Medellin, Colombia - Pain

Working Out at 5,000 Feet
We found a gym  in our neighborhood giving one hour classes for 4 bucks.  I signed up for an 11am High Intensity Interval Training class, which I am familiar with from NY.  Bursts of very intense exercise with 20 seconds of rest between each.  I told Dodo she didn't have to join but her machismo got to her.  She puffed up and stuck up her nose "I can work out too!"

Medellin, Colombia - The Market

Medellin's Central Market

The walk from the Cisneros metro stop north towards the central market was filled with sketchy looking characters and dark alleyways.  We saw many who'd laid down on the sidewalk under a tarp and were still asleep.  How someone can sleep through the nightly downpour this way is unimaginable to me.

Medellin, Colombia - First Impressions

Not Wbat You Might Expect
In the late 80s it was known as the "most dangerous city in the world."  Since then, the homicide rate has dropped 95% and it's now called the "city of eternal spring", so named for the mild year-round weather.  Pablo Escobar is long gone and he hasn't left much of a shadow.  Medellin sits in a valley in the Andes, 5,000 feet above sea level.  Most of the buildings are made of brick, their brown color standing out against a ring of verdant mountains that rise another 2,000 feet.

South America Here We Come

Prepping for the Worst
We went to a travel nurse yesterday to get all of our shots.  Yellow fever shots are required for Ecuador, even though we'll be mostly at altitude while we are in Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia.

Freedom Trip - Days 10, 11

Toronto to Geneseo, NY
Our last piece of traveling was to a small farm a mile south of SUNY Geneseo.

Freedom Trip - Days 8,9

Detroit, MI to Toronto
Our AirBnB host claimed to be a founder of Greenpeace and most of her bedrooms were filled with recently arrived foreigners looking to make Toronto their home.  We were on the west side of town, where the skyscrapers haven't yet pushed their way in amongst the modest wooden houses and postage stamp yards.

Freedom Trip - Day 7

Madison, WI to Detroit, MI
Long day on the road - way too much.  A failure of planning or overly aggressive thinking - not sure which.  Sun was behind us the whole day and long gone by the time we finally arrived.  I was teasing Dodo "Get ready for gang warfare!  Get ready for gun shots and mayhem!"  Detroit is a scary place, at least that's how I was thinking as we drove in.

Freedom Trip - Day 6

Mishicot WI to Madison WI
We didn't spend much time in the capital, we popped by to see one of Jean's friends from Singapore.

Freedom Trip - Day 5

Game Day!
We left for the game at 9am and spent the whole day in Green Bay.  Dodo was wearing the cheese head her colleagues bought her as a going away present.  She would later buy and change into a Green Bay jersey.

Freedom Trip - Day 4

Bremen, IN to Mishicot, WI
From Bremen to South Bend and the Notre Dame campus is just 30 minutes.  We'd planned to visit the campus to take a walk but were thwarted by a home game.  Georgia was visiting for a 7:30pm kick-off but by 11am all available parking was gone.  They were already partying hard in every front yard and empty lot.  We jumped out for a quick photo of the famed dome and then kept moving.

Freedom Trip - Day 3

Cleveland, OH to Bremen, IN
If I didn't know better I'd think there are only two things being eaten in these United States: corn and soy.  We saw nothing but for 275 miles.  Who eats it all?  Is it to fatten up the cows?

Freedom Trip - Day 2

Lockhaven, PA to Cleveland, OH

We took off early in the day on our way to Cleveland.

Freedom Trip - Day 1

Brooklyn to Lock Haven, PA

Yes, all of this can fit in a Smart car, believe it or not.