Monday, September 30th, 2013

I went to bed at 11:40, got up twice during the night and finally woke/got up at 7:45.  Maybe I need to start taking my medicine right after dinner again.

After my usual Monday morning routine I saw Jhon at his office and gave him his “word of the day” – “acronym”, because for the next few days the words are going to be “Snafu” and “Fubar”.  I also asked him to repeat his pronunciation of croissant – it sounds like “coissan” to me.  On my way to the bakery I saw David on his balcony across and down the street a few buildings from the corner store.  I tried to pretend I didn’t see him but he called down a “hello” so I said “hello” and kept going.  (I really don’t like the guy and the next time I see him face to face I’m probably going to tell him that.)

At the bakery I told the young lady there I don’t speak much Spanish and I ordered a café con leche, easy on the leche.  She asked me something else but I just told her I don’t understand.  She showed me what she had mixed and it looked pretty good.  I asked her for a “coissan” and it was still hot from the oven and the total came to 2mil.  Wow, a cup of coffee and a hot croissant for $1, pretty good deal.  And it tasted real good also as it had a little tasty cheese inside.

When I got back to Jhon’s office we sat and talked for a while.  I caught him up on what I had been up to for the weekend.  Finally the sun was high enough we couldn’t escape it and we were both feeling warm so we said our goodbyes.

I checked my USAA account and 2 of my small pension deposits have already been made.

I finally passed the Writing portion for Unit 3, Lesson 2.  It took me 5 tries over 3 days with scores of 39%, 50%, 67%, 44%, & finally 89%.

At 11:15 I heard some sort of commotion outside.  I went out on the balcony and people were running toward the close end of the street including 3 of those men in blue uniforms that sell motorcycles down the street.  I changed from my flip flops into my sandals, grabbed my keys and headed outside.  I thought there might have been some kind of accident and who knows if they know how to do basic first aid & CPR here.  At the end of the block I didn’t see anything so I walked another block north and about 1/3 the way down that block I saw one of the Simon Bolivar buses stopped in the middle of the street.  (I’m not aware they are ever on that street, they usually turn a block further north.)  As I got closer I saw a crowd of about a dozen men standing around another man sitting on the grass on the side of the street.  Some of the men standing around, and apparently the bus driver, were yelling at him.  He finally tried to stand up and another man about 5’8” and about 200 pounds gave him a couple of good kicks in the side and he sat back down and started crying.  I noticed a couple of small pipes, maybe just aluminum, on the ground next to me and I noticed one of the men holding a similar pipe but I didn’t see any blood on it and I didn’t see him use it.  At that point 2 policemen arrived on a motorcycle and went through a small bag the man had and all I saw them remove was a long sleeved shirt.  They took out his wallet and read a letter that was inside.  My best guess is they caught another thief.

I met Jhon on my way to lunch but he didn’t know anything about the commotion on the next street.  He decided to join me so we went to Likkes for lunch.  It was just as good, and inexpensive, as always.  I asked them to bring me 2 lunches tomorrow at noon – one for me, one for the housekeeper.

I made a little withdrawal from my checking account and bought a new bag of popcorn for 3,110 ($1.64) and a bottle of SPF50 spray for 36,350 ($19.13) at Exito.

I stopped at the corner store and had an iced tea but Bob never showed up.  Just before 4pm I saw a lot of people parking in the area and walking up towards the church dressed in black; probably a funeral.  During the time I was there it misted a little and got noticeably cooler. 

Dinner was the 15cm (6”) sub of the day – Italiano B.M.T. – at Subway for 7mil.  Then Jhon and I went to the store across the street from the corner store and had a Tinto and then an Aromatica, which is what they call their tea.

 

I took my medicine 1 hour after I finished my dinner.

Before I left for dinner I logged onto USTVNOW and I have great hopes I will be able to see Hostages at 9pm tonight.

Sunday, September 29th, 2013

Last night, everything went pretty much according to plan.  Beatriz came over about 3:30 and we walked to the store where I buy my t-shirts and she bought a blouse and a cute little turtle ring where all the legs, head, and tail swing free for about 28mil total.  In the meantime I checked out the t-shirts upstairs and found 3 new ones that are thin, my size (medium), and mostly white for 15mil each.

We then stopped at LM and she had a FriSnack and a corn on the cob for about 15mil.  I wasn’t hungry but she fed me a few pieces anyway while I read my Nook book.  She dropped off her purchases at her house and we took a taxi to her cousin and aunt’s apartment complex for 9mil.  About half of the apartment parking area was roped off for music, a dance area, chairs, and booths selling food and a few other wares.  Her cousin and aunt were manning a booth where they were selling breaded chicken strips that they would then fry in oil.  They also had what I think was fried arepa that they sold.  I tried them and liked them both.  We tried a number of food items I had never tasted before and I liked everything.  I asked Beatriz to remember everything we had because I want her to write their names down later.

 

There were a few pretty senoritas and senoras there.  I bought a thin “blanket” for my bed for 12mil that they were selling at the booth next to where we were sitting.  They told me it wasn’t really a blanket I think it’s intended to be more of a body wrap.  It fits almost perfectly on my bed and is just that extra thin layer I need besides the sheet for cool evenings.

