Homestay with Lupe
The following is a guest post by Joggie van der Merwe.
After being told about Medellin by a Colombian friend, I arrived in the City of Eternal Spring for the first time back in January 2011.
The main aim was of course to learn Spanish, and for that reason I looked for a fairly comfortable homestay.
I started off staying with a friend’s mom (my only friend on the South American continent at that stage…) in a fairly nice yet tiny apartment in El Poblado.
About two weeks later I was introduced to Guadalupe, or Doña Lupe as I call her. What an awesome place – I moved in the next day!
It’s really a normal house in apartment form – five bedrooms (she rents out four), five bathrooms (two rented rooms have their own bathrooms), a living room, study, dining room and a balcony with awesome views of Medellin and the mountains surrounding the city.
Doña Lupe is super friendly and helped with everything I could possibly have wanted help with.
Both breakfast and dinner were included, with dinner being a positive highlight of the day – always different and exceptionally tasty.
Doña Lupe does the cleaning, laundry and ironing – this proved to be an absolute essential while I was working here in Colombia (I was turning out around 50 hours a week).
Anyway, I had such a great time in 2011 that I’m back for another five months this year.
If you’re looking for a great homestay in El Poblado (one of the wealthier yet nice neighborhoods in Medellin), and you’re keen to practice your Spanish as much as you can, check out Doña Lupe’s website – www.homestaymedellin.blogspot.
She currently has a permanent Colombian student staying here (another opportunity to practice your Spanish – he can’t run away), but you’re also bound to meet other gringos in the house.
Which is great, since we all need keen travel partners every now and again.
