Monday, March 31st, 2014

I went to bed at 10:30, only had a little difficulty getting to sleep, got up twice during the night, woke up at 5:45 and got up at 6:20.

I had my usual breakfast at El Comedor de Chava.  I left early and made my April medical insurance payment at BanColombia.  Luckily there was no one ahead of me in line.  I stopped across the street for a glass of orange juice but it was closed.  I guess I was too late.

During my Spanish class I passed Jhon’s test on conjugating regular verbs ending in –ar, -er, and –ir.  Of course I still need a lot of practice using them.

Lunch was the Chicken Teriyaki at Sarku’s; there was no line to speak of today.  I checked my emails and I had one from Rubi (AFA) but the caption was CONFIRMATION.

When I got back to my apartment I logged into my AFA account and read the following from the email:

“Dear Client!   The correspondence that you have recently sent via Express Email has been received by our foreign office.
Our office was not able to immediately contact this woman by telephone.   We have completed a written translation of your correspondence and have sent the translated and original correspondence via the local postal system on the following day.
When our office receives a response to your letter we will contact you promptly.   We would like to thank you for using our service.”

I’m not sure if I should be worried about this.  I received the same “confirmation” from Yuri on Friday and now Rubi today.

I left the apartment at 2:20 for the 3:20 showing of Her at Oviedo.  I was there 10 minutes early and bought a general ticket for 11mil plus a small popcorn for 7mil and large soda for 5,100.  When I arrived there was only one other person in the theater but others were still trickling in after the main feature had started.  Besides myself I counted 18 others.  The movie was very interesting with a number of naked and suggestive scenes.  I heard a lot of chuckling behind me and I know there were a number of senior citizens in the audience that took a lot of time getting to their seats.

The bus ride home only took 40 minutes today; much more reasonable.  I stopped in at Viva CC and had a large strawberry shake from BK for 6,600.  I hope that will tide me over until morning.

10 Rules for Dating my Daughter

Jeff La Grua, a former U.S. Marine, gathered these rules together from around the Web and updated them a bit. I like these rules very much.

Rule One:

If you pull into my driveway and honk you’d better be delivering a package, because you’re sure not picking anything up.

Rule Two:

You do not touch my daughter in front of me. You may glance at her, so long as you do not peer at anything below her neck. If you cannot keep your eyes or hands off of my daughter’s body, I will remove them.

Rule Three:

I am aware that it is considered fashionable for boys of your age to wear their trousers so loosely that they appear to be falling off their hips. Please don’t take this as an insult, but you and all of your friends are complete idiots.

Still, I want to be fair and open minded about this issue, so I propose his compromise: You may come to the door with your underwear showing and your pants three sizes too small, and I will not object. However, in order to ensure that your clothes do not, in fact, come off during the course of your date with my daughter, I will take my electric nail gun and fasten your trousers securely in place to your ass.

Rule Four:

I’m sure you’ve been told that in today’s world, sex without utilizing a “barrier method” of some kind can kill you. Let me elaborate: When it comes to sex, I am the barrier, and I will kill you.

Rule Five:

It is usually understood that in order for us to get to know each other, we should talk about sports, politics, and other issues of the day. Please do not do this. The only information I require from you is an indication of when you expect to have my daughter safely back at my house, and the only word I need from you on this subject is “early.”

Rule Six:

I have no doubt you are a popular fellow, with many opportunities to date other girls. This is fine with me as long as it is okay with my daughter. Otherwise, once you have gone out with my little girl, you will continue to date no one but her until she is finished with you. If you make her cry, I will make you bleed.

Rule Seven:

As you stand in my front hallway, waiting for my daughter to appear, and more than an hour goes by, do not sigh and fidget. If you want to be on time for the movie, you should not be dating. My daughter is putting on her makeup, a process that can take longer than painting the Golden Gate Bridge. Instead of just standing there, why don’t you do something useful, like change the oil in my car and rotate the tires?

Rule Eight:

The following places are not appropriate for a date with my daughter: Places where there are beds, sofas, or anything softer than a wooden stool. Places where there are no parents, policemen, or nuns within eyesight. Places where there is darkness. Places where there is dancing, holding hands, or happiness. Places where the ambient temperature is warm enough to induce my daughter to wear shorts, tank tops, midriff T-shirts, or anything other than overalls, a sweater, and a goose down parka – zipped up to her throat. Movies with a strong romantic or sexual theme are to be avoided; movies which features chain saws are okay. Hockey games are okay. Old folks homes are better.