It got pretty cool up there high in the hills as the evening wore on.  If I was a little smarter I probably would have worn a long sleeved shirt.  We left about 9:30 and I took my medicine as soon as I got home.

I went to bed at 10:30, got up twice during the night, was awakened by a scraping sound like someone trying to scrape frosting out of a bowl, and finally woke/got up at 8am.

After my coffee and newspaper I returned a pair of shoes Beatriz had left in my apartment and then bought milk at the corner store for my cereal.

This week I think I solved 5 of the crossword puzzle clues in the Gente newspaper:

Dictador de la antigua Roma: NERO

Quito es su capital: ECUADOR

Alta definición de TV: HD

Capone mafioso: AL

El vampiro mas famoso: DRACULA

I took a little nap from about 10:30 to 11:30.  I heard some sounds upstairs like someone moving furniture around.  I wonder if they have a new tenant.  After all it is the first of the month soon.

I left for Sport Wings at 22 minutes to noon and was there in 17 minutes.  They found the FOX station quickly but it was the Minnesota vs Pittsburgh game.  By the time they found the correct game it was 12:10 but the score was still 0-0.  I think next time I’ll leave 30 minutes before game time and that should be enough to catch it from the beginning.

I ordered the cheeseburger with no bacon and “no rojo” meaning “not red”.  It was funny when the water repeated “no carne (beef) rojo (red)” and I said “carne si; rojo no”.  When it came it was cooked perfectly but there is so much mayonnaise on both buns I think next time I’ll order it without.  And when I tried to cut it in half a big slice of cheese came out, uncut, so I think I’ll also skip the cheese next time.

The Chicago Bears ended up losing 40-32 to the Detroit Lions.  L

The burger was 19,500, 3 cokes were 3,500 each, and a milkshake was 8,500 for a total of 41,797 ($22) including tax & tip (9.25%).

On the walk back to my apartment I ran into Bob & Margarita at Redd’s bar so I stayed and talked to them, read my book from my iPad and watched the A/N vs Equidad soccer game that started at 5:30.  It ended in a 0-0 tie.

I left about 8:15 and on the way back to my apartment I ran into Beatriz who was on her way to the corner store to buy something.  I went with her and then she invited me into her house and we talked to her son and daughter and her boyfriend for a while.  She showed me her son’s Communion pictures and her daughter’s Communion and Quincenera pictures.  Communion is at age 9 and Quincenera is at age 15.

She invited me to join them next weekend (Saturday & Sunday) to a finca to celebrate my birthday.  She also gave me the list of things we had to eat last night:

Panzerotti

Solterita

Pinchos de pollo con arepas fritas

Palitos de queso con bocadillo

Salpicon con helado

I’ll Google these later to make sure I have the spelling correct and I can match the pictures with what I remember.

Saturday, September 28th, 2013

Last night I went to bed at 11pm, got up twice during the night, woke up to Lionel’s radio and finally got up at 7am.

I stopped at Viva and took the remainder of my September money out of my checking account and then had breakfast at the hotel.  While there I received a reminder from my brother that my alma mater, the Northern Illinois University (NIU) Huskies, are playing Purdue at 11am today on ESPN2. 

I went across the street to LM for a while and left just before 11am.  On my way to Sport Wings I stopped and took a picture of the hours of the El Molino health club

and at Parque Laureles #2 it looked like they were having a market day

At Sport Wings I learned they don’t open until noon so I walked around the area a bit.  I noticed that a couple of the Une phone booths have signs on them advertising their free Wi-Fi service.  I think it was Bob that told me a few weeks ago that Une was going to add Wi-Fi to all of their phone booths so all you need to do is be within a certain distance of one of them and you have Wi-Fi.  About 11:30 I was back at Sport Wings and I sat down near their entrance but wasn’t sure if I had access to the Une Wi-Fi or not.  It seemed to indicate I was connected but I had trouble sending emails.  The sign on the Une phone booth says “for customers of Une”; not sure exactly what that means.  It was misting a little and even though I had an umbrella with me I hadn’t opened it but one of the employees invited me in to sit at the closest booth.  Just before noon another employee asked me which game I wanted and I told him ESPN2.  He came back a few minutes later and told me they don’t have it, they only have ESPN 1, 3, E and +.  Before I left I confirmed they close at 10pm Sunday through Thursday and 11pm Friday and Saturday.  I told them I would be back at noon tomorrow for an NFL game.

I went across the street to McDonald’s and had a ¼ Pounder Combo for 12,900 ($6.79).  I see that the Spanish word for “mustard” is “mostaza”.

I walked over to the corner store and had an iced tea and read a little more of my book.

Beatriz is supposed to come over about 3pm and we’re going to walk to the inexpensive store where I buy my t-shirts so she can buy a blouse.  Later we’re supposed to go to her cousin’s apartment complex to celebrate Day of the Family.  She indicated it might be a late night so I’ll tell you more tomorrow.

Friday, September 27th, 2013

Last night, I went to bed at 10:30, got up twice during the night and was awakened by Lionel’s radio at 6am.

