Medellin Living

This is a guest post by Robin, director of The Arepa. Medellin, home to friendly Paisas, beautiful women, and people with really small feet. Yes, small, feet. I have lived here for a year now and have sadly not been able to find a pair of shoes in size 13. Here in Medellin, shoe sizes [...]

“The plan was to just pass through Medellin…but that was four months ago.” The story is all too common here in Medellin. Travelers are either making their way through Southern and Latin America, or come to Medellin for a quick getaway, and suddenly they are hooked. Falling in love with this city is all too [...]

Some times, when I have a few minutes to spare, I just get off the metro at a random stop and explore what’s in the area.  One random Monday, I got off at the Parque Berrío station, and just had a look around. The streets were completely filled with people.  It was definitely the craziest part [...]

Between internet and transportation costs, universities and computer shops closing Sundays and for frequent holidays, and simply wanting some privacy and a quiet environment conducive to writing, I made the decision to invest in a laptop.  Just about everyone who hosted me on my trip used a laptop, which meant my dusty old desktop in [...]

Since moving out of the hostel, I’ve slowly begun to adopt a healthier, cheaper mentality around eating.  In general, I am trying to eat more at the apartment, and less at restaurants.  I think I am saving money, but it doesn’t always feel like it when I buy groceries at Carrefour each weekend.  Carrefour stocks [...]

There is a small outlet store around the corner from my apartment building, and I would often see groups of people waiting for it to open at 10 am, especially on Friday and Saturday mornings.  The one time I had ducked inside during a non-busy weekday, I found 90% of the stock geared towards women, [...]

Exito is the American equivalent of Walmart or Target in Colombia, and it is based out of Medellin. The stores remind me of home, and a Colombian friend explained they are well known for their high quality of customer service. If an Exito is nearby, backpackers use them to buy everything from groceries to cheap [...]