Help Portrait Medellín

This weekend I was apart of a special charity photography project here in the city, called Help Portrait Medellín.

Here's a description of what it's about:
"The concept is simple: it's comprised of photographers and volunteers who want to come together and give free professional photographs back to the wonderful Paisa people of Medellín. We hit the streets armed with our camera gear to the barrios around Medellin. We photograph individuals willing to pose, then print them a copy of the photo that day. We return to the same location to handed them their very own portrait! A lot of people here have never had a professional photograph taken of themselves and this is a way for photographers, travelers and locals to give back to the community and share the love. The smiles given back in return will be your reward... that is PRICELESS!"

The project was spearheaded by an American, Troy, who I met in the city. He asked me to be a part of the project, as well to film our day as Im going to make a video of our experience. So myself, Troy, 2 other professional photographers, and about 20 other volunteers/amateur photographers, met up in Santo Domingo, one of the many poor barrios in Medellín to do Help Portrait.



We found this old porch that was apparently once a restaurant, to set up our gear. It was perfect as it had a roof to cover our space incase it rained (which like in true Medellín fashion it did, but later in the day). Basically we had 3 professional photographers, and therefore 3 different "photography stations" - Carlos with the brown background and would do head shots, Troy with the white screen and would do waist up, and Luis who would do full body in the street.



Once we had our stations set up, and the gear set in place, we had a team chat to make sure everyone knew what was going to happen, and how people could help. Then the day began, and it was a lot of fun! We started to ask people in the streets if they wanted their photograph taken (everyone from little kids, to teens, adults and seniors), obviously the people were a little apprehensive about it at first, and thinking what we were doing was some kind of scam, but after explaining the project, and assuring them we'd give them the picture for FREE, people starting to agree. Once we had a bunch of people getting their photograph taken, we started to attract a lot of attention, and more and more people wanted their photograph.



The day flew by, I was busy helping people out, translating for the volunteers that didnt speak Spanish (so giving directions to the people getting photographed, telling them how they can receive the photographs, and just interacting with the people of the barrio), and taking video of the day.

I met some really great people who were taking a part of the project. Everyone was really nice, and super enthusiastic about the project, and course everyone had a passion for photography. Now im not a professional photographer, though I love to take photos! I do however want to get into photography when Im back in Canada, buy a DSLR and take some lessons. Especially after seeing the kinds of photographs that were taken during the day, definitely motivated me more to get into photography. Here are some of the photographs that were taken:






Once we had a decent amount of photos, Carlos and a couple volunteers headed back down the mountain to get the pics developed. While waiting, everyone headed to a restaurant near by to grab some lunches, drink beer, and just chat. I ended up meeting another Canadian who was from Toronto, his name was Joel.




So we had originally told all the photography subjects to come back at 5pm to reclaim their photos. Unfortunately the pictures took longer to develop so they werent going to be ready until at least 6pm. The most hilarious part of the day is that the majority of the Colombians were there EXACTLY at 5pm to get their pics. I have NEVER seen Colombians be SO ON TIME! I was shocked, as normally Colombians, or Latinos in general, are ALWAYS late. But tell them they'll get their photo taken for free, they'll be there on time to pick it up! Hilarious.

While we were waiting for the pics to be developed, myself, and 2 american guys were interacting a lot with a few kids that were hanging around with us, curious as to what we were doing. They were asking us a ton of questions as to what we were doing, where we were from, why we were here, etc. Interacting with them was a lot of fun, and they loved our sunglasses, so myself and Michael (one of the Americans) gave 2 of the boys our sunglasses to try on, and the result was amazing. They put on the sunglasses and instantly starting to pose, with gangster finger signs, arms crossed, the whole 9 yards. It was hilarious. So obviously I had to join them and get a pic.




Once the photos were ready, giving them back to the people of the barrio was probably the best part of the day. To see their reaction was priceless. Santo Domingo is known for being a poor district, like so many communities located on the mountain sides of Medellín. These people don't have much, but they are so kind, happy and thankful for what they do have. It makes you definitely appreciate all the things you have in life so much more. So to be apart of this project was something so special, because I felt like I was doing something I am so passionate about, but at the same time able to help a community and give back in a positive way. Many people in this barrio have never had their portrait taken professionally, let alone have money to do that, so to give them one for free, and see their reaction when looking at the photos was awesome. It's definitely something I want to do and be apart of again!