I finally finished my 2.6oz Arm & Hammer Antiperspirant Deodorant I had bought at Walgreen’s for my trip.  Fortunately I found a good replacement in a 50gram Speed Stick Antitranspirante Deodorante at Exito. 

After my coffee and newspaper I walked about 8 blocks south to the bakery that Jhon mentioned he stops at every morning at 8am.  I got there right on time but no Jhon.  While I was waiting I watched the customers to see what they bought and to get an idea as to how much things cost.  There was a street person standing next to the street (really!) and watching the bakery closely.  When the traffic behind him stopped because of a red light he asked for change from the drivers.  At one point when there were few customers he swept into the bakery and grabbed a bottle of Coke that still had about an inch left in it.  He took that back to the street and gulped it down.  A minute later he returned it to the counter and then gulped down a little bit from another bottle that was also sitting there.  (To picture this remember these are open air establishments and there is only about 18 feet from the street to the bakery counter.)

At 8:15 I finally ordered a café con leche and a Bunuelo for less than 2mil.  I could see bread and desserts in the window of the display case but I didn’t know the name of anything else there so that’s why I ordered the Bunuelo.  After I had taken about 2 bites Jhon came in and ordered a Coke and a croissant, although he pronounces it without the “t” sound.  He said they are really good there so now I know what to order next time.  They eat really fast in Colombia which is why he finished his croissant first even though it’s bigger than my Bunuelo.  We walked back to his office together.

I checked the movies opening in the States and there isn’t anything new I want to see.  I checked the movies playing in Medellin:

·       Elysium (IMDB 7.0) is playing at El Tesoro at 7:20pm, Oviedo at 6 and 8:30pm, and Los Molinos at 6:40pm.

·       Haunted House (4.8) is playing at Mayorca at 3pm and Monterrey at 3:30pm.

·       Beatriz wants to see The Conjuring (7.7) and it’s playing at Mayorca at 7:15pm, Monterrey at 7pm and Oviedo at 6:30pm.

·       Multicine Carrefour doesn’t display any movies so I’ll have to remember to check them again later.

After completing some RS lessons I met Jhon and we had lunch at Likkes.  I told him after lunch to tell the waitress that I liked the food very much and to give my compliments to the cook.  Jhon, being Jhon told the waitress that I like the food very much and am interested in the cook.  I guess she came out to see who her admirer is.  He didn’t tell me what he had said until a few minutes after we had left.  Jhon is always trying to fix somebody up.

I had Jhon call the other shipping company to see if they might have my book but they must be closed for lunch.  I told him I’d go to the corner store, have a Coke and read some of my new book and meet him back at his office after 2pm.

Right at 2pm Bob showed up and we chatted for a couple hours then we both went to Jhon office and he called the shipping company again.  They said they had no record of having the book.  I showed Jhon the email from iparcel that mentioned that this was a standard shipment that there would be no tracking on the purchase.  I told Jhon that I’m not going to sit in my apartment for days on end just because they might deliver my book.  I’d rather go to the “post office” every week and inquire as to if they have received my book as yet.  Later I will sign up with some type of delivery service so I don’t have this problem in the future.

Bob needed a sim card for his iPhone so Jhon and I stopped at a small store near Viva mall.  There were 2 young ladies sitting behind a desk and another young lady sitting in one of the chairs on the side.  I sat next to the one on the side while Jhon and Bob sat in the 2 chairs in front of the desk and worked out his purchase of the sim card and added the appropriate number of minutes to it.

The lady next to me was very pretty, light skinned, slim, long reddish brown hair and a little on the tallish side.  More Jhon’s type except possibly she’s taller than he would like.  She put some drops in her eyes and I said “dry eyes” to her in Spanish and she said “yes”.  I said “me too”.  Something didn’t seem right about her and I confirmed with Jhon after we left that “she” is actually a “he”.  She looks like a she but she’s a “he” down below if you catch my drift.  Very interesting!

Beatriz is supposed to come over about 7pm and we’re going to go for ice cream.  I intend to get their fruit salad special and make that my dinner.

Thursday, September 26th, 2013

Last night, I headed out to Beatriz office at 5:10.  I didn’t want to take the same route as last time so when I crossed Avenida 80 and San Juan (Calle 44) I walked east a block and then turned north again.  After a few blocks I was back at Avenida 80 because both streets were angling toward each other.  I followed Avenida 80 a few blocks to the next intersection and then headed east again.  (One of the streets I saw ended in a “G” (like Calle 46G) so obviously the street names can get at least as high as “G”.)  When I got to Carrera 78 I turned north, walked under the metro line, turned east again 1 block and was at Beatriz’ office.  Really taking my time it only took 30 minutes but I was a little overheated so I stopped at the Exito Express across the street and had a Mr. Tea for 2,200.

I met Beatriz at her office just before 6pm and she closed and locked the metal doors with 4 huge padlocks.

