Back in Medellín after Vacation

In the past week I took a bus to Bogotá, ostensibly to meet with a potential employer there. The employer communicated poorly, gave me the wrong address to their office, and didn't tell anyone at the reception desk that I would be arriving. Eventually I found the office, but no one I talked to had any idea what was going on. I'll be adding the name of the employer to The TEFL Blacklist.

Some people I met in the hostel in Bogotá articulated pretty well what my instincts were tending towards, which is that I ought to see more of Colombia before trying to settle down somewhere in particular. So I left Bogotá for the most easily accessible small city I could find, which was Ibagué.

Ibagué doesn't have a lot going on, but they do give you a plastic glove with your fried chicken so you can protect your hand from the grease.

After spending only one night in Ibagué, I took a bus to Armenia and from there to Salento. Salento receives the second highest quantity of tourists every year of any city in Colombia. The highest of all is Cartagena. Upon arriving in Salento, it's easy to see why it's so popular with tourists.

They have trucha (trout.)

They have Tejo, which is a game where you throw metal pucks (tejos) into a bank of clay that's been booby-trapped with mechas, which are folded paper triangles filled with gun powder.

This is what happens if your tejo hits a mecha:

They have the Mirador, which is a big hill with stairs, and you can see it from your porch if you stay in this hostel.

And then you can see your hostel from the Mirador if you climb the stairs.

After the first night I moved to a different hostel (that can't be seen from the Mirador) but it has a cat and hot water.

Near Salento is the Cocora Valley, which is famous for Palmas de Cera (Wax Palms)

And hiking... while being pursued by riders on horseback.

And humming birds

And a cloud forest.

And they take you there from Salento in old jeeps.

During my week of travels in Bogotá, Ibagué, and Salento, I received a number of voice mails and emails from an employer in Medellín with whom I had interviewed a week earlier and who had told me they wouldn't sponsor a work visa for me (i.e. would not hire me.) The messages said they wanted me to show up for job training in a few hours. In response to each message I told them I would be happy to come back to Medellín and work for them, but that I was out of town and I would need more than a few hours notice to make the journey. After three nights in Salento they informed me that job training will take place on Wednesday, which left me a reasonable amount of time to get back to Medellín. I arrived yesterday. I'm still not sure whether this employer will sponsor a work visa for me or have me work illegitimately, but wheels seem to be in motion...