Thursday, June 14, 2018

I slept well last night despite getting up twice during the night, finally waking/getting up at 7am.

Well, today is the day – the start of the World Cup (Mundial in Spanish) which continues through July 15^th.  For the past week I’ve seen multiple (not 2 or 3, more like 7 or 8) TV channels with World Cup programs.  That’s in addition to the usual matches broadcast from Colombia, England, Germany, etc.  Festivities kick off today with Russia vs Saudi Arabia at 10am.  Colombia’s first match is next Tuesday at 7am (CDST) so set your alarm.  Lol.

Teresa told me that for the next month of the World Cup it should be a little more difficult catching a taxi.

Teresa mentioned that she talked to Sondra, the lady from the gym.  She had her surgery (gall bladder removed) and is doing much better.  Good to hear.

I left the apt at 8:30 (the streets appeared to be more deserted than usual), walked down the street and quickly caught a taxi to Pricesmart for 12mil.  I arrived 5 minutes early and found a line of about a dozen people.  Inside I picked up a 4-pack of Crest toothpaste, a carton of Biscotti cookies and a dozen English muffins.  However, I didn’t find the Planters Crunchy Peanut Butter or the carrot cake I was looking for.

When I returned to the apt both Teresa and Laura had already left.

Russia won the first World Cup match of 2018 5-0 against Saudi Arabia.

I finally heard from Jose my chess playing friend.  Their trip to Santa Marta was a bust because he suffered from vomiting and diarrhea over much of the trip.  This Saturday and next Tuesday he has various doctors’ appointments but we might be able to get together and play next Thursday.

Laura came back at 10:30.  It turns out that she didn’t do childcare this morning, instead she went to the au pair agency.  I understand they want her to continue practicing driving and she is to return next Tuesday for her English test.

At 1:45 Laura and I had lunch at El Casita Parilla – chicken breast and mango juice for each of us for 26mil.

After lunch she went to visit with grandma – MT – and I walked down to the new store Mundo Huevo (egg world) where I bought a jar of Planters Crunchy Peanut Butter for 25,300 ($9).

My cellphone just rang and when I answered it it seemed like a recorded message – in Chinese!

At 4pm the sky got dark and it started raining hard but it only lasted for 45 minutes and soon the sky was blue again.  Incredible!

Teresa came back and we discussed finances regarding the finca.  We still need to buy paint, pay to have the finca painted, have a front gate installed and now John wants to have some concrete put down because some of the rocks are loose in the driveway.  It appears that John will be signing a contract soon (tomorrow or Saturday) and most of the cash advance we get will go towards the finca expenses.

For “dinner” we just had some chips and salsa.

There was some talk about John not being able to read the contract.

If your dictionary told the truth: Irish handcuffs (n.) When a person is carrying an alcoholic beverage in both hands at the same time.