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!
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.
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.
|
|
|
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.
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.
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,
