Last night Reina showed up at 6pm and I found
out where we were going was in Belen (much closer than Envigado which is
officially a different town south of Medellin).
After she talked to the bus driver we took a
Circular Sur 302 (3,400 pesos) bus and got off by the local airport. We walked along the southernmost edge of the
airport property for about 10 minutes until we ran into a local for her to talk
to. It turns out we are at the back of
the airport and we need to be on the other side – too far to walk. We caught a taxi and for 6mil we were at the
entrance. It’s called El Pesebre Mas Grande del Mundo (The
Largest Manger in the World). There were
even signs, in English, stating “Guinness World Record” so I guess it really is
the biggest. The entrance fee was 20mil
total for both of us. It’s basically a
recreation of Bethlehem
at the time when Jesus was born. We
walked around the area and it was interesting although not very
sophisticated.
Afterwards we were looking for something to eat,
and while there were many booths selling drinks, there was only one selling
food. Reina decided 6mil was too much to
pay for a little individual pizza. We
exited the area, walked across the street to what I would call a BBQ
joint. A man was grilling meat right
next to the street in some sort of permanent structure. We got the only thing they were serving
tonight. We shared a plate with 3 types
of meat (pork, beef & lamb?) with a small salad, a couple of little baked
russet type potatoes, a pineapple Postobon soda for me and she had an iced tea
for a total of 24mil. It was a beautiful
night – clear and not cold at all. It
was a nice outing for about $35.
I caught a taxi back to my apartment for 8mil
and she caught a separate taxi back to her house. Unfortunately, I also have to pay for her
taxi which is another 20mil each way.
I asked Reina if Marcella has a friend that
lives in my neighborhood and she told me she has a secretarial job in the area.
Reina also told me New Years Eve is going to be as
bad (noisy) if not worse than Christmas Eve.
We’re going to meet at Sport Wings Sunday at
4:30 for the Bears vs Packers game.
I watched another episode of Lie to Me and then went to bed at
11pm. I got up once during the night, woke up at 6:15
and finally woke/got up at 7:30.
It’s a beautiful morning, not a cloud in the sky
so I skipped taking my umbrella with me.
On my way to LM I noticed a small group of
people outside an apartment building looking at their garage door. It is all metal, not solid, more like a fence
and it had obviously been run into from the inside. The garage is like on the 2nd
level of the building and it looked like someone tried to exit the garage
without bothering to open the door.
I imagine it did a good number on the car also.
At the 2nd level of Exito the small
kiosk with cell phone accessories is now gone, just the large one on the
opposite corner.
I had my usual breakfast for 4,900 pesos ($2.58)
at Bunuelo Express. Those new men I
had noticed working there recently were putting up new signs – another
indication they might be under new management.
Wilson
from the pet store stopped by and we chatted a little. He mentioned he once owned a restaurant but
he had to close when his food costs went up but he couldn’t raise his prices.
??
At 10am Augusto showed up and we played 5 games
of chess: I won 4 and he won 1. About
12:30 I bought a large empanada and Coke for each of us from Bunuelo Express
for 8mil ($4.21). The lady working there
asked me something but all I understood was Picante so I understood it was
about whether or not I wanted hot sauce with that and I said “yes”. Augusto had to leave at 1:50 and he said he
would call me about our next chess meeting.
A man had been observing our game so he sat down
and we played one game. He was kind of
funny, he made every move in a very deliberate manner but he only lasted 20
minutes; he resigned after I took most of his pieces.
I stopped at the corner store for an hour and
had a small bottle of water (1mil) and read some more of my Nook book. I then walked across the street and bought a
slab of pineapple for another 1mil to eat on the way back to my apartment.
Later I ran into Gloria on my way to LM and we had a
brief chat. I gave her a piece of
Trident gum – what they call chiclet. It
doesn’t hurt to make friends.
Dinner was a small bowl of beans and mango
juice at El Comedor de Chava
for 6,500 ($3.42).
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