Sunday, September 28th, 2014

Happy birthday, bro!

We got up about 8am, took our showers, had a bowl of granola and were ready for Jhon but at 10am he was a no show.  We started packing a little and he finally showed up at 10:35 with his brother-in-law.  They took the refrigerator without much difficulty.  

We continued packing and at 11:15 we changed to go to the game.  First Teresa informed me we have to go to Exito to buy something she really needed right away.  At 11:40 we caught a taxi outside and arrived at Patrick’s Irish Pub right at noon.

The game was being shown on the large screen outside so we grabbed one of the small tables near the sidewalk.  Teresa ordered the Irish stew with a mango juice and really liked it.  I ordered the Beef Stroganoff with a Coke and I liked my food also.  There were a number of Bears fans sitting behind me and one lone Packers fan – a gringa.

At halftime, with the Bears down 21-17, I called Margarita and left a voice message that I would like to know what time Martha will be coming to the apartment on Tuesday.

When the Bears were behind by 3 touchdowns in the 2^nd half, I paid the bill (70mil) and we walked a block through a light rain looking for a taxi.  Teresa was a little wet and therefore cold and asked if we could stop at the Juan Valdez café.  She had a small expresso and she got me a medium coffee.  It started raining harder and I think she was sorry that we waited.  Finally, the rain let up a little and I stopped a taxi and held the door open for her to dash from the café into the taxi.

Back at the apartment we spent the next few hours packing up everything.  She called the moving man to tell him she didn’t believe everything will fit into his truck.

About 7pm I walked her down to Avenida 80 where she quickly caught a car (con effectivo, which literally means “with cash”).  I headed over to Viva and read some from my Nook book.

I finished Ken Follett’s 1,056 pages World without End (it took me almost a month to finish) and later, back at the apartment, I downloaded his 326 page Eye of the Needle.

At 7:30, just before BK closed their kitchen, I ordered a Whopper and medium milkshake for 17,500.

I’m not sure when I will have an internet connection again so I don’t know when my next post will be.  I understand I will be using a telephone line so I’m pretty sure it will be by modem.  I don’t even know if my laptop has a modem.  They used to be standard but that’s been a while.

T-shirt of the day: Buy the way.

Friday, September 26th, 2014

Last night I went to bed at 11pm and was soon bothered by a few strong strikes of lightning followed by a very heavy rainfall.  I closed all the bedroom louvers and door and quickly fell asleep.  I got up twice during the night (I drank too much liquid the night before), woke up at 6:45 and got up at 7am.

At 7:30 I hustled 2 bags of recyclables and most of my Chess Life magazines out to the guy on the street followed by a bag of garbage.

The COP closed yesterday at 2019.50 to the dollar.  It’s been a while since it’s been that high.

I checked the US movie releases and I would like to see The Equalizer (7.8).

Locally, The Giver is playing at Oviedo; Brick Mansions is playing at Los Molinos, Monterrey, and Oviedo; and This is Where I Leave You is playing at Santafe.

I had a bowl of cereal in the apartment followed by an orange juice at Redd’s.

Walking through Exito I saw 2 aisles filled with Halloween costumes – mostly for young children.  I saw another aisle closed off that they are setting up with Christmas decorations.

I withdrew the last of my September money from the ATM machine and later found I got 2007 COP to the dollar (before adding on the 1% Foreign Transaction Fee).

While I was in the Viva food court a young man came up to me and asked if I spoke English.  He told me he is from South Africa and works for a local English newspaper.  He had his laptop with him and needed a Wi-Fi connection.  I told him which stores had signals but he couldn’t find one open to get a password from.  I sent him to El Comedor de Chava in Mall Laureles and told him the signal is stronger there anyway.

At Jhon’s office we called Direct TV and my NFL package should be set up next Tuesday but someone has to sign some documents.  We exchanged several calls with Teresa and I learned she has some new medicine for Luna and that plastic thing is now securely around her neck so she can’t lick her wound.

Jhon and I changed when he would pick up my refrigerator from Saturday morning at 9 to Sunday morning at 10.

After Spanish class, on my way back to my apartment I ran into Elkin and his wife and then Juan and said goodbye to each of them.  I gave the one dog biscuit that I had with me to Killer Dog (I mean Mason) who still wasn’t so sure about me.

