Medellín

A week's vacation in Medellín has spoiled me for life in Cartagena. There the weather is perfect, there is public transportation, clean parks, and so much to do. Here is a hellishly hot sprawl of houses and shopping centers, not a park or even a patch of grass to be found. It's normally difficult to come back to work from vacation, but this is harder than usual.

My body was not used to the amount of walking I did in Medellín. I did a hike in the mountains which made my calves sore for days afterwards. Then I walked miles each day after around parks and public squares and danced until my legs were shaking with exhaustion. A few months ago this would have been nothing, but after a few sedentary months it was a challenge.

Food-wise, it was an odd week. I ate only two actual meals in the 6 days I was there. The rest of my food was street food eaten from napkins. At least one empanada a day, maybe a pastelita. The majority of my calories came from the alcohol, though. Because I don't really eat after lunch time lately, the alcohol I consumed after 10pm hit an empty stomach and I got drunk quickly. 4 beers and I was dizzying-ly drunk. Medellín is famous for its white powder and the party scene there is amazing. I didn't do anything illicit, no worries. In the morning I'd try to cure my hangover with big cups of chocolate milk.

Between all the walking and my junkfood/alcohol consumption I have no idea if I gained or lost weight over my week of vacation. The day I left I weighed 127, a new low weight for me. I'm too afraid to look and see that I've gained.