The most common language in Medellín is Spanish. While some people here know how to speak English or other foreign languages, I'm glad that I studied Spanish in college so that I can converse with the locals. People from Medellín also use a lot of local lingo. Some words and phrases I have learned so far are paisa (a person from the region of Antioquia) and Qué más? (What's up?).
In Medellín, we buy and sell goods with the Colombian peso. The currency has inflated so much over time that today 9,000 Colombian pesos are about the equivalent of $3.00 U.S. dollars. Colombian pesos come in dollar bills and coins with famous Colombian figures represented on them, similar to our own money in the U.S.
Here, a bottle of water usually costs about $1,000 Colombian pesos, or 33 U.S. cents. Fortunately, it is also safe to drink the tap water here in Medellín, so I try not to buy bottled water in order to not waste more plastic. In some other parts of Colombia, the tap water is not safe to drink, however, so residents have to rely on purified water imported from out of town.
