Colombia Blog

**jayme** · Newbie Joined: 19 Jun 2010 Posts: 2 Location: canada

hello, my name is jayme prudente. nice to meet everyone. well i am planning on moving to medellin colombia with my husband in about 6 months to a year. very scary for me. lol! i am an american living in canada and my husband is a colombian living in canada. i have been to colombia for 3 weeks meeting my in laws and i loved it. but i am admitting that it is still scary for me to think of living in a place with a different language, culture, etc. i was wondering if anyone can tell me of their experiences living in medellin or colombia in general. for example, how long was the adjustment if any, metro or bus information, cost of living examples, what is or was the hardest thing to get used to? what are some of the coolest things of medellin or colombia? was it easy to find a job? (i want to teach english and i am preparing for that now.) any suggestions of schools to improve or learn spanish? any suggestions of other forums to read or subscribe to? what about other websites for history, politics, or anything else to learn about colombia? i really appreciate any help. thanks a lot. jayme

**lastlion** · Posted: Wed 07 21, 2010 7:39 pm Post subject:

How awesome is that. My best friend lives in medellin, I visit often. There are lots of resources on the web... Although I think this site may be losing its zeal, it seems a little more preoccupied with illegal immigration, the republican and democrat debate, oh how boring.

Medellin has so much to see. The botanical gardens, a visit to pueblo paisa especially at sundown, grab a cervesa and you can walk around the top and see all side of medellin. Lots of clubs, lots of great food, english schools, EAFIT is there. Beautiful city the best weather.. Some good neoghborhoods to live in.. WHere are you planning to live? What barrio?

Anyways,
Welcome to the board, I am all excited now... I am sure some other will chime in soon..

**Michael** · Posted: Thu 07 22, 2010 6:11 am Post subject:

Medellinis an exciting city to live, I sent 13 months living there, and visit often , I have bought into a new construction project as I will be moving back to live there myself. The biggest adjust for me was that things happen in time, lines can be long , Colombians are not know for time.
I take it you will be living with the in laws? there is the metro that runs north and south thru the heart of the city, they have buses that run to the stations where you can buy discounted metro ticket it is called Intergrado(sp?) Ypu say yur moving there soI take it you have your spousal visa which allows you to live there , they are good for 3 years now is my understanding. You did not say how your spanish is? in centro is Colombo Americano, a language school that shows english movies open to the public for those times you want a break from a total spanish world, My spanish is okay anything detailed I need help from a bi-lingual friend. The people are friendly there but do becareful just like safety issues here in the States or Canada the same goes there. I have not had issues going to the pooorest barrios of medellin walking aorund at night even sleeping , but it is with friends from those barrios., I have never had an issue. The cable there carries some english channels and you will find a wide range of music there. the only free thing you will find is walking most everything else will cost you. It is hard to tell you the cost of the buses as the vary between 1200 to 1500 pesos when I was there in June and the intregrado is about 1800 pesos now, a ride on the metro full cost I do not know. I donot know if you plan to work, your temporay resident visa does not allow to work automatic, it must state your profession, mine says hogar which is like house husband no work. You say your scared about the move, what are you fears?
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**Borsia** · Posted: Thu 07 22, 2010 6:09 pm Post subject:

I've been living here in Medellin since March 2009 and overall I like it here. There are good and bad things about most places.
The bad things here are the cell phone system that's a rip off compared to everywhere else I've been. The INTERNET speeds suck. I have cable and my usual download speed from a major source like Microsoft or Adobe is around 40-60 kbs, yes I did say kbs. roughly equal to dial-up in 1996 in the US. Security is a big issue here. I can't, for example, walk around with my pro digital camera.
But the weather is almost always great and it doesn't really change year round. We are only a few hundred miles from the equator. Medellin is around 4,000' altitude so it doesn't get too hot very often. I wear shorts and a T 24 hrs a day at home with the windows open.
Good nightlife nice malls and theaters that almost always have both English and Spanish movies.
Shopping for almost anything is a pain in the ass but I like going to the weko, that is the down town low rent shopping district. Simple things are often hard to find and very expensive.
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**vincent** · Posted: Fri 07 23, 2010 11:30 am Post subject:

Medellin is, ok, the best city in Colombia...well that's what the tell me when I visit other Colombian cities. :)

It's cutting edge (for LA), both in it's beauty and violence. Medellin is known as the most socially progressive city in Colombia, and ranks high in the category across LA.

But, (2009) it was also ranked the 9th most violent city in the world, New Orleans took 6th.

Paisan's look you in the eye...I like that...and have had visitors from the eeuu etc. remark on it.

Lots of culture and arts.

check out http://colombiareports.com for english news...

check out http://thearepa.com for some insights on nightlife and culture, in english
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**jayme** · Newbie Joined: 19 Jun 2010 Posts: 2 Location: canada

hi gang,

thanks for all the advice and websites. i really appreciate it. let's see i have my spousal visa already. i want to apply for my student visa when i get there to start taking spanish. i have started learning spanish but i know i will want to learn it fluently. we were thinking to live around belen, laureles, poblado..... (my husband knows these areas not me hahaha.) my fears are not knowing what to expect from living in "1st world'' country to a ''3rd world'' country. i know that sounds odd but.... and of course one always hears about the crime there even though the states and in some places of canada has the same amount or more crime. lol! i know it's not logical. and of course i just don't know the city or country or my husband's family. but i guess i will just jump in and see how it goes! Smile

thanks again for all the advice. if anyone wants to offer more that's great.

jayme

**kernow** · Posted: Thu 07 29, 2010 6:49 pm Post subject:

I know four people that wander around Bogotá with pro cameras. I wouldn't advise it, but apparently some folks do. Medellín though is probably not as safe as Bogotá.
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**Michael** · Posted: Fri 07 30, 2010 11:30 am Post subject: Re: thanks everyone

**vincent** · Posted: Fri 07 30, 2010 12:17 pm Post subject:

"but otherwise Medellin is like Boston"...jajajajajaja...

but seriously....

Belen, nice barrio, largest in Medellin...to far from Metro

Pohblahdoh, nice and expensive, where everyone eye's you up for how much your worth. And watch them with your cc over there...the fancy tienda's like to copy your cc numbers.

Laureles, nice barrio, still to far from the metro

You should look at places ON the metro or off the new Metro Plus system...
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"Arms will make you free, rule of law will give you freedom." Santander