Monday, June 3rd, 2013

Slept very well last night – only up once during the night.  

No rain yesterday and the weather for the coming days no longer is predicting 60% precipitation so maybe the rainy season is nearing an end.

Reina heard through Angela that Monterrey mall is open so my goal today is to go to every store and ask if they have a unidirectional USB headset with microphone.

8:30 I caught a cab to the Flip Flop Sandwich Shop.  I told the cab driver it’s in the Poblado area and gave him the address.  After some time it was obvious he didn’t know how to get there.  The FFSS is just off Carrera 36 and the driver stopped somewhere on Carrera 35 in what was obviously a residential area when it should have been a commercial area.  We didn’t get headed the right way until I mentioned Parque Lleras and then about 5 minutes later we were there.  It cost 14mil ($7.78) so it should be a little less next time.  I finally met the owner – Chris who hails originally from Boca Raton, FL but has lived in several areas in South America.  When I mentioned possibly moving to Ecuador he cautioned me that it is much more of a 3^rd world country and doesn’t have the infrastructure that Medellin has.  He was wearing a black t-shirt with “Tengo la oveja negra” and a picture of a moose on it.  When I got home it translated literally to “I have the black sheep” but maybe it means “I am the black sheep”.  In the next few weeks he is going to be moving across the street to a larger area and is going to start serving Buffalo Wings as he believes he has the only authentic Buffalo Sauce in Medellin.  Colombians don’t like spicy food but this is, after all, an American restaurant.

I had the full 13mil ($8.89) breakfast of 2 eggs, 2 sausages, 2 pancakes and coffee.   The sausages were only so-so so (3 so’s in a row – is that some kind of a record? lol) next time I think I’ll order the bacon.  A woman came with her 2 young (about 6 or 7 years old) sons.  She lived most of her life in the States and one son was born there and the other in Colombia.  Boy do those boys love their crispy bacon – she ordered 20 slices total for the 3 of them.  A couple of times obviously homeless men came by and stood a respectful distance away from the customers and Chris gave them a free cup of coffee.  I left a 3mil tip since this is, after all, an American restaurant.  When talking about women Chris recommended I meet one through a friend or acquaintance so as to meet a quality lady.

I caught a taxi to Monterrey mall for 4mil – in a pinch I could probably have walked it though this is safer so it’s totally worth the $2.22.  BTW, they call their malls Centro Commercial (Commercial Center or C.C. for short) so that’s what I’m going to use in the future instead of mall.

Unfortunately, while Monterey C.C. is open, all the stores are closed for the holiday.  So, this all turned out to be a wild goose chase and I headed back home for 10mil ($5.56). I’m trying to get the head phones ASAP so that means I’ll be back on Wednesday so I’m going to delay my meeting with Reina for my health insurance until next week.

Now I’m on my way to lunch and I’ll do some shopping at Exito afterwards.

I finally got my FriSnacks at Frisby for 8,900 ($4.94).  It’s a soda with a cardboard “boat” on top with a hole for the straw to come through.  The “boat” is separated into 2 sections: one for an order of fries and the other for 7 long fried chicken strips something like Chicken McNuggets only tastier. Next time I order it I’ll have to remember to take my iPad with me so I can get a picture.  While I was waiting for my order there was a – I don’t know how many months old - boy that would scream and his mother would put a spoonful of food in his mouth, he would swallow it, scream again and his mother would put another spoonful of food in his mouth.  That went on for about 5 minutes until they left.  You sure can tell who is in control there!

At Exito I bought 2 T-shirts on sale for only 6900 ($3.83) each.  One is red with “University of South Carolina Gamecocks 01” in black letters and the other is gray with “Florida Tech Panthers” in white lettering.  I bought a small notebook for 3,230 ($1.70) for recording chess games, a small package of saltine crackers for 2,460 ($1.37) mainly to have one to put in my sugar container, and 2 different kinds of dental floss for 6,900 ($3.83) & 4,280 ($2.38) to see which one I like more.  If I like the cheaper one it comes in a very large size that will save a lot of money.  I also bought a bottle of Listerine 13,450 ($7.47) that came with 3 free bars of Johnson’s bath soap, a bottle of Clorox for cleaning the toilets for 7,140 ($3.97), a box of plastic wrap for covering a bowl of strawberries that I keep from one day to the next for 2,250 ($1.25), and a Glade bathroom deodorizer for 10,190 ($5.66).

I washed the first of my “old” t-shirts yesterday in cold water, this morning I rinsed it by soaking it in cold water and now it’s hanging up to dry.  I did notice some of the blue from the shirt bleeding into the water.  I wonder how the “newer” t-shirts will do as they were much cheaper.

The following is an interesting question posed by a soon to be expat: “My wife is a Colombian citizen living in the USA for the past 11 years.. We own a business in Colombia being run by her son and his family..  We plan to retire there in a few years and will open another one then.. What does she need to do to get a handgun legally for protection only for the business and the home...NOT TO CARRY.”

And here are a couple of current expat responses:

1^st expat response: “As far as I know, people are not ALLOWED to have guns like in the States. I am not Colombian, but I certainly don't want the country to get like the USA with its gun problem. If you are that worried that you will need a gun, why come here and bring the gun culture with you? I think someone has been warning you off of coming, and I think you should listen to them, and stay where you are with your GUNS!!”

“Re: my previous post, I forgot to say, that we DON'T have people shooting off guns in Colleges and High Schools like in the USA and we DON'T WANT IT!! So, KEEP YOUR GUNS AWAY!!!!!!!”

2^nd expat response: “Yeah, we don't want responsible gun owners down here. Just criminals, para-military and terrorists who rob businesses, homes, people on the street (shooting someone for their cell phone) shoot up villages, kidnap people, rape women and blow up farmers and their families with bombs. The last thing we need are responsible gun owners who want to defend their family and lives. However, legally you would have to visit your local military office and apply for the gun permit. The requirements can change by state or the attitude of the person doing your paperwork. You will also have to buy a gun from the military office at a premium price and often not a good selection. I am told the cost can vary from about 3 to 5 million for the gun and permit and take between 1 week to 2 months to get. I know farmers are allowed to own a gun in their home (1 rifle or shotgun) but (it) needs to stay on the property. Business owners and transporters are also allowed to apply for a carry permit. This is all that I was told by several people here.”

BTW, 3 to 5 million (pesos) equates to about $1,667 to $2,778 for that handgun.

A simple dinner tonight was Chili con carne and fresh mango juice for 11,600 at El Comedor de Chava.  I wanted to pick up a few things from Exito but it was just too crowded.  I’ll pick them up tomorrow when I stop for my milk.