Here are some photos of the people with their photos! A great end, to a fantastic day:






Then at the end of the day, Carlos, one of the professional photographers, offered to take a professional headshot of all of the volunteers. So here are mine!

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 ;)

Medellín: Ready to Bring Itself to the World

TV famous in Colombia!

Recently I was asked by AIESEC if I could be interviewed by a Colombian TV channel for a special segment for one of their programs. The TV channel is called TeleMedellín, and the segment I was on was for a relatively new program called Medellín City, which is a show completely done in English. The reason TeleMedellín created this all English tv show is because the city is trying very hard to have more resources and access to English, as the goal is to make Medellín more of a bilingual city.

My interview was filmed on EAFIT's campus, where I was hooked up with a legit microphone pack, and started to set up various shots for my interview. The 3 crew members directed me where to stand, what questions to answer etc. It was very exciting, I felt like a TV personality haha. It was a little awkward just because it was during the week, so as all the students were walking to class they would be staring at me and probably wondering who I was, and what I was doing.





During my interview I spoke about who I was, where I was from, what I was doing in Medellín, how long I had been here, what I thought about my Colombian life etc. It was a very relaxed interview, and I actually wasnt too nervous to be speaking into a camera. I think it would have been a little different if the interview had been in Spanish, but I had the advantage of it being in my native tongue, so I think that's why I wasnt so nervous.




Once I had done the shots of me talking and answering questions, they had me do some walking shots. So basically they did several takes and angles of me walking around the campus, this kind of made me feel like a model haha.




Apparently the segment is going to air on Nov 6th at 430pm, but there will also be a clip available on the internet, once they've done their editing etc. So Im going to try and find it, and see if I can post it on my blog when it's ready. Stay tuned!

Fav Quote #4

"You have to trust that the dots will connect somehow in your future. You have to trust in something, your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart."

- Steve Jobs

Video of my trip to Cartagena

Cartagena!

This past weekend was yet again another long weekend in Colombia. However we haven´t had a long weekend in a while, as there were no festivo days in September, which made for a VERY long month, as I had to work the entire month (hard life I live, I know). The long weekend in October was extra special because I travelled to the caribbean coast to a beautiful city called Cartagena.


Cartagena, also known as its full name, Cartagena de Indias, is located on the northern coast of the Caribbean region in Colombia and is the capital city of the Bolívar department (think province). Cartagena has a population of 892,545, which makes it Colombia's 5th largest city. Activity and development of the Cartagena region is dated back to 4000 B.C. around Cartagena Bay by varying cultures of indigenous peoples. The Spanish colonial city was founded on June 1, 1533 and named after Cartagena, Spain. Cartagena served a key role in the development of the region during the Spanish eras; it was a center of political and economic activity due to the presence of royalty and wealthy viceroys. In 1984, Cartagena's colonial walled city and fortress were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Needless to say, I was told by virtually every person who had ever been to Cartagena, what an incredible and beautiful city it is - and trust me, after spending 4 days in the city, it lives up to all the hype, if not surpasses it.




FRIDAY OCTOBER 14th 2011 - I travelled with Leo to Cartagena, and we had decided a long time ago that we were going to fly, to maximize our time/trip in Cartagena. However, our flight to Bogotá-Cartagena, ended up being SUPER early. Our flight left Medellín at 6am, and we had to be there the standard "1 hour" and a bit early, but the airport is an hour away, so we had to get a taxi at 330am, which meant we woke up at 2:50am/3am. So we were incredibly tired, but we were so excited to finally be going on our Cartagena trip (since we had booked it back in March, was originally going in June, but had to change it due to visa issues Leo was having). Once arriving in the Cartagena airport, we had to get off the plane on the tarmac, and for those of you who don't know, since Cartagena is on the caribbean coast, it's VERY hot, and VERY humid. So once the doors opened on the plane and we were disembarking, we instantly felt a wall of heat hit our bodies, and it was intense. You could almost feel the moisture in the air, it was that humid. But it was beautiful, sunny, and we couldnt wait to start exploring the city!

