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Get involved with these local organizations to<br />
become part of a local group that gives back. You’ll<br />
practice your Spanish, meet friends, and do<br />
something good all at once!
Join the mission to de-stigmatise homelessness with passionate<br />
young locals.<br />
What is Fundación Visibles?<br />
Funcacion Visibles is a nonprofit dedicated to feeding the poorest people of Medellin<br />
and also to de-stigmatize homelessness by choosing to interact with the homeless and<br />
taking the time to understand their struggles.<br />
How to Participate<br />
Join their Homeless<br />
Outreach Project<br />
Besides being a great way to practice your<br />
Spanish, it’s an eye-opening way to<br />
discover a different side of Medellin, it<br />
feels good to give back, and it’s a fantastic<br />
way to get to know and speak to locals in<br />
an authentic circumstances.<br />
The group meets every Thursday at Cisneros Metro station at 8:30pm. To get there,<br />
take the Metro to San Antonio, take the stairs up to the higher platform and change<br />
lines for the Cisneros train. Go 1 stop and get off at Cisneros and walk towards the exit<br />
on your right. The journey can take between 30-45 minutes from Colombia Immersion.<br />
When you leave the San Antonio metro station, you’ll see a group of people at the<br />
bottom of the station stairs…. these are your new friends! After a short orientation<br />
you will be given hot chocolate and bread. It's best not to wait to be invited to help<br />
out… just start speaking to people. Remember to be respectful and polite. The activity<br />
ends at about 10:30pm or 11pm.
Be part of a team of locals in one of Latin America’s most respected nonprofits.<br />
About TECHO<br />
TECHO is a nonprofit whose mission is to build houses in order to improve the lives of<br />
those living in extreme poverty. It exists in 17 countries throughout Latin America.<br />
Community outreach in the slums of Medellin<br />
We recommend joining their community outreach excursions that they do every<br />
Saturday. It’s an all-day trip that they do to get to<br />
know the communities while taking surveys in<br />
individual homes to understand the needs of the<br />
community members. After doing the surveys, the<br />
organization chooses which families to build a home<br />
for.<br />
How to participate<br />
Join their Facebook page for updates and details.<br />
Voluntarios TECHO Medellin:<br />
www.facebook.com/groups/515163048540811<br />
To get to the Saturday Excursion: Take the metro to<br />
Acevedo station (unless the Facebook group states<br />
otherwise). Look for the group of people in the<br />
white T-Shirts that say TECHO.The group will stay<br />
out until usually 5pm and will return you to a metro<br />
station.<br />
If you want to get more involved, TECHO has planning meetings throughout the week<br />
which you can attend to truly be part of a local TECHO team: find more info in their<br />
Facebook Group.
Read more on their website: http://www.techo.org/paises/colombia/<br />
Read a former student blog on his experience: www.anotherfirstworldtraveller.com/blog/we-built-a-house-together<br />
Find your “home-away-from-home” in this small community center<br />
dedicated to serving its local area.<br />
About Suma Pax<br />
Suma Pax is a local nonprofit that provides social<br />
and communication programs to underprivileged<br />
kids, women, and elderly in their neighborhood.<br />
Join the Community Center<br />
The best approach for starting out is to go and<br />
spend time at the organization first. This place is great: laid back, loosely organized,<br />
with great people and a nice atmosphere. Once you’re ready, talk with Lis (the leader)<br />
about your skills and interests and she will help organize a project around that. You can<br />
teach English to children and adult community members, attend a workshop, or visit<br />
while they record a radio program.<br />
How to participate<br />
Inform a CI staff member so they can<br />
inform Suma Pax that you’ll be<br />
arriving.<br />
To get there: Take the metro to<br />
Alpujarra station. Walk south until you<br />
reach Calle 41. Walk east until you<br />
reach Carrera 43a, and turn right. The<br />
building will be on your left hand side<br />
and say Suma Pax.<br />
Address: Cra 43a #39a - 120.<br />
Upon arrival: Ask for Lisbeth and tell<br />
her you’re from Colombia Immersion.<br />
She will welcome you. Don’t expect a highly structured environment, but rather get ready to chat with
people, ask about the organization, and enjoy the atmosphere while practicing your Spanish. If you’re<br />
interested in getting more involved, just ask!<br />
Medellin has a bunch of weekly events happening throughout the city. Many of them<br />
