Monday, December 23rd, 2013

Last night I left the apartment at 7:15, caught a bus at 7:25 and got off at Monterrey at 8:05.  I arrived at Patrick’s at 8:25 and Reina arrived a minute later.  

The good news is that before the game began the Detroit Lions had already lost to the NY Giants and the Green Bay Packers had already lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers.  So, a Bears victory tonight would make them the NFC North Division Champions.

Unfortunately, my Bears got clobbered by the Philadelphia Eagles 54-11.  It wasn’t fun at all sitting through that.  The only good news is they will still win the division if they beat the Packers next Sunday afternoon in Chicago.

I had the Irish Stew and 2 Cokes for 22mil and she had the Curry Chicken, cheese cake and a mango juice for 33mil.  I left an extra 2mil tip.

I went to bed at 12:30, got up twice during the night and woke up to Lionel’s radio at 6:30.  I went back to bed, got up again at 7:15, took 2 Excedrin Migraine for my sore back, went back to bed, and finally woke/got up at 8:30.

I was at the notary’s office (Notaria 31) at 9:30.  I waited a few minutes for another couple ahead of me and then it was my turn.  Despite my limited Spanish, they guided me through the process with no problem.  They stamped a big form on the back of each page and printed my full name and passport number.  I checked to make sure everything was entered correctly. I also had to put a fingerprint of my index finger inside a little box.  On the front side I signed my name and she stamped it.  She sent me to the cashier where I paid 6,496 pesos ($3.42).  Then I took it in to a separate office where “the man” scrawled his signature like a US doctor and put an invisible (at least I couldn’t see it) stamp on it.  The whole process took about 20 minutes.

On my way back to the apartment I bought a slab of pineapple for 1mil for my breakfast.

At 10:15 I was on the bus and got off just before the turnoff to Oviedo at 10:55.  I walked up the hill and was in Carulla by 11am.  I wandered around the store a little and then headed out the side entrance, walked up the hill, and when I got to Avenida Poblado I was between McDonald’s and Oviedo CC as expected.  I walked south a couple blocks, crossed the street and walked up the steep 2 long blocks to James’ apartment.  Luckily, it was a cool morning or I would have felt pretty uncomfortable.  I got there at 11:25, dropped off the notarized letters and my passport with Andres and was out within 5 minutes.  On the way back down the hill I noticed a side street with a Banco de Occidente building on it that might be a short cut for me to Avenida Poblado.  I’ll have to check it out another time.

I was at FFSS by 12:05.  David from Kentucky was there sitting at another table with several other guys.  I had 2 Cokes and a BLT for 12mil.  The guy at the other table was asking if anyone had a used smart phone for sale, even if the phone doesn’t work, because he wants to download WhatsApp to use for messaging.  I’ve already tried downloading that to my iPad but it isn’t available.

I left at 1:00 and stopped at MBE but they said my mail isn’t there yet.  I understood they will either call me or email me when it arrives.

At 1:20 I was back on the bus and almost immediately it started raining.  Luckily it stopped before I got off.  I stopped at the laundry and picked up my towels for 6mil, then stopped at the Tinto store, had a cup of coffee and read a little more from my Nook book.

Andres called me at 5:20 to tell me he was sending me a form for some of my general information and as soon as I returned it that he would be able to submit my visa request.

Dinner was a Double Steak burger at Burger King with a small strawberry shake for 13,300 ($7) with coupon.  Then I stopped at Fresco Pan for a cup of coffee.  Andrea was back after some time of not seeing her.