Tuesday, July 1st, 2014

Last night I went to bed at 9:30, got up twice during the night, woke up at 6 and got up at 6:30.

Expect the unexpected!  

I had coffee and a croissant at Los Mejores but Beatriz wasn’t to be seen, the tinto store wasn’t open, the orange juice stand wasn’t set up and most unsettling was that Likke’s wasn’t open.  I went back and found Beatriz and luckily my clothes were ready.  I paid her the 20mil and took my bedding and towels back to the apartment and put them on my closet shelf.  

I headed back to Viva, took some cash out of the ATM and waited for Exito to open at 8:30.  I then bought a 2-pack of HialTears eyedrops at their pharmacy for 35,350 – about $9 for each 15ml bottle.  I went upstairs but the line was too long to wait to pay my medical insurance bill.  Likke’s was still closed as I crossed Avenida 80.

Back at the apartment I could see all my small pension deposits have been made but not my Social Security.

Olga arrived at 9am and I told her the restaurant where I usually order our lunch isn’t open today so I would give her money to buy her own lunch after she’s finished.  I told her I need to do some things here after she finished cleaning but before I go to Envigado at 3pm so I told her not to wash any of my t-shirts today – I would do them myself later. 

Olga finished at 11am and she even washed my 4 t-shirts.  I paid her the usual 35mil plus an extra 7 mil for lunch.  I walked with her towards Viva CC and she stopped at Beatriz house.  She probably cleans it next.

I had to wait in line for 30 minutes to pay my health insurance bill.  I walked over to the Tienda D1 and bought a small box of granola for 4,800.  I walked over to Paisa Pan and had 2 churros and a cup of coffee for 2,200.  I went across the street and printed out the pages for the short sale – all 47of them for 11mil.  Lawyers must get paid by the page if not the word.

About 1pm I left the apartment and met Teresa at her brother’s bar at 2pm.  They were showing the USA and Belgium team getting ready for today’s match.  At 2:15 Marta left the bar and came back 5 minutes later in a taxi with crutches.  Teresa asked me to go with her and we took the crutches to Clinica Las Vegas which as far as I can tell is a hospital.  We went up to his room and gave him the crutches and we were all stopped at the nurse’s station.  I understood, just like in the US, that they had to take him out in a wheelchair.  By the time the wheelchair arrived it’s 3pm and the game had started.  We all got in the taxi and on the way to Envigado they tried to tell me the game isn’t on TV only on the radio.  I didn’t believe that because all the other games were being broadcast.  They let me out at the bar and they continued the additional block to her mother’s apartment.  I had missed the first 30 minutes and the first half ended 0-0.  So did the 2^nd half.  Because it’s single elimination they played another 30 minutes.  Belgium scored twice and the USA finally scored but lost in the end 2-1.  

Teresa and I waited until 6pm for Marta to close the bar and then we walked up the hill and across the street from Parque Envigado to Carbon de Leña and we each had their Chuzo de Pollo for 8,500 plus a strawberry juice with milk for another 3mil.  It was actually a very tasty chicken shish kebab with a small salad and French fries although they refer to them as American potatoes.  The total came to 23mil.

We walked back down the hill and said goodbye and I was back at the apartment exactly 1 hour later.  We plan to meet again this Friday at the bar at 2pm.  She’s going to make me lunch before the 3pm Colombia match.

T-shirt of the day: Cash rules everything around me.  Get the money.