Tuesday, February 17th, 2015

We left the finca at 10:15 and the doberman and the other dogs barked at us as we approached the neighbor’s house.  The doberman came out and I threw him my last half of a dog biscuit.  After that he followed us all the way to the top of the hill but didn’t threaten us.

We quickly caught a bus to La Estrella metro station (southern end of the line) for 4 mil.  We took a taxi for 5mil to Hotel Porton in Sabaneta and were pleasantly surprised to find they are having a special so we got both our rooms for only 115 mil each.  We made reservations for two rooms for this Friday, February 20^th.

We took a bus to San Diego CC and got there at noon so we stopped at Frisby for something to eat.   We each had a salad with chicken breast and a glass of juice and it was very filling for 40,400.

After that we met Vicky outside by the pedestrian crossover bridge and she returned my other 250mil.  That was nice!  We all sat in a panaderia where Vicky had a glass of juice.  This is the first time I’ve seen her in the daylight, dressed up with makeup and she’s an attractive woman.  She’s about 48 years old, about 5’1” with medium to dark brown hair and brown eyes and a nice figure.

While they were talking I excused myself and went to an ATM where I took some cash out for my brother.

We took a Circular Sur 303 bus and 40 minutes later we got off at Calle 35 (about 2 blocks short of Exito Laureles).  We walked east about 3 blocks and stopped at Solar Hotel Casa Laureles (Comercial.hcl@solarhoteles.com) and found a Friday night room for 1 person is 150mil and for 2 persons is 185mil.  Teresa thought that was way too expensive but we didn't look at the rooms. We were both so hot we stayed there for a while and had a drink on their porch. 

A couple blocks away we stopped at Sol de Laureles Casa Hotel (SolDeLaurelesCasaHotel@hotmail.com) where we found a room for one is 93mil and for 2 people is 118mil.  They showed us the same room my brother and I looked at when we were there and another one upstairs.  Teresa liked that hotel much more.  

We sat outside on their porch for a while and enjoyed their shade and slight breeze.  (Medellin can be so hot sometimes!  I would feel much better in shorts, t-shirt and sandals.)

We stopped in Exito where I bought another 30-day supply of Tamsulosin for 42,600 and Teresa got some face soap for 51,800.  In Exito I saw Extra Strength Excedrin for the first time for 17mil (24 tablets).

Teresa spent some time talking to a lady who works there about hair dye so I picked up some bath soap, dog biscuits, floss, granola and gum for 52,900.  

We stopped at Mimo’s and Teresa had a peach sundae and I had a strawberry sundae for 11,700.

At 4:30 we left Exito Laureles and took a Circular Sur 302 bus to Aquacatala.  On the way traffic was very heavy and the bus took several “shortcuts” down side streets.  We only had to wait a couple minutes for a TraTam bus back to the finca.  On the way I was surprised to see a young man on a skateboard going down the tall curvy mountain road.  There’s a first time for everything.

As we were walking up the side road to the finca Don Carlos’s grandchildren were coming back from school in their catholic uniforms: the girls in their white blouses, plaid skirts and knee length white socks, the boy in his black pants and white shirt.  Teresa told me Don Carlos has 8 children.

As we were coming down the path the doberman was standing in the middle waiting for us – not growling, not even barking.  He stood there about 10’ away while we opened a plastic bag, took out the box of dog biscuits, tore open the box and the bag inside and I tossed him one.  He quickly took it to the side of the he path and started eating it.  We walked past him and he followed us down and I tossed him another and then another.  By then the Terriers were approaching and he didn’t follow us any further.  I think I’ve finally converted him.  We were so happy we celebrated by giving each of the Terriers a dog biscuit.  We were back at the finca by 6:15.

I kept seeing (what I thought I remembered as) “calzado” on signs on the highway and today I noticed the same word on stores in San Diego.  Using Google I translated “calzado” to “footwear” and using my dictionary it led me to “calzada” which means “road” or “roadway”.

At 8pm we put on Master Chef again.  There’s a young lady contestant “Evelyn” whose voice I can’t stand.  Even though I don’t understand what she’s saying it sounds like she’s whining.  Whenever she talks Teresa and Laura look at me cringing to the sound of my voice and they laugh.

I got an email from the lawyer asking how soon I could get the legal documents back to him.  I told him in 2-3 weeks depending on whether my brother wants to take a trip to Bogota next week while he’s here.  I asked the lawyer to get me the documents no later than the weekend.

I took my sleeping pills at 10pm and we went to bed at 10:15.

T-shirt of the day: Lift large, get large – with a diagram of a man lifting a glass of beer.