat out exhausted.  Our bed felt wonderful.

The next morning, everything changed.  After the night’s rest, we learned that the nearest metro station is about a 35-minute walk away. We thought, we can do that! There is also a nearby bus to take us there, but that is just too complicated for us right now. At the station, we can buy our bus card, see metro maps and bus maps and get a better picture of how to get around.

Today is Stan’s birthday.  I sang happy birthday and presented cupcakes to celebrate 

We had nothing on our agenda for the day but to rest, find the nearest metro station, buy a metro/bus card, have a nice late birthday lunch, and let Stan receive birthday calls from each of our girls.  We did just that.

Hey, one more thing . . . as we began our walk to the metro station using Google maps, we passed a very nice supermarket just a block from our apartment.   We’re in business now!

Happy birthday, Stan!