Friday, February 27th, 2015

We left the finca at 11:20 and met Jim at Bocados Bar where we had lunch and drinks for 66mil.

Jim told me he found a bar/restaurant in Sabaneta called Club Billares Makalu that has chess on the 2^nd floor.  He also stopped at the hotel Hacienda La Extremadura that was a 5mil taxi ride away.  He said it was much nicer than Hotel Portón and less expensive.

I was finally able to get a wi-fi connection but I didn’t have an answer from the US lawyer.  I sent him another email making it clear that I’m waiting for his response as to whether I can use NotaryCam.com.  Wilson gave Teresa the March Direct TV bill of 89,900.  Since that’s the same amount for 2 months in a row I think I can safely assume that this will be the monthly payment without NFL Sunday Ticket.

Teresa spent 90 minutes in Nohelia in Viva mall getting her hair and eyebrows done.  While she was doing that Jim went to get his first cup of coffee at Juan Valdez and I left to have the documents printed from my flash drive.  On the way I ran into Sergio sitting outside his apartment building next to Pizza Americana.  He had his dog with him and it got aggressive as I approached him.  I gave the pooch my last dog buscuit and he settled down.  I told him that my brother and I will be at the corner store if he wants to meet us there.

I had the 13 pages printed out at my usual internet café and then met my brother at the corner store.  On the way I told Jhon that we would be meeting at the corner store.  Jim showed me 4 photos he had printed downstairs at FotoMax Digital 448-6866 for 4,800.  He told me he emailed them to their account at FotomaxLaureles@gmail.com and then they printed them.

I added 20mil to my cell phone.

Jhon stopped by and told us he is meeting someone downtown so he couldn’t stay but he said goodbye to my brother.

I checked the Notary office (Notaria 31 at Carrera 81 36-34) and confirmed they are open until 6pm.  At 5pm, after Teresa returned, Jim and I went in with my documents.  There was only one person ahead of us.  The lady at the front desk spoke good English, verified our passports, checked each page of my document, I signed the needed places, she stamped them and I paid 14,442 pesos (about $5.75).

I asked the lady if she could tell me where I could get some information about Union Libre and she sent us upstairs to see Dr. Maria Alejandro?.  The doctor said that first you document your intention to live together with the notary and then after 2 years you are considered to be in a common law marriage.  The entire process took about 30 minutes.

Laura joined us and we all had dinner at the cuban restaurant next to Parque Laureles #2.

We took a bus to Aguacatala and then a taxi to the Porton hotel in Sabaneta where I paid 115mil for our room.

Teresa told me for the first time that the finca is in her mother’s name, not hers.  I think that could cause a complication in trying to get a visitor’s visa to the US because she doesn’t really have property here to return to – at least not in her name.  That’s often one of the key factors in letting someone visit the USA – one assurance that they will return.

T-shirt of the day: Don’t worry, be dangerous.