We took a taxi from her office to Molinos for just over 6mil.  We got there in plenty of time before the 6:40 scheduled start.  The Preferred Seating tickets were 5,250 pesos ($2.76) each.  We bought their Combo #3, which I think might have been even less expensive on Wednesday, which included 2 hotdogs, 2 medium sodas, and a large popcorn for 25,400 ($13.37) plus a Snickers bar for 4,400 ($2.32).  (My receipt was printed with ink so light I could barely read it the next morning while holding it in the sunlight.)  I carried the 2 hotdogs and popcorn on a tray and Beatriz carried the 2 sodas into the theatre.  We ate the hotdogs as they played a short film and coming attractions.  Elysium with Jodie Foster is coming and also Sandra Bullock in a new film which must be The Heat.

We’re the Millers started about 20 minutes later and was very funny.  One problem I noticed I had was that something funny would happen, everyone would laugh and then something else would be said that I couldn’t hear because of the laughter but would be shown on the subtitles in Spanish and everyone but me would laugh again.  I really like Jennifer Aniston but she must be the world’s first stripper who doesn’t take off her clothes, and it isn’t because the movie wanted to keep a G rating because 3 times there were glimpses of an 18-year old boy’s penis and balls.

Late in the movie I made a trip to the restroom where I also took my medicine with water from the faucet.

We took a taxi back to her house for 6mil.  To save time the taxi went further west of Avenida 80 (Carrera 84?) and took another road that was less busy and we ended up coming down the street from my end.  She told me she won’t be able to meet me for the Chicago Bears game on Sunday but we made plans to meet Friday for ice cream and we’re going to her cousin’s again on Saturday for the apartment complex’s Day of the Family party.

I watched the final Season 1 ending episode (12) of Homeland.  Wow, what a great TV series.  IMDB has it rated 8.6 which is quite a high rating.  I recommend everyone watch the 1^st episode and then see if you can stop from watching the rest.  Bob told me the 2^nd season has been released but you have to pay for that one.  I’ll check it out.

I went to bed at 11:15 and had a lot of difficulty getting and staying asleep probably because of the soda I drank.  I got up at 7am and had breakfast at Bunuelo Express.  I bought a package of Oral-B Satin tape floss for 7,320 ($3.85), which I would need soon anyway, mainly because I needed change for a 50mil bill.

I talked to Jhon on my way back to my apartment and we made plans to meet at 4/4:30 this afternoon and take a taxi to the “post office” to see if they have my 2^nd chess book.

Lunch was a hotdog and Pepsi at Dogger for 7,400.  I walked to Dario’s apartment building and we played 2 games of chess and he won both of them.  It rained briefly while I was there so the temperature dropped a bit.

I stopped at the apartment, dropped off my chess stuff, changed into jeans and shoes and met Jhon at his office at 4:15.  We caught a taxi to the “post office” at Carrera 64C #72-20 (437 72 04).  The lady there told me the package hadn’t arrived yet but she took down Jhon’s email address and telephone number and said she would let me know when it arrived.  (Jhon thinks I should stay in my apartment every day from 10am to 4pm until it arrives.  I think I should go to the “post office” every week until it arrives.)  The taxi ride was approximately 9mil each way.

Back at the corner bar I bought Jhon a drink and a short while later Bob arrived.  His cold is still bothering him.  He told me A/N is playing an “out of conference” game tonight at 8pm.  I left them after about an hour and had Chili and a mango juice at El Comedor de Chava in LM for 8,200.

On the way back I ran into Margarita at Redd’s bar.  She was with her sister Josephina who teaches 1^st – 5^th grade.  I talked to them for about 45 minutes until the game was about to begin.  I didn’t see Bob or Jhon at the corner bar so I went back to Redd’s.  I bought them a drink and watched the game and we talked briefly.  That guy David, who I haven’t seen in weeks, stopped by and said he was in Cartagena.  He tried to borrow 40mil from me but I refused.  The ladies left about 9:30 and I left about 9:50.

Wednesday, September 25th, 2013

Last night I tried to watch the 1^st episode of Hostages that I had missed using my CBS app on my iPad, but I got the message “Unable to load video, this video is not available in your current region”.  Sigh!

So I watched episode 11 of Homeland instead.

At 9pm I took my medicine, went to bed at 10:30, got up twice during the night, was awakened at 5:35 by Lionel’s radio and finally woke/got up at 7:40.

I stopped at Jhon’s office and talked to him briefly before picking up my milk at the corner store for my breakfast – and probably my lunch.

I updated my iPad to the latest release – iOS 7.0.  Big change!  Everything looks different.  Bob had mentioned this to me a couple days ago when they updated his iPhone.

I was going to delete all the emails in my Junk folder when I noticed I had one from USAA that read “Your USAA online internet banking account has been restricted due to unauthorized transaction.  Click here to renew.”  (Notice the English here is good but not perfect!)  I used my magicJack to call USAA and the representative checked and said there was nothing wrong with my account and she asked me to forward the email to Abuse@USAA.com and delete the original email.  I’m really glad I called them.

A couple minutes later I received this email from USAA:

Thank you for reporting a potentially fraudulent e-mail commonly referred to as a "phishing" e-mail. Protecting our members' personal information is USAA's primary responsibility, and we'll investigate this matter immediately. If our investigation determines that the e-mail is fraudulent, we'll take steps to have the fraudulent website it points to removed.

I added a separate posting in my blog entitled A *Rant* About the Colombian Way that I received as an email from the Colombia Expats Forum.

