After a wild and fast paced 12 days, my trip to Colombia was quickly coming to an end. Sometimes when you are traveling you can’t wait to get home, eat a solid meal and sleep in your own bed (we have all been there at some point). This was not one of those trips. I was ready to keep going, however, I had a class to teach at Temple University that I had to be back for. If not I would have bought a bus ticket to the Caribbean coast or maybe I would have headed south to Quito, Ecuador. Well.. that will have to be another trip.

If this is the first you are looking at these pictures, take a quick look at the intro I wrote. I think it sums up my experiences and reactions to colombia. So instead of being repetitive, take another read… CLICK HERE

I’ll leave you with a few final photos I shot in Medellin. Pablo and I were coming back from Maria’s house and got stuck in an area where, in hindsight, we probably should not have been. I have an interesting story, so ask me the next time you see me….

Somewhere between Maria’s farm and downtown.

The national police patrolling the hill side on horses.

Horses, shotguns and machine guns.

Pablo and I finally made it to the Metrocable cars just before the sun went down.

One of the barrios outside downtown Medellin.

Getting closer to downtown.

The sun setting on my final night in Medellin.

On the plane ride back we flew over Cuba (you can kinda of see it). Maybe that will be my next trip…

Thursday was the first day I had to check out Medellin. I was immediately confused because the layout of Medellin is exactly the opposite of Bogota. The rich section of Bogota is in the north, in Medellin it is in the south. I’m usually really really good with sense of direction, but it took me a day to figure out Medellin.

The other thing that I noticed right away is that Medellin seems more sketchy. For example, the poverty is more visible (not saying there is more, just more visible), most shops still have bars or gates on the outside, Pablo and I had our bags search by the police, etc….

Pablo took me around town, showing me some of the famous buildings and art work. We also took one of the cable cards that runs up into the hills. Medellin is the only Colombian city to have a metro, and to make it even more extreme, the city built cable cars in order to reach the barrios in the hills. The cable cars provide for an interesting way to see the city.

After a day of sight seeing, we headed out for the night. The thing to do in Medellin is to drink in the parks. This is right up my alley. Anyone that knows me, knows that I’m not the biggest fan of bars/clubs. I really enjoyed the nightlife in Medellin.

The next few days Pablo and I just relaxed. The weather was extremely nice, except there was a constant haze over the city. I ended up not taking a ton of photos in Medellin because the lighting was flat and ugly the majority of the time.

There were many highlights in Medellin, here are a few:

• Meeting all of Pablos friends and going out every night.
• Driving around with his friend Maria, who owns a 1954 VW bug. So much fun!!
• Going to Maria’s farm, which is up in the hills and overlooks the whole city of Medellin.
• Going to visit a friend in the village of Santa Elena, an hour outside Medellin.
• Going to a spot where paragliding is popular.
• Pablo’s family taking care of me. His mom and dad were so sweet.
• Just hanging out and learning some spanish.

By far the best part of Medellin was meeting a TON of people. Everyone (and not just Pablo’s friends) were extremely nice. I just want to thank everyone I met in Medellin, let me see if I remember names…. Thanks to Pablo, Maria, Ana Maria, Sara, Henry, Cristina, Andres 1, Andres 2, Andres 3, Chico, Paule, Juan, Pablo’s friend from the coast who tried teaching me spanish at 5am, everyone at Otraparte, everyone at the universities, the girls from Argentina who were touring with films that we met in Santa Elena…. geez and thats probably only half.

The Medellin metro…

“Love and Peace”

Medellin was “shady.”

Still lots of fresh fruit for sale on the streets.

A view from one of the Metrocable cars.

Another view from the Metrocables.

This street was full of street vendors selling bootlegged copies of porn videos (I shot this from the entrance of a church).

This mural had a very “revolutionary” feel to me.

Maria and Pablo and Maria’s 1954 VW Bug.

A friend’s house in the village of Santa Elena.

A popular spot for paragliding. This hill overlooks the Medellin suburb of Bello.

A family overlooks the town of Bello.

The Screenings

Pablo and I were enjoying Santa Rosa so much that we ended up almost missing our bus back to Medellin. We ended up getting back with just enough time to get a bite to eat, take a shower and then head out to the next screening.

The screening was at Otraparte, a cultural center in the south of Medellin. Every wednesday night of March, Otraparte hosted screenings of VOCES. each screening featured a different set of films.

After the screenings, I did a short Q&A about my work and then had an interesting discussion that centered around what the “green” movement was like in the US. I think the most interesting point of the discussion is that despite the fact we (the USA) have a tendency to create problems, we also have the resources and brain power to fix those problems. This is obviously something that I hope will hold true in the years to come.

After the screenings, a group of us got food and drinks at the adjacent cafe/bar at Otraparte. After a very long and tiring day, sitting back and sipping on some nice Colombia rum was a real treat. I was very happy to find out that rum is the choice drink in Colombia. Its one of the few liquors i really enjoy.

Otraparte - Medellin, Colombia

Attendees at the festival VOCES.

Otraparte had room for about 30 people, and we were happy to see all the seats were filled.

Screenings were also head at Politecnico Colombiano, one of the universities in Medellin.

Another shot from Politecnico Colombiano.