Salsa Lessons With The Students Of Antioquia U.

View of Medellin from Universidad metro station

The day after the Couchsurfing party, I met Martin from Germany, at the Universidad metro station. While I was waiting for him, I took in the view of the city from the vantage point of the elevated platform. Gorgeous!

Typical Colombian student food

We then met up with Luisa, one of the students at the large University of Antioquia. Medellin is home to at least 30 universities, and therefore has a large student population. We walked to the apartment she shares near campus with 6 of her girlfriends. The purpose of our visit was to learn a few new dance moves.

Martin, me, and the girls

Since none of them spoke English, and Martin speaks good Spanish, it was a good opportunity for me to practice my own foreign language skills. And of course words aren't required for salsa dancing. They played a variety of music for us, including salsa, meringue, and reggaeton. These musical genres, and more such as vallanato, tropical pop, and reggae, are played everywhere in Medellin, and Colombia from what I have experienced. Taxis, buses, stores, little food stands, homes, bars, restaurants. It is no wonder the people grow up with rhythm and dancing in their blood.

2009 Superbowl

After a few hours with the girls, I headed to a sports bar called Time Out in Parque Lleras where I found a bunch of guys from the hostel watching the SuperBowl. Based on the score, arriving at the end of the third quarter meant I hadn't missed much. In fact, Arizona seemed to stage their comeback just as I began to watch. Of course we know how that game ended.

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A Note to Readers: Clearly I am a few weeks behind on my blog posts, especially after the silence of the last week. Stick with me as my journey has taken an unexpected turn and I hope to catch you all up on it soon!

Dave Lee

Dave is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Go Backpacking and Feastio. He's been to 66 countries and lived in Colombia and Peru. Read the full story of how he became a travel blogger.