Are you Safe in Medellin? - by the author of Medellin Living

Allow me to answer the question, “Can you get robbed in Medellín?” by telling you a personal story: I was robbed, here in Medellín...back in 2011. I lost my Blackberry smartphone, some cash and (worst of all), my passport. I was riding in an open-window taxi, and we were at a stop light… The thief saw me using my Blackberry. The next thing I knew, a pistol was being held out and I was quickly emptying my pockets and handing over my valuables. Here’s the “secret:” don’t flash expensive stuff. Now, this doesn't just apply to Medellín! The same goes, anywhere you’re traveling. Be safe, and keep your flashy stuff at home. There’s a whole chapter on Safety in my eBook, including a list, “8 tips for staying safe and what to do if you’re confronted.” It's not the most pleasant of topics, but if you remember my promise to be “real and authentic,” you know I’m going to give you the good with the not-so-good. Dave ​ PS: At the risk of repeating myself: You ARE safe in Medellín! Care must be taken, but the minimal risks are vastly outweighed by the benefits you’ll soon discover if you visit this beautiful country.

Monday, May 4th, 2015

I slept well until the alarm went off at 6am.

Of course after wearing shorts and sandals yesterday I have about 6 more bites on my feet and legs.

We left the finca at 7:50 and got past the killer dogs undetected.

We waited 20-25 minutes and finally took a bus to Caldas where we quickly caught another to Envigado.

At nueva eps I understood the lady working there told Teresa we have to come back in June for my appointment.  Teresa didn’t accept that answer and talked to a number of other people.  Finally she took a number (66) and since they were serving 03 we knew there would be a wait.  

She waited there while I went to Bancolombia, took out a little cash and got in the preferencial line.  I estimate there were about 75 people waiting in the regular line and only 5 in my line in front of me.  The sign for my line said it was for people with a Bancolombia debit card but I decided to take a chance and stay there anyway.  The man currently being served, talked to the teller for about 20 minutes.  The woman standing in front of me pulled out a wad of bills from her purse and proceded to count it in front of me.  I estimate she had about 4million pesos.  When the woman in front of her got to the teller she pulled out an even larger stack of bills.  When it was finally my turn I paid my health insurance bill of 110mil without any problem.  

I stopped a block away at Carbón de Leña where I took a photo of my receipt with my iPad but I wasn’t able to email it because I didn’t have a wi-fi connection.

I stopped at a Gana kiosk and added 50mil to my cell phone minutes.

Back at nueva eps Teresa had gotten another number (51) from someone but she was still about 15 numbers away.  When it was finally her turn it didn’t sound like she made much progress on getting an appointment.  I guess somebody was checking on something because she told her we would go to lunch and come back.

We had lunch at Carbón de Leña for 28mil.  I got their wi-fi password and emailed a copy of my health insurance payment to Natalia.  Teresa then called her to confirm everything was ok; it was ok, but in the future she wants us to pay on the first of the month (or earlier I guess).

Back at nueva eps Teresa was finally given information to call for an appointment for me.

At $efecty we paid 64,900 for Une (wi-fi), 95,225 for electricity (epm), and 89,900 for Direct TV.

Teresa stopped at a small hardware store and bought 2 plastic pipe connectors for 7,200.  I understand these were for Don Carlos.

Teresa bought more material for a blouse for 6,300 but we found the tailor shop closed.  A neighbor said she’s normally open all day but today she is sick.

I thought we were going to stop at Exito to pick up a few things but Teresa said she was tired and just wanted to get back to the finca.

We took a taxi to the highway and after a 15 minute wait (2:10) we got the last 2 seats on a direct bus.

The bus quickly hit very heavy traffic; it was one of those days where the bus doesn’t move for 5 minutes and then advances 100’.  Everyone in the bus was baking from the hot sun.  We were envious of a woman sitting in one of the front seats who had a fan.  We decided we should buy one next chance we get.  I watched each of the ladies with long hair, one by one, twist it and pile it on top of her head.  This would have been a perfect time for someone to come on the bus selling bottles of water but it didn’t happen.  After an hour we finally reached signs alerting us to roadwork ahead.  15 minutes later we got past the actual roadwork and started moving slowly.  We could see that traffic wasn’t any better in the other direction.  

As soon as we passed the cloverleaf leading back to Medellin we were able to move quickly.

When we got off the bus Teresa talked to a man at the bottom of the hill.  I understood they were talking about rebuilding the sideroad and Teresa had me give him 100mil.  After talking to him a couple more minutes she took the money back and I understand sometime this week we are to pay a man who lives up the hill in one of the other fincas.