We took a cab to our hostel which was called "El Viajero", located on 7 Infantes (note: there are 2 places called "El Viajero" one is a hostel the other a hotel, we stayed at the hostel). Our hostel was great, we had such a good time there. We were actually recommended to stay there by a friend in Medellín, and we were glad for her recommendation. The hostel was very modern, clean, and had excellent staff. It also had breakfast included, and AC in all the rooms (the AC was key!). Once we got our room (which was shared with 10 other ppl), we changed into more appropriate Cartagena clothes (tank top, and shorts for me), lathered on the sunscreen (100 SPF) and headed out into the city. Our hostel was in a great location, because it was within the old city walls. Cartagena is sort of divided into 3 sections: 1. the Walled City (old Cartagena), 2. Suburban Cartagena (outside city walls), and 3. New Cartagena (Bocagrande barrio, where all the new condo buildings are, and the beach!). Since our hostel was conveniently located within the walled city, we just simply started to walk around and go exploring, to get to know it better. We walked along the walls, which took us completely around the city, and then walked through it as well. I couldnt stop taking photos, because literally everything in Cartagena is so beautiful. The city is filled with colonial style buildings which are kept in very good condition, and of course the city is located on the caribbean sea, so the water is right there, and it's beautiful. The sun was intense, and the weather was very hot, so Leo and I ended up stopping for many snowcones (called respados in Spanish) to cool off from the heat.


I think we had 3 on our first day there. During our walk we visited various plazas, parks, the gold museum and the emerald museum. We had quite the productive day. After a long day of walking around the city in the 40 degree weather, we headed back to our hostel, changed and then went to a bar called Café del Mar. Now for those of you who dont know I have an obsessed with Café del Mar, mainly the music that is played at the bar. The original bar is in Ibiza, Spain (an island), and I couldnt go last year because of the Iceland Volcano, BUT luckily there was one in Cartagena, so it was kind of like a dream come true that I was able to go. The bar is beautiful, located on the wall of the city overlooking the sea, and the skyline of Bocagrande (new Cartagena), and of course they had the typical Café del Mar music playing, which is sort of an ambient style of music. It was so relaxing to be there after a long day of walking in the heat. We got there just as the sun was setting and enjoyed some very tasty and strong drinks.



SATURDAY OCTOBER 15th 2011 - Leo and I were VERY excited for Saturday in Cartagena, as we had planned it would be the day we'd go to the islands which are about 1.5 hours away (by boat) from Cartagena. The group of islands are Islas del Rosario and Barú, which we had been told had beautiful transparent and turquoise waters, and beautiful beaches. Since I had never been to a place like that before I was so excited to go. To the left you can see a map showing where the islands are located and how we travelled there from Cartagena. So on Friday we bought our tickets for the boat tour, which was $45.000 pesos (about $22 CDN), which included our trip there and back, trip to Islas del Rosario, Playa Blanca (on the island of Barú), and lunch. The boat ride there was great, as they had this MC guy, to entertain the guests on the boat while we were travelling to the islands. He was really funny, got ppl to do dress up competitions to try and win icecream, and also did trivia as we travelled and past by various points on our route. Once we started to get closer, the water started to change colour, and my jaw just dropped. I had never seen water that colour before, let alone water where you could see the bottom. It was stunning, the islands were beautiful, the water was beautiful, everything in Cartagena is beautiful!



Our first stop was Islas del Rosario, where the majority of people went to visit the Aquarium, however Leo and I decided to go snorkelling! We found a guide to take us out for an hour, since we had limited time to get back to our boat. So there I was, in the Caribbean sea, about to go snorkelling for the first time in my life, it was so exciting and crazy fun. This was our snorkelling guide:


