I slept well despite getting up at 2am and again at
5am. We finally got up at 8:15.
It was another overcast day as we left the finca at 10:20,
got past the G-dogs undetected, and were on a bus after a 5 minute wait.
In Envigado we stopped at Agency #2, where we met Laura,
supposedly to pick up some papers.
Instead the salesman took us to see another apartment. It was about 20 blocks north of downtown. The
apartment is 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and even though it has aged some we
liked the size and layout. The rent is
1,300,000 a month and we can pay month to month. I think we might take it.
Outside we noticed another apartment for rent at a nearby
building. Laura talked to the doorman
and wrote down a telephone number.
We walked a few blocks away where we caught a taxi to El
Poblado. We had lunch again at Aguacate but this time we all had the
special of the day for 13,000 each. It
included your choice of: soup (frijoles or tortilla), meat (chicken, beef,
pork, or chicharron), a small tomato and lettuce salad, fresh avocado slices,
rice, a small arepa, and cooked plantain.
(It seems like every typical Colombian meal in Medellin includes rice and a small arepa.) We each ordered a different fresh juice which
I learned later was not included in the special price (most Colombian specials
include juice). Each juice was an extra
4,700 pesos. We all enjoyed our food and
the fresh air of the open air restaurant.
Including a 10% tip the total check came to 58,410 (about $21).
We walked across the street to MBE where I picked up 2 of my
annual pension fund statements, my new USAA debit card and the books I
ordered. I also paid 134,450 for May and
June’s rent. (When I got back to the
finca and checked my receipts and it appears I paid twice for April. Teresa questioned why I even have a MBE
account. Because if I don’t I won’t
receive my mail.)
We took a bus back to Envigado. On the way a very attractive woman of about
50 years of age got on the bus. She had
a very pretty face and a nice figure.
She sat down on the last remaining seat on the bus – next to me. She got off about a mile down the road.
At Bancolombia I waited 50 minutes in line to pay my health
insurance for May, in the meantime Laura walked a few blocks away to $efecty
where she paid the 111,000 Direct TV and 64,900 Une (wi-fi) bills. We said goodbye to Laura and we walked down
to La Abuela Isabela where we each
had a brownie with ice cream and whipped cream for 8,200 (about $3).
We walked down to Agency #2 where we got the total bill for
the 1st month’s rent for the apartment: monthly rent of 1,300,000,
260,000 real estate commission, 41,600 tax, and 22,000 to study our
application. I understand our
application was accepted.
We walked to a small store where we picked up a couple small
bags of dog food. By the train station I
stopped for the first time at one of the private bathrooms to pee. It cost 700 pesos (about 25 cents) and I was
impressed with its cleanliness. I even
saw seats on the toilets AND toilet paper.
After about a 20 minute wait we took a Fredonia bus back to
Caldas. Unfortunately there weren’t any
free seats and we had to stand the whole way.
Sitting in front of me was a very attractive young girl with dark skin,
pretty face and big boobs. That kind of
took away from the discomfort of having to stand. One of Teresa’s friends, Marie Luz, was on
the bus with us. She lives in one of the
fincas higher up the mountain.
Afterwards, Teresa told me her father could guard our finca while we’re
away.
We got back to the finca just before it got too dark to see.
More Expat Exchange comments:
Afiore1961: I experienced a home invasion once in 40
years of life in the US.
It was done in broad daylight in the middle of the Haight Asbury in San Francisco. There was little doubt it was someone in the
neighbourhood that knew the one day in the week that none of the residents were
home and the landlord did not come by to park his car in the garage. We figured
they pulled up to the driveway in a pickup or van judging from the heavy items
they took. In those years the Haight was a half-way station to somewhere else.
There was no sense meeting your neighbours as people came and went. So it is
that it probably looked like we were moving out and no one paid any mind. While
living in the village of Hinckley Woods in the UK, we woke up one morning to find
that during the night the house next door was completely cleaned out of
anything valuable. The couple that owned the house were on vacation abroad and
did not bother to set up an alarms system. But speaking of Colombia: two week ends ago a Colombian
professional I have rented from, was out with a woman friend to enjoy the quiet
of a nature park outside Bogota.
Broad daylight on a Saturday they were
confronted by three men armed with guns, certainly in an area where they likely
were the only five people about. They took everything they had of value. What
got me was they even took his nice new hiking shoes. They were quite aways from
his car and the keys were in the backpack that was taken. In that situation I
would have been as good as dead as I doubt I can take more than 10 steps
without shoes. The news affected me emotionally, as it questioned the false
sense of security I have adopted since coming to Colombia. Three days before this
happening coming back from shopping in my "safe" barrio, I saw what
looked like a cell phone lying in a patch of grass. It turned out to be a
notebook, 2 cedulas of young Colombian women, probably of high school or
college age, 3 local credit cards and a wallet collection of photos of young
men. I took them to a police kiosk across from my place. The police thanked me
but never bothered to ask my name. I am over those experiences now. I figure Colombia is no different than San
Francisco or a village in the UK. Know where you go. Know where
you are and stay alert.
Cafetero: A similar response from police when my 3 cameras
and iPad were stolen. I went to the police with the model and serial numbers of
the items and the police didn´t even copy down the numbers. I left the list
lying on the desk and I imagine they just threw it away. There is a place
overlooking Bogota
called Monserrate. It is a popular tourist attraction and I have heard a lot of
people get robbed when they are walking there.
LaPiranha: Cafetero. At least they listened to you. In the UK, all they do
is give you a crime number, so you can quote it to your insurance company. They
never visit the scene of the crime to take prints or anything. They don't even
record much of it nowadays. Yes, Monserrate was known for that. The advice was
always to take the cable car or funicular railway. If you walked up, you were
always at risk of getting robbed, for the pathway was never policed, and it
went through a rough barrio. In fact there was a guy living rough up there, who
would invite women to his makeshift shelter, and then rape and murder them. He
was known as the beast of Monserrate. He
is now behind bars, and probably mentally insane. The area is now policed much
better, and is a lot safer. The locals do use the path, for it’s seen as a "penance"
to climb the mountain to atone for their sins, and pray at all the stations of
the cross on the way up. Spectacular view from the top, and a very good French
Restaurant called the San Isidro,
with a pianist playing, wearing the traditional old white gloves, and all very
"olde worlde" and high class.
When I returned to the finca I found I had 2 more messages
from MBE – one for a document and the other for a package.
T-shirt of the day: Chic happens.
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