Lauren Comes to Colombia!

This month marked a special visit made by Lauren Civello (my best friend) who came to visit me in Medellín for a week. We had been planning this visit for quite awhile, originally Lauren was thinking of coming at the end of August, then it was going to be in September, then sometime in October, but finally it would be the beginning of November! She flew from Toronto to Miami and then to Medellín, at my suggestion, as the Bogotá airport is quite confusing even for a person like me who speaks Spanish, and since Lauren does not, I advised her it would be better if she travelled through Miami straight to Medellín. My friend Alejandro and I went to pick her up from the Intl Airport which is actually located in Rio Negro (about an hour outside of Medellín). When we got there, Lauren was sitting, waiting at a table, and as soon as we saw each other she jumped up and I ran towards her. We greeted each other with a long and tight hug, as this was the first time we had seen each other in about 9 months, probably the longest we've ever gone without seeing each other!

After getting back in the car to head back to Medellín, the plan was to take Lauren to Las Palmas (a lookout spot), but there was a large race going on down the mountain, so the road was closed to get to Las Palmas. So instead we took her to Pueblito Paisa to get a view of the city at night. Even though Ive been here for over 9 months now, Medellín still has the ability to take my breath away, especially at night, since the entire city is lit up, all throughout the valley and up the mountains. It's simply stunning.


After heading back to my apartment, Lauren unpacked a few of her things, which included a care package for me which included mostly food I dearly missed from Canada as well as a few other miscellaneous things. See pic below:


We called it an early night since Lauren was pretty tired after travelling all day. On Saturday we got up at a decent time, had some breakfast, and then walked to one of the shopping centers close to my apartment so Lauren could exchange some $ for Colombian pesos. Afterwards we went grocery shopping to get enough food for us for the week, and then came back and made some lunch. After lunch we headed to the center, so I could show Lauren the downtown core of Medellín, as well as a famous market that only happens on the 1st Saturday of every month, called El Mercado de San Alejo. Lauren had her first ride of the Medellín metro system, which is not surprisingly MUCH nicer than the Toronto Subway system (it honestly puts it to shame). Once in the center ee met up with my friend Leo in the center and walked around, showing Lauren a famous plaza of Botero statues, the market, and other stores located in the area. Another first for Lauren in the center was that she had her first cup of Colombian coffee! I also got her to try oblejas with arequipe and my favourite drink on this planet: guarapo (a drink made from sugarcane).


Afterwards we headed back to my apartment and Sara came over after she finished work to my place to meet Lauren. So there I was in my living room, with my 2 best friends in Colombia, and my best friend from Canada - i felt complete. :) After chatting for a bit, we headed to Parque Lleras for dinner at the Turkish restaurant where Sara works, and then afterwards headed to Taico for their 3x1 drink special.


In the morning Sara, Lauren and I made a Canadian breakfast which consisted of eggs, bacon, toast, peanut butter, homefries, and a Colombian addition of fresh pineapple. Note: Lauren was obsessed with the pineapple, but as was I when I arrived in Colombia, it is the best thing you've ever tasted. After breakfast we all got dressed and headed back on the metro to take Lauren on the Metrocable. The metrocable is a gondola system that connects the city to the poorer neighbourhoods (called: Comunas) up the mountain. It also offers stellar views of the city, and we picked a great day to go, because it was clear and sunny.






After the metrocable we went back to Pueblito Paisa to check out the city views in the day time, and also give Lauren an idea of what a traditional Antioquian village looks like (as there is one on the top of the hill). Sara and I bought these amazing Mango slushie drinks, which were so fresh, a little salty (but everything is Colombia), and with fresh lime juice.

Monday was yet another festivo day in Colombia, now Lauren got to experience what Ive experienced at least one or twice a month! Festivo days are normally quite lazy or a day spent travelling, ours was more lazy. Sara invited us over for a traditional Colombian lunch. She made a great meal called "Pollo Sudado" which consisted of chicken, potatoes, salad, rice, plantain, and fresh pineapple juice.


It was the first time Sara has ever cooked for me as well, since she's always at my apartment, and the last time I was at her apartment cooking was when we made Thanksgiving dinner. After dinner, we all just hung out for a while, digesting our large lunch, as well as made a cake for dessert. After our food had settled, Sara, Leo, Lauren and I headed up the mountain to check out Las Palmas at night. Lauren was able to see the entire city lit up from up the mountain top, which is a stellar view. I also somehow talked her into trying the Colombian version of hot chocolate, which is hot chocolate with melted cheese in it. Yes, it sounds disgusting, which is what I thought too before I tried it. It's actually really good. Hey, dont knock it until you've tried it! ;)



The week was flying by, and it was already Tuesday! I had gotten the day off work, so Lauren and I headed 2 hours outside of Medellín to Guatapé and El Peñol, which is a little town which is next to this MASSIVE rock that you can climb and see some amazing views - views that are surprisingly very similar to how Canada looks like, specifically in the 1000 islands and Muskoka areas.





After getting Lauren to climb over 600 stairs (twice! up and down), we took small jeep to the small town, which is very cute because all the houses and buildings are painted and carved with different decorations and patterns, so it makes for a very colourful town. After walking around the town for a while, we took a bus back to Medellín and just hungout for the rest of the day by my pool. I also got Lauren to try a bizarre fruit they have here called Granadilla, which is this orange fruit on the outside, but is gooey and filled of seeds on the inside. It actually looks like youre eating snot when you crack the fruit open, but it's very tastey!




Wednesday soon came, which was Lauren's last full day in Colombia, and we decided to stay in the city. I took her to the university campus (where I work) to show her around. EAFIT University is very beautiful in the sense you feel like youre in a park, which was the objective of one of the past presidents who wanted to make the campus more green, so it is filled with all kinds of plants, trees and flowers. It also has some live chickens and roosters which walk around campus - totally random. I showed her the gym where I work out, the AIESEC office, my former office (before I changed locations), and my new office where she was able to meet some of my coworkers. She also met the director of my company, I had to translate during that meeting, since the director doesnt speak English and Lauren doesnt speak Spanish.

Thursday morning arrived and I saw Lauren off to the airport at around 5am. The week flew by, we got to do a lot of things, and Im so glad she was able to come and see what my life is like down here, as well as show her around the beautiful city of Medellín and introduce her to the Colombian culture. I asked her at the end of her trip what she thought about Colombia and if her perceptions had been changed, she said definitely yes, she also thought the people were incredibly kind, and the city was beautiful. Hopefully now she's seen where I live and work, she can worry about me a little bit less now ;)