Wednesday, December 18th, 2013

Last night I went into the bedroom, turned on the light and a large cockroach started skittering along the floor.  He was very confused and basically didn’t go anywhere but in a circle so he was easy to eliminate.

I went to bed at 10:30pm, got up twice during the night and woke/got up at 7am.  

I bought a small bag of milk from Salsamentaría Bolivar to have with my granola for breakfast.

I took a Circular 302 bus, walked up the hill a couple blocks and as I was approaching Los Molinos a woman asked me something in Spanish.  I told her “the usual” and I noticed she was going through information for Jehovah’s Witness so I told her I already have that and I don’t need more.  I usually enter the mall through a clothing store named Tennis but it was closed.  As I went through one of the regular mall entrances I saw other Jehovah’s Witnesses talking to people outside.  

Most of the stores in the mall appeared to be closed but the barber shop was open.  At 9:20 I asked for Juan at the desk of Nova Zhen and the lady asked me to take a seat.  I noticed the barber shop is open every day - Sundays & Holidays at 10am, all other days at 8am.  I was trying to figure out what the sign said on the store across the hall and I finally figured out it said “Everything in the store is 39,900 ($21).  Everything is everything.”  About 10:10 the lady stopped by and told me something about Juan I didn’t understand.  I told her I couldn’t wait any longer and I left. 

I walked through the HomeCenter in the mall and bought a large flat bamboo spatula to help with removing waffles from the waffle iron for 4,900 ($2.58).  What was nice is the change for the 50mil bill I gave her was almost all in 5mil bills.

After a restroom break, while I was walking past Nova Zhen again I saw Juan was there.  I asked him if he could take me now and he said “yes, in 2 minutes”.  He quickly finished with another man and it was my turn.  I asked him to use a #5 attachment on the top of my head, #4 for the sides, and #3 for my beard.  He complied but it was still way too short.  I got sheared like a sheep with a #5 attachment.  Next time I’ll try #6, #5, & #4.  It cost me 20mil + 5mil tip.  

I had to wait about 5-10 minutes to catch a Circular Sur 303 bus back to Viva mall.

I stopped at the Tinto store for a cup of coffee and Bob and Jhon were there so I sat with them for about an hour.  Jhon is back from his 10 day stay in Bogota and Bob is moving to another hostal in another barrio called Los Colores.  I can see on the map that it is the barrio north of the stadium.  They both said they liked my haircut – they think I look much younger with shorter hair.

Bob mentioned that in January, after his upcoming trips, he plans to drop the 2 ladies he will be traveling with and settle down with some German Colombian lady he met on Calle 35 (or is it 33?).  Sounds like that means Patricia will be available again.

For lunch I had the pasta of the day (spaghetti carbonara) with a 16oz Coke at Alfredo’s for 6,900 ($3.63). 

After completing a few Rosetta Stone lessons I tried the new Synergy Spanish lessons I had recently purchased on sale for $67 from Marcus Santamaria.

Dinner was a small bowl of beans (like chili without the meat) and a mango juice at El Comedor de Chava in LM for 6,500 ($3.42).  Mall de Laureles and Viva mall were having little Christmas programs with a couple of adult singers and the rest varying ages of about a dozen children.

Tomorrow I’m meeting Reina downtown at 11:30 and we’re going to spend the day together.  First order of business will be getting my new Visa photos.