Day 130 – Medellin, CO

Day 130 – Medellin, CO      12/29/10      Mileage: 0

The first order of business was to get the left side engine guard and right side rear pannier rack welded. The local Kawasaki dealer pointed me to a welder, who pointed me to another welder who steered me to yet another welder…but 3rd times a charm I guess. The left side engine guard was particularly bad as the weld had cracked and spread not around the weld but up one of the tubes….never seen that before. The rear rack had a small crack that was for sure going to get worse or split completely the next time the bike falls over on that side…so I had the welder put a nice bead around it.

A good weld should look like a roll of coins laid on their side. This one is pretty ugly, but I think he did a great job for $10. Back at the Shamrock I showered up before Santiago, his girlfriend Julie and brother Pablo came to pick me up. Their extended family from all over (as far aways as Lebanon!), including the Puerto Rican side of the family were all in town for the holidays. Tonight was a big party at their uncles house in the town of Rionegro high in the mountains above Medellin…and they were gracious enough to invite me.

On the way to Rionegro with the city lights of Medellin below.

Their uncles house is amazing and they went all out for the party…it was like a wedding with out the bride and groom!

 At one point, their uncle went and got the head chef and brought him over to where I was sitting and told him to get whatever I wanted…wow!

Me and my parents friend Lilly, she’s the reason that I’m here! In the background is the head chef their uncle sent over.

This was a significant upgrade from the steady diet of road food!

Although I was a complete stranger to him only 15 minutes before, he opened his home to me and made me feel welcome and a part of the family. Indeed, everyone went out of their way to make me feel welcome. Oh, and did I mention that it was a great party too…but I guess that is inevitable anytime you get 40 or 50 Colombians and Puerto Ricans together with good music and wine!

The theme for the party was Tango Night, hence why most everyone is wearing black…

Santiago, Pablo and their mom.

 

This is the reason there are not better pictures….fire water in a box…oooph.

And she was the pusher making sure all the shot glass were topped up!

I’m not sure what time we left, but after the party we crashed at Santiago’s family’s house nearby. That was a fun night!