I exchanged some things at the apartment, looked outside, the sky didn’t look at all threatening so I left without an umbrella.

Walking up the hill in Envigado I could see dark clouds to the east.  I met Teresa at the Carbon de Leña restaurant (Calle 36 Sur #42-45) exactly on time at 1pm.  She was hungry so she was already into a bowl of mazamorra.  I ordered the Sencillo which included tomato soup, a small salad, French fries, about 6 short ribs, and juice.  My order came to 12mil.  Teresa must have been real hungry because she had a fish plate and then another order of fish only for 15mil.  It rained hard while we were eating but tapered off to almost nothing by the time we left.  

We shared Teresa’s small umbrella as we walked a couple blocks to the bus stop.  We got off at Monterrey where we took another bus to El Tesoro.  (Later Teresa found that she had left her umbrella on the bus; obviously we are going to have to watch out for each other!)  Someone on the bus told us to get off at a spot where the mall wasn’t in sight.  A security guard told us to walk inside this building and when we got there we saw that the mall was just behind.  We took an elevator 5 floors down to where we were then at the same level as the mall.

We got to the doctor’s office 3 minutes late.  Teresa waited about 30 minutes to see the doctor and came out about 30 minutes later.  She was very happy and I understood her breasts are otherwise healthy.  The doctor gave her a prescription for some cream so the cysts in her breasts won’t be so uncomfortable.  Teresa pointed out a young lady and an older woman that she said had breast cancer.

We stopped in the mall at a small café called O-Cake where she had a glass of milk and I had a vanilla latte and we shared a small strawberry cheesecake for 10,500.  We had a nice conversation about a number of important issues.

Teresa had never been to El Tesoro before so we walked around the mall for a while.  (See the end of the post for an interesting sign I saw in one of the store windows.)  I needed a new fanny pack so we started looking in different stores for one for her to buy me for my birthday.  At first they were too big or too small or too ugly but finally we found one we both liked for about 49,500 pesos.  She bought it for me but still wants to buy me shoes and jeans for my birthday.

Teresa had told me she needs to be in the finca tomorrow because someone is putting in some water pipes.  She also told me she needs to stop at a store to buy the water pipes.

We took a taxi from El Tesoro and she called someone about the water pipes but I understood they were closed so she will need to go there tomorrow afternoon.  

Suddenly she had the taxi stop, I paid the fare, we got out and she immediately spotted the bus she needs to take.  We quickly got out, said goodbye and she got on the bus and left.  I turned around and suddenly realized I didn’t know where I was.  I spotted the steep stairs that led to a walkway common to the entrances to metro stations so I followed it.  There was a long line to buy tickets so I took out my metro card and used that.  As soon as I got through the turnstile I realized I needed to decide which direction I was going to go.  I was surprised to see I was at the Poblado station.  If I had known that I would have taken the Circular Sur bus across from Monterrey CC.  I walked down the stairs to the tracks and when the train came I saw it was packed like I had never seen before.  I decided to go to plan B so I took a bus and it was almost empty.

Just before I got off the bus I decided I would buy a few small bottles of Coke for us to have for the weekend but when I got off I found I only had 2 5mil notes so I used that to recharge Teresa’s cell phone at the corner store.  While waiting for that to complete I picked out a 500ml bottle of Coke from the refrigerator and asked how much it cost.  I was told 1,500 pesos and I was able to find that much in change that I had with me.

I finally received an email reply from Margarita.  She wants me to take the routers and return them myself so the apartment will be empty.  She also said that Marta & Jamie will be showing the apartment next Tuesday and she would like me to meet them to return the keys but she didn’t say what time.

Back at the apartment I made some popcorn which I had with my Coke while I finished the TV series The Killing.  

Sign in store window: Welcome to our place in the woods: take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time.

Thursday, September 25th, 2014

Last night I once again tried to watch The Killing on the Netflix site but after 20 minutes of clocking I received a Netflix Streaming Error message.

I had popcorn and 2 small (250ml) bottles of Coke while I sorted my old bills, removed the staples, threw away the receipts, and set aside the bills themselves for recycling.

