We chose to visit the next town on our list, Jerico, on the weekend before my flight back to Australia. It was everything we’d love for our future home – comfortable climate, warm people, beautiful scenery, good food, a cultural centre with regular live music, and generally not too noisy.
Our B&B was 1.5 km out of town and had a fantastic view from the balcony and even from the bathroom. We visited the Christ statue overlooking Jerico proper, walked through the Botanical Gardens and around town, had cocktails and dinner in the open air Cultural Centre and chatted with a number of locals.
Two things spoiled the weekend. First was waking up on Sunday morning to learn that if I returned to Sydney as planned, I’d have to spend two weeks in isolation. At best, I’d lose half my trip to no purpose. At worst, I wouldn’t be able to get back to Sandra. While Sandra was happy, I was torn between disappointment that I wouldn’t be able to catch up with friends and family, and relief that Sandra and I would weather out this madness together.
Our second concern was that the town was set to lose its charm. The locals were worried about a company that wanted to mine copper nearby and while some supported it, probably restaurants and hotels that were already benefiting from the traffic of company’s prospectors, but most were worried about what it would do to their water. They had managed to block the mine, though couldn’t say for how long, but while they were distracted by that, approval had been granted to build an apartment complex of about fifteen five-storey buildings on the edge of town. Apart from destroying the look of Jerico, this will likely attract foreigners and richer Colombians, which will in turn inspire restaurants and shops to cater for those with more money to spend and potentially drive locals out of the market.
I wouldn’t want to live in a town with that right on the edge, and if it’s happening in Jerico, it’s probably happening or will happen in other towns around Medellin. We may have to look further afield to find our future home.
On the other hand, we found the time and a place to hold our own private commitment ceremony. We bought love knot bracelets for each other in Cartagena almost a year ago, but had been waiting for the right time to exchange them. Our relationship has been stronger than ever recently, as we’ve gone through the process of finding a new home, buying furniture and planning our future together. We chose a quiet bridge in the Botanical Gardens to exchange feelings and bracelets and to express our commitment to each other. Then returned home to share a three-week lock-down together.