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| A couple of waifs and strays Stella and Hugo picked up |
Mi casa
As I was spending several weeks in Medellín, I decided to find more permanent accommodation than a hotel/hostel. Through a website called homestay.com, I found a Colombian family who didn't speak a word of the Que, er King's English, which was precisely what I needed. I originally only planned to spend a couple of weeks with them, but they proved to be such delightful company that I ended up staying nearly six weeks. Stella in particular was delightful and charming, and always took the time to speak to me slowly and clearly (with abundant sign language where necessary).
Stella also gave me first - and probably last - salsa lesson. Sadly no photos or videos exist of this momentous occasion. (well they do actually exist, but they won't be existing here).
Several other people from around the globe stayed with the Stella and Hugo over the six weeks, including Dominik from Switzerland, who despite arriving barely able to speak a word of the King's Spanish, managed to leave practically fluent. Bastard.
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| Rabbit fingers. They never get old. |
The area where Stella and Hugo stayed was also real nice. Very safe (by Medellín standards!), not all touristic, and not too much of a trek to my Spanish school every day. In fact, the only problem was that it was slap bang next door to a busy local airport. So at 5:45am every morning, the first plane was revving its engines ready for take off, and that was me up. Still, as Hugo said (he also got up with the first plane), it saves money on alarm clocks. Or at least I think that's what he said - Hugo was a lovely chap, jovial, helpful, and great fun to be about, but I wasn't sure what he was saying half the time.
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| Watching the planes take off and land seems to be a national pastime |
During my six weeks here, I'd trawled all the bakeries within a 3 mile radius trying and failing to find the perfect empanada (basically, meat, pastry, and potatoes). I never found it - until the last night - when Stella and Hugo decided to make them.
First, they cooked the ingredients ...
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And then Hugo produced his special empanada-making machine ... |
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| And hey presto, a few moments later, the empanadas rolled off the press |
Spanish school!
A mere 15 months after first coming to Latin America, I decided now would be a good time to start learning Spanish properly. I joined a Spanish school, and got had 20+ hours of grammar drilled into me over the course of three weeks. And at the end of the three weeks, I knew an awful lot more grammar, yet still couldn't understand anyone talking to me.
Still, my classmates and teachers were all very pleasant. I made lots of nice friends in the first week, then they all buggered off. So I did the same in the second week. And then they all buggered off as well. |
| Week 1's classmates + teacher. All half my age. |
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| Week 2's classmates + teacher. All but one half my age. |
Feliz Navidad!
I thought they loved Christmas back in the UK, but that's nothing compared to Colombia. Christmas seems to start sometime in mid-November, and they seem to be partying and letting off fireworks every day just to remind themselves how brilliant Christmas is.
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| They were belting out a rousing performance of Feliz Navidad as I wandered past |
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| They never miss an opportunity to fire up a nativity scene no matter how grim the surroundings |
Even the local army barracks has a big inflatable Santa + snowmen (despite the temperature never dipping far below 20c). That is sure to strike fear into the hearts of their enemies. (I didn't take a photo of the charming scene because I don't altogether trust teenagers with rifles).
Leaving Medellín for Christmas
My near six weeks in Medellín was up, and I just had time to grab a plane to the Dominican Republic to see my favourite (and indeed only) auntie for Christmas.
Just one more thing. This chap walked past my bedroom window several times a day. I'm not 100% sure what he was selling (Stella tried to explain it as some sort of corn-based porridge which sounds revolting, but apparently Hugo swore by it). I'm returning to Colombia in 2024, and my New Year's resolution is to actual try whatever concoction it is he's singing about.
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