1st Weekend in Medellín!

My first weekend in Medellín has been a busy one. On Saturday I helped out with the AIESEC EAFIT Chapter during the day. They were doing evaluations for new members. Over 100 people would show up over 2 days to be evaluated and possibly allowed to join their AIESEC Chapter... it was very intense. The potential new members had to go through various activities and games where their social, leadership, communication and problem solving skills were evaluated. I also met a lot of new people along with a guy from Australia who is working with an NGO in Evigado (town next to Medellín) and guy from Czech Republic who is teaching English within the university.

At night, I moved into my new apartment! I met my new roommates, who are called Alexa, Alexandra and Viviana. Alexa and Alexandra are both students, and Viviana works. They are all so nice, and we speak only Spanish to each other. When I arrived into my room they had Welcome signs made, which was so cute.


My room is a pretty decent size, I have a bed, desk, chair and a pretty good sized closet. The living room in my apartment is fairly large with sofas and tables. The kitchen is a bit smaller, but not too small. The best part about my apartment are the following things: 1. It´s right across the street from where I work, so it literally takes me one minute to walk to work. The longest part of my journey is waiting for the traffic to stop so I can cross the road lol. 2. It has a swimming pool, sauna, beautiful exotic trees/flowers, and terrace seating areas. 3. It has 24/7 security with large gates. So its very safe. 4. There is a supermarket and a large mall right across the street from my apartment as well, so everything is incredibly close!

After I moved in, I headed out with my Godmother (Sara), her boyfriend and some other AIESEC people to another AIESECers birthday. We started the night at a bar called Medellín Beer Factory. Where I played pool (the Colombian way, which is way harder than just your standard stripes and solids game of pool), darts, and other drinking games. After drinking a jarra (pitcher) of beer or two with my friends, I went to Parque Lleras which is a popular hang out with many many bars, with Kevin, David and Juliana. We basically went from bar to bar, trying different drinks and checking out different bars. David took us to El Alamo, which gives free Cuba Libres (rum and cokes) to women after 12midnight (gotta love being a girl!).

Then I went to a bar called Chupitos, which has all sorts of shots that can be lit on fire etc. After 4 or 5 bars, we decided to stop and get some food before heading home. I got a gigantic slice of pizza,which had all kinds of meat on it. After pizza we called it a night at 330am. lol

On Sunday I met up with my Madrina (godmother, Sara), to go grocery shopping. She took me to Carrefour which is a huge store that sells everything from groceries, to electronics, home decor, to personal hygiene items.
Basically anything you could need. Going shopping with Sara was super helpful, as when you are in a different country you arent familiar with different brands for food, clothing etc. So you dont really have a (this is going to sound super nerdy) perceptual map for brands in your head, because you havent grown up with them (see business school has paid off lol). So she explained to me the different types of brands, whats good, what´s not, and what´s cheap. I ended up buying a hairdryer and a towel as well as my groceries. The craziest part was my grocery bill came to $230,000 !!! Which is around $100. The Colombian Peso currency symbol is $, just like in Canada. All the prices in Colombia seem really expensive because they have so many zeros, but basically you divide everything by $2,000.

Some items I bought with different packaging:


Something interesting that happens on Sundays in Medellín, is a major road within the city closes so no cars can drive on it. Then people are able to walk, run, bike, and rollarblade on the ride without worrying about cars. It's to promote healthy living, and I think its something they should start doing in Canada!

Later in the afternoon I met up with Andrés, who is the brother of my friend Juan in Canada. We went for a drive around the city, and visited Saboneta which is a small town connected with Medellín. He also taught me how to use the metro, which is very modern, clean and safe.
The metro costs $1,500 pesos, which is about 75 cents. Pretty cheap when comparing it to Toronto's subway system. Attached to the metro is the MetroCable, which is like a giant gondola you can take up the mountain, which connects the poorer "barrios" (neighbourhoods) to the rest of the city. It goes up a steep mountain, and you have an incredible view of the city!

After getting a handle on the public transportation, Andrés took me to a restaurant for Arepas, which is a traditional Paísa food here in Antioquia. Its like a tortilla, but made from corn, and it can be eaten with a variety of different things. Mine was made like a pita, so it had ground beef, chorizo, scrambled eggs, and another kind of meat inside. It was pretty yummy.