I started having mixed feeling as my one year adventure across Latin America approached but I was determined to make it worthwhile. Packing was a pain as I had problem fitting everything I wanted in a 50 liters backpack, anyways I ended up with a 40 pounds backpack and a 20 pound hand language.

I became anxious once my Copa Airline flight landed in Medellin – I started asking myself why I didn’t familiarize myself with the currency or why I didn’t polish the little Spanish I knew. The taxi driver the hostel arranged for me took mi to a casa de cambio to change my money to pesos – we chatted the whole 45minutes to the hostal and he commended me on my Spanish speaking skills . The hostel – Hostal Tamarindo has a tranquillo sense to it and a cool English speaking Colombian-American owner – Natalie. However I wasn’t too thrill about sharing the room with 9 other people but oh well! The room is spacious though with 5 bunk bed, a big window, clean bathroom and a outside patio.

Once I put my stuff away, I decided to go for a walk around the neighborhood -El Problado in Zona Rosa. It’s pretty with a lot of outdoor cafes, I went to the talked about park- Parque LLeras but I was not too impressed – maybe because I was expecting it to be like Parque Central in Xela, Guatemala, but it was much smaller and lacked the charming feeling of parque central. I found another park – Parque Problado – it was much bigger than the previous but still lacked the charming feeling I was looking for and is surrounded by a very busy road. Anyways, I got lost walking back to the hostal, so I took a taxi .

So far, I love it here in Medellin especially because I have been able to blend in (there is no shortage of morenos in this town – unlike in Xela). People dnt stare at me or ask to take a picture of me cuz its their first time seeing one. Also Medellin is very modernized – I still feel like I’m in the States cuz I can find everything here. Oh – they recycle here, in the hostals, parks, street – there is a recycle bin – Que Bueno!

Well, I started Spanish classes at Universidad EAFIT on Thursday and hopefully home stay on Friday – am looking forward to both….