Welcome to the 231st weekly Medellin Guru Newsletter.
We Published 1 New Article in the Past Week
How to get Booster COVID-19 Vaccinations in Medellín
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Colombia started booster COVID-19 Vaccinations beginning on November 24 and we look at how to get booster vaccinations as an expat.
The bottom line is that Colombia is starting booster COVID-19 Vaccinations starting on November 24 in a phased approach until 2022.
In this article we looked at how to get booster COVID-19 Vaccinations in Medellín as an expat.
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6 Popular Articles From the
Medellin Guru Archives
How to Get to Medellín from the Airport
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There are several ways to get to Medellín from the Airport. Medellín actually has two airports, so we look at how to get to and from both of Medellín’s airports, updated for 2022.
Most travelers arriving or departing on international flights will be utilizing the José María Córdova international airport in Rionegro.
With a new tunnel route that opened in August 2019, it now can take half the time compared to the old windy road route. With the new tunnel route, it take as little as 20 to 30 minutes depending on traffic and your destination, of course.
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Colombia Holidays: A Guide to the Many Festivos in Colombia
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Colombia has more public holidays than in the U.S. or countries in Europe. Colombia currently has 18 public holidays and 12 of these are Catholic holidays. Furthermore, Colombia holidays are known as festivos. We provide a guide to the 18 holidays in Colombia in 2022.
Once you have lived in Colombia for a while you get used to there being a lot of holidays each year in Colombia.
In addition, many readers of the Medellin Guru website have asked for details about the Colombia holidays. So, we are providing this up-to-date guide to all the public Colombia holidays.
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17 Popular Colombian Desserts You Must Try While in Colombia
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If you are visiting Colombia don’t forget to try Colombian desserts. We look at 17 must try Colombia desserts that are very popular in Colombia.
While you may have tried desserts from places like France and different parts of the U.S., you are probably less aquatinted with Latin American desserts, particularly Colombian desserts.
The Colombian desserts in this article are some of the most popular desserts that you are likely to encounter in Colombia.
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15 Best Pizza Places in Medellín: Best Pizzerias in the City
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Pizza is very popular in Medellín and we look at 15 of the best pizza places in Medellín and the Aburrá Valley with very good pizzas, updated for 2022.
The following ranking of best pizza places in Medellín and the Aburrá Valley is based on my personal opinion with the help of my Colombia wife after having eaten pizzas at all of these pizzerias and many others.
Also, we have talked to many foreigners about their favorite pizzerias in Medellín, which was considered in deciding on the best pizzerias.
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Día de Amor y Amistad: Celebrate Colombia’s Valentine’s Day
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Día de Amor y Amistad (Day of Love and Friendship) is celebrated the third Saturday of September every year in Colombia. This is essentially the Valentine’s Day of Colombia.
This is a traditional celebration in Colombia in which lovers, husbands and wives, couples and friends express their love and affection.
In Colombia, normally for weeks before this day in September you will start to see hearts adorn restaurants, shops and bars.
In 2022, Día de Amor y Amistad in Colombia is on Saturday, September 17.
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Colombia Visa FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions About Colombia Visas
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Medellin Guru has received thousands of questions about Colombia Visas. So, we prepared a Colombia Visa FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions About Colombia Visas.
The majority of the visa questions we get asked are answered in our visa articles. So, we recommend reading our articles on Medellin Guru before asking questions.
Also the visa agency we partnered with can answer visa questions. It is easy to contact Expatgroup, the visa agency we partnered with.
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Update on Medellin Guru Under Attack
Medellin Guru Blog Under Attack for Over Nine Months
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The popular Medellin Guru blog in Colombia has now been under attack for now over nine months in a row with millions of DDoS attacks, SPAM, fake comments and fake emails.
The attacks started with a DDoS attack: on April 24. And the Medellin Guru site was attacked by a denial of service attack which shut the site down briefly in the afternoon.
In a recent week we were hit by 230,690 DDoS threats blocked by DDoS protection for for a period of a week as of September 1,
The attack of fake emails has increased so we have a new policy. If you are not a Patreon premium content subscriber, we will not answer your question.
Also, we turned off new comments on the Medellin Guru website due to now receiving over 200 Spam message a day. If you want to comment on our articles you can comment on our article posts on our Medellin Guru Facebook Group. and we will respond to comments on Facebook
In addition, the attacks have intensified heavily in the past the past several weeks.
Due to attacks intensifying the past few weeks, we sometimes had to turn of access to Medellin Guru from the U.S., Canada or the UK where the majority of attacks are coming from. This is temporary and will be turned back on when attacks drop and is normally in the afternoon or evening.
When we turn off access you will see a Security Error Message. But you can still access Medellin Guru from other countries such as Mexico. using a VPN.
