Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Tuesday, July 9th, 2013



I went to bed at 11pm and didn’t wake up until 5:45 and finally got up at 6:15.  It felt great!

I just remembered when I was at El Comedor de Chava in Laureles Mall, ready to order my dinner, Lucas, who speaks English, asked me to order only in Spanish.  After I did he complemented me on my Spanish.

I went to the store for milk only to find they didn’t have any.  So now what?  Not only don’t I have milk for making pancakes I don’t even have milk for my cereal.  Its 7:30 and I only brought 2mil with me – exactly what I needed for milk.  This is the first time I’ve done that.  I have a 9am appointment for a live studio session with Rosetta Stone but I need something to eat so I went back to my apartment grabbed some money and went to Bunuelo Express.  I got there at 7:45 and they didn’t open until 8am.  I ordered my usual although they hadn’t made any Bunuelos yet so I had some other kind of pastry.  The girl working there shorted the store giving me 5mil too much in change.  I brought it to her attention and she finally realized her mistake and took back the 5mil.

At 9am I had my group speaking session with 4 other gringos and a native speaker.  I felt really rusty so I guess I need to redouble my efforts at using Rosetta Stone.
After that I went to Laureles Mall and studied my chess book until about noon when I went to Viva Mall and had Teriyaki Chicken at Sarku’s for 10,900 ($5.74) using a coupon.  It’s supposed to include a 16 ounce soda but I asked to upgrade to a 22 ounce and she charged me an extra 3,700 ($1.95).  I think that’s how much a 22 ounce soda cost so I think I lost out on the 16 ounce.  Next time I’ll order another 16 ounce soda and see what she charges me.  While I was there I saw Olga in the food court with one of her boys so I said hi to her on my way out.

I bought a Speed Stick (Waterproof; Fresh) antiperspirant/deodorant for 9,020 ($4.75) at Exito because I don’t know how much longer my Arm & Hammer Invisible Solid (Fresh) from Walgreens is going to hold out.

I stopped at Jhon’s office on the way back to the apartment.  His sister Nancy’s husband Alfredo came out and sat with us for a while and then invited us to the store for a drink.  We all had a small coke and then I bought the next round.  Jhon informed me if the store doesn’t have milk I can go to the next store 1 block west and they might have it in stock.  I finally left about 3:15.  

I met Jhon at 5pm and we called Philly Steaks and they said they’re open.  We walked the 12 blocks south to the restaurant and this time there was a woman working there.  I ordered, with Jhon’s help, a ½ order of their Classic Philly Steak sandwich.  I inquired about how long it would take to make a funnel cake and she said she didn’t know how to make one but was going to learn on Friday.  Jhon liked his Philly Steak – each ½ of a ½ order is about 8” long.  As we finished and I was paying, the 2 guys that were there when I visited last time came to the restaurant and told us they could make us a funnel cake.  We agreed and were surprised when 20 minutes later she brought not 1 but 2 funnel cakes.  I told her we only wanted 1 but I accepted them both.  I ate about 2/3 of mine – concentrating on the center where there was all the powdered sugar and Jhon ate all of his!  I think he liked it.  Lol.  

From 7-9pm I watched Lewis & Clark on PBS.  At 8:15 a loud religious parade came by and I taped 4 minutes of it.  I hope you can see it here:


When I tried to email it to myself from my iPad it wouldn't allow the whole thing and I think it cut it down to about 1 minute but you can still get a good idea.

Beatriz surprised me with a visit about 9pm.  Yes, I have a new girlfriend (novia in Spanish).

Beatriz told me she stopped by my apartment at 12:30 today but I wasn’t here.  That must have been about the time I was having lunch as Sarku’s.  I showed her the video I had just taken and she told me the religious parade was a celebration of the “Day of the Virgin of Chiquinquira or Chinca”.  According to Wikipedia.org: “Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá or the Virgin of Chiquinquirá is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the northern Andean region of South America. She is the patron saint of Colombia, the Venezuelan state of Zulia, and the town of Caraz in Peru.
In Colombia, her painted image rests in the Basílica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Chiquinquirá, where thousands of pilgrims arrive not only for the Feast Day on July 9, but also every Sunday, when they celebrate masses and processions. On July 3, 1986, Pope John Paul II visited the sanctuary and prayed for peace in Colombia at the feet of the Virgin Mary's image. The title given to the Virgin is from the city of Chiquinquirá, where the first of the Virgin's miraculous manifestations occurred, and where the original image from the sixteenth century is kept.”

Beatriz also said, via the translator: “I will talk to the client in front of my house of you, she has a gringo boyfriend marries in April of next year, the next in November this year to visit and told me to get out the four, when comes again.”
So, what she’s trying to say is that “someone who rents a room in their house”? is marrying someone from the US next April and he will be visiting this November when the 4 of us can go out together.

I will be seeing her tomorrow night after work (about 7pm) and she will do a little repair work on a couple of my fingernails. 

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