Lunch was a waffle using the remainder of my milk.

I tried accessing Hostages on CBS from my laptop and received the message “The video you have requested is not available for your geographic region”.

I completed all of Level 1, Unit 2: Greetings and Introductions in Rosetta Stone.  Next is to complete a few stray lessons in Level 1, Unit 3: Work and School.

I’ll be leaving about 5:15 to meet Beatriz at her office at 6pm and then we’ll take a taxi to Molinos to see We’re the Miller’s.

I started watching Homeland episode 12 which is probably the season ending episode because it’s over an hour and 22 minutes long.  One interesting part is when Saul says, in English, “When I could piss in a straight line” and it got translated to “When I was young and beautiful” in the Spanish subtitles.

A *Rant* about the Colombian Way

So, I wrote to the Consulado en Miami and received an email with a list of the exact documents I needed to bring to apply for my "spouse visa" - my wife and I are moving to her home in San Andres Isla in November; since I retired in May and returned my leased Sentra - and my wife needed her car for work - I took the Tri-Rail and Metrorail from Delray Beach to Miami, to the Consulado - two hours - and proudly presented myself to Orlando, who looked at my copy of the (unsigned) email response I received from the Consulado..."
Who told you this?!", he said..."This isn't correct, and neither is that..." (1) The email instructed me to get a copy of the U.S. marriage certificate, have it translated ($$), and have it notarized...
Orlando said it didn't have to be translated or notarized, that it would be certified there in the Consulado when we bring it in. (Turns out, that wasn't even correct, as they send you upstairs to a private provider to notarize/"certify" the certificate - for $35 dollars, rather than "free," if we had just taken it to our bank. We found out later that another notary, on the First Floor, would do it for $12, but the Consulado directed us to their more costly... "friend" ...upstairs.) (2) The email also instructed me to bring two passport photos (more $$), which also turned out to be totally incorrect...the Consulado takes your photo when they accept the application. (3) Orlando also took my list of things, looked it over, and said "OK, this is all you need." 
However...rather importantly...he failed to specify that - in addition to my wife's Cedula (national ID) - for some...uh-oh..."Colombian" reason, they ALSO needed her Birth Certificate...we found THAT out only after my wife took a day off work, and we RETURNED to the Consulate, thinking our documents were complete, only to be told that the Birth Certificate was needed in addition to the Cedula (!!!). (Remember, "returned" is a weighted concept, as we live about 1 1/2 hours from the Consulado.) So we completed the process, returned home, and received an email the next day advising the Visa was ready for pick-up...after email "reconnaissance" and three trips to the Consulate... So, that's the visa experience...what follows is more "Colombian Way" examples... As for the shipping of our car and household goods, the information from the customs' agent in San Andres continues to amaze us; after buying a 2008 Mitsubishi Outlander to take to the island, the agent says "Oh, they count 2013 when they say your car can only be 5 years old," which meant the Outlander was 6 years old [counting backwards from 2013!] - again, the Colombian Way; so, we had to take a loss on the car which we had just bought, and trade it in for a more recent year. Now, we get an email from her informing us that Colombia needs not only the VIN number from the car, but also the ENGINE number...I know, I know, don't even ask "why?" and especially don't fall back into that "WTF...why do they need that, if they have the VIN number?!" (Do YOU know where to find the engine number on a Toyota Corolla? Well, neither do it and, apparently, no one on the Internet knows, either...but I'll call the dealer for advice.) So, that is my little experience with "the Colombian way," as previously mentioned by Forum member "Razial" in an earlier post. I just needed to "vent" a little, and apologize for annoying anyone :-)

Chicago Bears

Sunday night the Bears beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 40-23 to start the season 3-0.  Per ESPN they have now moved up to #4 in the NFL Power Rankings, behind the Seattle Seahawks, Denver Broncos, and New Orleans Saints.

Jay Cutler had a Quarterback rating of 90.8 in last Sunday's game.

Regarding Strength of Schedule.  So far the teams they played in the 1st quarter have a total of 4 wins (but then again, 3 of them have had to play the Bears).  The 2nd quarter also has a total of 4 wins, and for each of the remaining quarters the teams have a total of 5 wins.  That bodes well for the Bears as the teams in the 1st quarter aren't as weak as their total number of wins indicates despite losing to the Bears.

Next up the 2-1 Detroit Lions, on the road, who are right behind the Bears in the NFC North Standings.  And the dreaded Packers are 2 games back!

Bear Down, Chicago Bears!

Tuesday, September 24th, 2013

Last night I took my medicine at 9pm, went to bed at 10pm, slept through the night and woke/got up at 6:45am.  Nice!

Tonight A/N is playing Millonarios at 8:10pm.  Bob already confirmed he would join me and I’ll bring the popcorn with extra butter and less salt.