are cheap or free, so there’s no excuses. We challenge you to invite a local friend to one<br />
of these events.<br />
Day & Time Event Description Location<br />
Monday<br />
Tuesday<br />
Wednesday<br />
Thursday<br />
6:00pm<br />
7:00pm<br />
8:30pm<br />
7:00pm<br />
7:00pm<br />
5:30pm<br />
-<br />
9:00pm<br />
8:30pm<br />
8:00pm-<br />
9:30pm<br />
CineClub EAFIT<br />
City Monday<br />
Free Salsa Class @<br />
The Wandering Paisa]<br />
Movie Club every Monday in EAFIT.<br />
FREE.<br />
In the theater Pablo Tobón Uribe in the<br />
center of Medellín every Monday choose<br />
a topic about Medellin and talk about it.<br />
It's an oportunity to know more about<br />
the city and to meet people. FREE.<br />
The Wandering Paisa is a cool hostel in<br />
Laureles with a bunch of events every<br />
week. It attracts a good crowd of both<br />
locals and foreigners!<br />
EAFIT. Bloque 38,<br />
auditorio 125<br />
Live Salsa Music @<br />
Eslabón Prendido Live music at a salsa bar downtown! el Centro<br />
Free Salsa Class @<br />
Paisa City Hostel<br />
Tres Cordilleras Beer<br />
Tour and Tasting<br />
La Cabaña del<br />
Recuerdo<br />
Free Salsa Class @<br />
DanceFree<br />
Hostel in Laureles with some free events,<br />
including Salsa class. Check their<br />
Facebook page to confirm event.<br />
Every Thursday 3Cordilleras Brewery<br />
does a tour of their brewery and you can<br />
get 5 beers for 24.000COP. Sometimes<br />
they transmit soccer games (they give<br />
away 1 free beer per goal!) and do other<br />
events.<br />
Quirky little bar in Envigado that has free<br />
live music every Thursday evening. VERY<br />
'tipico' and very worth going to. Right<br />
across the street from a gourmet pizza<br />
shop that has craft beer and wine by the<br />
glass.<br />
Free dance classes in Dancefree Salsa<br />
school in El Poblado.<br />
Center of Medellín<br />
carrera 40 N 51 - 24<br />
colthes to avenida<br />
oriental<br />
Calle 44 A No. 68 A 76<br />
Laureles;<br />
Laureles, one block<br />
from Estacion Estadio<br />
Near Exposiciones<br />
station.<br />
http://3cordilleras.com<br />
Corner of Calle 38 with<br />
Carrera 35 in Envigado<br />
Two blocks off of<br />
Parque Lleras en El<br />
Poblado
8:00pm-<br />
11:00p<br />
m<br />
Language Exchange @<br />
the Wandering Paisa<br />
Language exchange at a cool hostel in<br />
Laureles that has a bunch of events every<br />
week.<br />
Calle 44 A No. 68 A 76<br />
Laureles;<br />
Sunday<br />
7:00am -<br />
1:00pm<br />
9:00am -<br />
2:00pm<br />
Farmers Market @ El<br />
Poblado<br />
Farmers Market @<br />
Ciudad del Rio<br />
This farmer’s market brings together<br />
locally grown or made products for sale<br />
every Sunday on the park.<br />
Farmer’s market every Sunday, where<br />
locally grown/made products are sold<br />
right in front of the modern art museum<br />
on Avenida Las Vegas.<br />
Parque Lineal La<br />
Presidenta<br />
Cra. 43a #7<br />
Medellín, Antioquia<br />
05001000 Colombia<br />
Parque Lineal Ciudad<br />
del Rio<br />
Carrera 45 #17-100,<br />
Poblado<br />
Medellín, Colombia<br />
It’s the irony of this moment in history that sometimes the best place<br />
to meet people in real life is… online. The following tools are<br />
awesome ways to meet local people and learn about local events in<br />
the city. Don’t be shy and get clicking!<br />
1. Couchsurfing.com<br />
The basic premise of the site is that hosts around the world offer a couch or spare bed<br />
to travelers, but it’s grown into a community of millions of open-minded people that<br />
like to travel and meet people from all walks of life. Use the following strategies to meet<br />
people through couchsurfing:<br />
● Couchsurf around Medellín. Find a<br />
host here in Medellín, and stay with<br />
them for a few days or a weekend.<br />
● Find a language buddy. Browse<br />
through profiles nearby and send a
message to people that look cool or interesting.<br />
● Join a local Event. Search for events in the local area… and attend! Usually these<br />
events attract a mix of locals and foreigners.<br />
● Hangout. This is a new app designed to help you meet up with nearby people.<br />
Think of it as the Tinder for local friends.<br />
Tips: People get lots of messages and requests on the site, so write thoughtful,<br />
personalized messages with the knowledge that they might not reply. It’s not that they<br />
don’t care, just that they get busy.<br />
2. Meetup.com<br />
Just like the name implies, this site will help you meet up<br />
with other people. The site is nice because it’s<br />
interest-based. Search for a nearby group, find an event that<br />
looks fun… and go!<br />
3. TalkTalkBnB.com<br />
This is like couchsurfing, but with languages! Stay with a host for free in exchange for<br />
talking with them OR learn Spanish with native speakers in exchange for hosting them<br />
yourself.