Rule Nine:

Do not lie to me. I may appear to be a potbellied, balding, middle-aged, dimwitted has-been. But on issues relating to my daughter, I am the all-knowing, all-seeing, merciless god of your universe. If I ask you where you are going and with whom, you have one chance to tell me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I have a shotgun, a shovel, and five acres behind the house. Do not fuck with me.

Rule Ten:

Be afraid. Be very afraid. It takes very little for me to mistake the sound of your car in the driveway for a helo coming in over a Wadi near Baghdad. When my Gulf War Syndrome starts acting up, the voices in my head frequently tell me to clean the guns as I wait for you to bring my daughter home. As soon as you pull into the driveway you should exit your car with both hands in plain sight. Speak the perimeter password, announce in a clear voice that you have brought my daughter home safely and early, then return to your car – there is no need for you to come inside. The camouflaged face at the window is mine.

Sunday, March 30th, 2014

Last night I went to bed at 10:30, fell asleep quickly, woke up and looked at my watch (6:10am), fell back asleep and woke/got up at 6:40 feeling great! 

I logged onto my latptop and saw I have 3 emails from A Foreign Affair captioned “Letter received for” followed by each ladies profile number.  I sent an email to Margarita asking if Jaime is coming this morning and if so at what time.

I watered all the plants and then took my shower.  

Each of the AFA emails says “Your letter and background info has been received by our system and sent to the (XXXXXX) email address.” where XXXXXX is the ladies profile number.  Hopefully this is the first step in obtaining the their real email addresses.

I also had 2 emails from LAC regarding ladies that have shown interest in me.  Many are overweight and black and almost all are from outside Colombia (Peru, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, etc.).  Today’s weren’t black but otherwise nothing new.

 I had my usual breakfast at El Comedor de Chava.

Harry called at 10:00 telling me he would be there in 30 minutes.

T-shirt: Life includes a trip around the sun.

I told Harry about the 3 ladies I’m corresponding with on AFA.  His main concern is I don’t know if they are from good families.  I told him that would be true of any new woman I meet.  (Actually all the ladies on AFA are supposed to have been checked out but I have no idea what that really entails.)  That can only be answered later after you get to know them.  He told me he is having trouble with his wife and will probably be getting his own apartment.  He said he might call me later because his wife threw him out and needs to stay with me.  I told him not to bother calling me because that ain’t gonna happen. 

About 1pm I had my usual weekend lunch at Pizza Americana.

After I got back from lunch I received this email from Margarita:

“Don't think my father goes over there today, we prefer that Arley do all the repairs, 

but i will call him to confirm.

If I need you, will contact you, continue enjoying your Sunday..:-) “

About 6pm I had 2 churros and café con leche at Paisa Pan.  On the way back I saw Bob and Margarita sitting on a bench in the small park.  I stopped at the apartment and went back and gave Bob a battery charger that my brother had given me back in March.  I sat and talked with him for awhile.  He told me he has to return to the States soon to take care of some business.  Across from them on another bench was a young couple making out.  That reminded him of 10 Rules for Dating my Daughter.  He told me to look it up.

Saturday, March 29th, 2014

Last night I went to bed at 10:30 woke up at 2 and didn’t get back to sleep until about 3.  I woke/got up at 6:30 and took 2 Excedrin Migraine.

I had breakfast at the Golden Palermo Hotel followed by a study period at LM until about noon when I stopped to exchange some things at my apartment.  There has been an oversized letter on the stairs for a couple days with an apartment address of 302.  Today I took a closer look and I saw it’s for the next street over.  I stopped there and rang their bell but no answer.  There is a large box outside the door which I hope is for mail as I slipped it in there.

I had my usual lunch at Pizza Americana.

About 3pm Harry called me and invited me to meet him at the Cuban restaurant tonight at 6pm.

I was there at 6pm and he brought me across the street to the hotel where he took me up to a 3^rd floor conference room and I met Julian his computer instructor.  Julian speaks a little English.  Harry had a drink, I believe his 3^rd of the night, while he talked about a lot of things, mainly women, and how Medellin has changed and it’s so difficult to find love here because all they are interested in these days is how much money a man has.  Julian warned me to be careful because there are a lot of bad men out there.

About 8pm Julian left and Harry and I went across the street.  He wanted to go to a fast food place instead of the Cuban restaurant because he knew the owner.  I had a Fajita and a mango juice and Harry just had another drink. 