I went to bed at 10pm and had great difficulty getting to sleep (of course Coke has caffeine in it).  The last time I looked at my watch it was 1:55am.  I woke up at 6:10, got up and took 2 Excedrin, went back to sleep and woke/got up at 6:45 feeling much better.

I checked the local theatres and there have been some changes:

The Giver (6.7) is playing at Oviedo at 2:20.  This is Where I Leave you (6.7) is playing at Oviedo and Santafe at 1:40.  Brick Mansions (5.7) is playing at Molinos at 1:40, Monterrey at 2pm, Oviedo at 2:10, Unicentro at 1:50.  Depending on the timing of my other responsibilities today, I might be able to see one of those early shows.

I had a bowl of cereal, my usual breakfast at Los Mejores and an orange juice at Redd’s.

I met Jhon at his office and we took a bus to an office building in front of the Home Center/Makro/Jumbo complex.  Jhon spoke to someone who informed him that Une has moved to the Intelligence Building of Medellin.

We walked east down the block, took a bridge over the river and tried to cut through a parking lot only to be met by a security guard and his muzzled dog who growled at us.  We took the long way around the parking lot and entered the building and took a circular stairway to the basement where we saw what looked like a TSA scanning station at the airport.  I took off my tech bag and my fanny pack and put it on the conveyer belt to be scanned.  I passed and we then stood in line at a Une desk.  After about 10 minutes we got our number and went inside to wait for our turn.  While waiting Jhon told me that in Colombia I must give the keys back to the owner at the end of the month or I will be fined for additional days.  Jhon suggested I have the owner pay my final bill and then receive the remainder of my deposit from them. After another 20 minute wait we spoke to a Une representative. 

Because my Une contract was under Reina’s son’s name in apt. 201 I had only fulfilled 6 months out of my 12 month contract so my fine for cancelling early will be 130mil, an amount that will be added to my final bill.  They will cancel my account on October 6^th and someone must be at the apartment at that time (probably to retrieve the routers).

Teresa told me she took Luna to the vet on Tuesday and the doctor gave her some special medicine for the wound and put the plastic collar securely around her neck.

Teresa gave me the address of her mother’s apartment in Envigado: Carrera 47 #35 Sur – 80, Apto. 301 Bloque 3, Portal del Sur, Envigado.

I bought Jhon lunch at the old Likkes restaurant and then found the Une technicians waiting for me at my apartment.  Jhon was with me and explained my problem and within 30 minutes I had my wi-fi back.

I stopped at the internet café where I printed and laminated a copy of Teresa’s address in Envigado.

After Teresa’s doctor’s appointment on Friday we will go to a Une office where she will order telephone service so I can connect to the internet with an expected 5GB speed.  Laura has a 2GB “thingy” connected to her laptop so I told Teresa to increase it to 4GB so she will have a faster response time.  

Tomorrow, with Jhon’s help, we will call Direct TV and order the NFL package.  

I had cereal with milk for dinner.

T-shirt of the day: Daddy’s little monster.

Monday, September 22nd, 2014

Last night Teresa went to bed at 10:30 and I at 11pm.  I got up at 5:30 but I went back to bed and Teresa got up at 7am and I got up at 8am.

We took our showers and had a breakfast of granola.  Teresa told me that it’s cold where we are going so I put on a long sleeved shirt and took my jacket.

We caught the Simon Bolivar bus at 8:45 after a short wait of 5 minutes.  We got off the bus downtown at Parque Berrio at 9:15.

We took the metro to Caribe where we walked to the north terminal bus station.  We got there at 9:45, bought two tickets to Don Matias (now I know the name of the village) for 11mil and waited until 10:15 for our bus to leave.  We arrived at 11:35 and it wasn’t much cooler than Medellin.  I felt a little warm in my long sleeved shirt but not too bad but that didn’t stop me from giving Teresa a hard time about how warm it is there.  We hustled over to an office where we found they closed at 11:30 and reopen at 2pm.  

Teresa asked a couple people where a good restaurant is and we were sent nearby to the Charlot restaurant.  It’s a nice table cloth restaurant with photos on the walls of Charlie Chaplin.  I had the Hawaiian Chicken and she had the menu of the day which included a little macaroni & cheese.  They also gave us a slice of flan for dessert.  All of that was for a total of 24,500 including tax and tip.  It was a very tasty lunch for about $6 each.

