Day 67 (Day in Medellin)

My main task of the day: find a language school!  4 weekdays I've been out of class now, I've got to get back to learning Spanish.

I emailed a couple different places the night before and decided to just show up at one to try and join a class.  Somehow I couldn't find the building.  Later they emailed me back to say that I couldn't join a class and that private lessons were nearly $20 an hour!

Instead I found a coffee place to have some breakfast and use the internet in what seemed pretty much like the restaurant district of Medellin.  Hurrah, for my relaxing Starbucks-like experience in Colombia's equivalent franchise.  Also, Medellin has the perfect eternal spring-like climate with tons of parks and greenery so it was a quite lovely coffee experience.

With my internet connection I loaded a map to the other school attached to a hostel and set off on my way.  

I had some difficulty finding it but eventually made my way.  The girl at the front desk said that the guy who taught the classes was on vacation.  She gave me the card for another teacher and allowed me to use their internet to send her a message.

After that I walked.  On my way, I found yet another beautiful park with some great views.

Then walked further heading toward the metro.  At some point I came across a giant superstore called Exito.  It was fantastic!  It seemed as though it was probably owned by Walmart or Target.  Such an organized and relaxed shopping experience, it's the little things which you grow accustomed to and miss when you're away from them so long.  I looked at socks for quite awhile, reveling in the ability to just look without some market stall vender pestering me to buy or argue a price!

In the end, I didn't buy anything but decided I could come back at the end of my excursion.  I headed further, over the bridge above the road to get to the metro. 

Once at the metro I hesitated for quite awhile, watching, trying to figure out the ticket system and then gathering the courage to try to get a ticket for myself (you'd think with all this practice I'd be better by now, but still it doesn't come easy for me).

With no guide book, I really had no idea where I was going.  I ended up just getting off when some other tourists got off and slyly followed them until it appeared that they were a bit lost themselves.

Though this downtown area of town was significantly different than the relaxing restaurant district I had just come from, it was still had a relatively calm vibe.  I just walked and explored for a bit.

Maybe my favorite thing about Medellin, the light posts!
So creative and awesome!

Eventually I found a place to have lunch where I was even able to study Spanish for a bit.  I then found myself back at the train and headed back stopping at Exito for some socks and other odds and ends on my walk back.

I then rested for a bit and had my book club call.  I finally heard back from the Spanish teacher too who would only be able to teach me, at most, 2 hrs per day but guaranteed me that with her style of teaching, I would learn quickly.  Somehow, I wasn't convinced and decided I really just needed to get myself back to Guatemala for my Spanish classes.

Also, Julia had returned and told me she was leaving for Bogota the next day.  This is the city I would need to fly from if I were to use my frequent flier miles to get myself back to Guatemala.  So in my sleepless night I decided I had to book a flight back for Saturday in order to get back for classes on Monday which meant I should just leave with Julia to Bogota tomorrow.