He wants to go to Parque Lleras in Poblado for the first time Friday night and I agreed to go with him.  A/N was playing Santa Fe on TV and it ended a 2-2 tie; well, I guess that’s more exciting than a 0-0 tie.  I finally left about 9:45.

\

Friday, March 28th, 2014

Last night I went to bed at 9:30, got up once during the night, woke up at 4:30 and took 2 Excedrin Migraine and finally got up at 5:30.

I checked today’s US movie releases and I would like to see Noah (7.4) starring Russell Crowe and maybe Sabotage (6.6).  Locally, The Trials of Cate McCall (6.0) and Her (8.3) starring Joaquin Phoenix sounds interesting. 

This is interesting.  I see on imdb.com that Captain America: The Winter Soldier is coming soon and it’s already playing here in Medellin.

I had my usual breakfast at El Comedor de Chava while I studied my Spanish notes.  I followed that with an orange juice at Redd’s.

After my Spanish class I went into Viva CC to have Chicken Teriyaki at Sarku’s but the line was so long I decided I wasn’t that hungry.  I took a bus to Los Molinos where I got my usual haircut from Juan Rojas.  I took another bus to Oviedo and got there 10 minutes before the 2:15 showing of The Trials of Cate McCall.  I bought a general admission ticket (still assigned seating) for 9mil, small popcorn for 7mil and large soda for 5,100.  It was a good movie with some surprises at the end.  I noticed that Tarzan is coming soon but I see it’s animated and only rated 4.4 so I think I’ll skip it.  

The movie got out about 4pm and I walked down to MBE where I made next month’s mail box payment of 30,500.  I received the March issue of Chess Life magazine and a letter from Sears reminding me how to access my pension plan benefit information.

Then I walked up to A Foreign Affair (AFA) and talked to the office manager – Lorena.  We logged in using my Id and I noticed I have an email from Yuri with the word CONFIRMATION on it.  After talking to Lorena I have a much better idea of how their Virtual email system and their website works.  Lorena said if I have any more trouble I should call or email Anna in the AFA HQ in Texas.

I had a BLT for dinner at FFSS since I was only 1 block away and then I caught a Circular Sur 303 bus back to the apartment.  I was pleasantly surprised I had a seat in front with nobody sitting next to me.  There were a number of open seats.  As soon as we got to Avenida 80 it was like merging from I-294S onto I-90 East in Chicago only here there were 2 ramps merging into our road.  Then the driver stopped the bus and everyone got off and got on the bus behind it.  I ended up standing just inside the back door.  The trip usually takes 30 minutes with no traffic but tonight it took 1 hour and 20 minutes.  

When I got back to the apartment I found Arley (handyman), Jaime, Marcela and her mother standing outside the building.  Jaime informed me that Arley was there to install the stovetop into the countertop.  After about 15 minutes he finished and there was a lot of dust in the immediate area.  Jaime said he would come back Sunday morning to connect it and clean up the dust.

I was eager to read Yuri’s email but found the following: “CONFIRMATION

Dear Client!   The correspondence that you have recently sent via Express Email has been received by our foreign office.

Our office was not able to immediately contact this woman by telephone.   We have completed a written translation of your correspondence and have sent the translated and original correspondence via the local postal system on the following day.
When our office receives a response to your letter we will contact you promptly.   We would like to thank you for using our service.”

So I guess I didn’t receive a letter from her after all, in fact, she didn’t received my latest.

I finally found this information about Virtual email addresses.

A Virtual E-mail address is an E-mail address that when sent by you will be redirected via our service to the woman's actual E-mail. We do not translate it, we do not read it we simply redirect it to her personal E-mail box. It is the same process as if you were sending it directly to her actual E-mail address.
Due to Federal legislation we are no longer able to give out the actual E-mail address until she has acknowledged that she has seen your marital and criminal history. The virtual E-mail allows for this since it sends the personal information form you completed first, translated in her native language, and once she has acknowledged that she has read it and she is OK with it your E-mail will be delivered to her box. At that point she can E-mail you directly and you can then reply to her directly.

Tonight I was able to purchase the email addresses of the 3 ladies.  Strangely enough it gets charged to a credit card instead of being charged to my account balance.

A few minutes later I had an email from AFA with what I guess are Virtual email addresses that I’m supposed to use.  We’ll see if they work.

T-shirt of the day: “I wanna break free”.  Not sure what that means.