As we passed the killer dogs, they barked at us from inside the fence but didn’t come out.

We finally were back at the finca by 4pm.

Teresa has a vein appointment at 3:30 in Torre Intermedica on Wednesday.  It will be nice not have to go out tomorrow.

We started watching Jeepers Creepers (6.1).  I recognized the movie but Teresa didn’t so I have no idea where or with whom I saw it before.

As usual at 8pm Teresa switched to one of her own Spanish TV programs.

I took my sleeping pills at 11pm and went to bed at 11:15.

T-shirt of the day: Chocolate is my boyfriend.

Sunday, May 3rd, 2015

I slept well until getting up to use the bathroom at 4:20.  I was still awake when the alarm went off at 5:30.

I heard that Floyd Mayweather Jr. won the fight last night and took home $180,000,000 and Manny Pacquiao took home $120,000,000.

I put on my sandals, shorts and a t-shirt, the 3 of us left the finca at 7:20am and got past the killer dogs undetected.  We took a bus to La Estrella metro station, took the metro 15 stops north to the Caribe station, walked a block and arrived at Terminal Norte at 8:30.  We paid 39mil for 3 tickets at window 19.  The bus left exactly at 9am, we had seats with extra legroom just behind the driver, I stretched out and was quickly asleep.  I slept for 30-45 minutes and we stopped first at San Jeronimo and arrived at Sopetran by 10:15.  It was hot but I felt pretty comfortable in my summer clothes.  We walked around, finally found a store Teresa was looking for and we bought meat and some vegetables for about 20mil.  As soon as we walked outside we stepped into an old private car which took us on a 10 minute ride to the finca for 8mil.

Let me describe the finca.  Inside the first fence there are a few cows walking around.  Not the kind we are used to seeing in the states; these look like what you see walking around freely in documentaries of India.  Inside the next fence they have the main building with what look like chicken coops behind it.  There are a few chickens and at least 2 roosters and occasionally you hear them competing with each other.  They also have 2 dogs and at least 3 new kittens.  The 2 story house was nice and is filled with a lot of old black and white photos.  In the front of the house is a large swimming pool with shallow and deep ends but without any water inside.  There is also a small gazebo in one corner.

We were greeted by Teresa’s friend Elda (she’s about 70), her housekeeper, the housekeeper’s son, and a woman of about 30 who doesn’t speak but mainly grunts.  I’m not sure if this was Elda’s daughter or granddaughter but she’s obviously part of the family.  It appears she can’t move her tongue and the closest to words I heard was something similar to mama and bebe, which she repeated many times.  She gave me the thumbs up numerous times with occasional fist bumps.

We had lunch of beans, beef, and salad.  As usual the beef was pretty tough.  Elda’s 72-year old brother Albero finally arrived.  He speaks English having studied in England years ago.  His English was very good despite not having spoken it for what he says is 30 years.  He says he sometimes watches movies in English.  He told me Colombia is still a dangerous place to live.  He thought the previous president, Uribe, did a better job for the country than the current president, Santos, but he’s already served the maximum 2 terms.

We left about 5:15 and at the bus stop I saw a sign that showed the last returning bus leaving at 6:30.  After a wait we finally had tickets but Teresa explained that while we had tickets we might not have seats.  At 6pm we got seats on the minibus and it left at 6:15.  We moved quickly until we got close to Medellin and then there was bumper to bumper traffic.  We finally got back to the bus station at 8pm.

We took the metro to Envigado where Laura left us to spend the night in her grandmother’s apartment.  We had a long wait at the highway and finally got the last 2 seats on a minibus back to the finca.  We got past the killer dogs undetected and were back just before 10pm.

I took my sleeping pills at 11pm and we went to bed.

T-shirt of the day: This is the beginning of anything you want.

Joke

JEWISH STAND UP COMEDY JOKES

* I just got back from a pleasure trip. I took my mother-in-law to the airport.

* I've been in love with the same woman for 50 years.  If my wife ever finds out, she'll kill me!

* What are three words a woman never wants to hear when she's making love?
"Honey, I'm home!"

* Someone stole all my credit cards but I won't be reporting it. The thief spends
less than my wife did.

* My wife and I are always holding hands. If I let go, she shops.


* My wife was at the beauty shop for two hours. That was only for the estimate. She got a mudpack and looked great for two days. Then the mud fell off.

* The Doctor gave a man six months to live. The man couldn't pay his bill so the doctor gave him another six months.