The first time I had the mask on my face, and put my head down in the water to see what was below, it was incredible. To see all the fish! And the coral, was stunning. I had never seen anything like it in my life. I couldnt believe I was snorkelling in the Caribbean sea of the coast of Colombia! A year ago, I would have never thought Id be doing this in Oct 2011 !! We snorkelled for about an hour, and when we finally headed back to the port, just as we were pulling in, our boat was leaving.... uh oh... Luckily, there are several tour companies that go to the islands from Cartagena, and there was a woman who went snorkelling with us, and she just told us to hop on her boat (which ended up being nicer than ours) and it would take us to Playa Blanca, where we could meet up with our original boat and get lunch. So that's exactly what we did, upon docking, we rushed to her boat, and just went with the flow while boarding. We acted casual, and just got on. They didnt even ask for our tickets... guess it was obvious that we were tourists, especially me, since Im SUPER white (finally my skin colour is paying off!!). From Islas del Rosario it took about 45 min to get to Playa Blanca, which was stunning. I couldnt believe it. The beach had pure white sand, with clear waters, palm trees, and the sun shining down on it. It looked as if we were in a postcard setting, I had never seen anything like it in my life. I couldnt stop smiling.



Once arriving on the island, we headed to the restaurant, which was outside, and had a traditional coastal dish, which consisted of fish, coconut rice, salad, patacones (plantains), and fresh limeade.


After lunch we rushed to the beach to enjoy the sea, sun, and sand. For about 2 hours we swam, hung out on the beach, and just took in the scenery. I never wanted to leave, this was paradise. But unfortunately the afternoon came to an end, and we got back on our boat (the right one this time), and travelled back to Cartagena. I passed out on the boatride back, and both Leo and I were exhausted from the whole day. As we had to get up at 7am, to be at the port for 730am, and we got back to Cartagena at 630pm. So it was a nice long day, and we felt we got our money's worth (especially when we got to go on the nicer boat from Islas del Rosario to Barú!). Once we got back to our hostel, we just hung out and called it an early night.




SUNDAY OCTOBER 16th 2011 - Sunday was spent exploring outside of the old city walls. So we once again spent the day walking around exploring other barrios (neighbourhoods) outside of the city walls, and visited a castle, called Castillo de San Felipe. What's special about the castle, is that it provides stunning views of the whole city of Cartagena, and has a huge... and i mean HUGEEE Colombian flag at the top, which was perfect for photos. On the way to the castle, it started to rain a tiny bit, the rain was weird, because it was like misty, anyways so just as we got to the castle, the flag had been taken down!!! We were so bummed, because we wanted to get photos with it. So before buying our tickets we asked if they were going to put the flag back up, and they had told us that when it stopped raining they would. So we waited a bit, got a nice cold drink outside the entrance to the castle, and waited until the rain stopped. It didnt take long only about 30 min. Then the sun came back out, and it turned into a beautiful day.




We walked all around the castle which was super old, and quite big. It had been used as a place to defend the city, and for various battles. After a while they had finally put the flag back up, and Leo and I rushed over to start taking pics before the other tourists came as well. Check some of them out!



Near the castle are a pair of these boot statues made of bronze. Leo wanted to get photos with them because 20 or 30 odd years ago his father had come to Cartagena and taken photos with them, so he wanted to recreate the photos to be able to show his dad when he gets back, which I thought was really cute. So we spent some time at the boots having a little photoshoot for Leo, to ensure he got the perfect pic to show his dad. After the boots, and the castle we headed back to the hostel to shower (as it was another hot and long day), and just relax for the rest of the day. For the sunset we decided to take a cab to Bocagrande, and watch the sunset on the beach. The beaches in Bocagrande arent nearly as beautiful as those in the islands, but the views were still beautiful.

MONDAY OCTOBER 17th 2011 - Monday was our last day in Cartagena, so we decided to rent bicycles and go around the city once again. It was another beautiful day, and we went through the old city, on the walls, through other barrios, as well as through Bocagrande. We actually biked on the beach in Bocagrande because the sand is quite hard. We biked all the way from the start of Bocagrande all the way to the bottom, which is quite far. It was yet another hot day, so once we had reached the bottom of Bocagrande we took a break, got yet another respado (snowcone), and sat in the shade, since we were sweating quite a bit. But hey, at least we were getting good exercise! Once biking back to our hostel, we checked out of our hostel, and headed to the airport. Both Leo and I didnt want to leave at all, we were having such a great time in the city of Cartagena. There's something so romantic, and magical about the city, it just felt so good to be there. I really want to go back someday soon, we had such a good trip there. I recommend the city to anyone!