Thursday, March 27th, 2014

I went to bed at 10:15, got to sleep quickly but woke up at 4am and had difficulty getting back to sleep.  I finally woke/got up at 7am and took 2 Excedrin Migraine.

I sent an email to AFA’s home office in Texas asking for help with their virtual email ordering process as I’m not sure if I’ve properly ordered their email addresses or not.

I had my usual breakfast at El Comedor de Chava, studied some of my Spanish notes, and had an orange juice at Redd’s.

On my way to breakfast I noticed that outside the community center there was a stage set up and lot of colored balloons.

During Spanish class Jhon and I heard music coming from the direction of the community center; we both thought it strange that they were having a party there on a weekday and in the morning.

After Spanish class I dropped off my things at home and found I had an email from Margarita that her father might come by this afternoon with someone to complete the installation of my sink.

I picked up my Nook and chess set and headed back to Viva CC.  I had a small hotdog, chips and large Pepsi at Dogger.

At Dario’s building he informed me they aren’t allowed to play outside on the patio any longer; we have to play in their recreation room.  I guess because I had the black pieces our last two games (even though I won both) he gave me white without the traditional coin flip.  I tried to play my usual opening but he got aggressive and instead of castling to protect his king he started pushing pawns down at him.  I blocked his trailing pawn with my queen, he grabbed one of my pawns and then I started developing while attacking his queen.  Then I switched to attacking his king.  At one point he tried to sacrifice his queen for a forced mate but I ignored it and kept reinforcing my attack on his king.  He made an aggressive move grabbing another of my pawns and then I checkmated his king.  Of course I reminded him I’ve now won 3 in a row.  Since I’ve been using ChessMagnetSchool.com I’ve gotten 2 wins and 4 draws in a tournament and won 3 in a row against Dario.  I’m not sure there is a connection but it sounds encouraging.

On my way to Viva CC for dinner I noticed that they had almost completely removed all indication that they had had a party there earlier.

Dinner was a chicken sandwich at Subway and a large strawberry shake from BK.

I had asked Maria Paulina (LAC) what she is studying and I just saw I got a reply – Business Administration.  I’m going to try to include a photo of her but I don’t know if it is going to work.  For you sake, I hope so!  So far all it’s copied is the thumbnail not the full body shots.

Nope, didn't work!  :-(

Wednesday, March 26th, 2014

Yesterday I forgot to mention I met Joey Medellin (he calls himself) while at FFSS.  I had seen him there before but I think this is the first time I talked to him.  He has a business assisting expats.  His business card says “Let us help you with!!  15 years experience – Visas, Transportation, Tourism, University, Medical, Banking, Cedula (I.D.), Gyms, Salsa Dance School and much more!”    www.SurvivalSpanglish.com.

Last night I went to bed at 10:45, woke up at 3am and had trouble getting back to sleep.  I finally woke/got up at 7am.

This morning I was surprised to see I received interest from Maria Paulina (LAC):

Maria Paulina, 27, Medellin, vocational college, IT Communications, has children that live at home, some English, 5’5”, 105#, blond hair, brown eyes, pretty face, nice figure, big boobs.

She’s probably looking for a father to support her kids.  She sent me an email asking where I lived.  (This is probably the equivalent of a woman in the US wanting to know what car you drive.)  I told her and asked her where she lived.

After breakfast at Fresco Pan I took some cash out of the ATM and only had to wait 5 minutes (one person ahead of me) to deposit a 50% downpayment for my chess table into Jose Santis’ savings account.  While I was in Exito I bought a bottle of floor cleaner that Olga had finished and 3 more air fresheners. 

I had a glass of orange juice at Redd’s.  Today they had plastic tables and chairs set up for the customers to use.

After my Spanish lesson and I returned to my apartment (I emailed a copy of my bank receipt to Jose) I caught a Circular 302 bus to Avenida Las Vegas, walked up the hill and arrived 10 minutes early for the 1:20 showing of Labor Day.  It cost 4,500 for my general admission ticket and I also bought a small popcorn (85 ounces) and large soda.  A medium popcorn is 130 ounces and a large popcorn is 170 ounces.  Wow, they are really large!  

After the movie started and they still hadn’t turned down the house lights I walked out of the theater, took 2 escalators down before I found someone I could report it to.  By the time I got back the lights were off.  There were only 4 other people in the theatre – all ladies.  It was a good movie – sort of a love story – I recommend it.  Movies coming soon to Oviedo are Noah, Pompei, and Son of God.

