I slept well despite getting up 3 times during the night.
Laura left the finca at 8:40; we left at 9:45 and the killer
dogs came out but didn’t get anything because I was out of dog biscuits. They looked a little confused. We only had to wait 2 minutes for a bus to La
Estrella. I bought 4 tickets because I
wasn’t sure when we would be returning and I wanted to avoid any lines. As I was walking to the metro I passed a man
and noticed that his right sleeve appeared to be empty. When we sat on the metro the same man sat
across from us and the word thalidomide immediately entered my mind. He only had part of a left upper arm with a
single finger attached. His right upper
arm was similar with 2 or 3 webbed like fingers attached. He had a backpack in his lap and I saw him
hold a cell phone with his right “hand” and push buttons with his left
finger.
At one stop a couple seats away
from me an elderly lady started crying and a few people escorted her off the
metro. Our 13th metro stop
was Hospital where we got off and took a taxi to Torre Medica Prado. I noticed that it was only 4 blocks from the
station. We took the elevator up to I
think it was the 2nd floor where they put my actual test results in
an envelope, I signed for it and we took it with us. Teresa told me we have to take the results to
Envigado Nueva eps.
We walked the 4 blocks to the metro station and waiting for
the train experienced an unusually nice breeze.
On the train I noticed a young man and woman sitting 2 seats apart
apparently falling asleep in their seats.
A man got on the train and started playing his guitar and “pipes” and
singing which immediately woke up the couple.
We got off the train in Envigado, took a taxi to Carbón de Leña where we met Laura after
waiting a few minutes. I ordered my
monthly hamburger with fries and Pepsi, Laura wasn’t hungry and Teresa had
mondongo. I tried Teresa’s mondongo but
I didn’t really care for it. While
waiting in line at Exito for about 20 minutes to pay the electric bill I saw on
TV that police had dug up 4 more bodies of women that the serial killer the
Monster of Monserrate had killed and buried to bring the count to 7.
On the bus on the way to Santafe CC we noticed a Dian
office. The ladies got off at the mall
but I stayed on the bus to MBE. There I
picked up my next year’s supply of prostate vitamins and paid an extra 8mil for
the 0.47kg or was it 0.74kg that they weighed.
I found a currency exchange called Unicamios that had a BUY
quote of 2,875 Colombian Pesos for USD.
Today I got 3,000 COP from my ATM after USAA’s 1% Foreign Transaction
Fee. That’s a 225 peso difference per $1
or 22500 pesos per $100. So someone
would save $7 for each $100 withdrawal using my ATM rather than bringing
dollars.
When I got back to Zara
Teresa told me she hadn’t found anything she liked. We went nearby to Forever 21 where Teresa bought a pair of high heel shoes, black
dress, knit top, woven top or Laura, and 2 bracelets for 229,450 ($73.26).
I’m at the halfway point in the book. I’m tired of lugging this big heavy thing
around so I hope to finish it soon. And
I hope my new Nook is ready for me when I do finish.
We went upstairs to the food court where at Subway we each had a small sandwich and
soda for 48,700. Teresa said she likes
the sandwiches at Qbano better. I like both so I’m okay either way.
Outside Santa Fe
we had a difficult time hailing a taxi.
We saw a couple on the other side of the street but by the time we got
there none were around. Finally we took
Teresa’s advice and took a bus to Envigado.
Walking down the hill it started raining lightly. It was a good thing it was light because we
didn’t have an umbrella. Since we have
to be back at Nueva eps tommorrow Teresa suggested we stay in an inexpensive
hotel. I said I didn’t care but where is
it? She didn’t know but suggested we go
up to Carbón de Leña and ask someone. Just then we finally were able to hail a
taxi, said goodbye to Laura who was staying the night in her grandmother’s
house in Envigado and we went to the highway.
After a short wait we were on a bus to the finca.
A man got on and showed everyone a diagram of teeth. Then he handed everyone a toothbrush that he
was selling for 5mil each. Actually I
thought they were too big to fit in my mouth.
He also had floss for 1mil each. Tonight
I noticed a lot more homes and businesses decorated for Christmas.
We got past the killer dogs and were back at the finca by
8:15.
I received a strange email in Spanish from “social security”
that my credit/debit card payment has been declined. They didn’t give me a date or an amount but
the time doesn’t match any payments I’ve recently made and I always pay my
health insurance (not social security) in cash so I think they have the wrong
person.
Laura called Teresa about 9pm and informed her that she
starts work tomorrow from 4pm to 2am. I
understand there is a restaurant downstairs and a bar upstairs. She’ll have to take a taxi back to her
grandmother’s house in Envigado. Teresa
wants to visit there some night to see what kind of a place it is and what kind
of customers they have.
We didn’t get to Nueva eps did we? I understand we’ll be coming back tomorrow
morning to take care of that.
I took 2 sleeping pills at 10:45 and went to bed at 11:15.
T-shirt of the day: Replace fear of the unknown with
curiosity.
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