Musings from Medellin: Volume 5

Tomorrow, I am heading back home from my month long adventure in Medellín. This trip was everything I hoped for and more.

I wanted to experience awe and wonder. ✔

I wanted to become proficient and confident speaking Spanish. ✔

I wanted to try new things. ✔

I wanted to meet new and interesting people. ✔

I wanted a fresh perspective on life and business. ✔

I wanted to learn to trust that work would continue to flow abundantly, even if I wasn't hustlin'. ✔

A huge bonus was the quality time I got to spend with my cousin who has been living in Medellín for the past three years. Thank you, Kenmond, for being a great host and taking such good care of me!

I would be lying if I told you I didn't have some reentry anxiety. A nagging voice in the back of my head telling me that I'm "behind" starting my year. 

I am breathing through it as I continue to learn that I can live/work with ease and still have abundance. 

I must get a hammock! This was my happy place at the end of most days. 

I crossed paths with this fella at Jardín Botánico de Medellín. We were on a very narrow path when he sauntered by. He was about one foot away from me and my heart was pounding, even though I don't think iguanas are very dangerous.

I learned how to play Tejo, originally called Turmequé, a 500 year old game created by Indigenous Colombians. It's like corn hole or horseshoes. Back in the day, the players tossed a gold puck and if they hit one of the other pieces of gold on the mound, they got to keep it. These days, the goal is to hit one of white packets on the center ring. They are filled with gunpowder and if you hit them just right, they explode! You can watch people play the game here. And no I didn't manage to get an explosion. : (

I returned to Comuna 13 to learn more about the community, the transformation, visit the art galleries and watch street performances.

My favorite thing was watching groups of freestyle rappers craft rhymes based on where people were visiting from and other random words we threw out. 

They were so good!

The last highlight I'll share is a free salsa class that I took and enjoyed so much that I signed up for a private lesson. 

You can watch me, sometimes jamming and sometimes having two left feet, here. :) 

There are as many Salsa styles as there are cities in the Americas.

My instructor was from Cali, a mostly Afro-Colombian city, and their style is fast and staccato. Honestly, it's not my favorite. I like my salsa more suavecito, smooth. 

Sigh, I am legit sad to leave. I am going to miss this city, its people, food and spectacular views. But I know I'll return soon. Who knows, I might even bring some of you with me. (Planting seeds in the universe for a 2025 Medellín retreat!)

I am ready to come home, though. To my apartment, my bed, my friends and family. There really is no place like it.  

Thank you for following my journey!