certification

Monday 20.6.2016

Molly and I decided that today would be spent learning about the history of Medellin.  We managed to get up reasonably early, with the goal of making it to the prestigeous Modern Art Museum and taking a walking tour around the historic downtown afterwards.  

Of course, today is Monday, so the museum turned out to be closed.  But the journey out to museum was a test in itself; nestled in Poblado, a neighborhood that would be familiar with any hipster in the US, the art museum is an example of the city’s goal of constructing spaces that encourage residents to experience their world in safer and more fulfilling way.  Behind the museum, a large skate park was built that has advertisements for youth-centered apart programs visible from the half pipes.

We grabbed an artisan breakfast near the museum and talked about family and religion, two very important topics in Colombia.  Molly mad the observation that walking around Medellin was very similar to walking around Chicago; both cities are their country’s “second cities”,  and each has undoubtedly defined its history in part by contrasting their position in economics and cultural affairs as prominently distinct from their respective “first cities.”  Talking about heavy topics with a loved one is one of the more fulfilling aspects of life.

We hurried to the site of our afternoon walking tour and barely made it in time after a taxi driver dropped us off at the wrong metro station due to our bad directions.  Walking tours always start the same way: the tour guide tells the group about how he or she is a native of the area and thus suited for the trip, how rich and diverse of a tour the forthcoming experience will be, and, inevitably, how tour guides are paid based on tips and thus need the support of the group to make ends meet.  If you’ve never taken a walking tour of a foreign city, don’t feel pressured to pay them more than you may think they deserve if the tour was just alright – tour guide companies pool tips to discourage overworking of the guides and I’ve always found the plea for tips a little overzealous.

But anyways, Milo was our guide for the day and told us about his background growing up in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Medellin.  He became a biomedical engineer and supports his family with his medicinal work, with tour guides adding income on the side.  Entering a biomedical engineering program is very difficult work; over 5000 students take the entrance exam for the university program and only 30 pass.  His pride in entering university was attributed to being “la Paises,” the name of Colombians who live in Medellin and the surrounding Antiquoa district.  Paises believe that their relative isolation from the rest of Colombia contributed to their inherent character; Paises were originally Basque and Jewish religious refugees who survived without larger economic support until gold led to the construction of a railroad in the late 1800’s.  The railroad brought in other Colombians as well as generated immense wealth as Medellin exported their gold and historically cultivated coffee.

From the start of the tour, Milo made a point of explaining how little the drug money of Pablo Escobar and the competing cartels influenced the development of his home town. Paises have been living in Medellin for almost 500 years, while drug profits affected the cit for thirty.  The vast discrepancy between Colombia’s perception as a drug cartel haven is both evidence of the destructive nature of that criminality but also the ease with which “white” countries can stereotype a foreign place.  Listening to Milo discuss the heritage of I his cit gave everyone chills.

Milo took us to the government center and showed us a massive structure commemorating the history of Antiquoa.  In the early 1990’s, the FARC stormed the towering Palace of Justice and the army had to practically destroy the building to save the Supreme Court hostages trapped inside.  An infamous video shows one of the hostages escaping alive into military custody, but the next day she was found dead in the Palace hallways and the Army attributed her death to the FARC.  This type of controversial practice was widely known to exist up into the early 2000’s, when a president affectionately known as “Iron Fist” was caught having homeless people murdered and then dressed up in FARC uniforms to create the perception that the government was making greater strides against the guerilla said than it actually was.

The same president is lauded for advocating the principle of “democratic architecture,” which was tested first in Medellin and then spread to the rest of the countries.  Democratic architecture consisted of building physical spaces in unsafe or poor areas which encouraged the social activit of residents.  Libraries sprung up in slums, providing children with a safe space to go after school and increasing literacy rates.  Medellin’s prized metro system was expanded and made cheaper, giving citizens access to safe areas and removing the barrier to transportation that a highly automobile-centered economy necessitates. Milo showed us how a square that was formerly a center for prostitution and drug trafficking was torn down and instead made into a gorgeous, well-lit park that hosts concerts and art shows (and which is bordered by another massive library).

The tour wove us through squares, gardens, open air markets and churches infamous for being the stomping grounds of gay prostitutes.  We were shown remarkable hospitality by the people we met and enjoyed an array of delicious foods and drinks whose names were lost in the blur of the crowded streets of a city numbering 3.5 million people.  Everywhere we went, la Paises stared at us in wonder; Milo explained that people here were genuinely surprised to see gringos wondering their streets in safety and comfort, and that they loved the chance to speak English to us and hear pour thoughts on their city, country, and women.

The tour ended in San Antonio Park, a famous square which experienced a devestating terrorist attack in 2004.  A backpack filled with explosives detonated during a concert, killing several people and a young girl who was photographed moments before the explosion.  The bomb mangled a large bird statue, and the mayor ordered the statue taken down; however, the artist offered to build a second, larger statue next to the destroyed one on the condition that the first stay in place as a memorial to the victims of violence.  The mayor agreed and today tourists will find few examples of Medellin’s violent past.

Imply and I arranged to interview another tour guide, Juan, over dinner following the interview.  The contents of that interview will, like the others, be transcribed upon our return tot he states in the fall.  But let it be known that the character of Juan and his ambitions for the future of his country cemented my impression of Medellion and La Paises as some of the strongest and resilient people I have met.  I wish him the best in all he does.

Tomorrow, Molly and I leave for Manizales, a small town near Bogota, where we will work on a cattle farm I exchange for food and a place to stay.  I can’t wait to tell you about it.