a messy, human-style title for the post
i just checked and it's 62 degrees right now which is like perfect if you're not into hot showers or whatever hope you like that kind of thing. walking around medellín feels like stuffing your face with arepas while someone yells madrid in spanish at you from a bus stop. it's chaotic but not in a good way like chaotic where you're laughing. no this is chaotic like you accidentally took a wrong turn into a construction zone and now you're lost for 30 minutes.
i took a random photo of some weird building that looked like it was made of spaghetti and it turned out to be a church or something? who even knows. the streets here are slimy and wet most of the time because it rains like, constantly. i walked into a market and someone dropped a fish on my head. it was warm. i still have the juice from it on my shirt.
seriously why is there a skatepark next to a church? is that a thing anymore? i asked a local and they just stared at me like i was crazy. maybe they were. nobody here makes sense.
if you get bored bogotá is down there or the coast is a blast for surfing if you're into that. nobody here really gives a shit about directions. my map app crashed three times and now i'm just walking in circles with a cup of lukewarm coffee in my hand. it's fine.
someone told me that comuna 13 is fake or whatever but like who cares just don’t touch the graffiti. i paid a guy like 20 pesos to stare at a mural of a guy with a giant smiley face on his face. it was weird. he kept whispering about 'the legacy' and i didn't ask follow-up questions because i was too busy dodging rain.
the weather here is a whole vibe. i just checked and it's 62 degrees right now which is like perfect if you're not into hot showers or whatever hope you like that kind of thing. it's always like this though. never hot never cold just that weird medium where you can wear shorts and a hoodie at the same time. it's stupid. i hate it.
i stayed in this hostel that was owned by a guy who insisted on giving me a tour of his 'cultural center' which was just a room with a bunch of beer cans and a poster of pablo escobar. he made me drink tap water. i puked. but it was kind of funny? maybe.
the city has this weird mix of super modern buildings that look like they belong in 2050 and old shacks that smell like everything. one townhouse had a liter of stinky cheese hanging in the corner. i ate it. not proud.
i asked a tour guide why everyone in medellín always looks like they’re texting and no one is actually looking at you. he said it's because people are either rich or super poor and neither group wants to make eye contact. that’s probably why.
the food here is okay. i had a big bowl of bandeja paisa and it was like eating a meal that forgot to put salt in. the local saying is 'it's full but it tastes like a regret.' i told that to some old lady and she smiled so i repeated it. now she says it back to me every time we meet. weird.
sunrise over the mountains here is like a meme. you get up at 5 am because the coffee at your hostel is cold and you’re tired and then you stare at the sun turning into a big orange ball while someone shouts at a squirrel for stealing their sandwich. it's beautiful but also exhausting.
honestly i don't know why anyone would want to live here. it's hot it rains it’s messy and the people are either into parties or walking around with empty eyes like they’re waiting for the next miracle to happen. but maybe that’s the point. maybe medellín is supposed to feel like this. like a glitch in the universe that just won’t fix.
i’m leaving in two days. i bought a bunch of clothes at a thrift store that probably belonged to pablo escobar’s cousin. they smell like old sweat and maybe shame. i’ll probably forget to pack them. who cares?
medellín is a city that doesn’t care about rules. the weather doesn’t care about you. the traffic doesn’t care. nobody cares. so you just dive in. dive into the chaos. dive into the wetness. dive into the.alpha which is always 16.32 degrees but somehow feels like 16.57 because of the humidity.
ps if you come here bring rain boots. and a really strong backpack. and don’t trust anyone with a cooler. they’re probably hiding drugs or something. probably.
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