After lunch we hung around for a little while and Teresa watched the news and I read some from my Nook.

At 2pm we walked over to the office and it was still closed.  Teresa showed me the building that her mother used to live in.  Finally the lady arrived at 2:30.  The lady gave Teresa a list of things that she would need for whatever purpose: fotos of her mother and her daughter and a birth certificate.  We paid something like 7mil for a copy of her mother’s baptismal certificate.  

At 3:10 we took the bus back and because of heavy rush hour traffic near and in Medellin we didn’t arrive back at the station until 4:50pm.

Since my Bears game wasn’t until 7:30 Teresa asked me to take the metro to Envigado and give Wilson the baptismal certificate and Teresa would catch a bus from there directly to her finca.

We are meeting next this Friday at 1pm at the restaurant across from parque Envigado where we will have lunch and then proceed to the same building in El Tesoro where Teresa has a 3:20 doctor’s appointment.  She alerted me to the fact that the charge for this visit will be 130mil.

A train was in the station when I got there but because I had plenty of time until my game and I don’t like to overheat myself I waited until the next one.  I was surprised a couple minutes later to see Teresa walking towards me.  She told me that for her to catch a bus to her finca (which is south of town) she would need to take a bus from the south terminal.  Makes sense to me.

We took the next metro to Envigado where we got off and she walked south to catch her bus and I walked north to Wilson’s bar where I gave him the baptismal certificate.

I stopped in Exito for an emergency use of their restroom and was happy to find a toilet with a seat.  The first two I saw had no seat and interestingly one was so small it was obviously for children.

It took the metro to Poblado and took my time walking up Calle 10 and arrived at Patrick’s Sports Pub at 7:10.  The waitress told me that the kitchen is closed but might reopen later.

The Bears quickly built a 14-0 lead and at halftime were ahead 17-13.  Patrick told me the cook had just arrived and I order their Thai Stir Fry Chicken.  It was tasty but it didn’t seem very hot and once again the broccoli was undercooked.  Including one Coke, tax and tip the total came to 30,800.

The Bears held on to win 27-19.

I took a taxi back to the apartment and I clocked the driver at one point on the expressway doing 115km/hour (71 miles/hour).

It cost me 12mil and I was home by 11:15.

T-shirt of the day: If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.

Wednesday, September 24th, 2014

Last night I tried watching another episode of The Killing but because my internet connection (actually my neighbor’s) is so slow I got 2 minutes of movie interspersed with 2 minutes of clocking.  After about 15 minutes of that it clocked for about 20 minutes straight before I gave up.

I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 4:15, woke up at 6:15 and got up at 7am.

On my way down Carrera 83A I was met by what I could only describe as a marching band and parade including a couple people on stilts.  They were all about junior high age so I’m sure it was somehow connected to a school.  (Later Jhon told me it has something to do with celebrating Colombian folklore.)

I had my usual breakfast at Los Mejores followed by an orange juice at Redd’s.  I tried to study a little Spanish in Viva but I couldn’t get a strong enough wifi signal.  

The last couple of days there has been a baby pigeon on the porch of Jhon’s office that apparently isn’t strong enough to fly yet.  Several times we observed the mother come up to it and feed it by the baby putting its beak down the mother’s throat.  It wasn’t there this morning and Jhon said a woman that lives around the corner came and took it away to care for it.

Before my Spanish class Jhon helped me with two things: first, he made an appointment for someone from Une to come to my apartment tomorrow afternoon to fix my wifi and second, we found that I (we) have to go to the Une office to cancel my account.  Jhon says there is one by, or in, the Jumbo on San Juan so we plan to go there tomorrow morning before or in lieu of my class.

I had Teriyaki chicken for lunch at Sarku’s in Viva.  It cost me 11,400 instead of the advertised price of 10,900 because I think the cashier upgraded me to a larger drink, which I didn’t mind at all.

I took a bus to Los Molinos where I bought a 3-prong to 2-prong adapter for 1,600.

On the bus on the way back to Viva I got a call from Teresa.  I understood she wanted my address and I told her I would call her back in a minute.

