Life in MDE

Life in MDE, Colombia

MDE = 3 digit airport code for Medellin

Colombia? Why Colombia?

Perhaps you know Colombia is famous for coffee...

Colombia doesn't have the most positive
reputation in the world. Check out the videos below!

I've learned to see beyond stereotypes and decide for myself when it comes to unknown places. And the question should really be rephrased - Why Medellin? For when I arrived in Medellin, I realized that it had all the ingredients for a place where I wanted to live at the time.

Weather, people, city layout, transportation, excellent drinkable tap water, architecture, landscaping (lots of trees)....those are the things that
took me to Medellin. But people change, and so did the city, and so did I....

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Medellin is world famous for its transportation system which includes an aerial tramway called the Metrocable (Wikipedia).

Colombia -- Would You Take The Risk? / Colombia Centro Comercial Santa Fe

The video above about Colombia was put out by a pharmaceutical giant which you may find entertaining. The video on the right is of a mall which has TWO
retractable roofs (think sports stadiums), and other areas where the roof opens up like a flower. The video shows the main center with the roof
closed, but it completely opens, along with another one almost as large over a food area. [Couldn't find a better video....]
http://zsoltbabocsai.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Medellin-santafe.jpg - image here with the roof open!

Medellin downtown - View out my 13th floor balcony apartment, away from the center

View in all (3) directions from my Medellin apartment

Later, I moved to another apartment in a different building with a 16th floor view....some prefer the ocean, for me, the mountains were "calling my name ."

Example of Architecture / Art in Medellin
Inside the central library - Parque de La Luz

One of the "Metrocable" stations in the background -- standing on the balcony of the central library which overlooks the Parque de La Luz

Centro Comercial El Tesoro - Centro Comercial Oviedo (food court) / Google Image those malls for much better perspectives!
Modern malls are all over the world, what sets the malls in Medellin apart from many other cities in the world, is that
these malls are built 'open-air' style to take advantage of the weather - and their architecture is quite 'out of the ordinary' / stylish.
Many parts are covered with glass to protect from rain, but many areas are open to the outdoors on the sides

Learning Spanish in small classroom sizes (< 5 students) along with day to day
living in Colombia helped me become fluent in Spanish.

Hanging out with friends

A little south of Medellin is the city of Manizales. On the outskirts is a national park - Parque Los Nevados
Chalet Arenales - Parque Los Nevados -- altitude 4,150 meters / 13,615 feet / no sunglasses! (see health section)

With some friends -- a view of some modern office buildings, there are actually 3 on the right side that looked like they were designed with the
famous Burj Al Arab of Dubai in mind - Plaza San Fernando - Google Image it for a much better perspective

Speaking of architecture and design - here is relatively normal looking apartment tower, but once I walked inside,
I realized it was not. A rectangular shape on the outside, and inside, a round open interior.
This is something one might expect to see in an office building maybe, but in MDE, the apartment buildings get the glory too.

Seasonal Christmas-time Medellin light show, every year, a different theme. Tourists come from around the country to see it (it's very long!)