After the movie I walked back down to Avenida Las Vegas and caught a Circular 302 bus to La America market where I was yesterday.  (The trip took an hour – I’m sure it would have been faster if I had taken the reverse route as I normally do.)  I located my plant coaster quickly and it only cost 10mil compared to the 18mil I think I paid at Exito.  In 10 minutes I walked the 6 blocks to where the bus usually stops near my apartment.  It raised my temperature a bit but I saved $1.  Woo Hoo!  Lol.

When I got back to my apartment I was pleasantly surprised to see I had a letter from Rubi (AFA):

·       Rubi is 48, 5’6”, 130#, black eyes, brown hair, no children, drinks socially, college, works, lives alone, and has the most beautiful smile I have ever seen.

She sent me 2 pictures of herself in a swimsuit.  One was in the distance and in the other she was facing the camera lying on her stomach.  She still looks pretty with a nice figure.

She also tried to send me her telephone number but once again it was blocked by AFA.  I tried to buy her email address but couldn’t get it to work.  I plan to call or stop at the AFA office tomorrow to find out what I’m doing wrong.

I have an answer from Maria Paulina but I couldn’t read it because my one month subscription ($20) ran out.  I renewed for another 3 months ($40) and read her reply.  She lives in Buenos Aires and wants to know how long I’ve lived in Medellin.  Buenos Aires is just east of downtown.  I sent her an answer and asked her what kind of work she does.

Time sure goes fast when you’re having fun.  Lol.

Tuesday, March 25th, 2014

Last night in Chess Magnet School I was promoted to Admiral.  There are only 3 higher titles I could be promoted to but I’m not sure if that’s feasible for me.  It’s going to take a lot of work.

I went to bed at 9:30 had great difficulty getting to sleep, finally waking up at 6:40am.

I ran into Jhon at Los Mejores where I had my usual breakfast, stopped at Likkes to request lunch be delivered at noon, had an orange juice at Redd’s and was back at the apartment by 8:30.

Olga arrived at 9am and was surprised to see all the plants but didn’t like the fact I had the corn plant in the bedroom; something about it being able to breathe.  As far as I know it breathes what we exhale, carbon dioxide, so it seems like it would like being close to people.  Maybe she means it needs more fresh air.  From what I can see on the internet it likes indirect light better than direct light.  But it is very dry!  I gave it another container of water.

At one point I heard a small crash as Olga dropped the cover to the fan.  But she washed all the parts and put it back together again.  I also had her wash all the pots the plants are in.

I think my luck with the ladies is changing – for the better!

I got an answer from Yuri (42); she tried to give me her cell phone number but AFA blocked it.  They require her first to review my profile, accept my next email using their virtual address system and then they will give me her real email address.  At least I think that’s how it works.

I also got a letter from Luz Amparo (55) with 2 new photos.  They are a little distant but she looks nice.  She recently traveled to Italy, Germany, and the US.  She lives alone in an apartment in the heart of Medellin, is currently working in another city but comes back each month.  She wants to know if I will be in town for Holy Week.  I’m in town every week!  Lol.  At least this time she told me more about herself.

I also have interest now from two local ladies through Latin American Cupid.

Marcela, 48, from Envigado, Masters degree, self employed, 2 children older than 18 that don’t live at home, some English; 5’3”; 148#, pretty face.

Patricia, 54, Medellin, middle school education, occupation unknown, no children, some English, 5’5”, 155#, pretty face, 37-27-36, big boobs.

Olga left at 1:15.

At 2:30 I caught a Circular 302 bus to Dr. Rendon’s office.  I was there 5 minutes early for my 3:30 appointment.  He cleaned my teeth himself and the charge was 130mil.  I had a 20mil balance I owed him from my crowns and I paid him 100mil today so my remaining balance is 50mil.

We decided to proceed every 2 months, starting in May, fixing my teeth that have receding gums for 90mil each.

On my way to the FFSS I found the building with the Opthamologist.  I took the elevator up to the 13^th floor.  Would you believe her office number is 1313?  She wasn’t in but I made an appointment for Wednesday, April 9^th at 3:30pm.

At Flip Flop Sandwich Shop I tried their BBQ chicken sandwich and like everything else I’ve had there it was really good.  I had it with a Colombiana for 13mil.  That’s when I found out Colombiana just comes in two types regular and diet.

Traffic was awful on the way back so I got off the bus just down the hill from Dario’s building so I would arrive on time.