* Doctor: "You'll live to be 60!"
Patient: "I am 60!"
Doctor: "See! What did I tell you?"

You’ve heard the controversy about when life begins. In Jewish tradition, the fetus is not considered viable until it graduates from medical school.

Question: What's the difference between a Rottweiler and a Jewish mother?
Answer: Eventually, the Rottweiler lets go.

Saturday, May 2nd, 2015

I only got up once during the night, at 3:30, finally waking at 7:40.  I told Teresa I was going to take my shower.  She told me she’s been thinking – uh oh – and suggested we go to Envigado on Monday.  While she’s in line for my doctor’s appointment I can go to the bank and pay my health insurance.  Afterwards, I assume we will pay the remainder of the bills for May.

While still in bed Teresa brought me a cup of aromatica (hot tea).

We’ve decided we’re going to get up early tomorrow and visit Sopetran for the day.  Sopetran is in Antioquia, roughly between San Jeronimo and Santa Fe so it’s going to be hot.  At least this time I’ll be wearing shorts and sandals.  We are going to buy some food, visit someone’s finca where Teresa will make lunch for all of us.  I understand someone in the other family speaks English.

With their 4^th round pick the Chicago Bears selected Jeremy Langford, running back from Michigan State.

We filled the hummingbird feeder halfway with nectar and hung it near the corner of the finca.  I noticed the wasps are building a new nest.

I was unable to login to my Citibank account this morning to retrieve my monthly statement.  I thought I might have forgotten my password because I only use it once a month.  I called Citibank and talked to them for 50 minutes using magicJack.  To make a long story short my debit card has expired, they had already sent a new card to my address on file (Reina’s in Aranjuez), I explained my out of country situation and they are going to send me a new card to my MBE address in Miami.  I estimate it will take 3-4 weeks to get here.  After I receive and activate my new card I will be able to log into my online account again.  They also will email me a copy of my April statement.

With their 5^th round pick the Chicago Bears selected Adrian Amos free safety from Penn State.

With their 6^th round pick the Chicago Bears selected Tayo Fabuluje offensive guard from TCU.

For dinner, I made waffles with vanilla ice cream and Smuckers strawberry sauce for Teresa and I.

Tonight there is a championship boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.  I understand each fighter will take home at least $100,000,000 so I was very surprised it was broadcast for free on Direct TV channel TDNHD (1503).  I also found it on RCN (130) although that channel was only in Spanish.  Teresa asked me what that amount is in Colombian pesos and I told her it’s more than 200 thousand million pesos.  The fight didn’t start until 11pm but I did see the first 7 rounds.

I took my sleeping pills at 11pm and we went to bed at 11:30.

T-shirt of the day: Helsinki, Finland.

Friday, May 1st, 2015

Happy May Day everyone!

Last night I fell asleep quickly only getting up once at 3:50am.  It took me a few minutes to fall back asleep and I finally woke/got up at 8:30am.

From the vegetables we bought yesterday, Teresa made me some hot tea (they call it aromatica) from something that looked like parsley to me.  She said its good for the prostate.

Today I see that the “uneven” charges for the withdrawals I made on Tuesday are now the same.  I think what happened is one of the banks applied the 1% fee by the time I checked back at the finca and the other one just got adjusted.

I checked the new US movie releases and there isn’t anything I want to see.  Locally, there isn’t anything I want to see.

Since it’s the first day of a new month, I wanted to backup my documents and pictures, but for some reason when I went to delete the old Documents folder it won’t go away.  I can see that it says Read-Only on my flash drive but after many attempts I haven’t been able to change it.

We left the finca at 11:15 and got past the killer dogs undetected.  I didn’t see any ants on the way.  We were at the highway before Teresa discovered she forgot her sunglasses.  It’s an overcast day and I told her we’re not going to be outside much.

Five minutes later we were on a bus to Envigado. 

I can see that the new soccer field is on the other side of the highway from another soccer field that it might be replacing.  I saw a man on horseback leading 7 other riderless bus saddled horses.  It also looks like the new bridge being built at the south end of town might replace the only road that crosses the highway oftentimes slowing traffic and leading to accidents.

The driver dropped us off right behind Home Center.  I noticed their hours are Monday thru Saturday from 8am to 9pm.  Sundays and holidays from 9am to 8pm.  I took out some cash from their ATM and then we bought a hummingbird feeder, 2 cans of spray paint, a plant (Bromelia), some humus, a soldering iron, and a box of large dog biscuits for 163,600.  I saw a young boy of about 7 years or so in a cub scout uniform.  

