The great (yet dangerous!) thing about Medellín's food culture is the many panaderías (bakeries) that I pass on the way to work. Panaderías in Medellín tend to sell many fried sweet and savory pastries. One morning this week, I took a break after teaching class to order a café con leche (coffee with milk) and a palito de queso, a crispy fried log of pastry filled with cheese. Yum!
On Wednesday night, I went with some friends to a salsa dance club called Son Havana to practice our dance moves. Salsa is a classic Latin music and dance style which often incorporates mariachis, wind instruments, piano and guitar. Sometimes there is also singing. The salsa rhythms I heard at Son Havana were so catchy that I couldn't help but dance along!
I met up with a new friend who lives near the university where I work, and he showed me a big open-air market called La Placita de Florez. In La Placita, you can find many varieties of fruits and vegetables, plus other items you might need, from storage containers to technological gadgets.
I read an interesting New York Times article about a sad part of Medellín's history and how the local government is working to promote new ways of viewing the city. Many locals in Medellín do not like it when tourists only focus on looking at the dark sides of the city's history. They want foreigners to enjoy the many beautiful parks and cultural spots that their city offers as well!
