Friday, August 14th, 2015

I slept well despite getting up once during the night, finally waking/getting up at 8:15.

I tried going into my slingbox and again it just said “initializing”.  Sigh!  Maybe we changed something that’s causing a problem now.  Monday I’l probably call the company for advice.

I started watching part 3 of Band of Brothers. 

We left the finca at 12:30, got past the killer dogs undetected, and were met by Malu at the top of the hill.  I gave her a dog biscuit and she hung around hoping for another.

We had to wait about 20 minutes for a bus to Envigado.  We took a taxi to Wilson’s Bocados Bar and 5 minutes later Jim and Michael joined us and met Wilson and Martha.  We waited about 15 minutes for Laura to show up.  

We had a nice lunch of chicken breast for Jim and I, skirt steak for Michael and fish for Teresa and Laura.  

Teresa took a taxi to Nohelia in downtown Envigado to have her hair done.  The rest of us took another taxi to the old antique store east of town.  We walked around that store and a few others we found in the area.  Laura then led us to another store and found out there is a larger store nearby.  We walked to it – La Casa del Secreto – at Calle 38A Sur #36-5 where Michael found a painting and what looked like a lithograph that he bought.

I found some french style chairs with cane seats that might work for my chess table at 120mil each but I didn’t buy them.

Michael was tired from partying with Jim the night before so he left to take a nap at the hostel.

The rest of us stopped at a few pharmacies until Laura found something she was looking for.

On the way back to Nohelia I tried to find the small mall where I had bought my pepper spray but with no luck.  At Nohelia Teresa was finished with her hair so she took us to the “hookah store” and then to the small mall.  

It took us about 15 minutes to catch a taxi to Santafe mall – which is the 2^nd largest in Medellin.  

Jim and Laura went off on there own while Teresa was looking at clothes.  At one point I thought Teresa was approaching a store front to look in the window but she crashed into it thinking it was an open doorway.  She wasn’t hurt, just bumped her head but it was funny.  

Not sure what the name of this store is.  That's a small heart between "ST" and "EVEN".  St. Even?  Steven?  St loves Even?

We left Santafe and took a taxi to the hostel so Jim could change clothes.  This was Laura’s first time to see the hostel – and so many gringos.  Teresa and Michael had a beer while we were waiting.  

We ordered a taxi to pick us up but once again were refused because there were 5 of us.  We decided to meet at Hooters in Parque Lleras and Teresa and I got into the first taxi.  The driver didn’t know where the restaurant was and there are so many one way streets going in the wrong direction I had him drop us off on Calle 10 a couple blocks away.  We walked about 3 blocks to Hooters and they were waiting for us.  Everyone was hungry so the boys decided not to stop for a drink first at Hooters.  We walked a block down to the tex-mex restaurant Ay Caramba! where we had a very good meal.  Teresa and I shared an order of chicken fajitas and the others had tacos.

I asked Jim about Monica and he said that now she’s in Cali.

Michael left us to visit with some friends so we all said our goodbyes because we probably wouldn’t see him again before he left for the airport later the next day.

We walked a couple blocks to Mojitos and I had a rum and Coke, Teresa had a beer, Laura had a glass of wine and Jim had a Margarita.

Then we decided to all have a glass of Aguardiente.  (This drink is similar to Japan’s saki, Russia’s vodka and Greece’s ouzo.)  The glass is only a little large than a shot glass so I put it down all at once.  A little later my stomach wasn’t feeling so good and I got a little heartburn so I took two Tums that I carry with me in my pill case and I was soon feeler better but I didn’t have anything more to drink for the evening.  Jim and Laura got up to dance a number of times and once they went out for a walk.

Finally about 1:30 we decided to leave but when Jim and Laura left for another dance Teresa ordered another rum and water.  Finally, just before 2am she had the drink transferred into a plastic cup, we paid our bill and took a taxi back to the hostel.  Jim and I said goodbye and he promised to keep me up to date on his return trip.  Laura was very sad when she hugged him goodbye.  Back in the taxi Laura was crying on the way to Envigado.  Teresa told her to stop and also said that’s life.  Later she told me that this was Laura’s first love.  In her mother’s apartment Laura curled up on the couch and cried and Teresa talked to her brother for some time.  Finally, I left them about 3:45, took 2 sleeping pills and went to bed.