With attacks increasing WE REALLY NEED THE HELP OF READERS. You can subscribe to our premium content on Patreon for only $3 per month and gain access to 84 or our best articles.
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Sneak Peek to Medellin Guru's
Premium Content
We unlocked one of our premium content Medellin Guru. So, readers you can access this article today without subscribing.
We have a total of 86 premium content articles like this one looking at how to overcome the fiador requirement in Colombia.
Subscribe to Medellin Guru's premium content for as little as $3 per month.
Guide to Overcoming the Fiador Requirement in Colombia
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Real estate agencies in Medellín and Colombia typically require a fiador (cosigner) for renting unfurnished apartments.
But this fiador requirement can be overcome. I have successfully rented unfurnished apartments in Medellín for over eight years without a fiador or cosigner..
Renting unfurnished apartments in Medellín and Colombia is more difficult than renting furnished apartments in my experience. But renting unfurnished apartments appears to now be easier than when I first started renting over eight years ago.
The fiador requirement is a common challenge to overcome when renting unfurnished apartments in Colombia. Almost all real estate agencies will have a fiador requirement. But this fiador requirement can be overcome in several ways including paying rent in advance, renting directly from an owner and providing a security deposit in the form of a CDT.
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Medellin Guru's
Visa Services for Expats
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The Medellin Guru visa services was launched in March 2019. And in 35 months, a total of 544 visas have been successfully received by Medellin Guru readers:
In addition, this visa service renewed 61 American passports in Bogotá and provided visa stamping services to 10 clients. In addition, 28 clients extended tourist visas using this visa service.
So, in total we had 644 clients of the Medellin Guru visa service in 35 months, which is an average of 18 clients per month.
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Medellin Guru's
Insurance Services for Expats
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Many Medellin Guru readers have asked about health insurance and other types of insurance. So, we partnered to offer Colombian insurance services to readers, which has now helped over 230 Medellin Guru readers obtain insurance in Colombia.
Features of this Colombian insurance service include:
- Bilingual – English and Spanish.
- Email quotes.
- Free consultations.
- Offers health insurance, travel insurance, auto insurance, homeowners’ insurance, life insurance.
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Update on Medellin Guru's
Services for Expats
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Moving to a city in a foreign country is complicated. Medellin Guru offers services for expats in Colombia. In 35 months we helped over 1,280 clients.
Medellin Guru starting offering services in March 2019. Since that time with our partners we have helped over 1,290 clients with visas, insurance, expat consultations, apartment rentals, real estate services and Spanish classes and expat consultations.
In August, September, October and November, December and January we helped over 360 new clients. And since March 2019, we helped a total of over 1,290 Clients.
We partnered to offer visa, health insurance, real estate, furnished rentals and Spanish school services to foreigners to help with relocation:
Our partnerships are affiliate relationships (like the Amazon affiliate program).
If you use our partner services, Medellin Guru receives a small commission and you support the website. This is at no additional cost to you. The price remains the same, whether you use a button or affiliate link for these services on this website or not.
In addition, we offer a popular Expat Consultation Service to answer all your questions about visas, renting apartments, neighborhoods, health insurance, buying property starting a business and many other topics. We have done over 465 Expat Consultation calls or in-person meetings in about two years.
We want to thank our partners and clients and subscribers! We now have a total of over 2,000 clients and paying subscribers.
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Subscribe to Medellin Guru's
Premium Content
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Medellin Guru uses a partial subscription model with premium content locked for paying subscribers. Starting in January 2020, Medellin Guru starting moving to a partial subscription model.
We already published 86 premium content articles on Patreon in FULL. That means about 12 percent of the best content on Medellin Guru is premium content, which is the most comprehensive series of articles about moving to Colombia available.
Over the next three months, we plan that about 15 percent of the over 675 articles on Medellin Guru will be locked for Patreon subscribers and available on Patreon.
By asking for help from our readers to remain ad free, we already have over 920 paying subscribers (patrons). Thanks everyone!
Popular Premium Articles About Visiting and Moving to Colombia
Renting Unfurnished Apartments and Casas (Houses)
Buying, Selling and Investing in Real Estate
Choosing a Neighborhood in Medellín
Choosing a City in Colombia to Live In
Choosing a Foreign Retirement Location and Comparing Cities
- Why Expats Move to Medellín From Other Countries in Latin America
- 12 Reasons Why Medellín is a Top Foreign Retirement Location
- Why the Retirement Publications Get Medellín and Colombia Wrong
- Medellín vs Cuenca: Which is the Better City to Live In?
- Medellin vs Panama City, Which is the Better City to Live in?
- Medellin vs Costa Rica, Which is the Better Place to Live?
- Medellin vs Belize, Which is the Better Place to Live?
- Medellín vs Algarve: Which is the Better Place to Live?
- Medellín vs Chiang Mai, Thailand: Which is the Better City to Live In?
