Six Weeks in Colombia
It's hard to believe that I've been in Medellin for more than six weeks. The time here has flown by, filled with lots of adventure and lots of work. From the moment I touched down at the airport east of the city, to meeting my new coworkers, to meeting my new students on the first day of class, to traveling to nearby pueblos, each day has been amazing for its own unique reason.
I am living in the city of Envigado, just south of Medellin proper. It's only about a 10 minute walk from my apartment, or a 3 minute trip on a bus, to get to La Frontera which is the division between the two cities. Getting around the city is incredibly easy and I haven't had a moment where I've felt unsafe, no matter what time of day. Grocery stores and shops are a short walk from my apartment. The metro is cheap, clean, and gets you almost anywhere in the whole city. And the main streets have buses that run regularly and are the same price as the metro: $2100 COP (under $1 CAD). And if you don't feel like using public transit, the cabs are extremely easy to flag down, or book through your phone, and generally get you across the city for under $20 CAD.
I don't know what to rave about more, the food, the weather, the people, or the views. Coming from a fairly flat place in Ontario, living in and around the Andes mountain range has been an eye-opening experience. Just like I fell in love with the Swiss Alps the first time I saw them, I still find time almost every day to stop and appreciate the mountains. My school is on the side of a large, steep hill, so just going between classes gets a workout in, but the views are exceptional.
It's a busy work-week teaching at Colegio Canadiense. Monday to Friday I'm on a bus by 5:40 am, to be at school by 6:30. First classes start at 7:15, and the classes wrap up by 3:15 pm. Usually I'm on a bus home around 3:45, and home by 4:15. During these 10.5 hour days, I teach 18 hours over the week. Two sections each of grade 11 physics, 11 math, and 12 physics. The kids are pretty awesome and outgoing, just like teenagers almost anywhere. They can get pretty brain dead by the end of the week, having 34 hours of class and generally taking between 15-18 subjects! With that in mind, I'm doing my best to keep homework to a minimum, which can make things a little difficult when classes typically start late and things take a little longer to get done.
My apartment has been a wonderful surprise, knowing next to nothing about it and its location before I opened the door on the first day. I'm sharing with another new teacher, which has been going very well. We both enjoying cooking and being cooked for, so the trading off has been great. Her salads are absolutely delicious. The complex I'm in has a pool that's only a few steps from my front door, and then on the top level, with a great view of the neighbourhood, is a squash court, gym, and hot tub. Playing a couple hours of squash a week and taking a swim after work most days has helped me already drop a few extra pounds and inches off my waist. I can't wait to see what a whole year of eating fresher foods and being more active will do.
So far I've done a little exploring of Medellin, a little more in the neighbourhoods around my apartment (and those of my coworkers), as well as some trips to the pueblos (little villages around the city). A couple weeks back I took a day trip to San Luis to hike and swim in the river there, with lots of cliffs to jump from and rapids to swim in. And then one our first holiday long-weekend, I took a solo trip to the pueblo of Jerico, about 3 hours drive south of Medellin. From getting a bus ticket (my Spanish is still quite poor), to checking into the hostel, and exploring the city there was adventure in every step. Leading up to this trip, I was starting to realize that even though I've traveled the world, I've never done a trip alone to a new destination.
Jerico was fantastic. A small village, with colourful, colonial buildings taking up much of the main part of town. The hostel that I stayed at, Las Cometas Hostel, was everything I was hoping for and more. Jorge, the owner, took great care of me and helped me book a tour of a coffee farm (lead by himself), as well as get set up for paragliding into the valley. The views were amazing at both, so take a look at my Instagram for those.
Our next long weekend isn't until October, so we've started planning something big as a group. We're going to head out to the island of San Andres in the Caribbean, one of Colombia's two big islands off the east coast. It's right after we finish off term 1 (out of 4 in the school year) so it'll be a well needed break before starting up again. Until then I'm going to try and stay a little closer to home, doing some shorter 1 and 2 day trips, as well as trying to get started with a language tutor and work on my Spanish.
I am living in the city of Envigado, just south of Medellin proper. It's only about a 10 minute walk from my apartment, or a 3 minute trip on a bus, to get to La Frontera which is the division between the two cities. Getting around the city is incredibly easy and I haven't had a moment where I've felt unsafe, no matter what time of day. Grocery stores and shops are a short walk from my apartment. The metro is cheap, clean, and gets you almost anywhere in the whole city. And the main streets have buses that run regularly and are the same price as the metro: $2100 COP (under $1 CAD). And if you don't feel like using public transit, the cabs are extremely easy to flag down, or book through your phone, and generally get you across the city for under $20 CAD.
I don't know what to rave about more, the food, the weather, the people, or the views. Coming from a fairly flat place in Ontario, living in and around the Andes mountain range has been an eye-opening experience. Just like I fell in love with the Swiss Alps the first time I saw them, I still find time almost every day to stop and appreciate the mountains. My school is on the side of a large, steep hill, so just going between classes gets a workout in, but the views are exceptional.
It's a busy work-week teaching at Colegio Canadiense. Monday to Friday I'm on a bus by 5:40 am, to be at school by 6:30. First classes start at 7:15, and the classes wrap up by 3:15 pm. Usually I'm on a bus home around 3:45, and home by 4:15. During these 10.5 hour days, I teach 18 hours over the week. Two sections each of grade 11 physics, 11 math, and 12 physics. The kids are pretty awesome and outgoing, just like teenagers almost anywhere. They can get pretty brain dead by the end of the week, having 34 hours of class and generally taking between 15-18 subjects! With that in mind, I'm doing my best to keep homework to a minimum, which can make things a little difficult when classes typically start late and things take a little longer to get done.
My apartment has been a wonderful surprise, knowing next to nothing about it and its location before I opened the door on the first day. I'm sharing with another new teacher, which has been going very well. We both enjoying cooking and being cooked for, so the trading off has been great. Her salads are absolutely delicious. The complex I'm in has a pool that's only a few steps from my front door, and then on the top level, with a great view of the neighbourhood, is a squash court, gym, and hot tub. Playing a couple hours of squash a week and taking a swim after work most days has helped me already drop a few extra pounds and inches off my waist. I can't wait to see what a whole year of eating fresher foods and being more active will do.
So far I've done a little exploring of Medellin, a little more in the neighbourhoods around my apartment (and those of my coworkers), as well as some trips to the pueblos (little villages around the city). A couple weeks back I took a day trip to San Luis to hike and swim in the river there, with lots of cliffs to jump from and rapids to swim in. And then one our first holiday long-weekend, I took a solo trip to the pueblo of Jerico, about 3 hours drive south of Medellin. From getting a bus ticket (my Spanish is still quite poor), to checking into the hostel, and exploring the city there was adventure in every step. Leading up to this trip, I was starting to realize that even though I've traveled the world, I've never done a trip alone to a new destination.
Jerico was fantastic. A small village, with colourful, colonial buildings taking up much of the main part of town. The hostel that I stayed at, Las Cometas Hostel, was everything I was hoping for and more. Jorge, the owner, took great care of me and helped me book a tour of a coffee farm (lead by himself), as well as get set up for paragliding into the valley. The views were amazing at both, so take a look at my Instagram for those.
Our next long weekend isn't until October, so we've started planning something big as a group. We're going to head out to the island of San Andres in the Caribbean, one of Colombia's two big islands off the east coast. It's right after we finish off term 1 (out of 4 in the school year) so it'll be a well needed break before starting up again. Until then I'm going to try and stay a little closer to home, doing some shorter 1 and 2 day trips, as well as trying to get started with a language tutor and work on my Spanish.
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