Last night I went to bed at midnight but woke up at 4am and
couldn’t get back to sleep. I got up at
5am and caught the Circular Sur 303 bus from Viva Mall at 6:30 am. I noticed it made stops: just across the
street from Home Center on Calle 44 (aka San Juan) at 6:35, at San Antonio
Exito at 6:55, and I got off at the Monterrey C.C. at 7:10 am. I walked about 12 blocks east to The Flip
Flop Sandwich Shop which is now in a larger location across the street fronting
a hostel at Carrera 36 #8A-103. I got
there about 7:40 and they don’t open until 8am when I had an order of their
Animal: 2 eggs scrambled, 2 strips of bacon crispy, 2 slices of French toast
and 2 cups of coffee for 13mil ($7.22). I
asked the owner, Chris?, where I could watch NFL football games in the fall and
he told me I could see broadcast games (CBS, NBC, ABC) at Hooters and cable
games at Patrick’s Irish Pub. I left the
restaurant just after 8:30 and walked south to an Exito Express, turned right
(west) walked about 3 blocks to Avenida Poblado, turned left (south) and walked
another 3 blocks and crossed the street at Calle 1 Sur (Spanish for
south). (On the way I saw 2 girls who turned
out to be sisters walking side by side sharing earbuds – probably listening to
music. I asked them in Spanish where is
Oviedo C.C. because the office is supposed to be in the same area. They told me – in perfect English - and it
became obvious it was further than I needed to go. While I was waiting to cross the Ave. Pobaldo
one of the sisters had come back because they were concerned I was turning at
the wrong location to get to Oviedo C.C.
I explained the situation, apologized, and thanked her for her concern.) It turns out for the entrance to the dentist
office you have to walk around the back of the Colmena building by walking past
Citibank on the left and going down some stairs and through the parking
lot.
I got there just about 9am and the dentist’s office door was
locked. I knocked but there was no
answer. Shoot, they haven’t opened yet I
thought. I went back down to the
entrance and while I was asking the guard another man, speaking English, took
me upstairs once again to the dentist office and knocked again on the
door. This time a young lady answered
wearing a dental assistant outfit with her mask on. Obviously she and the dentist were working on
a patient. I asked her if she spoke
English and she said “no” and motioned towards the dentist in the next
room. She took me in while a patient was
still in the chair and the dentist, in near perfect English, explained he would
be with me in a few minutes. According
to his business card his name is Jorge Alberto Rendon Franco, and one of the
things he explained is that doctors have to read medical journals that are only
in English so they are forced to learn to at least read and write. In his case he spent 9 months studying in a
small town near Santa Barbara ,
CA
I walked another 10 blocks or so down to Monterrey C.C.
where I caught the Circular Sur 303 bus at 11:05am and once I got on I could see
that the bus stop is actually across the street. On the way back there were stops at
University EAFIT at 11:07, what should be Exito Poblado at 11:27, Saludcoop at
11:30, and finally back at Exito Laureles at 11:40. We were slowed down not just by lunchtime
traffic but also because one lane was closed off for tree trimming. It’s so stuffy and uncomfortable when I’m
dressed in jeans and the bus doesn’t move!
Lunch was a FrisBurrito at Frisby for 5,900 ($3.28) and a
vanilla milkshake for 7,500 ($4.17). I
liked the FrisBurrito but it had a little too much sauce and the milkshake had
some “candy” on top I didn’t care for. The
lines have gone down at Exito so while I was there I bought that white t-shirt
for 16,900 ($9.39).
I had a nap from 3 to 4:30 this afternoon.
Dinner was a mini shish kebab for 6,800 ($3.78) and mango
juice for 3mil ($1.67) at SanJote in Laureles Mall.
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