1. The lovely German gals and I took the night bus from Salento to Medellin, which, admittedly, was a little rough. A major thunderstorm coupled with winding mountain roads meant that we were handed barf bags. We survived without needing them (#blessed) but didn't get much sleep and then arrived at the hostel in an exhausted mess at 5am. Luckily, some nice fellows we had met in Salento arrived in Medellin the day before us and arranged to have a room ready for us to crash. We got to finish out the night of sleep and didn't have to pay as if it was a night! After a four hour nap and I shower, I was a new person.
2. Medellin is an interesting and funky city. It gave me the impression that someone decided to build a giant city in the middle of the jungle in the mountains. It was super green and diverse. In the 1980's it was the most dangerous city in the world, and has since undergone a huge transformation. While there are still improvements to be made, then main areas of the city that I visited were wonderful. This isn't a history blog, but while much of Medellin's history Pablo Escobar, it's also more than that. If you're interested, I suggest that you Google it.
3. While I never felt unsafe, I have also never been approached by so many drug dealers. They are early 20s males who walk around carrying boxes of gum and candies like the standard street vendors. As they approach they say "chickles, dulces" and then when they're near, they lean in very close, open their eyes wide like they are sharing an important secret, and whisper, "coca?" Don't worry mother, that DARE training worked and I said no to drugs.
4. Additionally, I have never seen so much plastic surgery. There was some prime people watching.
5. The travelers in Medellin were also fancy for some reason. We went to a hostel bar in our standard apparel (shorts, tank top, no makeup - not dressed up but no mud!) and felt significantly underdressed. In a standard bar, this would not be surprising. But in a hostel bar? I did not enjoy feeling so frumpy.
6. In Spanish, "recto" means "straight" and "derecha" means "right". As in, "go straight then turn right at the corner." Something that I am commonly told as I am often lost. I have recently learned that in Colombian Spanish, "derecho" means straight. It took several more instances of getting lost to realize that "derecho" is NOT the same as "derecha".
7. It's common in Spanish to repeat words for emphasis, for example, "si si si" or "no no no." Heads up, "derecho, derecho, derecho" does not mean "turn right, then turn right, then turn right." That would nearly make a circle that ends in the wrong direction. It actually means "go straight for awhile."
8. A wonderful couple that I had met in San Blas was also in Medellin, so we went to the lovely botanical gardens together. There were fuentes and ponds and flowers and many things that I like. We also had a delicious local meal of rice, salad, chicken, fries, and fresh squeezed blackberry juice for $2.
9. That night my salsa skills were put to the test at a salsa club. They could use some improving.
10. Passports need to be presented when buying long distance bus tickets. When I got my ticket to Santa Marta, the man at the ticket window was quite excited that I was American, and proceeded to tell me all about his friend's trip to Vegas. People here are very friendly. They love tourists. It seems to be more pronounced in the slightly older generation who grew up in the dangerous Medellin and now have seen us adding to the transformation of Medellin. 
a lovely fuente downtown
cable car to the top of the mountain. it's actually a part of the public transit system as people live up there, so we paid less than $1 to take it up and down
a funky tree in the botanical gardens
downtown Medellin
typical Colombian breakfast - coffee, eggs, and an arepa (ground corn dough with cheese and butter)
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