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Home » Photography News » My Colombia Trip and What’s Coming Next
My Colombia Trip and What’s Coming Next

My Colombia Trip and What’s Coming Next

by Darlene Hildebrandt | Last Updated: January 6, 2019

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Hello, photography enthusiasts and loyal Digital Photo Mentor readers.

In mid-January, I headed down to Colombia to study Spanish for four weeks at Toucan Spanish School (which I highly recommend!). I went to the stunningly gorgeous city of Medellín, home of Pablo Escobar and the bad history that went with that. The city has changed a lot since those times and is a vibrant, safe, and exciting place to visit or live (I could live there in a heartbeat).

Note: ALL the photos in this article were all taken with my phone, the Samsung S7 – it has a great camera! 

One of the many green spaces in the city of Medellin.
A city known for supporting graffiti artists – they pay them even, and provide space for their art. Makes the city really colorful.
My Spanish class week #1 was very international. It included myself (Canadian), Matt and Yasmine (on the left from USA), Chris from Switzerland, Munzi from Korea, and Gregory from Trinidad.
Traditional Colombian soup called ajiaco.
More great food – seared tuna with sesame seeds and quinoa with a great glass of Argentinean rose.
More green spaces.
Waterfalls and creeks flow right through the neighborhood.

My Spanish class even took a field trip to the local market on our last week of week one. It was great – we had to interview someone who worked in the market and find out about them – in Spanish of course! I even bought two bags full of amazing fruits and veggies to take home.

Can you name all these fruits?
I could not identify the large brown lumpy root thing in the front.
They don’t refrigerate their eggs there. Is very common in Latin American countries.
SO many limes!

I was loving the city and looking forward to the rest of my time there. Some of you who live in Medellín even reached out to me to get together, maybe do a photo walk or class. I’d have really loved that.

But . . . then this happened!

The Colombian Incident

If you’ve been reading the site for a while you may recall a while back reading about the Peru Incident. Well, unfortunately, there has been another South American incident (tengo mala suerte). Only eight days after I got there, I managed to break my ankle – no joke!

I wasn’t even doing something dangerous or exciting. I just came out of the bathroom and slipped on a wet floor.

Doctor Santiago – I got excellent medical care there.

My first ankle splint – broken!

I had been in Medellín a week and hadn’t really seen much of the city other than my neighborhood, so I decided to take a street food tour. Here are some photos (and a video – we had to take the Metro, a tram, and the cable car to get up there) on our way up to the top of the city.

About 15 minutes before my accident. Was a great view!
I bought some baked goods from that place across the street, Panaderia la Estacion. It was good!

So – what happens next?

As you may have noticed I haven’t written an article in a little while. Now you know why. I ended up having to fly home almost two weeks early and my husband came down to Colombia to help me. I did manage to finish my four weeks of Spanish classes, so I’m feeling good about that. But I missed out on living there and having the full experience.

Medellín I will be back – I promise!

I will return to Colombia again. I’m not sure when but soon, I promise. Before I go I’ll let you all know and if you live in the area we can make a plan to meet up and have a photo walk or impromptu class – maybe I’ll even do it en español!

Special thanks

I’d like to say a special thank you to Isabel (my Colombian friend – if you’re reading this, “muchísimas gracias por todo, espero de verte en agosto en el campamento GLP .”) who was so helpful connecting me with people there including a driver and her friend Marina (that I was supposed to meet the day of my accident) who was willing to come be with me at the hospital and helped me order my medicine, and I never did meet her in person!

To Rob – my landlord at the apartment I rented, for being patient with all my weird requests and needs and being so accommodating when my husband had to come down, and I left early. Of course to my husband, also Rob, for coming to get me and for being my knight in shining armor – love you!

Thank you to Dr. Luz Naranjo who came and did a house call at my apartment when I was worried about my foot. She was very helpful and reassuring. She even went above and beyond the call of duty and delivered me some soup her mother had made when I was having trouble ordering delivery online. That’s not her job, she is just a nice person.

Dr. Naranjo – great doctor, extra nice person.

Overall the people of Medellín were kind, caring and helpful. Even taxi and Uber drivers helped me in and out of cars and buildings, and the doorman at the apartment and one driver offered to carry me up two flights of stairs on a plastic chair (I declined but it was a nice gesture). The staff at Toucan Spanish School were great, even willing to move my class to a different room to suit my needs.

So I hope to get back to writing soon, but you may see a few guest articles from more helpful people as well (if you have something you’d like to contribute for readers – contact me here). Give them your full attention and learn from them too. It’s good to have many teachers and mentors so this is a good chance to do that. Keep reading – I’m here – just going a bit slowly these days. So be patient with me for a couple months – I’ll do my best to keep sending you photography tips.

I’m preparing a photography tour of Peru for 2019 and beyond, so I’ll be back in South America again very shortly.

En Español

Si usted puede leer esto – espero estar escribiendo en español pronto y tal vez incluso hacer algunos tutoriales bilingües para usted. Me encanta tu idioma y tu cultura – si quieres dejar un comentario abajo en español y te responderé!

Cheers,

Darlene-1-250x130.png

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About Darlene Hildebrandt

Darlene is an educator who teaches aspiring amateurs and hobbyists how to improve their skills through her articles here on Digital Photo Mentor, her beginner photography course, and private tutoring lessons. To help you at whatever level you're at she has two email mini-courses. Sign up for her free beginner OR portrait photography email mini-course. Or get both, no charge!

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There's NEVER been a better time to get Luminar Neo. With this Ultimate Photography Bundle promotion, you recieve the Luminar Neo software, hundreds of LUT's, Skies, presets and overlays, a Landscape Photography editing course, a Drone photography course and my very own Portrait Fundamentals course, along with a number of other items.

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