Clase de Transporte Publico: Medellin, Feb 06

Medellin, land of the paisas, was much more rewarding than I'd expected. The grand architecture, the people with that accent that makes them sound like wide-eyed kids, the mountains that surround it all, and the clean and efficient metro system were all a wonderful surprise.

This is part of the group we traveled in - three undergrads who were awfully nice but whose names I've forgotten, Rosana, me, Mac, Adriana, and Paula - in the rail maintenance yard of the Medellin Metro.

When we first arrived on the scene at the Metro headquarters, we interrupted the reading of the master plan for the system. We listened as a female lawyer gave her retirement ("jubilacion") speech, then tried very very hard not to laugh out loud as the entire roster of employees sang...The Metro Hymn. Yes, Virginia, there is a metro hymn. I'll post the lyrics as soon as I find them. Tried to buy the cd but apparently it's not out quite yet. There was also a lot of talk about the "metro culture". More on that later...it sounded suspect, but as it turns out by the cleanliness and respect for the system, there seems to be something to it.

After several technical visits Friday and Saturday, we got to relax and site see a bit Saturday afternoon. I particularly liked this statue, just outside of Pueblito Paisa, and overlooking "Medallo," as it is affectionately known.