We spent an hour going through Dario’s Rosetta Stone software – they would make decisions in English and I would try to repeat what was said in Spanish and they would correct me.  Then we took turns and each person asked the next person a question in English and they would have to answer in English.  Of course, for my turn it was in Spanish.

I just finished writing return letters to Yuri and Luz Amparo.

Unfortunately, Marcela and Patricia were not online tonight.

\

Monday, March 24th, 2014

Last night I went to bed at 9:45, got up once during the night, woke up at 6:15 and must have fallen asleep again because the next thing I know its 7:30am.

After my workout, shower and shave it was just after 9am as I stopped at Fresco Pan for coffee and a slice of ham & cheese pizza.  Today’s a holiday here in Medellin I just don’t know which; maybe a religious one because there were a lot of people in church this morning.  I asked Gonzalo what holiday today is and he didn’t know but said a lot of people left town to go to their fincas.  It was nice and quiet this morning – no school bus or taxi honking their horn, motorcycles racing up the street or salesman yelling out what wares they are selling.  It was very quiet and peaceful which is probably why I was able to fall back asleep.

I forgot my weekly payment for Jhon so I had to stop back at the apartment real quick to grab some cash.

Tomorrow I have my house cleaning from 9am to 1 or 2 in the afternoon and a dentist appoinment for a cleaning at 3:30 so I told Jhon we won’t be meeting tomorrow.  Originally he wanted to have a 4 hour make up lesson but I told him “no way”.  He said he would make it up somehow.  

After my Spanish lesson, lunch was a whopper and medium Pepsi at BK for 13,600.

When I received the plants from the other expat most of the large ones came with a nice plastic “scooter” they sit on so they can be easily moved.  I needed 2 more and found one at Exito but the sales clerk I spoke to said they don’t have any more.

I took a Circular Sur 303 bus to Home Center and found what I needed but it didn’t have wheels.  I asked the sales clerk but he said they don’t have it.

I took a Circular Sur 302 bus back towards the apartment and as often happens they turn a block before Avenida 80 where they usually ask you to switch buses.  I remembered seeing plants and accessories for sale at the market there so I hit the button and got off.  Right away it was obvious the store was closed (it’s a holiday, remember) but I also could see exactly what I was looking for through the fence.  I turned around, the bus hadn’t left yet and the door was still open so I just hopped back on and I don’t know if the driver even noticed.  Luckily, this market is within walking distance of my apartment so I won’t even have to take a bus.

T-shirt of the day: Chicago

Dinner was chili and mango juice at El Comedor de Chava.

Every week Latin American Cupid sends me an email with a photo of the same lady who they consider is an exact match to my profile on everything except age.  She’s 40 looking for a man 32-45 (maybe her profile has been up for a long time).  She also says “I have been in USA, Mexico, Brasil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador, Australia and New Zeland. For my next trip, I would like to visit Europe with my love.”  She’s very pretty and speaks good English but I know how important age and looks can be.  I sent her an email asking her if she could filter out someone of my age – 68 – so I won’t have to see her pretty face every week.

My sink is leaking again so I emailed Margarita.

Sunday, March 23rd, 2014

I went to bed at 10pm with the fan on for the first time in the new apartment but had to get up at 10:30 to close my bedroom door from the sound of the yapping dogs across the street.  I woke up at 3:45 and had great difficulty getting back to sleep.  I finally woke/got up at 7:20.

I had my usual breakfast at El Comedor de Chava at 8:30.  I finished copying Jhon’s list of regular verbs into my notebook noting inconsistencies like English misspellings and duplicates.

T-shirt of the day: “Step aside COFFEE this is a job for ALCOHOL”.

Harry called me at 11am to tell me he was busy exercising but he would talk to his new girlfriend to see if she has a friend for me and call me later.

Around noon, right after they opened, I had the Napolitana pizza again at Pizza Americana but was back at the apartment before 1pm when Jaime and Marta arrived.  Jaime had a power drill with a metal sander like attachment he tried to use, unsuccessfully, to enlarge the marble countertop.  I also pointed out that the connection hose he brought had 2 male ends and he needs a male and female end.  Obviously they have to come back again another day.

I went up on the roof to clip my toenails and Jaime and Marta were up there putting chicken wire around the top of the alcove to keep the birds out.  I asked her what that area is called and she said “común” which translates to “common” so I guess she is saying this is a common area – not a lot of help for me.

Dinner was the fruit salad special at Almibar in LM for 12mil.

