First day in Medellin

I had a slightly confusing flight to Medellin from Washington, D.C.  I knew Medellin was on Eastern time, so I couldn't figure out why the time on my phone was an hour later than local time.  Duh!  They are on Eastern standard time here.  No need to switch to daylight savings time.  Since we are near the Equator, the sun rises at 5:30 every morning and sets at 6:30 every evening year round.

On Tuesday I figured out how to get to the Metro (only had to ask two people), buy a card with six tickets, and get myself to the free walking tour that I had booked.  Well worth it although, of course, nothing is free.  I can't say that the sights of downtown Medellin are all that impressive, but our guide, Juan, gave a wonderful history of the city and the area.  The political problems, including revolutionary and reactionary guerilla bands and militarias predate the 1980's by decades, laying a fertile ground for what happened then.  Juan talked about "that terrible monster" or "that horrible criminal" or paraphrased Harry Potter to call him "he whose name cannot be spoken."  He said that if he mentioned Pablo Escobar by name, a passing local might think Juan was glorifying Escobar and might pick a fight with him.

We saw the usual sights of a large city: the central squares, municipal buildings, train station, and markets.  Surprisingly, this is the first tour of a Latino city that I have ever taken that did not include a cathedral or church.  Juan did point out the outsides of a few neighborhood churches because he said that is where the "love providers" hang out.  Juan thought there was a connection between purchasing their services and then going to church.  Hmmm.  It also turns out that Colombia is the second leading destination for sex tourists after Thailand.  Disappointing.

The locals, who are called Paisas, are most proud of their famous sculptor, Fernando Botero, whose statues are, shall we say, disproportionate.  At Botero Square, we saw many of his sculptures which he has donated to the city.

Adam and Eve

Roman soldier

Juan's story was instructive.  He is from a wealthy family, so two of his uncles were kidnapped and held for ransom for more than a year.  He was only seven then, so not very aware of what was happening.  When he was fifteen, he was playing futbol with ten friends in the street when a gang member (that is way too innocuous a term for a murderous terrorist) rode up on a motorcycle and opened fire on the boys.  Juan was shot twice in the leg and four of his friends were killed.  No one knows why the shooting occurred.

No one who lived through that time has anything good to say about the so-called narco-terrorists, but the locals are very proud of the rebirth that their city has undergone.  Medellin sits in a valley with neighborhoods going up the hillsides on all sides.  Downtown is literally down in the center of the valley and the poorest neighborhoods are high on the hills and, in the past, had limited access to the center.  To revitalize the city, Medellin established a five part public transportation system that includes the Metro, express and local buses, and cable cars.  The latter go to the poor neighborhoods high on the hillsides to give people access to the city.  They also installed escalators on some of the hillsides for the same reason, and have built parks and libraries, creating safe public spaces.






The last stop on the tour was San Antonio Square where in 1995 someone placed dynamite under a Botero bird during a well-attended concert.  The explosion killed over thirty people and injured more than 200.  According to Juan, all of the various revolutionary groups and militias claimed credit as they all thought that killing civilians was an impressive accomplishment.  But for the city, it was the final straw - Pablo Escobar had been killed the previous year - and was the impetus for the city's transformation.  Botero refused to let the mayor take down the exploded bird, but created and donated another.  Placed next to each other, the exploded and intact birds are called the Birds of Peace.



I found out that the Colombian National Futbol team was playing tonight, so after a quick break, I got back on the Metro and joined the green shirted throng.  It wasn't a particularly good game, but the national team won 5 - 1, so the fans were happy.  I was sitting near the north bleachers where the hardcore fans stand, chant, and wave flags and their arms for hours before and during the game, accompanied by blaring music and drums.  I have to say, the show in the stands was better than the play on the field.