Wednesday, April 6th, 2016

22 days and counting!

Last night I tried finding the finale of People vs O.J. Simpson on Direct TV but I couldn’t find the right time and channel.  I only saw a couple episodes but I’m sure I’ll see the whole thing someday on Netflix.

Today’s another cool, overcast day.  I hope that will keep the heat down in Medellin.

We left the finca at 12:35 and I gave each of the black dogs a small dog biscuit.  The lactating black dog is skin and bones so I guess she’s giving all her milk to the puppies but I wonder where the puppies are?  I haven’t seen or heard anything from them yet – maybe they’re inside.  Teresa asked me if I want one.  No, we don’t need another dog that might even get killed by one of the jealous terriers.

We only had to wait 5 minutes for a bus.  We got off at the Poblado station and took a taxi to Unicentro.  We had lunch at Qbano the sandwich shop.  It reminds me of Quiznos – toasted sandwiches – you just don’t get to choose your ingredients.  I got another Philadelphia sandwich combo which includes fries and soda and Teresa got their ropa vieja (translates to old clothes; go figure) combo minus the fries but substituted a coconut lemonade.  The total came to 32,200 ($10).

After lunch we walked across the street to Martha’s office.  Marta was on the phone but another young lady there spoke English and helped me.  She approved the 2 copies of documents I left for her to be apostilled.  I was told the documents would probably be ready for pickup next Monday but she would call me.  I left my passport with her, made a 50% downpayment of 70,000 pesos (about $23), got my receipt and we left.  Walking down the street she came running after us and gave me back my passport – I didn’t forget it, I just thought they needed it.

In Unicentro Teresa did some window shopping while I went downstairs to a small office supply store.  There was a young black girl standing outside the doorway talking to someone so I just cut behind her into the store.  I looked around the shop for a red highlighter and saw a few possible candidates.  The salesgirl had disappeared and while I was waiting I noticed the black girl was visibly looking my way.  (It’s not often I get stared at here.)  When the salesgirl returned I asked to see a package of fat pens I saw on the top shelf.  Right away I deduced (through my superior intellect) that they were dry erase markers because the package included an eraser and on the outside of the package in English it said “dry erase”.  Lol.  I motioned I was looking for something in red to highlight a receipt I had.  She went to a display I hadn’t noticed (because all the pens were in slots with their ends towards me) and took out a red pen.  I paid 1,800 pesos (about 60 cents), said thank you to the salesgirl, said goodbye to the black girl who was watching me once again and left.

I stopped at a copy center where I had my tax documents printed – 16 pages for 2,080 pesos.  It’s nice how people treat you here even though you don’t speak their language well.

 We stopped in Exito where I picked up a bottle of Aunt Jemima syrup and Teresa picked up arepas, hotdogs, hotdog and hamburger buns and a few other things.  She also found a couple what I would call muscle shirts if they were for men – they were on sale for only 7,000 pesos each (a little over $2).

We took a taxi to the Poblado station and right away caught a Jericho bus.  We got seats in the back with Teresa on one side and a young man seated next to the window on the other side.  A man got on the bus and handed out what looked like a large package of wafer cookies and a smaller package of white chocolate cookies.  I told the man next to me that because today is Wednesday the cookies are free.  He laughed at that.

The problem with the Jericho bus is that it stops in Caldas.  At the bus stop I got off and bought a bottle of water.  

Walking up the sideroad I put the change into my fanny pack.  I realized I had given her at 10,000 peso bill and she gave me the bottle of water and 5 2,000 pesos bills in change.  So it was free.

I only had one dog biscuit left so I broke it in half and gave a piece to each of the black dogs.

We got back to the finca by 6:15.  Right away I put Peluche and Luna in the doghouse.  This is the first time that all the dogs are locked up for the night.

If I seemed like more of a smart ass today maybe it’s because of the book I’m reading.  Nelson DeMille writes like Jim Clancy only he has a dry sense of humor that I like.

T-shirt of the day: Life is uncertain, eat dessert first.