Colombia: Virtual Gifts for Medellín on its 335 Birthday · Global Voices
Cati Restrepo

On November 2 the city of Medellín will celebrate 335 years of its founding. The account @cumplemedellin was created on Twitter so that its citizens can tweet the symbolic present they want to give their city on this occasion. The invitation that has circulated on Twitter is [es]:
Y vos….¿Qué le querés regalar a Medellín?
Accompanied by [es]:
335 años no se cumplen todos los días. Para hacerle un regalo a Medellín en su día utiliza #felizcumplemedellin
Culture Palace Rafael Uribe. Medellín, September  2008. Image by Martiza Sánchez, Flickr user Colores Mari, used under an Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license. See bottom of post for a complete slideshow of images of Medellín by Mariza Sánchez.
The entire initiative arose through the project Feliz cumple Medellín [es] (Happy Birthay Medellín), led by the city's Municipal government [es] but fueled by bloggers and Twitter users. The project also includes a map to locate where the gifts come from [es]. Although the month of November has not arrived, there are already a lot of users who have sent their present through Twitter.
One of the general presents is the pride of “being born here,” like Fabián Duque Montoya (@fduquemontoya) writes:
#felizcumplemedellin @cumplemedellin yo a Medellín en su cumple le voy a regalar todo mi orgullo por haber nacido aquí.
Jairo Daniel Cortés (@jairodcortes) says:
@Telemedellin YO NO ELEGÍ SER PAISA, SÓLO TUVE MUCHA SUERTE! LAS GANAS Y LA GENTE CELEBRAN SU CUMPLEAÑOS! FELIZ CUMPLE! #felizcumplemedellin
Sergio Calderón Osa (@SerchoVirtual) sends a message of hope through his Twitter account:
@cumplemedellin yo le regalo las ganas de querer hacer mucho por mi ciudad ¡linda carajo!
Others have shared photographs, like Maria Fernanda Arias (@mafeariasg):
@cumplemedellin A Medellín le regalo esta foto http://www.flickr.com/photos/mafernanda/456686100/ #felizcumplemedellin
Perla Toro (@PerlaToro) shares a more personal photograph:
También le regalo a @cumplemedellin el recuerdo de una tarde enamorada. http://twitpic.com/2p285b
The aesthetics of the city are also part of the things “to give as a gift.” Sebastián Regino (@SebastianRegino) writes:
@cumplemedellin A medellin le voy a regalar un espejo para que se mire y se de cuenta lo bonita que está!
Federico Villegas (@federicoco) makes a promise:
Le voy a regalar a Medellín en su cumple, regar más seguido las matas del balcón hasta que vuelvan a ser verdes @cumplemedellin
And finally, one of the most recent outstanding gifts is a set of photographs of Medellín by Maritza Sánchez (@ColoresMari); the Flickr slideshow is posted below. The project's Twitter account published this tweet announcing the present: