Nascar Flower Festivals, Traffic Light Circus & A New Apartment!

Outside of the US, crossing the street requires you to hone your inner “Frogger” skills as there is no way in hell cars and motorcycles will stop for you. It was always a figurative circus crossing the street in China, and I’ve discovered that it’s a literal circus in Colombia. One of the most pleasantly distracting parts of walking around Medellin is that at most traffic lights there are performers who put on 30 second displays of skills such as knife juggling, fire spinning, or break dancing and then walk from car to car asking for money. Some are more professional than others and some are more “crazy homeless “ than “cool circus”, but I can’t help but admire these people who put on the same minute-long show all day, probably making less than $10.

A bit of unicycle juggling waiting for the light to change

Even without the circus stunts at intersections Medellin would be a mesmerizing city to explore. Colombia has more bird species than any other country (1900+) and 70 that are indigenous to the country. I’ve seen birds that are straight out of Planet Earth documentaries and even the pigeons have a rosy hue to them. Parrots (or parrot-like birds) are all over the place, and no one seems to be appreciating just how freaking awesome all of that is except small children and me!
Just your casual hummingbird in the window photo

Last Sunday as I was appreciating urban wildlife (read: staring at some parrots in a tree alongside some four year olds) I noticed that pretty much everyone was heading to the same place, so naturally I followed, expecting to find something not as good as parrots in a tree. Happily I stumbled upon the climatic parade of the Feria de Flores, Medellin’s biggest festival of the year celebrating all things flower! Colombians from the surrounding countryside march down the streets carrying hundreds of flowers ornately arranged on wooden platforms on their backs. People lined the street 10 deep, pushing and standing on shoulders to see these people marching with flowers. Vendors roamed the streets hawking handles of booze and beer, and each time one of the marchers did a full 360 turn to show the crowd the flowers the place erupted in cheers. I never thought I’d be able to compare a flower festival to a NASCAR race but it’s the closest feeling I’ve had for the atmosphere of the feria de flores. I stayed for nearly two hours watching the parade of silletas and the troupes of dancers that would entertain the crowd between waves of flower bearers.

Those flowers are heavy! Most of the people looked ready to pass out

Salsa dancers entertaining the crowd between flower sightings

I’m happy to say that I’ve found a place to live that isn’t above the kitchen of a Chinese restaurant. Ok, I actually loved living above the Chinese restaurant, but I’m still thrilled about my new apartment. I’m living with 4 Colombians, all students at nearby universities, and I think I’ve almost achieved my not-so-subtle goal of recreating my Bologna, Italy study abroad living situation. I cook together with my roommates all the time and went out dancing to celebrate a friend’s birthday.

The good news is that I have a solid foundation for a great year of adventures; the bad news is that Italian and Spanish are not actually the same language. I know, I was surprised to find that out too. I was planning on just using Italian words when Spanish failed me but it’s proven to be less effective than imagined. On the one hand I can understand most of what people are saying, but when it comes to me speaking and expressing myself I stumble like crazy. I forgot how rough it feels to not speak a language well, but I’m reminding myself constantly that I’ve been here less than two weeks and I don’t actually speak Spanish (despite my brain thinking that we are in an Italian speaking land because it’s so similar). I’ve formally started private Spanish lessons with my teacher Andrea and completely, realistically expect to be fluent in 3 months. Easy, right?

My bedroom with private bathroom ($155/month)

Panorama of the living room

First meal cooked with the roommates: frijoles, arroz, aguacate, plátanos, que rico!

*Comment below or send an email to ramiejacobson@gmail.com. More updates as they come! This week I’ll start salsa lessons and try to join an ultimate Frisbee team. Oughta be good.*

From China to Colombia

Most of the people reading this already know that after two years of teaching in China through Princeton-in-Asia I made a huge leap to move to Medellin, Colombia. Here’s why I moved:
• I LOVED my time in Asia, but knew that if I was interested in seeing another part of the world I should, “do it while I’m young” as everyone tells me. It felt like the right time to leave China (despite money-making opportunities there) and I figure if I spend two years in South America I’ll be 26 at the end of it, which seems like a reasonable time to go to grad school or start a career beyond English teaching.
• Why Colombia? I wanted to learn Spanish but had already spent lots of time in Europe, so Spain wasn’t up on my list. Likewise, so many people described Argentina as “European”. I was looking for a more Latin feeling and I kept hearing great things about Colombian Spanish, which is praised for being easy to understand and is considered a standardized accent used in everything from international Spanish broadcasts to the most popular telenovelas (soap operas). It’s the second most biodiverse country in the world behind Brazil, so I got excited about nature and all the travel possibilities being located so close to Central America.

Now the person who first planted the idea in my head about Medellin was a girl I met in China named Elisa. Although ethnically Chinese, Elisa grew up in Colombia and I met her in Guangzhou as she was finishing a 10-month internship in the motherland. Through the magic of Facebook we stayed in touch and she would sent me articles over my second year in China about how awesome Colombia is, and after I did my own research I learned that Medellin is the “City of Eternal Spring” for having perfect weather year round, is extremely cosmopolitan and has come a long way from the violent Pablo Escobar era, ant it’s home to the most beautiful/fashionable women in Colombia (and some argue South America). I booked my one-way flight before I left China.

Moving to a new country is the hardest thing I’ve ever done (now for the 3rd time – Italy, China, Colombia). Luckily, Elisa and her family offered to host me in their house until I found an apartment of my own. What I didn’t realize until I got to Medellin was that they own a Chinese restaurant and live above it. To get to my room each day I walk through the restaurant, into the kitchen, and up the stairs – much to the surprise of the diners who think I’m just some random gringo who wandered in off the street. Elisa’s Dad moved from Guangdong to Colombia over 60 years ago because he had a cousin in Colombia. To this day the majority of Chinese-Colombians come from TaiShan, the region of Southern China where her Dad was from. Communicating with her family has been a hilarious adventure involving Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish and English. Each night after the restaurant closes at 10pm we eat dinner together, the mom cooking real Chinese food, as opposed to the “chopsuey” items on the menu. So far in my four days in Colombia I’ve had more Chinese food than Colombian food, but I’m not complaining! This must be what it feels like for immigrants to China Town in any city in the world. The hospitality they have shown me has been overwhelming and confirms my belief that the Chinese are the best hosts in the world.

My Chinese Restaurant Homestay

It’s been a whirlwind four days. In my first night here Eliza took me out to celebrate her friend’s birthday, and we partied it up Medellin style: starting the night drinking in a crowded park of students, hopping to a shot bar and then from there to a dance club. Normally I would have been worried about my crippling whiteness when it comes to Latin dance clubs but maybe it was the adrenaline of being in new country, or perhaps the 10 shots of the local anice-flavored guarito liquor (which is still better than Chinese baijiu), but I didn’t hesitate when Eliza’s gorgeous friends dragged me onto the dance floor. Drinking, talking, music, romance (languages) and beautiful people…it feels like I’m back in Italy.

La Bandeja Paisa – A gastronomic bombshell
Overlooking Medellin
I guess I need to change this website’s title from Wild Wild East now that I’m in Colombia. Have any ideas? “Eastbound Now Down?” Pablo Sexcabar? I got nothing…so write me a comment or email me at ramiejacobson@gmail.com

Hopefully this move to a new country will encourage me to FREAKING BLOG MORE. I have a crazy schedule ahead of me as I move into a new apartment, start Spanish and salsa lessons, and try to make a social life out of nothing, but I’m sure I’ll have plenty to blog about.