I stopped in Viva and texted her with my address.  In Mall Laureles I saw Lucas as I found a table so I knew I could get some help if need be.  As I was calling Teresa, Dario came around the corner.  I motioned him to sit down and I asked Teresa if she has my address.  She said no so I gave Dario my cell and my address card and asked him to help me.  He read her the information and gave me back the phone.

She wanted my cedula number and when I asked her why she said for Une.  I asked her if this was for my apartment and when she responded yes I told her she didn’t need to worry because Jhon and I will take care of it tomorrow.

I told Dario that I’m moving in with my girlfriend next week in Envigado and we said goodbye to each other.

I stopped at Juan Valdez café in Viva where I had a slice of carrot cake (4mil), and a 12oz. latte (4,800) with vanilla (2,400).

Back at my apartment I sent an email to Teresa telling her I’m getting low on funds for the month.  I have enough for her doctor on Friday, Sunday’s Bears game, Monday’s move, and food for the remainder of the month but that’s about it.  I told her I will receive a little more money on Tuesday and the remainder on Wednesday or Thursday.

I went through my old Une, epm, MBE and other receipts, unstapling them, to throw most of them away.  

I had a bowl of cereal for dinner and I plan to make some popcorn later.

T-shirt of the day: What goes around, comes all the way back around.

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2014

Last night I went to bed at 11:30, got up at 5:15, closed my bedroom windows and door and went back to bed and woke/got up at 6:45.

I found Beatriz near the tinto store and told her I’m moving in with my girlfriend next week in Envigado so I won’t need her services anymore to wash and iron my clothes.  I gave her 50mil as a parting gift.

I had my usual breakfast at El Comedor de Chava.

Using my iPad I found that The Railway Man (7.1) is playing at Santafe at 1pm and Vizcaya at 1:25.

At 10am I met Jhon at his office.  I asked him how his trip to Bogota with Bob went.  He said he didn’t expect Bob to pay for his expenses but not Bob only pay for the taxi from the bus station to the hotel and Jhon had to pay some of Bob’s expenses.  Bob didn’t even buy Jhon a cup of coffee.

I told Jhon about my problem with losing my wi-fi and I said I would bring my latest bill with my account information tomorrow and we would go to Exito and see if we can get it fixed and request my service to be cancelled after this month.

We agreed that Jhon would come sometime Saturday to pick up the refrigerator.

I stopped at the apartment and exchanged my iPad for my Nook and caught a bus at 12:10.  I decided if I can get off the bus down the hill from Oviedo by 11:50 then I would see the movie at Santafe, otherwise I would continue on to Calle 10 where I would take a bus up the hill to Vizcaya and I would see it at 1:25.

Traffic was lighter than usual and I got off the bus at 11:40 walked up to Oviedo, cut through, walked up and across the street to Santafe.

My ticket was 5mil and small popcorn and soda were 11,700.  There was only one other person in the theatre.

I saw coming attractions for The Physician (7.3) starring Ben Kingsley and Better Living through Chemistry (6.2) including Jane Fonda.

The Railway Man (7.1) starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman was a good movie.

Later in the lobby I saw a poster for The Judge (7.7) starring Robert Duvall and Robert Downey Jr.

I noticed that the maze on the 1^st floor is all set up.  It turns out its for laser tag and the area is a little smaller than a football field.

I took a bus back and was back at the apartment by 4:30.

I did some googling and the Light Socket Adapter is described as a socket to one socket and two outlets but I don’t see any examples where the outlets are 3-pronged.  From my reading it looks like I should be save just using a 3-prong to 2-prong adapter.

I had a bowl of cereal for dinner.

T-shirt of the day: Believe nothing, trust in night.

Sunday, September 21st, 2014

We went to bed at 11pm, I got twice during the night, got up again for a little while about 7pm, went back to bed, actually fell asleep again and I got up with Teresa at 9:15.  She said Sundays are meant for sleeping late.

Today we are going to a town called San Pedro for the day.  She said it is colder there so I will probably take a long-sleeved shirt and/or jacket with me.  I know what she thinks is cold isn’t what I think is cold.

She washed 3 of my t-shirts I had sitting by waiting for me to wash and I understand she will let them soak for the day.

After our showers we each had a bowl of granola.  She loves granola.

Because we are going to Dormitorio, or whatever it’s called, tomorrow she decided we will just stay here today.