It’s 6:30 at night and it still feels very warm and sticky.  The high today was predicted to be 95 and that’s what weather.com says it is now.  I always take a shower in the morning but lately I’ve been taking another one at night.

I never heard from Harry again after I talked to him earlier.

I finished my Tom Clancy book Red Rabbit and downloaded The Cardinal of the Kremlin.

Serious Family Question

Almost scared to start this thread, but I would like to hear from others out there. It is for the men that have married Colombian women and have her family close by, (mother-in-laws), etc. Do you have any issues about expecting gifts, loans or anything unusual.

Spank 12; 3/19/14

The family is a Colombian's FIRST priority. I have had difficulty with this, being English. I had a dispute with my sister-in-law 18 years ago and she still holds a grudge, and it is uncomfortable when she is in the house. The family thinks it has the rights to call whenever, eat whenever, etc etc. I personally don't like it, because I CHOOSE the friends I want to have round me, and not a load of Primos, tios and sobrinos!! I usually advise people to marry their own race - there aren't so many problems.

Mawdsjeff

Hmmm, interesting theme for a thread. I can imagine the responses could be very wide-ranging, and varied. I don't have any problems like that personally, as the in-laws are pretty secure themselves. But I can understand where you are coming from, and maybe the answer lies in the background of the family into which you have married. From the experiences of those guys who I have known to marry Colombian girls, I have found that the ones from the wealthier families don't need assistance, but sometimes marry American or English men for a visa to a better country with better opportunities and simply a better quality of life. Once settled, you can see the temptation in their eyes to seek a way of moving the whole family to the US/UK to join the daughter. But from the poorer families, I have seen the encouragement from the family, for getting the daughter married to a wealthier American or Englishman, with the ultimate aim of securing financial help for the family. This can come from many aspects, either by sending money home each week, persuading the man to help with loans, gifts, sudden and unexpected medical bills, help to start a business, or even the dreaded divorce, followed by hefty maintenance claims. Of course, some of the families don't even need to encourage the daughter, for some girls are quite mercenary enough on their own, without the help of their family. I have seen many guys who have been ripped off deliberately and mercilessly, then on to the next guy. But I have also known marriages where it has worked very well. No demands, no ulterior motive, no rip-offs for the Colombian girl does have a reputation for having values which we from the "civilized" countries lost many years ago. Things like family, religion, morals and high personal values are still important, and evident in many girls. But this is changing, and over the past few years I have seen a change in attitudes. Talking with many girls, I see how they have been exploited by the sex tourism industry, guys coming down from the USA for a dirty weekend, on the pretext of looking for a wife. Many of these guys are already married in the US, and literally get the girls into bed by deception, then often leave them pregnant, and their contact details turn out to lead to a dead end. So I have heard of many girls who are now doing it to the guys. Yes, sure, they will be all nice and play the shy virginal bride to be, then the next thing the guy hears is that she is pregnant, and wants maintenance for the kid. When you hear that the girl is playing the same trick on maybe 20 different guys, you have to laugh, and can't really blame them, after all those years the guys have played the girls at exactly the same game. They are now getting their own back. So, I can't even guess what other stories your question might prompt the other guys to tell of, but I am sure there are many different tales good and bad. As I said, an interesting thread.

ElinglesLoco

I think this thread has a good sense of realities in the Colombian spectrum way of life. I would hate to blast any mother-in-law or wretched person who believes that we are their personal bank account but since this is a family oriented culture you surely will be marrying the family, primos, and so on. I ran into a scenario where family members were asking the girlfriend of mine to ask me for things. How did I find out: well, let me tell you some things are just plain stupid to ask for and we will leave it as such. As in previous posts, money sure becomes a hot topic when you don't have it. Furthermore, you don't want to go shopping with the family if you know what I mean. This mentality is brought forth in not having any money. Sadly, it is a learned behavior from somewhere and I usually say "no tengo". The professional women or women from money will not even bother as they will buy you things or pick up the bill sometimes. Refreshing isn't it? With that being said, the scammers are present but it really doesn't surprise me residing here for a few years. People who presume that we should be rewarding the in laws with gifts have to understand we don't recognize that culture as we are foreign to it. Albeit, I have learned that one can purchase small gifts and still get around that issue. A gift is a gift. Someone who insists on the gifts will be cut off from me as that is just plain rude as they are attempting to take advantage of me. I keep my money in my accounts or close to me. However, bad habits are hard to break sometimes, and especially when they bat their Latino eyes at you.  lol. In laws, are a different animal. It all depends how much you are vested in this type of relationship and the resources you have at your disposal. Some potential mother-in-laws are real sweethearts here and yes, the small percentage of bad apples should not deter you from having a happy life here.

