Days 40 & 41 06/07 - 07/07 Medellin - City of Eternal Spring

Spent the morning doing last minute packing and cleaning our room and bathroom prior to leaving around 12 for the airport. The flight on Avianca fl. no. 31 wasn't taking off until just after 4 but we always like to be on time. Perry drove us to the airport and we checked in getting exit row seats for extra leg room. Then we said goodbye and thanks for everything before going through immigration and security. You have to remove shoes, belts and everything out of pockets - all seems overkill as they completely missed a bottle of liquid over 100 mls that Jean had!!
By the way, the classic car showroom that we went to also has classic guitars that Perry was interested in being a sometime guitarist himself! Forgot about that in all the excitement with the 1949 XH120!!! And we meant also to mention that Perry and Tracie's next door neighbours were taking off for a 10 day holiday in Nicaragua - a country that is also on our retirement radar after Colombia. Anyway, the flight was less than memorable and we landed in Medellin 15 minutes ahead of schedule. It was getting dark by then so we didn't see much as we came in. Just hoped that the pilot hadn't forgotten that we were landing at 5,000' up in the Andes instead of sea level! Immigration wasn't much of a hassle except that he hadn't heard of our apartment building but fortunately we had the name (Zojo Island) and the address in Jim's diary so had to extricate that from the luggage and thrust it under his nose. Then a visit to duty free for a bottle of Isle of Jura and Highland Park which proved to be a suitable method of celebration for finally arriving in Colombia.
We were met as arranged by a guy who spoke NO English with a diminutive Chevrolet. Quite how we all fitted in with our baggage we're not quite sure. Just as well we always travel light with only carry on baggage. It was about an hour and USD25 later up and down hill when we arrived at Zojo Island apartments at Carrera 65cc, Numero 31-88 barrio, Belen Fatima, Antioquia, Medellin. We were met by the delightful Natalia who manages the building and lives with her husband and a Cocker Spaniel called Matteo on the top floor. She assisted us with going next door to a small shop and buying some immediate basic supplies for eating and breakfast the next morning. Natalia speaks reasonable English and it's obvious that were we to live here, we would need to attend formal Spanish classes. It's frustrating for Jim as he has a reasonable ability in French and many of the words are similar if not the same. But knowledge of another Romance language is an impediment rather than an asset because it's so easy to confuse the two. The apartment with 2 bedrooms is very comfortable but lacking necessities such as an electric jug and microwaveable dishes. There is no grill or oven so how do they expect you to cook? A little like Thai logic! Hopefully we'll sort it in the morning.
Slept like logs but Jim woke with his throat worse than ever it had been in Miami. Lost his voice almost completely. At least we don't need a/c here as the night temperatures are well below 25C.
Next morning woke hardly able to talk. Don't know where this came from but we blame the constant a/c in Miami. Had a very slow morning but the weather was clear and from what we could see of Medellin from our bedroom window it all looked just as we had expected. Natalia had offered to take us to the nearest supermarket (Exito) and after lunch we set off on foot. Jim was feeling somewhat better at that stage and perked up mightily once we entered the food emporium! Fruit and veges to die for and all SO fresh. Even Feijoas with a yellow skin and orange interior. But disappointing as they didn't have anywhere near the taste of the green NZ variety - which also originated somewhere in S. America. But the Tamarillos were large and wonderful and CHEAP. Passion fruit, Papaya, Mangoes, and even Cape Gooseberries. Jim was in his element! Finished up spending 298,000 Colombian Pesos which equated to NZD141. Half or less the food cost in Miami. Natalia was wonderful and guided us expertly to and from the supermarket and also within. We had far too much to carry back so there was a guy in the carpark in a very beatup old car (not sure what it had been as all the name badges had long since fallen off) who gave us a lift back for 3500 pesos - about NZD1.70. Apparently they hang around such places and get odd jobs like ours! The car wouldn't have passed a pedalcar test so imagine if he was hanging around in Countdown! Natalia was wonderful and feeling as we did, we'd have had a much harder job without her.
We'd also bought a frozen Lasagna and some Pecan nuts as well as 2 bottles of organic Argentinian wine so had something of a feast on our return. Now feeling much better with a bottle and a half of wine plus the food plus much of the fruit we bought under the belt.
It's now almost 8 and after a cup of tea (brought from Miami) it'll be bed. Hopefully we'll be better in the morning. By the way, we're 7 hours ahead and 24 hours behind NZST. 17 hours behind but we find the former calculation to be less confusing to old codgers like us!
Lotsaluv from us,
Jim and Jean
Medellin
Colombia

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