Friday night, I finally made it to Blue, the rock club which is a backpacker favorite amongst those passing through Medellin.
It has a reputation for being the place to meet Colombian girls, mostly because it’s so loud, knowledge of Spanish is neither necessary, nor especially helpful.
During my month’s stay at Casa Kiwi Hostel, I heard no other bar or club name mentioned more often.
I met up with a group of Colombians from couchsurfing in Parque Poblado around 10pm.
The small city parks are popular hangouts for young people on the weekends.
The normally nice evening weather and ability to drink in public help foster these street parties.
Amongst the group were two Dianas, Juan Carlos, Jesusa, Natalia, and Yohann, a Finnish guy studying Spanish here for 3 months.
The cover for Blue is 5,000 pesos ($2) and includes a free beer.
As usual for the start of a night in a Colombian club, everyone inside was sitting around tables ordering their beers, bottles of rum, and aguardiente.
I ran into my friend Luisa, who was at the club celebrating her friend’s birthday.
I spent much of the night shuffling between the two groups. Luisa’s friends weren´t dancing as much, which suited me.
At 11:40pm, the DJ suddenly switched the rock music to electronic, fake smoke began to shoot out from the ceiling, green lasers beamed across the club, and people began to get up and dance.
It was so abrupt, it was almost funny to witness. It was clear all the Colombians knew it was coming too.
Towards the end of the night, I was talking to Luisa when a girl at the next table asked me to take a photo of her and her friends.
I wasn´t standing there by accident, as I had noticed her when we first arrived at the club, mostly because she was singing so expressively to music I could actually recognize.
I took the photo, and a minute or two later, asked for one with her in return.
A conversation resulted, and after I mentioned being an English teacher, she said she needed to pass the TOEFL test soon.
Andrew, her friend, asked about the cost of lessons for all three of them. I exchanged numbers with Valentina, hopeful I might have recruited new students in the unlikeliest of places.
People slowly started leaving Blue around 1:30 – 2am. I hung around a little longer, as it stays open until 3am, an hour later than the bars in Medellin.
The taxi from El Poblado back to the apartment ran 7,000 pesos ($2.80).
Overall, I prefer the vibe and music of Trilogia more, though it is costlier.
Blue would be great from time to time as it is nice to hear music I´m familiar with, however I am not living in Medellin to be reminded of life as I know it in the USA!