Soystar1

I am in the same boat as El inglés Loco. My in laws can support themselves and haven't asked for anything. They have made some needs known from time to time and their children usually pitch in to support them. My brother-in-laws and I do little things from time to time but do our best to stay out of family politics. And Soystar mentioned with some common sense you can usually figure out when / if someone is really in need. But even if they do really need it I find it is always better to help everyone else help the other person and not to be the hero. 1. it will build up expectations from others. 2. others will expect you to do the same for them and 3. others will usually think your a pompous prick because you are flaunting your money. On a side note I have given loans to family and friends knowing full well I would never get the money back. I was asked / expected to give more but I never lent them a single cent more. Some resented not getting more or just had no more use for me and I never heard from them again (this includes friends from the USA) and others understood I gave them enough already and respected me that I didn't lend them more. Tough love is what I think works best in these situations. But your usually damned if you do and damned if you don't so don't get too worked up over it

Masterita

Saturday, March 22nd, 2014

Last night for dinner I had chili and mango juice at El Comedor de Chava.  After I had finished I was visited by the two boys from last night’s English class.  They said their parents take them there for dinner on Friday nights.  We talked for a little while in English.

I stopped in Exito and bought another bottle of 100 tablets of Centrum Silver 50+ for 47,050.

As I was walking up the street back to my apartment I saw a jeep with a large star with “Sheriff” inside it on each side and the hood.  Interesting!

I received an email from Margarita that her father and step mother are coming in the morning at 8:30am to install the stove top and look into the leak in my bathroom sink.  That changes my plans but they are things that need to be taken care of.

I went to bed at 9:45, woke up at 5am and got up at 6am.  

I had coffee and croissant at Los Mejores and another coffee at the Tinto store.

They arrived right on time at 8:30 and Jaime fixed the leak in the bathroom sink quickly and easily but the stovetop doesn’t quite fit in the opening for the counter.  He hooked it up though and we made plans to meet tomorrow at 1pm for him to finish the installation.  They were both, Marta especially, surprised to see all the large mature plants I have now.

Margarita sent me the name of a woman for me to correspond with on Facebook.  (I do have an account but FB isn’t something I use often.)  When Marta was here she mentioned her again and I told her I didn’t like the fact that in 9 pictures she isn’t smiling in any of them.  I kidded her that maybe she doesn’t have any teeth.  Here she is:

https://www.facebook.com/alba.n.grajales?fref=ts

What do you think?

T-shirt of the day: “New Mexico: just like Mexico but newer”.

Lunch was the small Napolitana pizza at Pizza Americana.  No luck again!

I ordered Yuri & Luz Amparo’s Virtual eMail addresses.  After I send my next email AFA will direct it to them along with my profile information.  After they accept my email we no longer have to go through AFA (and their charges), we will be using our actual email addresses.

At 3pm I was about to leave to go see Labor Day at Oviedo CC when I remembered how crowded the movie theater was on Sunday March 9^th.  I decided it would be better to see it during the week.

I stopped at Fresco Pan and had an iced tea while I worked on my Spanish verbs.  There was a wedding starting across the street at the church.

I had Gourmet salad (without chicken) and small strawberry milkshake at Frisby in LM for 14,600.  I finished just after 7pm and when I got up to leave Harry called me over to his table across from the store that serves liquor.  He was sitting with the owner and he was going to introduce us when the owner must have told him that we had already met.

The store owner left and while we were sitting there a couple with their young daughter sat down at the table behind me.  Harry made some comment about her pretty feet and when I tried to sneak a peek we found out she speaks English.  She has lived in New York and New Jersey since she was a little girl.  She’s majoring in Business Administration and is finishing up her last year of college at a University here in Medellin.  Her name is Juliana and they live a block west of the church I was just at.  So she’s living 2 blocks from me.

I saw a young woman that works there that I must have seen many times before and tonight I guess I saw her “out of uniform” and she looked pretty nice.  But she’s probably only in her 30s.  :-(

I finally left about 8:30 after Harry got me to agree to meet him at LM tomorrow and we would go to Parque Lleras.  He said he would call me.  Right!  I told him I would probably see him in the morning at breakfast.