Friday, April 12, 2013

Friday, April 12th, 2013




8am and there’s a woman standing in the street apparently writing down the telephone number to call to rent the new apartment in the building.  About that same time that attractive woman is sweeping up the leaves in the street again.  When she looks up I hold up Angel and she says something babyish.

10:20 the garbage truck comes through.  2 men on each side of the truck efficiently grab the garbage from their side of the street and toss it in the truck as it drives down the street without stopping.

Dylan came back with his friend Harold who later joined us for lunch.
11:20 and a guy comes down the street selling avocados and mangos.  Reina gives me 2mil and I run downstairs and I buy a nice size ripe avocado.

Yesterday workmen finished repainting the interior of the hallways and they finally removed the cardboard that was protecting both sides of the front door.  Now you can see the real steel and glass door.

Noon and the guy in the blue and grey uniform with the blue baseball cap and backpack comes down and then up the street.  He is carrying what looks like mail of varying sizes.  He may be the mailman especially since he doesn’t make many stops.
At lunch today I asked Dylan if there was a football game today and he said yes.  I asked him what time and he said 8pm.  I asked if it would be on our television and he said maybe.  That confirms what I figured out a couple days ago.  After some Googling I found out the team that I had known as “the National Green of Medellin” is officially “Atletico Nacional” and I copied their season schedule to a word document.  According to it they play at 7:45 tonight against Tolima.  

After lunch I gave Reina 10mil for bus fare and she went to help her mother who is alone with her grandmother while her sisters are all at work.  And I gave Dylan 10mil for bus fare.  Now we only have 20mil left until next Wednesday when Angela is supposed to return the 100mil I loaned her.

2pm I took Angel down to Mall of Laureles to play in the playground.  There wasn’t another dog or child playing there.  I found a bit of shade under a palm tree and a small log to sit on.  I picked up what looked like a miniature coconut and managed to peel the husk off with my finger nail.  Inside was a nut a little smaller than an acorn.  Angel really didn’t go anywhere, just explored around the log and laid down next to my foot.  I was wearing a short sleeved shirt, shorts, and sandals and by the time I got back the middle of my back was dripping.  It was even overcast with an intermittent breeze.  Do I really want to live in a place as hot as this?

2:45 I got back and Angel headed right to bed.  I think he might also have a problem with the heat as he will often move from the bed to the floor next to it.  It’s probably cooler on his stomach.  I tried, without success, to break open the coconut with a small hammer.

4:30 I finished Band of Brothers by Stephen E. Ambrose.  An excellent book on Easy Company’s exploits during World War II.  Afterward I had a desire to watch the movie again but Netflix doesn’t have it.  Next book is Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail by Cheryl Strayed.  

5:15 I went downstairs to take Angel out and found some utility bills on the stairs.  2 of them are mine.  The first, from EPM, appears to be water, electricity, and gas.  The other, from Une, is the telephone, television, and internet.  (The latter contains an insert that I think says if I buy a Whopper I get a small fry and soda for free.)  I’m sure I owe for some back months so I’m going to have to translate them and check my notes to see what I may have paid previously.

7pm Reina came home, looked at the bills and says if the utility bill of 264,949 pesos ($147) isn’t paid by April 25th they will turn off the water, gas, and electricity.  The other bill is a total of 76,410 pesos ($42.45) and is due by April 26th.  I don’t know how I got into this mess.

We have a little plastic ball that’s about as tall as Angel and it’s cute to see her try to catch it when we throw it because she keeps slipping on the tile.

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