this year ex-pats here in Medellin Colombia celebrated Christmas one day early so they could have the traditional Colombian Christmas eve party with girlfriends, wives and friends. All the gringos got together Medellin and had a great time talking about their life in Medellin and the idiosyncrasies we all enjoyed this year living compared with our lifestyles we left behind in the United States.
the quickly growing ex-pat community in Medellin Colombia is mostly comprised of retired single men or married couples which return to Colombia when they retire. Whether they are Americans or Colombian Americans there is a lot people share together after living in a developed country and moving to or returning to a developing country. There is always a lot to talk about. Last Thanksgiving we saw about 50 people get together for dinner at one location and another location we had about 15 people come together for a great Thanksgiving dinner. Although there are thousands of ex-pats living in Medellin, many keep to themselves or are only here part time.
The news reported that only 5000 tourists came in town for the holidays around Christmas! So as you can see tourism is still very young and developing in and around Medellin. So this really keeps the culture from being affected here by foreigners.
one thing I have grown to know every year a little better is that Santa Claus has left me behind, but baby Jesus has welcomed me into his arms and visits me at mid night just after people are finishing their first bottle of rum and aguardiente. Maybe it’s because baby Jesus likes the smell of alcohol? Perhaps that’s what draws him down from the heavens to come around and handout presents to adults and kids? Perhaps baby Jesus patrol South America because our fat Santa in North America just can’t handle the heat, especially with that big head coat he wears.
Whether your kids are celebrating Santa Claus bringing presents or baby Jesus cruising by a drunk families in the poor neighborhoods and dodging m-80s, and half sticks of dynamite, we want to say we wish you a Merry Christmas and a very prosperous new year!
Please stay tuned as we are developing a new database with over 100 exotic eco tour programs for Colombia this year. Keep an eye on TravelColombia.org and Medellin tours.net
James and Adriana
Colombia Expats info on Real Estate, Business, Visas, and Life! 