Southern Hospitality

The people here are incredibly hospitable. Diana tells me that overall, the city/country is trying to rid the awful stereotype of being a corrupt country, so it's certainly a step in the right direction.

There is a lady at the studio that brings me coffee twice a day and makes sure my glass is full of water at all times. She asked me something on day 1 and once I hesitated, she would always ask someone to translate for her.

One day I asked if there was milk for my coffee and later that day, she had brought me a big bag of powdered milk (insider's tip: it still tastes like black coffee but looks lighter).

One of the guys I trained (and I'm pretty sure he'll be the best one) gave me a fun snack to take home called Bocadillo de guayaba con arequipe. Like the women, many things around here have long drawn out names. It's made from guava and something similar to caramel, but if you call it caramel you will be corrected immediately.

People everywhere have been very polite and kind, which makes this sort of trip a lot easier.

Birdwatching

Yesterday was the first time I tried Peruvian food. I ordered one of the signature dishes called aji de gallina. I mistakenly took it as garlic chicken, confusing ajo (garlic) for aji (sauce). Not a big deal, but this dish looked completely different than I had expected.

Nonetheless, it was terrific. Basically shredded chicken and rice, drowned in sauce and sliced potatoes lining the bottom. Topped with a quail egg and and olive, I could definitely eat this again.

It has been a big enough challenge for me to understand typical Spanish speakers here, so when a fast talker with heavy Peruvian dialect starts talking to me, I just glaze right over. Thankfully, Diana had to ask him to repeat himself a few times since she couldn't fully understand him either. I consider that a personal victory.

I tried doing some purse shopping for Mandy. This is something I do poorly in English, so this made for quite the adventure. Luckily, one of the ladies I talked to was very helpful and patient and spoke at a pace that I could converse at. That really helped, because otherwise I was the creepy man standing outside women's stores taking photos from afar. Not weird at all.

Frogger

When I arrive at the studio every morning, it's exceptionally hot. I should point out that we have air conditioning, but it fails regularly. It seems almost like a comedy act where every day, two men brign a ladder and walk around, trying to solve the problem.  The ultimately figure out and everyone can high five on a job well done...for the next few hours. Tomorrow is another day with its unique set of problems. Well, not really; it is the exact, same problem.

The driving around here is usually insane, with motorcycles everywhere and crawling in between cars like ants on fallen ice cream.  This makes crossing the street an extreme sport if the walk sign isn't visible.

Today, the lights weren't working which created an entirely different form of chaos. Traffic will move in the direction of the least patient group of drivers, honking furiously at the first car in line, who is inching forward and basically playing chicken with perpendicular traffic. Basically hoping that someone will take pity on them and stop. Eventually, either that happens or there is enough of a break in traffic that competing vehicles can just start moving.

Where does that leave the pedestrians? Full survival mode. From an overhead view, it probably looked something like this.

Contraband

I've been lucky enough to use the word "emparedado" many times so far. It means sandwich, although I've learned that I'm the only person that uses it. Everyone here uses "sanduiche/sanguiche." Maybe I'm just trying too hard.

The last time I was here I brought home some Aguardiente. Pretty good stuff, tastes like Sambuca...the black licorice spirit. I thought of bringing some more of that back this time, but then I've heard there are some decent rums here, too. One in particular is called Caldas (or something close to that). This was suggested to me rather than pick up the standard Ron Medellin. Also pretty good, but this stuff sounded like it had that little bit extra love to it. I went to a liquor shop and asked for this "Caldas Ron." The man kind of looked at me and laughed as if I knew I had said something special. I could decipher the words "contrabanda" and "no es legal en Antioquia" (illegal in the province we're in).

Since there was a cop or security guard nearby, I laughed as well and probably overacted my surprise. I find contraband to sound far worse than illegal, so I did the right thing and went and bought some gifts for the kids immediately after that to ensure that they knew I was a happy go lucky family man in line with the law. Smooth...very smooth.

Once purchasing these toys, the lady asked me a few questions that I've now gotten used to, but hit me with a curveball when I gave her my credit card. I thought that maybe she wanted some ID or something, so I was about to show her my license...until she asked me for "el pin." In English, that means pin. Eventually I'll just speak English and I'm sure these conversations will go smoother.

Sunday Strollin'

Sundays here are pretty fun. They close down one side of the street for the morning and people walk/jog/bike down a large strip of road. Considering all of the pollution and cars everywhere, this a great initiative does a little bit to help keep people in shape.

There are also a few people that setup some speakers and run fitness classes. Lots of cheering and seemingly more like some fun dancing in the street.  Maybe not the most intense, but a lot better than nothing.

