Medellin Living

The Washington Post’s website has a 7 1/2 minute video by a reporter highlighting the positive changes occurring in Medellin with regard to violence and jobs, and touching on some of it’s current challenges in the face of the global economic downturn.
A surprising fact:  90% of the flowers sold in the USA are from Colombia
Well [...]

Despite staying put in Medellin after 14 months of travel around the world, people still continue to cycle in and out of my life faster than normal.  Here are a few of those changes from the past 24 hours and then some:
Jim returned from the coast yesterday and we met up for a few final [...]

I met up with Liliana, a Medellin native and couchsurfer extraordinaire, Saturday afternoon in Parque Lleras.  She had previously lived and studied in London for many years, so she was fluent in English.  As we got to know each other, she mentioned Sammy, another American would be joining us.
Sammy and Max, friends from Miami in [...]

I was first introduced to 3 Cordilleras when I attended the opening night of Le Pub de Octavia. Excited to take a break from bottled beer, I tried a few and became a fan. In talking to Paul of Casa Kiwi Hostel, I later learned the brewery is based in Medellin, and as [...]

Carlos Vives hails from Santa Marta, Colombia on the Caribbean coast.  He was one of the artist’s Maira introduced me to months ago when I first moved in and she helped me download some Latin music.  He is known for popularizing vallenato, a form of Spanish folk music.  Vallenato is especially popular along the Caribbean [...]

This past Monday, I renewed my tourist visa for the third time.  At this point, the process simply involves using the instructions I documented the first time around.  I made the requisite deposit in a bank account, and took a number at the DAS office.  Unlike my last visit which entailed about 30 minutes of [...]

Back in April, I reported about a failed attempt to find Cien Fuegos, the salsa club which I wanted to check out for its reportedly free Thursday dance lessons. Turns out the second time is a charm, and it doesn’t hurt to have a Colombiana steering you in the right direction.
Alejandra suggested we check [...]

Last Friday night was the first time me, Martin, and Maira all went out for a night on the town.  Maira chose Blue, and since Martin hadn’t been there either, and I like to take a break from salsa now and then in favor of my native rock and roll, it worked out for everyone.  [...]

Last Wednesday, I met up with Jim, an American wrapping up a one year trip around the world, for lunch at a Cuban restaurant in Parque Lleras.  It was 6 months ago that we first met on a Nile River cruise in Egypt, so we had a lot to catch up on.  Mainly, he relayed [...]

Dear readers,
I am excited to share my first published article for Ask Men, a popular online men’s lifestyle magazine.  The topic is Flashpack Gear and it is running under their Guy Gear column, thus making me a “Digital Correspondent.”
How did this happen?  A few months ago when I began the new blog, Medellin Living, the [...]