She asked if I want to go watch American Football.  The Bears play tomorrow night.  If I knew the Packers were playing this afternoon we would go and I would root for them to lose.

I knocked on Marcela’s door to see if I could borrow her wi-fi and her mother said she is getting dressed.  I asked her to have her knock on my door later.

Teresa finally opened her gift.  It’s a Green Canyon Spa Butterfly Orchid bath gift set which includes Body Lotion, Shower Gel, Body Spray, Body Scrub, Body Butter, Soap, and Bath Salts.  She was excited to get everything and try to figure out what all she had.  Afterwards she cut my toenails and gave my feet a message with the body lotion.

We played some dominoes in bed.

It was raining a little so we stopped in Exito and I bought an umbrella large enough for 2 people for 29,900.  I now have 24,182 points and I have no idea what I can do with them.

We had lunch in Frisby, Frischuleta and juice for Teresa and Combo #2 for me for a total of 36,900.

Afterwards we stopped in the pet store at Mall Laureles and bought one of those plastic things you put around dogs necks so they don’t bite or lick themselves.  Teresa told me Luna has a wound that she keeps licking so she wants to go to her finca today to put it on her.

We stopped at the apartment and I wrapped the flower vase I had bought in some towels and we took a car (con effectivo) to Aquacatala where we quickly caught an express bus to her finca.

She told me that at night you really can’t see the sign I put up.  I’m not sure if it’s because it’s too small or its set too high or its too far from the road but it looks like she may be correct.

We put the plastic guard around Luna’s neck but when I looked at the wound it looks to me like it might need stitches.  I gave her all the money I had (60mil) so she could take Luna to the vet in Caldas on Tuesday.

We caught a car – con effectivo – back to Caldas where we took a bus to Aguacatala.  When we got off she showed me a shortcut to where I usually catch a bus back home.

Back at the apartment I borrowed Marcela’s wi-fi and added it to my laptop but I don’t know how to add it to my iPad.

Finally I was able to talk to Teresa using Google Translate.  She told me they might not be able to get me wi-fi in the finca because it’s too far from the road.   After discussing the problem I believe if we can’t get wifi I might be able to get internet through her telephone line.  We’ll learn more tomorrow when she talks to someone.

T-shirt of the day: Rookie

Saturday, September 20th, 2014

Last night I went to bed at 11pm, got up twice during the night (1am, 3:30am), woke up at 7am and got up at 8am.

Yesterday I received a notice on my iPad that there is a new version of Apple’s operating system (iOS 8.0) available for download.  I remember the guy at the Mac Center recommended I do my updates using their store’s Wi-Fi so I don’t lose the internet connection during the process.

There are some workmen outside stringing wire; probably for internet access for the downstairs apartment.

I had my usual breakfast at El Comedor de Chava.  

Afterwards I walked over Exito where I bought a “girlie” basket of body lotion, soaps, etc. for Teresa as I understand today is the Day of Love and Friendship.  She will be really surprised, especially after I thought it was last Saturday.  She wants burritos for dinner and I found a frozen microwaveable package with 2 burritos and a quesadilla.

I was surprised to see Exito sells a couple of cheesecakes from The Cheesecake Factory.  If they weren’t so big, for 6 or 8 people, I would have bought one; another time.

I took everything back to the apartment, picked up my notebooks and headed back to Mall Laureles.

On the side street south of Viva CC they have tents set up (again I forget what you call “tents” with no sides) to sell food and things that men might want to buy for their girlfriends or wives.

I studied Spanish for a while, left about 12:30 and stopped outside the Mac Center to do my iPad iOS update but I couldn’t access their wi-fi.  I went inside and the same guy that helped me last time told me the password has changed and he added the new one for me on my iPad.  I showed him the new OS that I need to update and he said they recommend I have my iPad plugged into a power source while I do it.

I sat on a bench outside and started the update and it didn’t finish until 50 minutes later.  I was pretty nervous that it might not finish correctly.  Not sure if it would be faster if I wasn’t running off the battery; probably not.

I stopped at the corner store where I added 10mil to Teresa’s cell phone.

Back at the apartment I exchanged my iPad for my Nook and headed over to Pizza Americana where I had my usual pizza.

