Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Tuesday, January 7th, 2014



Last night while looking for movies on Netflix it suggested Apostle Peter and the Last Supper (IMDB 6.8) starring Robert Loggia which I watched until just after 11pm.

I went to bed at 11:15 and had some trouble getting to sleep.  I woke up to Lionel’s radio at 6:10 and finally woke/got up at 7:35.

At 8:30 I was having coffee and a croissant at Panaderia Los Mejores.  I didn’t see Damaris there but maybe they were on reduced staff because it wasn’t as busy as usual.

I stopped at the Tinto store and had a cup of coffee.  Gonzalo was there reading the Colombiano newspaper.  I asked him if this newspaper only comes out on Sunday and he said yes.  When he went inside the store to get something for a customer I took a quick look at it and again didn’t see any classified ads.  I asked him about it and he went back inside and brought out the separate section for me.  I told him I’m looking for a less expensive apartment – 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms for less than 1,000,000 pesos and he said he would check around for me.  I wonder if I should just downsize to a 1 bedroom 1 bath if a nice one becomes available.

Looking at the clasificados (classified ads) the section I need is Propiedades (property), Arriendo (for rent), Apartamentos (apartments).  I see they divide the city into 6 zones:
·       Zona Norte (north, both sides of the river)
·       Zona Sur (south, both sides of the river)
·       Zona Centro (downtown on the east side of the river)
·       Zona Oriente (far east side of the river)
·       Zona Poblado (southern section east side of the river)
·       Zona Occidente (west side of the river, excluding the north and south zones)

The last zone, the one I’m in, appears to be the largest of all areawise and includes the Laureles Estadio, La America, Guayabal and Belen areas.  When I look at the Colombiano newspaper in the future I can just turn directly to section 313.  With my new apartment I hope to save some money because I don’t need a 3rd bedroom (or a 2nd?), a garage, or a furnished (amueblado) apartment because I already have 2 beds, an end table, a kitchen table with chairs, a small couch, and a couple other small tables.  I need to remember that besides dormitorio, the word the newspaper uses for bedroom is alcoba.

At 10:55 I went out on the balcony (for better lighting) to see if I could spot all these areas on a map and Reina was just approaching the building.  Interestingly, she brought a winter jacket; I guess it gets a lot colder up there in the hills where she lives.  She was hungry but her stomach was a little upset so we stopped at the corner store and she bought a small container of yogurt.  While we were sitting there she gave me the bad news that Judy died last night of cancer and her body is being cremated this afternoon.  (See the February 14th, March 2nd and March 30th blog entries for more info as to who she was.)  She also told me Dylan is no longer with Laura; she’s now dating other men.

We were concerned that Immigration might close for lunch between noon and 2pm so we took a bus right away and were there by 11:35.  When we were passing through security they wouldn’t let Reina go in the office with me; I understood because there are too many people there today.  I gave her 5mil so she could get something to drink across the street.  

There were 3 people ahead of me in line to speak to the receptionist.  When it was my turn I gave her all my documents and she returned all my photographs but 1 small one, 1 copy of my passport information page and 1 copy of my Pensionado Visa page.  So she kept my passport, 1 small photograph, 1 copy of my passport information page, 1 copy of my Pensionado Visa page and my Cedula application.  But she said I needed a photocopy of my old Cedula.  I asked her where I can get a copy and she motioned outside and up the block.  I went back to the security shack and outside I found Reina across the street drinking a bottle of Gatorade.  We walked up the street and found a store where we had a copy made for something like 200 pesos.

I went back to Immigration and there were now about 5 people in line to see the receptionist.  I walked past them to the other side of the window and handed her my copy.  She added it to my stack of documents, gave them all to me and asked me to take a seat.  A man came out and took my documents and added it to a small pile of others.  

At 12:20 a man who worked there shut the front door and I was afraid that this might be the beginning of their lunch hour and they weren’t going to let any more people in.  After a few more people entered I realized it was probably because they had turned on the air conditioning.  I had my iPad with me but couldn’t get a Wi-Fi connection so I just read more of my Nook book.  

At 1:25 my name was finally called, they gave me back my passport and then sent me to another man who spoke some English.  He told me my Cedula would be ready in about 2 weeks and he gave me a little piece of paper with a telephone number (345 55 00 Ext. 1060) I could call to see if it’s ready and a website (www.MigracionColombia.gov.com) I could access and when I see my Cedula number there then I’ll know it’s ready to be picked up.

Instead of going all the way back to LM for lunch we decided to try a different place close by.  We each had the Bandeja Paisa for 7mil and she also had some soup again.  It was similar to, and just as good as, Likkes.

We took a bus back to Viva CC and rode the 5D eXtreme Simulator again.  This time we chose to go thru the Haunted Forest.  I had a little problem with my glasses; they showed everything double instead of 3D but I’m glad that Reina’s worked.

We went across the street to LM and had some ice cream at Almibar.  I had just a single cone with vanilla ice cream and raisins.  She had a plastic dish with about 4 different scoops of ice cream with a waffle cookie inside and a cherry on top.  After finishing a few scoops of ice cream she felt so cold she put her winter coat on.  I helped her finish it and I didn’t feel cold at all.  I couldn’t believe she felt so cold and she couldn’t believe that I didn’t feel cold at all.  (I guess my blood is thicker than hers or something.)  

She looked at the sky and said it’s going to rain later.  We walked a couple blocks east of LM where she caught a taxi and I walked back to the apartment.

About 6:10 it started raining.  I walked over to Paisa Pan on San Juan but they didn’t have the sugar donut I was looking forward too.  I walked over to Fresco Pan and had a coffee and something similar to a sugar donut.  Church got out about 7:20 but few people came over to the bakery so I was pretty much alone.

I purchased a 1 year subscription to Bid Defender Total Security for $51.97 and by 11pm I had finished downloading it.

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