- Medellín vs Lima Peru: Which is the Better City to Live in?
- Medellín vs Puerto Vallarta, Mexico: Which is the Better Place to Live?
- Medellín vs Mexico City: Which is the Better City to Live In?
- Medellin vs Mazatlán, Mexico: Which is the Better Place to Live?
- Medellín vs Rio de Janeiro: Which is the Better City to Live In?
- Medellín vs Fortaleza, Brazil: Which is the Better City to Live In?
- Medellín vs Buenos Aires, Argentina: Which is the Better Place to Live?
- Medellín vs Santiago, Chile: Which is the Better City to Live In?
- Medellín vs Valletta, Malta: Which is the Better Place to Live in?
We plan to publish any new premium locked articles and updated locked articles in full on the Patreon website. So, you can now think of Patreon as the new home for Medellin Guru’s premium content.
Subscribe now to Medellin Guru's premium content for as little as $3 per month.
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We Published Updates to 16 Articles
in the Past Week!
Medellin Guru is the only blog in Colombia that has a policy of not letting articles on our website become out-of-date.
Some articles have been updated multiple times, as things change constantly in Colombia. Things are now changing so fast due to coronavirus in Colombia.
We are trying our best to keep up and we continue to update more articles than ever before!
In the past 158 weeks we updated a total of 2,343 articles. Here are 5 of the16 updated articles from the past week:
Premium Content: Medellín vs Chiang Mai: Which is the Better City to Live In?
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Medellín vs Chiang Mai, Thailand, which is really the better place to live? In our Medellín vs Chiang Mai comparison, we comprehensively compare the two cities in 22 categories to see which is the better place to live in for expats.
In our comparison, Medellín easily beats Chiang Mai by winning in 12 of our 22 categories. In comparison, Chiang Mai only wins in 5 categories.
We found that Medellín edges out Mexico City in our comparison of 19 categories by winning 8 categories including important categories like cost of living, climate and healthcare.
If having a better climate, better healthcare, better public transportation and proximity to the U.S. are your most important categories, then Medellín would win for you.
And if having more safety, higher Internet speeds, less traffic and more expats, then Chiang Mai would win for you.
The bottom line in our Medellín vs Chiang Mai comparison is that the best place to live is the best place to live for you. Everyone has different priorities. The only way to know which place is the best for you is to spend time there.
This article was updated with current updates to several sections.
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Premium Content: Colombia Needs to Ramp up COVID-19 Vaccinations
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Colombia planned to vaccinate 35 million in Colombia for COVID-19 in 2021. To meet this goal, Colombia needed to ramp up COVID-19 vaccinations.
If Colombia wanted to vaccinate 35 million people this year, the country needed to ramp up the vaccination rate, which it is doing.
Vaccinations started on February 17 in Colombia. Colombia is a country with a population of about 50 million people. When the vaccinations started, Colombia planned to vaccinate some 35 million people in 2021.
As of February 12, 2022, Colombia had administered a total of 74,786,645 COVID-19 doses/
In 259 days from June 1 to February 12, Colombia administered 64,694,523 doses, which is an average of 249,786 doses per day in the 259 days from June 1, 2021 to February 12, 2022. So, the vaccination rate in Colombia started to increase in June through early this year.
This article was updated on February 6, 2022 with vaccination data for Colombia from February 3.
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How to Obtain a Colombia Retirement Visa – 2022 Update
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Colombia’s retirement visa is intended for retired persons receiving a retirement income. This retirement visa is relatively easy to get with a low-income requirement and only a few documents needed.
Medellín in particular in Colombia is gaining a reputation as a top foreign retirement location.
So in 2022, you need an income of only 3,000,000 pesos per month (which is only $763 USD at the exchange rate of 3,930 pesos to USD) to qualify for the visa
The visa agency we partnered with has helped 199 Medellin Guru readers obtain Colombia retirement visas including 6 in January 2022.
This article was updated again with the current retirement income requirement in USD for the Colombia retirement visa with the current exchange rate.
We are in the process of updating our visa articles for 2022.
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Guide to Renewing Passports in Colombia – 2022 Update
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We look at renewing passports in Colombia. If you are in Colombia and need to renew a passport from the U.S. or other countries we provide a guide updated for 2022.
The visa agency we partnered with has helped 61 Medellin Guru readers successfully renewU.S. passports in 35 months including three in January 2022, without a trip to Bogotá needed.
So, you are in Colombia and realize your passport is about to expire – panic attack! Not really, renewing a passport in Colombia is something that is done fairly frequently.
We are in the process of updating our visa articles for 2022.
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Coronavirus in Colombia: Myth vs Reality – Current Status
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Coronavirus in Colombia: what is the current status in Colombia? We look at statistics and measures in Colombia to minimize the threat of COVID-19.
