Medellín: Mountains, Metrocables, Museums and more

I’ve been getting some good feedback, so to keep my three followers pleased, I think I will keep this going…

I have some very exciting (for me) and life-altering (for me) news that I think I will share, but first, more Colombia!

I was able to connect with a family friend here the other day, and he gave me a lot of good ideas for things to do in Medellín. It also feels good to “know” someone here…I have met many people, but knowing someone in the sense that I can call them up anytime and they will keep track of me is a nice feeling to have. I may also contact a friend of mine’s cousin, who of all things is a doctor here, so I could see that being really beneficial as well. What’s especially nice is that I didn’t even know I had these connections in Medellín, it was only after I chose to come here that I found this out. It’s amazing to me that even in a relatively obscure city in a pretty infrequently traveled to part of the world (at least for Americans), I’m only two degrees separated from some people who live here. Cliche, but it demonstrates how connected and small of a world it really is.

So anyway, as the days pass, I’ve been gradually increasing my travel radius, venturing farther and farther away from the neighborhood I’ve been staying in Medellín. I’ve used the Metro quite a bit and have explored a bunch of the sites downtown. I also took the Metrocable up the mountains today, which was a totally unreal experience. I took two different lines that brought me way way up to the top to a place called Parque Arví, a big nature reserve at the top of the Aburra Valley. I didn’t get any pictures up there, but if you’re interested in seeing what it’s like, check out this link: http://discovercolombia.com/arvi-park-green-lung-of-medellin-colombia-2/

The Metrocable is just like a gondola you would find at a ski resort, except here it is used as a form of public transportation, commuting the people who live way up in the mountains down to the city where they work. I of course looked like the obnoxious, awe-struck gringa taking pictures and looking every which way the whole way up while surrounded by people just going about their everyday life. I still don’t know how I should feel about this particular relationship. In a way it feels exploitative, like I’m intruding on a way of life just because I can, taking a lot in but not contributing much in exchange. On the other hand, I am really happy to be here and respect everything I’ve encountered. This is a truly amazing place, and I hope I succeed in communicating to anyone who is reading this that there are some enormous misconceptions about the country that are simply not true. Of course there are dangerous parts of the city, just as there are in any city in the world. Yes Colombia produces 62% of the world’s cocaine, but the vast majority of it is exported to the west, never to be seen or used by the majority of the country’s inhabitants. I’ve only been here for a week, but even so, I haven’t once felt unsafe or in any kind of danger. It’s been largely the opposite, actually–people willing to help you at every turn, people advising you what to do and what not to do, people telling you to watch out and move to the side of the road because you don’t even realize it but there’s a car coming up behind you that probably can’t see you standing there. You know, that sort of thing🙂

Here are a few more photos for you. I have a hard time picking which ones to feature, simply because I have so many already, but these are the ones that made the cut. I’ll probably start a Facebook album with all of my pictures in the upcoming days for the rest. So here are a few of Botero’s sculptures and paintings, views from the Metrocable, and other Colombian miscellanea:

View from a pedestrian bridge on my walk towards downtown:

Around Government Center:

Botero sculpture garden outside the Museo de Antioquia

“Death of Pablo Escobar”

I happened upon this on election day, a good sign indeed:

Boarding the Metrocable:

Overlooking Medellín on the way down from the Metrocable:

So for those who have made it to the end, I will reward you with that news I spoke about earlier. This morning I found out that I was accepted to the University of Virginia law school. Charlottesvile, Virginia is where I will be spending the next three years studying law! I am so beyond happy, and it certainly lifts a weight off that I have been feeling since arriving here. I do still have to withdraw my other applications, but still, no more LSAT, essay writing, gratuitous LSAC fees, or obsessive status checking. I am DONE applying to law school and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.