I decided to join in on the road running mainly for the novelty. The craziness of driving here made it fun knowing I wouldn't get plowed over. Crossing the streets can be considered an extreme sport, especially if you don't respect the lights. As soon as the walk sign lights up, citizens bolt across the street knowing their time to cross is limited.

On my walk I walked by a fenced off forest in the middle of the city. This one is different from the others. It has a musty smell that took me back to Epcot Center when I was 6.  There are unoccupied pathways and these big bars can only mean that this is a Jurassic Park experiment. Or not. Literally nobody knows.

I spent the better part of the afternoon at a different mall and Diana giving me a tour of the city. It is mind blowing when driving by something and she'll say "when I was 8, someone planted a bomb in that Botero sculpture." Crazy.

I also decided to use the hotel jacuzzi, which is great since nobody really uses it and I could sit and enjoy. With that said, when it's 30 degrees outside, it might be too hot for the hot tub.

Work work work work work

This time around, I don't have a translator standing beside me at all times. I have another coworker named Cesar who is both very good at what he does and can speak English well. For a few days, everyone would gather around my desk as I'd demonstrate and he would translate for me. On Thurdsay, he suggested (for the group) that we use a Google Hangout and I share my screen, so everyone would be seated at their desk. He explained this would help because all of the standing tires them out. I'm not sure whose suggestion this was but at most, the longest they've had to stand is for 10-15 minutes. Simply because I don't want to overload them with information, I'll show them some stuff, then they'll go and apply it. So now we each sit at our desks while I do the demo...something I can do from home.

There is still a benefit to me being there live. The guys have started asking me directly instead of asking Cesar to assist, which is pretty cool since I can answer their questions in Spanish most of the time. The tricky part is using technical terms specific to our software when I'm not sure if there's a word for it, so I'll explain it the long way around.

For example, I am defining the "Peg" above as a container for a drawing and blah, blah, blah... and one of them will reply with "ah si, el peg." Later on I'll do the same explaining that a Cutter's job is to mask out part of a drawing. "Ah si, el cutter."

I've figured out that most of the time, I can just say the word with a Spanish accent and everyone knows what I'm talking about.

High School

The last time I was here, Santa Fe mall had a life sized foosball table set up and I thought that was pretty awesome. This time around, they have an enormous inflatable place place that looks like a lot of fun. Naturally, security escorted me out of the building my first time down the slide, but it was worth it!

Just kidding...they wouldn't even let me on. I was surprised at how empty it was considering it was Saturday, especially the Saturday right after pay day. Perhaps I've never noticed this at home (and maybe because paydays differ for everyone), but every second Friday is like Christmas. Everyone is a high roller, smiles everywhere and living it up. Come to think of it, maybe today is the hangover day and everyone is avoiding the mall.

I've been here for almost a week now and have noticed many similarities in between my time in Medellin and high school. The awkward encounters with girls, mall ratting as an event and the excitement of payday. Of course, I don't remember a time in high school when I'd sit down for pizza for lunch and enjoy an ice cold beer.

I ordered a pizza Colombiana and it was pretty good. However, when I ordered it, it was all going smoothly until she asked me something about "delgado" and for a split second, I thought of former Blue Jay Jorge Delgado. That was enough to throw my focus off and I ended up just saying "si, gracias." She repeated "delgado or gruesa" asking thin or thick crust, to which I replied "delgado" and muttered "for the Blue Jays..." under my breath and giggled to myself. Yes, I'm in high school.

Per Diems

Today for my lunch adventure I had another Colombian classic: Archie's Italian restaurant. I know less than 1 Italian person named Archie and Italy is not currently a part of Colombia. Still, the pizza was delicious and I will probably go there again...maybe as soon as tomorrow.

Every day, I receive a per diem from the studio. My question is, who do I give it to?

Since I have a little kitchen setup in my hotel room, I haven't spent it all on ordering dinners on a daily basis. As a result, I end up with a little extra money every day (plus some friends took me out for lunch once). As of right now, I'm getting close to 100,000 pesos.

 I'm not entirely sure how many steaks I can get for that, but at least I can summon the Three Amigos if need be.

Some of the people at the studio are going somewhere this weekend and they've invited me along, but that'll depend on how much work I can get done before this adventure. Even if I don't go with them, I'll probably treat myself to something special, like a steak dinner.

Of course, in between the hotel and studio there are 3 casinos. I've got a feeling that if I play roulette a few times, I'll be able to retire here.  The story practically writes itself. There is zero downside to this option.

Tonight's evening snack was some delicious strawberry juice and bruschetta. Well, I thought it was bruschetta. I think there was some diced fish on top. Or tofu. Literally nobody knows.