After my morning coffee and newspaper I walked north to that panaderia (bakery) where I had a donut filled with arequipe and a tinto for 1mil (50 cents). Per Google: Arequipe, also known as Dulce de leche, is a soft caramel spread made from whole milk and sugar.  A tinto is the presentation par excellence of a cup of black coffee as well as its antonomastic name in Colombia, where references to it are synonymous with affection and hospitality. A tinto may cost up to four pounds on a London street, yet in Colombia it may be obtained for free. Practically anyone is willing to prepare and offer it and begin a dialogue surrounded by the aroma of coffee. This was the reason behind the creation a few years back of the flagship phrase for a successful publicity campaign: “Tomémonos un tinto, seamos amigos”, which could be translated as “Let’s have a tinto, let’s be friends.”

The initiation of friendship actually begins with the mule driver’s sensible work on the mountains to make the earth bring forth its best fruits. And those of us who are honored by drinking such a delicious beverage can only thank this sensible work, because it is thanks to coffee that we get to know the good news of each day.

It is customary in Colombia to begin the day with a cup of coffee that gives us energy and optimism. Just about anywhere. In coffee landscapes, beaches, exotic settings, and big cities, there will always be someone to offer a tinto.

I stopped at the small office supply store and bought 5 more plastic string-tie folders (in different colors) for 1,800 ($1) each.

Still no answer to my email to Rosetta Stone.  I noticed that RS doesn’t show I’ve completed any of the Listening & Reading lessons so I’m starting them now.

9:45 and I got a call from Beatriz.  I believe we confirmed I will meet her at her office tomorrow at 6pm and we’ll take a taxi to Molinos to see the movie.  I just have to remember that We’re the Millers in Spanish is Quien *&$%! Son Los Miller?

Now I can see I’ve completed all of the lessons in RS for Level 1, Unit 1: Language Basics.  Now, on to the few missing lessons from Level 1, Unit 2: Greetings & Introductions.

I’m not sure what it’s going to give me but I downloaded the NFL Mobile app on my iPad – for free.  I tried to set up an account but gave me a sign-in error message.  But when I give them just my email address to have them send me my password they tell me is isn’t registered.  Sigh!

I also downloaded a game called Dots – the same game that Margarita called Tricky, Tricky.

I stopped at Jhon’s office on the way to lunch and found out that tonight’s A/N game has been cancelled because at the last Millonarios game one fan killed another.

Lunch was the Pasta of the Day (chicken lasagna) at Alfredo’s for 6,900.  While waiting for my food I heard someone speaking English behind me.  It was a man from Florida who has already spent a lot of money on cellular calls to the States trying to fix a problem with his computer.  I told him about magicJack and how one expat had a couple of them he was selling and if he gave me his email address I would send him the seller’s email address.  He told me about an iPad app called SayHi Translate that translates what you say into a foreign language.  I downloaded it for 99 cents; it’s pretty neat!  Time will tell how accurate it is.

I spent the most of the afternoon studying one of my chess books.  A man with a cell phone to his ear (yep, just like the States) motioned if he could play against me.  By the middle game we were even in material but I had one of his bishops pinned in the corner behind his pawns and therefore useless and one of my bishops was positioned squarely in the center protected by pawns.  Then he got up and said he had to leave.  Oh well.

Dinner was a Whopper and small strawberry milkshake at Burger King. 

On the crossover bridge at Avenida 80 I could see that the northbound (all 3 lanes) traffic was stopped and they were loading someone into an ambulance.

At the corner store, while drinking a Coke I finished the 660+ page Steve Jobs book.  Now I have to find another book to download.  Any suggestions out there?  Sorry, I couldn’t wait; I downloaded Stephen King’s 1,236 page book The Stand for $8.99.

I ran into Bob briefly and was happy to find out that Jhon had told him about tonight’s cancelled game.  Bob has a cold but Jhon told him it will go away in a couple of days.  Margarita was also there and I told her I now had Tricky, Tricky on my iPad.

When I turned on my iPad back at my apartment I got a “push notification” (I think that’s what it’s called) that if I missed last night’s episode of Hostages I could watch it on the CBS app on my iPad.

I’ll try that next.

Monday, September 23rd, 2013

Yesterday Bob told me that a few blocks away at Calle 41 #70-34 there is a restaurant named Sonytruchas that serves great fried trout – and it doesn’t taste fishy.

Last night I waited for Beatriz and when she didn’t show up at my apartment at 7pm as planned I walked down to her house and called her on my cell phone.  She gave the phone to her son who asked me, in English, to come to her house.  I told him I was already there and she came out and let me in.  She was giving her son a pedicure but she said she would be done soon.  In the meantime I wrestled with her little buggy-eyed dog named LuLu (I looked it up later; it’s a pug.) and told her son and daughter some jokes.  We didn’t leave until 7:25 (for a 7:30 game L).  We walked down to Sport Wings and their Wi-Fi wasn’t working but finally I figured out they were telling me “service stops at 10pm”.  So we grabbed a taxi to Parque Lleras.  We were a short 2 block walk away and after covering the first block I noticed the restaurant we were walking next to had the game on.  We grabbed a table in front of one of many large screen TVs, finally got the correct Wi-Fi password and found that what I had seen was just a commercial.  I told Beatriz not to order anything until I could actually see the game.  By the time they got it on there was like 2 minutes left in the 1^st quarter with the Bears ahead 17-0 so obviously I missed a lot of action.

