It took a while to fall asleep but then I didn’t awaken
until 8:30 finally getting up at 9:15.
Teresa told me Peluche is sick. He’s lying on a blanket, wouldn’t eat food
placed right in front of him but he did eat most, but not all, of a dog biscuit
I gave him.
Teresa called Ana Milena Mosquera and I understand she’ll be
at the immigration office at 2pm.
Among this week’s new US movie releases I would like to
see In the Heart of the Sea (7.4), The Big Short (8.1) and Don Verdean (6.0).
Locally, there isn’t anything I really want to see.
We left the finca at 12:30pm, the killer dogs came out and I
gave each of them a dog biscuit. Another
dog also came out but didn’t really enter the path. At the top of the hill a puppy came by and I
gave him one. The small dog that lives
in the old Don Carlos finca came by and I broke one of the dog biscuits in half
and offered it to him but he wasn’t interested.
I offered the small piece to the puppy and he just about took my fingers
off getting at it. I just tossed the
other half to him.
We had to wait about 30 minutes for a bus to
Aguacatala. The two cranes that had been
towering over that new bridge have been removed. Traffic again got heavy as we approached Medellin. At Aguacatala we quickly caught a Circular
Sur 303 bus and we got off at Parque Belen.
We were only a short walk from the immigration office when Teresa
declared she was hungry. Teresa informed
me that Ana Milena would be there from 2-4pm so we weren’t in any hurry. (Btw, last year I started this process 7 days
before expiration, this year it’s 11 days before. I think the most important thing is to renew
the visa prior to expiration.) We had a
typical lunch at a corner restaurant for about 16mil.
At the immigration office we waited about 30 minutes for our
chance to talk to Ana. (I passed the ¾ point
in my book.) She confirmed that I don’t
need a lawyer to have my Pensionado Visa renewed but I still need to have my
Social Security benefits letter apostilled.
She said she knows someone in town that could take care of the apostille
for $100 but for some reason we have to come back Monday so she can call
him.
When we left the office Teresa told me that they are very
expensive and she thought we should go back to where we got my visa and cedula
handled last year. Luckily, I had their
business card with me taped to an index card.
We took a taxi to Unicentro and then walked the extra block to
Inter-Col. We walked in and I immediately recognized
Martha. Teresa complimented her on
looking younger; I think she lost some weight.
To process my Pensionado Visa and Cedula the charge is 1,260,000COP ($400).
They took my passport, cedula and Social Security
letter. They filled out what I believe
was a letter to the US
embassy requesting an apostilled SS benefit statement. Since I didn’t have this information with me
they asked me to email them my bank account number and photo of my Social
Security card tomorrow before 10am. I
signed the letter and a couple others. I
glanced at one and it looked familiar as the 2nd page had questions
like “Have you visited Liberia
(etc.) in the last 6 months?” and “Have you had sex with a man in the last 6
months?”. Btw, a definite NO to both
questions.
Martha drove us to the other side of UPB to a notary where
we had some pages notarized for 3,500COP.
She dropped us off at
Unicentro and we went inside where we found a FotoJapon where I got 2 color photos: one for my Visa and the other
for my Cedula for 20mil. I found a
currency exchange called Valores &
Servicios so I took their business card.
They have another location in Los Molinos. I took out some cash from a Bancolombia ATM.
Back at the office they returned my Cedula and I gave them a
800,000COP downpayment.
We walked back to Exito where we each had a slice of cake in
their deli for 4,800COP. We picked up
some sliced ham, Swiss cheese (I finally found it), a loaf of bread and a couple
bottles of sauce and we took a taxi to Poblado station. After a 20 minute wait we were on an express
bus back to the finca. Teresa told me we
would have to pay 8mil instead of the usual 6mil – something to do with
Christmas. (Merry Christmas, now that
will be 2,000 more pesos please! Lol)
It was a cool night which made it easier getting up the hill
without sweating.
The killer dogs came out as we passed Guillermo’s house so I
tossed them a couple dog biscuits and they left us alone. We got back to the finca by 8:15pm.
Teresa made a ham sandwich for me with the fixings we had
picked up at Exito. She made one for
herself and really liked it.
Teresa noticed Peluche is getting too skinny so she called
the veterinarian that lives in the area and he came by a few minutes
later. First we tied up Peluche’s mouth to
be sure he wouldn’t bite. Peluche took
it all in stride although I don’t believe he would bite anyway. The vet checked his eyes, his teeth (maybe
his gums) and then inserted a rectal thermometer. He carefully examined his leg and I think he
has something like a hip separation.
Anyway he said it would require surgery to repair for about 1,000,000COP
which I was prepared to spend. But then
he said it could require 1 or more months of recuperation and Peluche might
aggravate the wound anyway. I understand
it’s a chronic condition and he said it could get very expensive. He suggested we separate Peluche from the
other dogs for 5 days and if he isn’t better (from malnutrition?) he suggested
euthenasia. We put down some food for
him but he only ate about 4 pieces. I
gave him a dog biscuit and he ate it with relish. The vet said that the dog biscuits aren’t
really good for the dogs – it’s like candy.
The vet said the NutreCan dog food we’ve been using isn’t very nutricious. He recommended and one of 4 others: Nutra
Nugget, Hill, ProPlan, or Equilibrio and the good news is that we can give them
less of it so there should be less for us to have to carry.
He had Teresa make up some weak pineapple juice and we
forced Peluche to swallow a few vials of it.
Teresa and the vet talked and talked, and not just about the
fox terriers. I heard Guillermo’s name
mentioned more than once. Finally the
vet left at 11:30 and I gave him 25mil for his time.
I took 2 sleeping pills and went to bed.
T-shirt of the day: Stunningly awesome.
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