4. Facebook<br />
Turn your facebook feed into a list of the coolest upcoming events in town. Follow the<br />
below pages, and set the page to “see first”. Now, your home screen will show you all<br />
upcoming events and notifications about these organizations. Cool, no?<br />
Group Description www.facebook.com/<br />
Colectivo SiCLas<br />
Alcaldia de Medellin<br />
Casa Teatro El Poblado<br />
El Garaje<br />
MAAM Medellín<br />
Biking collective that offers weekly rides around the<br />
city with like-minded people. A great group for<br />
making friends<br />
Local government page with government sponsored<br />
events.<br />
Cultural center in "la frontera". Lots of movie nights<br />
and events are ALL THE TIME.<br />
Underground magazine fairs all over medellin.<br />
Expect: lots of art (in addition to LOTS of magazines),<br />
graffiti, beer and Medellin's hipster scene.<br />
Medellin's Museum of Modern Art. Lots of films, and<br />
other art exhibitions/ cultural events<br />
/colectivosiclas<br />
/CulturaMed/events<br />
/CasaTeatroElPoblado<br />
/el.garajezine<br />
/mammedellin<br />
La Ruta Trekking Hiking events in various parts of Antioquia /larutatrekking<br />
Elemental Teatro<br />
Local theater near Alpujarra station with cool events. /elemental.teatro<br />
Centro Plazarte<br />
Art and cultural center… with alternative cultural<br />
events and happenings. Think: film nights, poetry<br />
readings... cool stuff.<br />
/centroplazarteprado<br />
Son Havana Salsa Bar in Laureles /sonhavana<br />
Eslabón Prendido<br />
Teatro Pablo Tobón<br />
EAFIT<br />
Salsa Bar in El Centro<br />
Theater in the center<br />
University in Envigado - they have cultural events<br />
too-- check their website<br />
/Eslabón-Prendido-145411115<br />
567828<br />
/Teatro-Pablo-Tobón-Uribe-138<br />
600167090<br />
/universidadeafit/events<br />
Café de Otraparte Coffee shop in Envigado with events /CafedeOtraparte<br />
Museo de Antioquia Art and culture exhibitions, workshops, etc. /museodantioquia
Sloth Sanctuary<br />
AIUNAU<br />
E2E Foundation<br />
AIUNAU is a sloth sanctuary and if you coordinate in<br />
advance you can go on a tour.<br />
Help various non-profit projects with impact<br />
measurement services, project design, and<br />
management. Big demand for volunteers, especially<br />
in office, but also opportunities to work in the field.<br />
/aiunau<br />
/FundacionE2E<br />
Take charge of your learning process. You are the master of your future, the<br />
captain of your destiny. Plan ahead, motivate yourself, and dedicate yourself to your<br />
studies and learning. Nobody else will do that for you.<br />
Plan your week ahead of time. When will you<br />
study? When will you play? Before jumping into the week,<br />
think about what’s most important to you and plan<br />
accordingly. There’s no “right way” to experience this city<br />
or learn Spanish, but if you spend time thinking about what<br />
you want in advance, you’ll get more out of your time.<br />
Spend as much time as possible with locals…<br />
that don’t speak English. It’s no surprise that the best way to expose yourself to<br />
Spanish is to, well, speak the language. Make friends that only speak Spanish. This can<br />
be challenging if you’re a beginner, but if you relax, have fun with it, and use<br />
sign-language, you can build a unique friendship you wouldn’t have otherwise (that also<br />
will help you learn the language).<br />
Create a mini-immersion environment for yourself. Set all your devices<br />
and applications to your target language. That means your cell phone, facebook, and<br />
email should all be set to the Spanish language. You might be surprised by how much of<br />
the information you’ll understand based on context alone.
¡Buena Suerte!