It was a nice Italian restaurant named Al Rojo (The Red).  I watched the game while Beatriz played Paper Toss on my iPad.  I had the Pasta Bolognesa and 2 Cokes and she had the Pasta Carbonara, a fruit juice and a Coke.  For dessert we shared a slice of chocolate cake with ice cream.  The total came to 87,222 ($45.91) including tip.  A little pricier than Patrick’s but the food was better and healthier. 

A man at the next table (hidden at first by his dark haired girlfriend) asked me if I was a Bears fan.  Affirmative!  He said he is Canadian so I told him our new coach had been the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes the last 4-5 years.

The taxi ride there cost 10mil and the ride back was 11mil.  I don’t know why it should be more expensive going home because there was a lot less traffic, except for the fact the driver stopped for gas and I didn’t notice that the meter may have been still running.  So the entire night cost 87,222+10,000+11,000 = 108,222 or $56.96.

The Chicago Bears defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 40-23 to start the season 3-0, although the game was closer than the score indicates.

I went to bed at 11:22, got up once during the night, got up again at 6:20 and finally woke/got up at 7:50.

I had breakfast at Bunuelo Express and then to get change for a 50mil bill I bought a can of peaches at Exito.  I had my iPad with me so I took this picture of the 5D Xtreme simulator in the lower level of Viva Mall.

We’re the Millers is playing at Molinos at 6:40pm.  We decided to see it Wednesday so I will probably meet Beatriz at her office at 6pm and we’ll take a taxi from there.  I sent her a text message explaining everything so I hope she got it.

I talked to Bob at Redds for a while on my way to LM.  Lunch was the Chicken Combo #2 with medium Pepsi at Frisby for 18mil.

Augusto showed up early – about 3:15 and we played 4 games.  Technically I won them all but one game he was up a queen but didn’t know how to proceed with his advantage and he lost on time.

I didn’t feel like anything major for dinner tonight so I picked up a 6-pack of Dannon Activa yogurt for 6,597 ($3.47) at Exito.  It was supposed to have cereal included but I don’t see any.  Luckily I have some granola at home that I added to it.

I want to watch the TV series Hostages at 9pm on CBS so I logged on early at 7pm and received this message for the first time:  Please note: Our theater reached capacity for this particular show, and we must assign your seat to a paying patron.  You are first in line if a seat becomes available.  We apologize for the inconvenience; we are constantly adding more free seats.

Sunday, September 22nd, 2013

Last night Beatriz invited me back to her aunt’s house to celebrate Day of the Family next Saturday.

I took my medicine as soon as I got home. 

I went to bed at 11:15, got up once during the night, woke up at 6:30 and got up at 7:15.

I picked up milk for my cereal at the corner store and added 2mil to my cell phone and Beatriz’s.

I took a nap from 10:15 to 11:15; now I should be good for the day.

Lunch was a waffle with my leftover milk and a few canned peaches.

I spent about 45 minutes at the corner store having a Coke and reading my Nook hoping that Bob might come by on the way to Sport Wings to see his 3:30 Atlanta Falcons game.

It’s possible that Sport Wings might close early tonight and Beatriz and I have to go to Patrick’s Irish Pub which will cost more for the taxi rides so I stopped at Viva and took a little more money out of the ATM.

On the way in I ran into Bob and Margarita.  Bob told me he decided to watch the game on his tablet but we agreed to meet across the street in a few minutes at Redd’s bar.

When I got there Bob told me Margarita had to go home.  I spent more than 3 hours there talking to him and reading my Nook while he watched the Falcons game.  Unfortunately, the Falcons lost to the Dolphins in the last minute.

More about tonight, tomorrow.  Go Bears!

Saturday, September 21st, 2013

Today is Dia del Amor (Day of Love), their equivalent of Valentine’s Day.

Last night, I took my medicine as soon as I got back to my apartment.  I realized I was suffering from sugar overload so I found a package of saltine crackers and felt immediately better after eating them. 

I went to bed at 11pm, got up twice during the night and then had difficulty getting back to sleep.  I finally woke/got up at 8am.

I obviously lost power overnight as the clock on my microwave read 00:00 when I got up this morning.  I think this is about the 3^rd time this has happened.

Breakfast was at the Golden Palermo Hotel.  I stopped at the pet store on my way back and talked briefly with Wilson.  I told him the star of Shawshank Redemption was Tim Robbins not Tim Burton that I had told him yesterday but I still couldn’t remember the name of the author who originally wrote it as a short story.  I remembered he authors horror stories including Cujo.  I had my iPad with me and tried to connect to the store’s Wi-Fi but Wilson couldn’t remember the password.  Later I looked it up – it’s Stephen King.

In the lower level of Viva Mall they have the 5D Simulator I previously saw at Monterrey C.C. and another location I don’t recall.

In Exito I bought Dux crackers 1,990, toothpicks 1,330, plastic wrap 3,390, Fab detergent 5,930, and a box of assorted Lindt chocolates for Beatriz for 21,950.

I bought a couple packages of cookies from the lady on the bridge.

I posted the Spanish vowels as a separate entry in my blog.

I got an email from Beatriz via my Facebook account (that I never use).  She’s going to meet me at my apartment today at 3pm. 

