A day at the mall....

So after bumming around all Sunday, we decided to get up nice and early today to take in some of Medellin's sights, to find that EVERYTHING is closed. EVERYTHING. 

So we took the opportunity to do a bit of shopping and find a card reader so I could start backing up my millions photos. Colombia is famous for its giant shopping malls and we're staying in a pretty upmarket area so we found one that we were told was good for techie things. Damn straight. It was a huge two storey mall devoted entirely to computer gadgets and lingerie. Yes, this is where Medellin comes to get flash pens and male corsets. Very. Strange.

  

Colombia is really westernised, with every city dotted with huge malls, kfcs, macdonalds and the like. It was very strange arriving in Bogota from Cuba because I experienced culture shock about my own culture but on the other side of the world! 

Colombians do like to look good and there are no shortages of nail bars and hairdressers; we once counted 15 on one street! Its also the number one destination in latin america for cosmetic surgery. 

Its not uncommon for men to depilate their underarms and pluck their eyebrows. In Cuba I even encountered some men who shave there arm hair (mmm stubbly). When Mathilda asked one of them about this he replied defensively that "its hot in cuba!" Actually, Cuba won in the manicure department too. I wish I was better at asking people if I could take photos of them, as each woman we encountered had the most amazing nails. Anything from long and glittery to square with diamonds on them. I guess it may be an affordable way for them to express their individual style. I would have loved to have been able to document them.

I'm going to do this post backwards, because that's just the kind of mood I'm in.

So on Sunday we just chilled in the hostal, Casa Kiwi, which is pretty nice, with a big kitchen and roof terrace. I really appreciate being able to cook as it makes me feel more at home. 

We decided to watch some tv. I particularly enjoy watching eighties action movies in spanish. There's usually one on and I've seen them so many times that I know what everyone is saying. Its an excellent opportunity to learn various swear words in Spanish. Including "hasta nunca malditos!" - which is Spanish for "Yippeekiyay motherfuckers!"

Unfortunately there were no films and I discovered to my horror that The Voice, The Graham Norton Show and Jonothan Ross are all regulars on Colombian Sky tv. What must they think of us?

So returning to Saturday and the Music Festival! We visited the reggae, metal and electro stages over the course of the evening. Each of them was in a different park or square in town and it was all absolutely free. The music didnt blow us away, but it was great to see a colombian two tone, death metal and reggae bands. With such hits as 'latin americano hasta muerte' (latin american till i die) and maldito presidente (which translatres roughly as 'the president is a bastard'). The atmosphere was really chilled and friendly with a good mix of age groups. It was a really good night.

On the way there we stopped off at a cafe for an empenada. We got chatting to the waitress, Maria Victoria, who showed us a photography book of Medellin made by her nephew. We asked her for any recommendations of what to do in Medellin, expecting a couple of hints. Instead she got out a pen and paper and got all the customers and passerbys  involved in deciding what the best places for us to go would be. Then, frustrated that there were only old people there who wouldnt know what the best salsa clubs were, she rang her son and sister for advice! unfortunately they didnt pick up. But once again we were blown away by how generous the people we've met have been.  

We met up with three chileanos we had met in Taganga and spent the night partying with them and a venezuelan we had met in the hostal. I really need to buy a cheap camera to take out at night - because i dont have any photos of any of the lovely people we have met so far on our journey. So back to the lingerie/gadget mall i go....