#150 Colombia
Well, I was in Columbia for 30 days. And it was very different than the first time that I visited here. I stayed in an AirBnB, rather than a hotel, and I immediately settled into the living rather than visiting paradigm. I rather rapidly discovered which area of town I would rather live in. I stayed in a part of town known as El Poblado, which is considered the gringo capital of Medellin. I am not far from Parque Lleras which is the heart of the nightlife district. I am not saying that it is a bad part of town (it is euphemistically referred to as the ‘Zona Rosa’ (The Pink Zone)), but honestly, I think there are better and cheaper places to live in. At the moment I am thinking about a district called Envigado. This is a little bit further south of the El Poblado district, and it has the largest mall in Columbia called Viva Envigado. Those of you who know me, understand that I am not a shopping guy, but the malls here are extraordinarily nice places to simply walk around, people watch, and eat.
Below are pictures of the AirBnb
Again, all of this is simply my point of view, but the various districts of Medellin seem to be highly distinct. It takes significant effort, meaning more than 30 minutes, if you really want to go from one district to the next. Overall, I find Medellin an absolutely beautiful city. I have just started to meet some Colombians. I have found them to be extraordinarily friendly, warm, and helpful people.
View from apartment
One can never forget however, “The Curve”, I put here a link to my blog article about that several years ago.
https://www.anthonyarcis.com/blog/2017/1/13/the-curve
I have met one foreigner here, an American, who runs a website that is fairly well written and well structured, about living here in Medellin. I met with him in person, as a paid consultation, simply to talk to a foreigner on the ground here face-to-face. We definitely came from very different backgrounds in terms of living overseas, but still it was worth it to talk to another foreigner on the ground here. It does seem to me, from the few people I’ve talked to, everybody has a strong opinion about the best place to live and why. That is all grist to my mill, however. You take in that data, and then evaluate it in accordance with what you personally observe and your preferences.
One Colombian I met, Jorge, was a very nice guy. He is involved in real estate, and he showed me one apartment that, frankly, I fell in love with immediately. I have been looking for years, all over the world, for an apartment exactly like this. It is a 56 m² studio apartment that actually has a ½ bathroom included. Why in the HELL more builders don’t do this, I do not know. In the several countries of the world that I have lived in and looked for properties, it is impossible to find any apartment with an additional ½ bathroom until you are at the two-bedroom point. Huge kudos to whoever designed this studio, because if and when I move to Medellin, this is exactly the kind of place that I’m looking for. Wow! And the price wasn’t unreasonable ($120,000) – but still. At $1000/month in rent for that place, it would take 10 years to work off the price of owning it. Renting is still the way to go as far as I can see. You can see some pictures of the unit below.
I have actively worked to get out of my shell while I was there. In the building that I’m staying, most of the other units on this floor seem to be offices of some sort or other (as opposed to being residential). The office next door keeps the door open most of the time and I saw one of the ladies that works there, alone. This is not meant to be creepy, by the way. 😊 I introduced myself under the guise of making sure that when I played music and talked online that I wasn’t making too much noise for them. And, of all things it turns out that that this office is owned by an American guy who does visas and other paperwork for Columbia. I ended up having a face-to-face with one of their lawyers. Very interesting. Much easier to get residency in Colombia than Costa Rica if I choose to go that way.
I met two other American expats while I was there. Much more on the same page with them than the first guy I met. And again, that local knowledge is indispensable. It really helped with orienting myself.
I cannot get over the weather in Medellín. It is just perfect for me. It is cool in the morning and the evenings, occasionally some heavy rain storms (during which most people dodge into the closest restaurant or café and have a coffee while they wait for it to be over), it can get up into the low 80s during the day and it will be a little bit humid, but nothing massively uncomfortable. And it seems to be the same day after day. And the locals that I have talked to tell me that it indeed is the same every day all year round. There is a reason they call it “The City of Eternal Spring”. Below is a pastiche of various pictures I took while in and around the city.
My time passed all too quickly, and I am back in the states as I write this. I’ve gotten jabbed with 3 vaccinations. Finished my Shingrix, latest flu shot, and a COVID booster. I’m working on trying to get a shipment out to the Philippines and see the family up in Utah. Also have to do a one-day trip to San Francisco to pick up my E-Resident ID from the Estonian Consulate. A pain but worth it from the tax perspective. Hope to visit a close friend down in Phoenix as well for a few days.
And then … back to Medellín first week of December.
Another significant occurrence. I recently touched base with a guy that I’ve been talking to for a number of years. We were introduced by a mutual close friend in the Philippines. And we have been exploring whether or not I could do some work for him in South America. The proposed partnership in Argentina never came to pass, largely because of COVID. Out of the blue he reached out to me a few weeks ago, and when he found out I was in Columbia suddenly I was getting a phone call. He is the president of a mid-sized global company that specializes in environmental, sustainability, and governance issues for governments, international NGOs, and large companies. And he was apparently in the process of buying a company to have a footprint in Columbia. When he realized I was in Colombia, all of a sudden our conversation has become much more immediate. So, it is possible that I may end up going back to work, possibly as a director level position overseeing operations in South America. And I am very seriously considering it. I think I would enjoy the work, and it would give me an opportunity to bring my Spanish up to a professional level. I will keep everybody informed as this advances. Or not. 😊