After I finshed eating I told the girl working there that I’m going to be moving to Envigado but the nearest Pizza Americana is in Itagui and I would like to have their address.  I gave her my cell phone to call them but she went inside and called on the store phone and came back with the following address: “Crr 50^A 33 61” which I interpret to mean Carrera 50A Calle 33-61.  The only thing I know of in Itagui is Mayorca CC and it is at Calle 51 Sur #48-57.  Before, I thought the “sur” or south was referring to the Carrera but now I’m thinking it means “Calle 51 Sur”.

Back at the apartment I found I can’t get an internet connection.  I can see that I am connected to the network but it says “No internet access”.  Could this have something to do with the fact they were working outside this morning on the wires?

Teresa called at 6:50 to tell me she now had a ride – con effectivo - so I expected she would arrive soon.  She finally arrived at 7:20, we heated up the burritos and quesadilla for 5 minutes in the microwave to share.  They were pretty tasty considering they weren’t very expensive and they were store bought and microwaved.

Friday, September 19th, 2014

Last night I went to bed at 10:45, woke up at 6am and got up at 6:45.

Since I’ve already seen Maze Runner there isn’t anything I want to see this week from today’s new US releases.

Locally I would like to see The Railway Man (7.1) which is now playing at Santafe and Vizcaya.  Unfortunately, according to imdb.com, it cost approximately 18 million to make and only grossed 4.5 million in the US, so maybe it isn’t going to be very good.

It’s garbage day and after I left the building I checked the large plastic bag they left across the street with cloth scraps but they were so small as to be useless for any purpose.  I thought I might use them for rags.

I had my usual breakfast at El Comedor de Chava, followed by an orange juice at Redd’s.

At the beginning of my Spanish class I had Jhon call Teresa and ask her if Wilson’s bar will be open when I come by about 1pm so I can leave the 2 packages of coconut granola there for her and she said yes.

At the end of my Spanish class Jhon showed me a short translation he had done and I showed him a few areas I had a problem with.  He told me there won’t be any class on Monday because he is going to Bogota with Bob for the weekend to help him renew his Pensionado Visa.

I left 5 minutes early and quickly was on a bus to Aquacatala station.  On the way it started to rain lightly.  By the time I got off the metro in Envigado it was pouring pretty hard; and me without an umbrella.  I waited a few minutes for the rain to lessen and then headed out holding my tech bag over my head.

I stopped at Wilson’s bar and Marta was there and I left the 2 bags with her.

At 1pm as I was walking up the one steep hill in Envigado Teresa called and I told her I would be there in 5 minutes.  When I got to the restaurant she was just finishing her fish and she told me she had been starving.

I had their chicken breast with salad, rice, plantain, soup and juice.  While I was eating a man behind me started talking to Teresa.  I thought he was asking for change but I must have been asking for food as she ordered some beans for him and put it on our bill.  I thought that was a nice thing to do.

After lunch we walked to the other side of Parque Envigado where we caught a bus to Monterrey.  We took a taxi to the El Tesoro clinic and arrived 3 minutes late.  The receptionist took Teresa’s basic information including the name of her companion (me) and I put the 85mil charge on my debit card.  We waited out in the floor lobby for about 45 minutes before she got in to see the doctor.  She came out 15 minutes later and we waited another hour for her to see the doctor again for the results.  I know she has cysts in her breasts and I understood she was getting a manual breast exam and she was very relieved when she came out because there aren’t any other problems.

She has another doctor’s appointment for next Friday at 3:10.  I think in the same clinic but I’m not positive of that.

We took a taxi to Envigado for 11mil and stopped at her brother’s bar.  We each had an arepa chocolo with cheese and a hot chocolate.  Very tasty!

She told me she wants to go to some town that sounded like Dormitorio (one of their words for bedroom) on Monday to pick up some papers for her mother.  Of course I told her I would go with her.

We waited around until 7:15 to leave.  She told me if she gets to the bus stop before 8pm all the buses will be full and they won’t stop to pick her up. 

We stopped at a couple small stores so she could buy a few things and we said goodbye about 8pm.  It was starting to rain lightly as I entered the Envigado metro station.  It was raining a little harder when I exited the Aguacatala station.  I only had to wait about 3 minutes to catch a bus and was home by 9pm.

