Cafe, au lait ...Pour Vous

Food and Drink. Two basic human needs that one must figure out pretty darn quick when residing in a new place. Luckily, I have had some friendly classmates and city natives show me the ropes of Colombian Cuisine. Here are a few pictures and short descriptions of some of the things I've tried so far:

Pitaya, my favorite fruit down here; soft and sweet center, makes perfect breakfast fruit.

Obviously, Avocado is big down here, never seen so many varieties.

Cherimoya, according to author Mark Twain, the best tasting fruit in existence..

Arepa, basically the Colombian version of a Pancake, except made from corn or flour. Much of the time spread butter on top or they can be filled with cheese....mmmm cheesy.

Palo de Queso- literal translation:cheese stick. These are good, especially after partying all night and you got some munchies.

Empanada de Carne/Patatas- Fried dough filled with meat and potatoes,pretty standard.

Coffee...Colombian style. This picture doesn't do it justice. The coffee here is incredible and I cant get enough. I might turn into the character Tweak from South Park if I don't curb consumption soon haha.

Aguardiente: The liquor of choice down here. The culture is to pre-game or just sit down with some friends in a park and pass between everyone some small plastic shot cups and consume til the bottle is empty. Not bad, but it isnt my liquor of choice.

 Now, I have only been here for a month, so I will try to update this list as I discover more gastronomical delights. But until then, you will just have to drool over the ones above.

Parks...lots of Parks

National Geographic?

This past weekend I had the opportunity to do some more exploring in Medellin. This time I decided to unleash the wild side and see some more of the diverse ecology that many natives rant and rave about from time to time. I had a friend of mine named Felipe come along with me since he is always complaining his girlfriend never wants to go see these cool places with him, so yeah, I let the bro-mance blossom a bit. We decided to head first to Medellin's Botanical Garden, which I must say is quite impressive. Not only do they have scientists doing actual botanical research and offer educational programs, they have some of the most impressive assortments of tropical plants I have ever seen from beautiful flowers to all kinds of palm trees. Take a look at some of the photos I posted below, these plants can speak for themselves...and I am sure they are saying something along the lines of "Damn...I do look goooood." I mean, not only do they have killer cacti and different breeds of orchids, they have Godzilla sized dung beetles and caterpillars the size of  small mice. They even have a Butterfly house-fun fact of the day, butterflies are only active when there is sunlight, Thanks Medellin Botanical Garden's Butterfly team! And of course, we can't leave out the copious amounts of public displays of affection steaming up the place. I mean, I thought Europeans were intense with PDA, but down here, Colombians give' em a run for their money. Come on though, with all the beautiful color schemes floating about and warm sun shining all day, who can resist?

Dung Beetle, so glad it isnt alive

Coral Reef like Cactus!

After we had our fill of Mothra and scary Jurassic Park like plants, we decided to stop at the Parque de los Pies Descalzos (Barefoot Park). No surprise here with a name like that, so you better kick those sneakers off and toss aside those smelly socks because certain parts of the park are off limits unless you are barefoot as the day you came into this world-except without all the gross embryonic fluid. One can't pass up on  dipping your feet in small square pools with your fellow tax paying citizens while sitting under the shade of the large palms. Or who could negate the jacuzzi foot jets, just waiting to massage your tired dogs after a long days work. These aren't public pools ladies and gents for all of you saying "ew...gross" The city makes sure they take care of these parks and they are as clean as a whistle unto my eyes.

I also must make a quick note of Plaza Botero, which is a place I stopped by myself last Sunday. Apparently this plaza is dedicated to the artist who sculpted the sculptures that litter the local square in front of the museum there. All these works of art were donated by the master Colombian painter/sculptor Fernando Botero. As far as I could tell, this guy really represents the people of this region in an extremely unique way, playing on their short and curvy characteristics. However, that is just one man's opinion, maybe you see something else, like some big dog who has been eating way too many Kibbles n' Bits?