Medellin

Medellin: World's Most Dangerous City. If you had read those words 20 years ago, they were certainly true. But no longer. Ever since the fall of Pablo Escobar in 1993, the city has been working hard to scrub away the blemishes that the drug cartel left here at the height of the cocaine trade. I came to Medellin to get a feel for a city with such a horrendous past that, even today, people from the States still frown from the bad taste in their mouths at the mere mention of Colombia. Here it is 2012 and, have no doubt, the city of Medellin has been reborn.


The people of Colombia's second largest city have been working feverishly to transform not just their image, but the fundamental roots of what makes Medellin a name you should know. Set in the mountains, a beautiful city rises out of an even more phenomenal landscape and the vibe here is no longer dominated by fear and terror, but by a proud hope that is nothing but deserved after what the people here have done to achieve their success.

You spend any amount of time in Medellin and you will quickly understand that it is a city quite unlike any other you’ve ever been in. You see a good amount of new, nice cars, which is of course common in many big cities. The women are very conscious of their bodies, and a large percentage are scientifically enhanced just as in places like Hollywood and South Beach. The difference is where all this money that is going to high rise apartments, fancy cars, and butt implants is actually coming from. Even though the power of the cartels has been greatly diminished over the last couple decades, there is still a huge amount of drug money that is fueling the lifestyles of these people.

It would be wrong of me to try and take anything away from the country’s leading textile operations that are found in Medellin, or from all the hard work the citizens of the city are doing to rebuild their reputation, because both are great things that are having a very positive impact on a once feared place. But, it would also be unrealistic and ignorant to say that the uncommonly good lives that many of the people in Medellin live is not due to money earned from the drug trade. Of course there is still a huge amount of poverty and the lower class struggles like much of the rest of South America, but you just don’t see the middle and upper classes living the way they do anywhere else down here.

While it was fascinating to observe, it was a blast to experience as well. While in Medellin, I got the opportunity to meet some pretty amazing people and rub a shoulder or two with the wild, extravagant people that live there. A couple of them in particular are a little difficult not to geek out over. So we end up meeting these guys who won at the Sundance Film Festival a couple years ago and they have done all these other amazing video projects as well. The best part is, they are super awesome guys and a ton of fun to hang out with.

On Saturday night, they tell us about this fancy sounding hotel rooftop party that they are planning on attending and ask if we want to go. Um, yes please! So I bust out my only pair of jeans that doesn’t have a hole, and dig out the lone button up shirt I brought along, and dang was I looking good. With a bold, yet classy amount of chest hair on display, we head out.

Strolling in like we own the place, the elevator shoots us up top where the doors open up to reveal a scene I thought only existed in movies. First of all, this place is straight up fancy. Lavish décor and tasteful lighting set the mood instantly. A swimming pool with glass sides begged to put on a show if the night got wild. The staff were impossible to miss as they were dressed the part in white tuxedoes. The view of the city was absolutely stunning as I gazed out upon the night from the highest vantage point around. But it was the clientele that blew me away the most.

While the dudes all looked like identical copies of each other with their very formal attire and slicked back hair, it was the ladies that cracked me up even more. I am willing to bet my favorite pair of underwear that there was not a 100% real woman there. Each female in attendance had gone under the knife at least once. There were fake racks galore and a good many of these ladies had also opted for the famous Colombian butt implant as well. No, not butt lift, butt implant. Yup, fake butts were on the loose everywhere your head turned. These women would have been quite attractive if they had just left themselves alone. But alas, some combination of social pressure, skewed views of beauty, and access to money led each and every one of them to alter their bodies in ways that are just unnatural. It might have been a little sad if all the Colombian Barbies strutting around didn’t strike me as hilarious first.

At one point it began to rain a bit. Can’t have all those fake boobs getting wet now can we? So the hotel just flipped a switch and this massive roof began rolling out over the top of the party. Five minutes later, the rain stopped and they got to show off their expensive toy again by retracting the roof and once again revealing the dark sky.

Pretty extravagant stuff, and while that’s not the world I want to live in, it was fun to at least get to take a little peak. While I leaned up against a wall, overlooking the city and enjoying my overpriced cucumber adorned beverage, it was just interesting to think about why the people of this city acted in a certain way and how much of it actually has to do with their past. While they have done well to shed their terrible image from years past, and bury it deep down, there are always pieces of history that never cease to shape people, communities, and entire countries.

I wish the people of Medellin only the best of luck as they continue their pursuit to reinvent themselves.

And now it's time to go to the beach. Lovsies!