In Exito we found that the BanColombia office we were expecting to be open today was closed.  Teresa told me I have until the 5^th of the month to pay my health insurance so we’re coming back early tomorrow.

We walked across the street but La Bahia was closed and so was Wilson’s bar and almost all of the stores and restaurants outside that small mall.

We had lunch at Frisby for 42,300 in the Exito food court.

Because of all the things we bought at Home Center (and have to carry back) we only bought 2 packages of arepas in Exito.  We took a taxi to the highway and after 2 buses wouldn’t take us to the fincas we were finally on a Fredonia bus.  I think I’ve figured out that Salinas (sp?) refers to the area with all the fincas.

There weren’t any available seats so we both sat on the hot transmission just behind the driver.  At least we each had a pad to sit on.  Unfortunately the bus made a 5 minute stop in Caldas.

We got past the killer dogs undetected and were back at the finca by 3:30.

Teresa gave Don Carlos’s son Jamie 50mil – probably for trimming the garden.

Teresa watched a program about euthanasia which I understand is legal in Colombia.  She told me her husband and her son both suffered from cancer – not sure how that ended.  I know if I was in extreme pain I would want a way out.

With the 39^th pick in the 2^nd round of the NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears selected Eddie Goldman, defensive tackle from Florida State.

I ordered a Hot Belt and some fat reducing cream from Amazon for Teresa.  The cost was $29.47 but I was able to use a gift card so I didn’t have to pay anything.

With the 71^st pick in the 3^rd round of the NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears selected Hroniss Grasu, center from Oregon.

I watched another episode of Oak Island Money Pit on History channel.

I took my sleeping pills at 11pm and we went to bed at 11:15.

T-shirt of the day: Oh Friday let me hug you.  :-)

Thursday, April 30th, 2015

I fell asleep quickly not waking until I heard Laura in the bathroom around 4:30am.  I got up at 4:50 for my own trip to the bathroom.  About 30 minutes later the dogs started competing with the neighborhood dogs – who can bark the loudest or the longest.  Teresa got up at 6:15 and I followed at 6:30.

At 8:15 Don Carlos showed up with a large turtle he found somewhere in the jungle (garden).  Teresa brought it into the finca and put it down but I guess we scared it too much because it peed on the floor.  She took it outside and put it in her garden and left it some pieces of bread soaked with water.

It's about a foot long.

Close-up.

We left the finca just before 9am, we noticed the turtle (and the bread) was gone, and I saw the ants are back just not as many.  The killer dogs hasseled us but didn’t approach.

All the buses going by were direct buses to Medellin and after waiting 15 minutes for a Caldas bus we crossed the street and quickly caught a Caldas bus going in the opposite direction.  After a couple miles he turned off and went up a hill and turned around at a small town.  Soon we were past where we had been waiting by the highway.  

In Caldas we stopped at BanColombia where I took out enough cash to give to Teresa for food for the month.

We walked a few blocks to Merkepaisa where Teresa spent an hour filling our cart with food for 489,426.

Walter picked us up and we made a stop at a bakery for a loaf of bread for 3,300, a small hardware store for a can of plastic cement and a paint brush for 19,800 and a pet store for a medium sized bag of dog food for 37mil.

We had to wait on the highway for 5-10 minutes because of roadwork and then easily got to the top of the side road.  We were temporarily stopped by the ditch that Guillermo had dug.  Teresa suggested we fill it in with dirt where the wheels would meet but I suggested using the large nearby rocks.  While they were discussing what to do next I picked up a few bags and headed down the hill.  The killer dogs came out and gave me a hard time but didn’t approach when they saw my can of pepper spray.  I noticed the ants were gone.  I left the bags and headed back up the hill where I saw Laura coming down with a girlfriend.  Walter had gotten the car to the closest spot to the finca and I helped bring down the rest of the bags.  We paid him 25mil for his efforts.

Teresa called Natalia to find out how late in the month I can pay my health insurance without being late.  I understood it should be paid on, or by, the 1^st of every month.  Tomorrow we will go to the small BanColombia office in the Envigado Exito.  Because we expect long lines, we will take turns standing in line while the other takes care of other business.

The NFL Draft began tonight at 7pm.  With the 7^th pick in the draft, the Chicago Bears selected Kevin White, wide receiver from West Virginia.

We watched In the Bedroom (7.5).

I took my sleeping pills at 11pm and went to bed at 11:15.

T-shirt of the day: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.