I'm not here

In recent years, more American franchises have been moving into the city, for example Papa John's, Subway and Krispy Kreme. They are easily accessible and simple enough to order from, but I wanted some traditional Colombian food. Coincidentally, Diana offered to take me to a great restaurant just across the street named La Hacienda. Diana is the IT department here as well as my driver, should I need one. Naturally, I happily accepted and was ready for lunch...at 8 a.m.

This place was fantastic. Designed to look like the good old days, the atmosphere was terrific. Even the menus looked like newspapers (and they happened to have an English one for me).

I have a feeling I'll come back to this place again before this trip is done, most likely to try their bandeja paisa, Medellin's signature dish.

On my way home, a lady stopped me pointed up a hill and asked me which station is up there. Really? She decided to ask the only person that looked more lost than herself? Luckily I was able to understand her and being super cool and thinking that I could confidently answer someone, I replied back in Spanish "No se. No estoy aqui" which means "I don't know. I'm not from here." Of course, I immediately realized that I was missing a word and instead had told her "I don't know. I'm not here." I corrected my existential self and we went our separate ways, but soon enough there will be signs up with my face that say "do not speak to this man."

La Comida

The food here is awesome. Well, depends on where you are I guess. Last time I was here, we would have our lunches delivered since we were gated inside a university (in a shady part of town) and I was at the mercy of whatever the crew was ordering. Typically it was some mediocre fast food. Of course for dinners, I could go to the grocery store and pick up some of the best beef I've had. This time was no different.

The new studio is located in the city and in a much more developed area, so we have much greater access to food. So for the past two days I've eaten Colombia's finest...Papa John's pizza and Subway. The pizza was great and the sub was pretty good too, although I ordered some boneless pork rib sandwich I think. And since the person I was with ordered a six inch, I ended up with the same. I don't think I've ever ordered a six inch before so I was pretty hungry...about 5 minutes later. Good think I had steak and penne at the hotel.

There are rumors of a place nearby that serves actual Colombian fare, so hopefully I can drag someone with me and order the bandeja paisa, Medellin's signature dish. There's also a McDonald's beside my hotel so maybe I'll be adventurous and try that too.

There are many Juan Valdez coffee shops around and they are really good. They have these open air shops where you can walk up and order a cappuccino as if you were buying street meat. I shouldn't be so enamored with it but it feels so civilized. If only it was 22 degrees at home every day...

High school dance

The most stressful thing I do here is talk to people. Well talking isn't the problem, it's understanding what they are saying.  I can speak well enough to make my point, but then the person I'm talking to thinks I'm legit and starts talking away at a normal pace and they immediately lose me.  Grocery stores are perfect for that. I walk around the store mustering up enough courage to walk up to pay and endure the pain of the broken conversation about to happen. I feel like I'm at a high school dance. Typically, it'll be a pleasant girl, all smiles asking me how I'm doing and that sort of thing. Naturally, I'll reply "good thanks, yourself?" and she will chatter away happily about something. Then I reply with "sorry, I don't understand Spanish well" at which point she will give me a look as if to say "you're kidding, right?" It immediately kills the conversation and I want to walk back across the dance floor, tail between my legs.  Thankfully, this is only a brief moment in my day.

Or is it? I head back to my hotel to cook some dinner and my doorbell rings. Instant stress again! A guy from the hotel is going door to door, handing out some light refreshments. After we get past the awkwardness, I find out that he is offering me a little ham and cheese snack, some fruit cup in yogurt or something like that and a drink from the Lulo fruit (the green juice below). I asked him what it is and he described like a work of art. "Es muy pequeña pero es muy, muy rica!" I was instantly sold on it and it was quite good. Finally, I can go back to cooking my dinner and possibly try working on Spanish comprehension.

Nope! Another doorbell ring and this time, they are two ladies from the hotel. So polite and courteous, but I have no idea what they are asking/telling me. Something about "las cortinas?" Then they mention the windows but I'm still unsure what they want, so I let them in and they went and closed my curtains. It's likely that I missed something, but given the hospitality of the people here, it also wouldn't surprise me that this was a service they provide daily.  They complimented my dinner, I offered them some and we all smiled as they were on their way.

 

Medellin Round 2

It's 4 am and my ride is on the way. There is call for snow and it's pretty chilly outside, a typical spring morning. Good thing the car is warm, as is the reception from my driver, Samir. He's a Bulgarian man who talks more than is permitted by law before 8 am and likely holds the record for using the word "ammmmmazing!" in a 25 minute span of time. Mostly it revolved around the coast of Bulgaria, Swedish women and home made sandwiches with some focus on Starsky's, everyone's favourite Euro grocer. I promised him I'd buy a jar of some marinated eggplants or something the next time I'm there. They're ammmmmazing. Anyway, I learned more about him than I know about most people. He's my driver on the way home as well, so it should not disappoint.