Daily Summary for February 19:
- +4,498 new cases, up slightly from 4,020 the prior day
- +127 reported deaths
- +20,137 COVID tests
Totals:
- 6,043,551 cases
- 22,821 active cases or 0.38 percent of total
In addition, the rolling 7-day average of new daily cases has notably dropped in 31 of the past 32 days in a row.
This very popular article was updated each day in the past week with current coronavirus case counts and locations in Colombia.
We now only post a snapshot of Coronvirus stats daily for free on Medellin Guru. To see our full daily report you must must be a Patreon subscriber/member and view this on Patreon.
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Spanish Phrase of the Week
With Medellin Guru's partnership with the Spanish School OLSA International we now plan to include a Phrase of the Week in our weekly newsletter.
Medellin Guru
Needs Your Support!
Jeff the founder of Medellin Guru
Medellin Guru has existed now for over five years without advertising and is primarily the work of Jeff and his Colombian wife.
The founder Jeff with his Colombia wife and baby
Medellin Guru really needs the help of Readers this month, particularly after the continued DDoS attack, which required adding DDoS protection. It only costs as little as $3 per month to subscribe via Patreon and have access to everything.
Save 12 Percent on Annual Subscriptions to our Premium Content
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Medellin Guru now offers annual subscriptions on Patreon for access to our premium content. Save 12 percent compared to the regular monthly rate for a limited time.
If you are a current monthly subscriber to Medellin Guru, you can upgrade TODAY to annual and save 12 percent!
This discount was popular with readers in past months so we brought it back until the end of Feburary.
You can choose to pay for Patreon on an annual basis instead of monthly. It’s a great way to show your support of Medellin Guru. And in return you’ll get a discount of 12 percent when you do.
In addition to reducing transaction fees, you’ll help us create quality content faster and reduce the chance your credit card declines in the future.
By asking for help from our readers to remain ad free, we already have over 920 paying subscribers (patrons). Thanks everyone!
It only costs as little as $3 per month to subscribe via Patreon and have access to everything.
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Support Medellin Guru!
Buy Medellin Guru a Coffee
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Readers you now can “ Buy Medellin Guru a Coffee” to support Medellin Guru. Medellin Guru needs the help of readers to remain ad free with no sponsors .
Many readers have asked for the ability to make a one-time donation instead of an ongoing Patreon subscription. So, we have a way for readers to make one-time donations.
You can buy just one coffee for only $3 USD (or you can buy more then one coffee, you can enter how many coffees at $3 USD each).
Medellin Guru has helped thousands of foreigners over the past 3.5 years. And we absolutely would hate to add advertising. Also, we would like to add staff to help with the growing site.
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See Our Weekly Medellin Events Calendar for February 17 to February 23
Medellín Events: Weekly Medellín Events Calendar with Top Events
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We provide a curated list of weekly Medellin events if you are looking for something fun to do in Medellín. Our popular weekly update covers events from February 17 to February 23, 2022.
Also, OSLA International now hosts a board game language exchange event each Wednesday at its new El Poblado location.
We decided to include in our calendar this week the regular weekly events that are canceled so readers will know which weekly events were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
We may start to see some events being scheduled later in February. So, bookmark this page that is updated weekly so you don't miss any events.
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Medellin Guru Newsletter Sponsors
The weekly Medellin Guru newsletter now has sponsors. We currently have seven sponsors for our weekly newsletter:
- Darrell and Diana Reamer
- Mark
- Mike
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, see our article about Medellin Guru on Patreon with our different membership levels.
Join the Medellin Guru Events & Discussion Forum
35 months ago we launched the Medellin Guru Events & Discussion Forum, which is very active with over 3,700 members.
This Facebook group is intended for the followers of Medellin Guru and other expats and readers interested in sharing experiences and ideas about living in Medellín and visiting Medellín and Colombia.
In the past 35 months, over 1,000 events have been posted in this group as well as over 3,700 other posts, which are categorized. The following are the most popular categories of posts:
- Expat tips - over 1,000 posts
- Healthcare - over 1,000 posts
- Colombia News - 861 posts
- Travel in Colombia - 774 posts
- Things to See and Do - 564 posts
- Visas - 534 posts
- Restaurants - 475 posts
- Transportation - 327 posts
- Colombian Food - 287 posts
- Insurance - 276 posts
In addition, this group is actively moderated with absolutely no real estate ads permitted unlike other Medellín Facebook groups.
Follow Medellin Guru on Social Media
Thanks for subscribing to our newsletter!
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We are always looking for feedback and we are happy to answer questions. So, if you have suggestions for articles or the website or have any questions, please reply to this email.
Best regards,
Jeff and the team at Medellin Guru
P.S. If you are a new subscriber you can see all the previous Medellin Guru newsletters here:
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See: Medellin Guru Newsletters
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