I also got an email from LatinAmericanCupid.com that I had signed up for months ago.  They send me the same 3 ladies every week.  One of them I had indicated an interest in but never heard anything back.  This time there is a new lady – Rosy.  She’s 53 years old, 5’3”, 121#, looks cute, has a Master’s degree and speaks English.  But she’s looking for a man 49-55 from Belgium, no less.  I clicked on “Interest Sent” so we’ll see what happens next.

Lunch was a 6” turkey breast sandwich and small Coke at Subway for 9,900.

On the way back to the apartment there was a man on my street selling flowers so I bought 10 beauties for 6mil.

Beatriz also asked me to recharge her cell phone but I forgot when I was out for lunch.

I see in my USAA account that the $31.03 for the return of Chess Strategy for the Tournament Player (3^rd Revised Edition) has been credited to my debit card.  I’ll order it again when I’m more confident I will actually be able to receive it.

Beatriz came over about 3pm and I gave her the box of candy and the flowers.  Needless to say she was very happy.

We walked over to her house to drop off the flowers and candy.  She had some guests and she shared the candy with them.  There was at least one piece for everyone.  There were several comments about how delicious the chocolate was.

We walked over to Exito where she picked out a strawberry cheesecake for 35,000 and a mini cake for 4,400.  We dropped off the mini cake for her daughter Maria and she called for a taxi so all we had to do was walk out the door.  Her aunt and cousin live near Belen but higher up in the hills – about a 7mil taxi ride away.

They live in a gated community in a high rise building with their 2 dogs.  They made a nice dinner for us of ensalada de piño repollo (like a coleslaw with pineapple (and coconut?)) and patacon con carne desmechada (similar to a pizza) but the crust is fried with shredded beef and tomatoes on top.  I watched the A/N futbol game against Tolima (A/N won 2-0) while Beatriz gave her aunt a manicure and pedicure.  It was nice that the aunt and cousin both spoke a little English.

UNUSUAL TASTES

Colombians put honey on their fried chicken, sugar on their popcorn, and salsa rosada (a mixture of ketchup and mayonnaise) on their French fries.  Rosada means “pink” which is how it looks when it is combined.

COLOMBIAN MEN

Colombian men really value younger women even if they aren’t particularly attractive.  I remember Jesus being so proud when he introduced us to his wife.  She certainly wasn’t anything to look at but she was young.  I believe he is about 50 and she is about 20. 

According to Bob, Jhon likes women 35 or younger, I like them in their 40s and Bob likes them 50 and up so I guess between the 3 of us we’ve got just about all ages covered.

Spanish Vowels

Spanish vowels

Overview

New words are easy to pronounce in Spanish thanks to their vowels. There are only 5 vowel phonemes (sounds) in Spanish and they are each only pronounced one way. English has the same 5 vowels, but they are pronounced 12 different ways (I live well. vs. I went to see a live show of that band.) Below, you will find the phoneme (outlined in /slant brackets/), an approximate pronunciation guide, and examples words.

Vowel Pronunciation

In general, all vowels are shorter in Spanish than in English. Take the letter "O" for example. When we say the letter "O" in English, it sounds a little like "Oooohwa." In Spanish, it is much shorter, almost like the sound a gorilla would make: "Oh." Keep this in mind when practicing your Spanish vowels. You’ll sound much more native with short vowels rather than long southern-belle vowels.

Spanish Vowel Sounds	English Example	Spanish Example
/a/ = "ah"	father, saw	papa, agua
/e/ = "eh"	met, bed	esperanza, bebe
/i/ = "ee"	bee, leaf	sí, chica
/o/ = "oh"	low, know	loco, bonito
/u/ = "oo"	sue, do	grupo, futuro

Diphthongs

Now that you know the 5 basic vowel sounds, you can sound out any combination. When you see two vowels next to each other, one strong (a, e, o) and one weak (i, u) or two weak vowels, all you have to do is combine the two vowels you see into one syllable; this is called a diphthong. To practice pronouncing a diphthong, make the sound for the first vowel, and then the second one. Then repeat faster and faster until it sounds like one syllable.

Spanish Diphthongs	Approximate Pronunciation	Spanish Examples
au	/a/ + /u/ = "ow!"	au-la, aun-que
ai, ay	/a/ + /i/ = "ay ay ay!"	ai-re, hay
eu	/e/ + /u/ = * this sound doesn't exist in English, but is kind of similar to "eeew!"	Eu-ro-pa, neu-tro
ei, ey	/e/ + /i/ = "hey"	rei-na, rey
ia	/i/ + /a/ = "yah!"	pia-no, ha-cia
ie	/i/ + /e/ = "yeck!"	tie-rra, ser-pien-te
io	/i/ + /o/ = "yo yo"	ra-dio, u-nión
iu	/i/ + /u/ = "you"	viu-da, ciu-dad
oi, oy	/o/ + /i/ = "toy"	boi-na, hoy
ua	/u/ + /a/ = "water"	a-gua, cua-dro
ue	/u/ + /e/ = "wet"	fue-go, true-no
ui	/u/ + /i/ = "wee!"	fui-mos, huir
uo	/u/ + /o/ = "whoa"	cuo-ta, in-di-vi-duo