The amazing community of Comuna 13
Updated: Feb 3, 2021
Finally, today I am going to Comuna 13--what was once the most dangerous neighborhood in the most dangerous city in the world. It doesn't start until 2, so I kill some time watching TV and eating at McDonald's again, where I unknowingly added bacon to my Big Mac because when I don't understand what someone has said to me, I just nod yes. You can also add jalapenos. Something else I noticed--only McD in the United States has biscuits. No other country I've ever been to has biscuits. That's what is really wrong with the world, in my opinion.
I want to ride the cable cars, so I take the metro to the Acevedo station where you can transfer to the cable cars to go up into the hills. It took awhile to get to Santo Domingo (the final cable car stop), so I didn't have time to take the cable cars as high up as they go, but it was still quite an experience. Beautiful views.
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I head back down and take the metro to the San Javier station...which also has cable cars, but for my purposes is where the tour is meeting. I meet a couple who is here from the US, and then the tour guide Esteban who looks like he is 16 years old. From the station, we have to take one of the tiny buses I've seen all over Colombia. It takes us part of the way into the Comuna, then we walk the rest of the way up a hill--very steep climbing here. You can understand why the escalators and cable cars have meant so much to these folks--there are no schools or hospitals in the hills...so before the metro, they had to walk. Because the neighborhood was dangerous, no ambulances or police would come there. Now, they can also come DOWN into the city for better jobs and a better education. It has made a huge difference.
There is a TON of street art here...and escalators (I believe there were 6 total). People singing and dancing. It is an amazing place. Near the end, Esteban took us to his abuela's house. We heard the story of how she was visited by soldiers during the "bad period" and the house was taken from them because if you had ANY connection to the people they didn't like, they either took everything you had, or they killed you. She brought us a drink (that sugarcane and lemon juice drink again) and then we were allowed to write a message on the outside of her home. We were also given some frozen mango to eat after leaving her house. There were some kids out there who wanted to meet us because we were tourists :-)
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One of the last things he told us about was a large rounded dirt area you could see on a hill nearby...this is a mass grave of people who were killed during the "bad time." Sad way to end the tour. When we got to the end of the tour, Esteban didn't take us back to the station...so I had to walk back down alone, and catch the bus back to the station. I made it (yay)! Went back to Envigado, got another milonga, and had my nightly ramen. Heading back to the States tomorrow.
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