Saturday, January 2nd, 2016

I got up at 3:30, again at 7:30 finally getting up at 8:30.

We left the finca at 11:50 and got past the killer dogs undetected.  It looked awfully quiet there.  At the highway while we were waiting for a bus Guillermo appeared from across the highway carrying a large Styrofoam cooler.  He talked to Teresa for a while and I understood that the boxweiler killed the puppy, the way predators kill their prey, by grabbing them by the throat until they asphyxiate.  He also said something about last Wednesday cars or dogs weaving along the highway but I didn’t understand everything.  Our bus came after a 20 minute wait.

About 5 minutes later it started raining hard and we didn’t have an umbrella.  I understand we left the small red one on the bus and the larger one is still back at the finca.  Instead of getting off the bus at Aguacatala station we went to the end of the line to the south bus station.  This is when I found I couldn’t open my Nook book; battery is probably too low.  At Frisby Teresa had the Frischuleta, soup and juice.  I helped her with that and I also had a Friburrito and Pepsi for a total of 38,800.

By the time we left the bus station it had stopped raining.  We took a taxi to Calle 50 and Carrera 47 where Teresa picked up some face cream.  Across the street were 6 barber shops in a row (what a country).  We stopped in one and I let Teresa have her way with my haircut.  My beard is a now smaller and shorter.  After cutting my hair the barber opened a new blade for final trimming around the edges.  The entire procedure took 20 minutes and cost me 8,000 pesos (less than $3).

We walked about 3 blocks west to Avenida 80 and about 6 blocks south to Calle 44 (San Juan).  I stopped at the internet store to print something but it was closed.  We walked to Viva CC where I left Teresa downstairs to have a set of finca keys made for me.  I went across the street to Mall Laureles where I told the man who organizes Santafe tours that there would be 6 people wanting to go there on Saturday, January 30^th.  I also picked up another one of his flyers.  The price is still 60mil (about $20) which includes transportation both ways, tour of a bridge on the way, lunch there, and use of their facilities which includes a pool and jacuzzi.  Not a bad deal.  They leave Medellin at 10am and leave Santafe at 7pm.  I walked across the street to Hotel Golden Palermo where I picked up their business card.

Back at Viva CC Teresa informed me they weren’t able to copy her keys for some reason.  She waited at Nohelia to have her nails done and I picked up a complimentary 2016 calendar at Western Union.  Upstairs in Exito I dropped off a used battery and some partially used medicine I no longer needed.  I picked up 2 packages of underwear (3 pairs in each) and a bottle of Pepsi for tomorrow’s game.  (We had finished the other bottle a couple days before.)  I asked a saleslady where I could find a bottle of strawberry syrup (salsa de fresa).  She asked me if I meant fresco and I said no, fresa.  After we went back and forth a few times I took her over to the strawberries and she finally understood.  Sigh!  She showed me a plastic package of arequipe and asked me if this was what I wanted only with strawberry inside.  I told her yes but the bottle is made of harder plastic.  She asked someone else who got on her cell phone.  I told her I would keep looking while they are checking and right away I found the bottle – Smucker’s Strawberry Syrup – all in English.  Checkout lines were pretty busy and after a 10 minute wait I paid 104,820.  I picked up a large mango, banana, and papaya juice for 6,400 ($2) which I took downstairs to share with Teresa.

We decided that after she had her nails done we would go to Pizza Americana for pizza.  

Finally she got her nails done and as we were walking through the parking garage she saw a kiosk selling shrimp cocktail and of course she wanted one.  I was concerned she would spoil her appetite for pizza but she said I could order one just for myself.

(It was 6:40pm and believe it or not an hour later we were on a direct bus back to the finca.)

As we were walking out of Viva mall we saw it was still drizzling and we forgot to buy an umbrella.  After a few seconds thought I gave her 50 mil and told her to go buy an umbrella at Exito and I would go downstairs and have a hotdog and then we would leave directly for the finca.   She said we could meet at Mimo’s (ice cream shop) after we had both finished.  At Dogger’s I tried their hamburdog hoping it might be something like a Chicago all beef hotdog.  Not.  It also included a bag of chips and medium Pepsi for 9,900 ($3.25).

Upstairs at Mimo’s Teresa showed up empty handed after a minute wait.   She said the lines were too long to purchase the umbrella besides it had stopped raining.  We walked across the street and immediately a private car arrived (con effectivo) which took us to Aguacatala station for 4mil.  There was a very pretty young lady there waiting for a bus.  After about a 10 minute wait, at 7:40pm, we were on a bus back to the finca.  There were a few pretty young ladies on the bus and others got on at several stops.  What a country!  

It still wasn’t raining, we got past the killer dogs undetected and were back at the finca by 8:30pm.

The plan tomorrow is to leave early (8am) for Caldas, have breakfast there and buy meat, fruits & vegetables at Merkepaisa.

I took 2 sleeping pills at 11pm and went to bed.

T-shirt of the day: You’re my inspiration.