T-shirt of the day: I am not a morning girl.

Thursday, September 18th, 2014

Last night I went to bed at 11pm, got up once at 4am, took more Passiflora drops and went back to bed, had trouble getting back to sleep, and woke/got up at 8am.  That’s a little later than usual but I guess I needed it.

I see the movies have changed: I now have choices of As Above, So Below (6.2), Sex Tape (5.3), and Maze Runner (8.0).  Based on the reviews I read, I think I’ll skip the first two.  The latter opens in the US tomorrow.

My remaining “t-shirt of the day” list is getting pretty short; it isn’t a problem of not seeing others, it’s a problem of forgetting them before I can write them down.

I had breakfast at Los Mejores and an orange juice at Redd’s.  I quickly checked in Exito to see if they now have the large packages of Coconut Granola – they don’t.  

After Spanish class I had a Steak Extra Classic burger, medium fries and soda at BK for 15,500.  The young man who works there asked me how to say “mucho gusto” in English and I said “my pleasure”.

Teresa called me about 1pm and we confirmed our meeting tomorrow at Wilson’s bar in Envigado at noon.

I caught a bus to Los Molinos and as I was walking through their Exito I was surpised to see they have the large bags of Coconut Granola.

I bought my ticket for 8,500 to Maze Runner (7.9); the Spanish title is Run or Die).  Their website said the movie starts at 3:10 but their marque and the ticket both say 2:50 but I was still 40 minutes early.

I walked downstairs to their Home Center where I picked out a few things: Tool box, caulk, caulking gun, light socket adapter, utility knife, 4 AA batteries, and 4 plastic hooks.  I was happy, and a little surprised, to find my light socket adapter because I couldn’t find one in their store on San Juan.  The only problem is my laptop’s power cord is 3 pronged and the outlets on the side of the adapter are 2 pronged but I’m confident I can find an adapter for them.

Now I remember what they call Teresa's “windows” that I want to caulk – they are called shutters.

Five minutes before showtime I left Home Center and headed for the theatre.  On the way I saw a store selling Halloween costumes and other items similar to what I would see in the States.

I skipped popcorn this time and was in my seat one minute before the show started.  I saw a coming attraction for The Railway Man (7.1) starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman.  At least I didn’t have to sit through the Pied Piper short again.

I thought the movie was very good and well worth the imdb rating of 7.9 but the ending was a little unclear for me and seemed to be setting us up for a sequel.

After the movie I bought 2 bags of Coconut Granola at their Exito and then the things I had already picked out from Home Center for 116,700 or $59.  I now have more than 23,000 points at Exito but I have no idea what I can use them for.

I had a bowl of cereal for dinner.

Wednesday, September 17th, 2014

Last night I went to bed at 10:45, woke up at 4am, took more Passiflora drops, went back to bed and woke/got up at 6:50am.

I see that Million Dollar Arm (7.4) is playing at Oviedo at 3:10 today.

I had my usual breakfast at Los Mejores, orange juice at Redd’s, and studied a bit at Viva CC.  I bought another month’s supply of Tamsulosin at the Exito pharmacy for 38,340 using their 10% Wednesday discount.

Before my Spanish lesson Jhon said he talked to his sister about my giving a tip to Olga.  His sister asked how much I paid her for each cleaning and since he didn’t know for sure he said 50mil and his sister replied that I don’t need to give her anything extra because I overpaid her.  I told Jhon I only paid her 35 mil and to ask her again.  

During the lesson Olga stopped by and since I had just been to the ATM I gave her 100mil so that settles that.

I asked Jhon about Beatriz who has been doing my laundry and we both agreed that 50mil would suffice.

I left the apartment at 1:45 and was at the Oviedo theatre by 2:45.  I read my Nook until 10 minutes before showtime.  My ticket cost 5,500 and my popcorn and soda the usual 11,700.  

There were 4 other people in the theatre and I saw coming attractions for The Giver (6.8) starring Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges and Gone Girl starring Ben Affleck.

On the bus ride back the driver was playing what sounded like opera music.  I forgot to mention that last Sunday night the taxi driver also was playing opera music on the way back to my apartment.

I had a bowl of cereal for dinner.

T-shirt of the day: Coney Island