Saturday, June 25th, 2016

Well, at least today I don’t feel sore from the health club so I guess that’s progress.

The Colombian Peso closed at 2,882 to the US Dollar.

Laura and I walked down to the tourism office by the library but found it’s closed on Saturdays.  At the small hardware store we got Laura’s building key remade and it finally works.

Back at the apt Teresa told me she’s going for a walk around Envigado with the lady from the finca.  In the meantime I went to the park to play chess.  There is a tourism booth at one of the park and today it was open.  A young man there spoke English so I asked him if they had a map of Envigado or Medellin.  They didn’t but he gave me some other information including a park in Envigado that we’re planning on going to tomorrow. 

I won 2 slow games against one old man and then I decided it was time for lunch.  On my way to Carbón de Leña I saw a sideless tent with 5 pretty girls sitting inside.  They had some kind of newspaper sitting on a counter.  I asked one of the ladies if they were free and she said they are in Spanish.  I said “of course” and she gave me one.  Laura found me in the restaurant while I was waiting for my order.  I took a look at the newspaper - El Metropolitano - and the best I could figure out is there is some type of vote in Envigado on July 10^th.  I thought it had something to do with Envigado merging with Medellin.

She tried one of my ribs and then ordered it for herself. 

Back at the park I won 6 games against another old man and 1 more against a 3^rd.  While playing, my opponent occasionally poured himself a small cup of aguardente (Colombian version of vodka) from a small box in a black plastic bag.  At one point the police stopped by and talked to him.  They looked in the plastic bag - maybe they thought it might be a bomb - but nothing further transpired.

It was now after 4pm and I had told Teresa I would be back between 3 and 4.  On my way back to the apt I heard someone say in English “I’ll bet you’re an American”.  I turned and looked and there was a man with a Vietnam Veteran hat on.  I said “you sure don’t advertise that you’re an American” as I pointed to his hat.  His name is Chuck, he’s from Cleveland, he is a retired plumber, his wife is Colombian and she’s close to getting her US green card.  We talked about things Colombian – mainly the noise and plumbing.  I asked him about the July 10^th vote and he said it has something to do with sharing resources with Medellin which included putting in a metro bus system on Avenida Poblado.  I gave him one of my “business” cards and asked him to email me so we can exchange personal information.

I got back to the apt. just after 4:30 and Laura was there but not yet Teresa.  It started raining a little soon after I got back.  Teresa called and apologized that she will be late because of the rain. 

I made waffles for dinner.

Colombia beat the US in the Copa America 1-0.
 
It ended up raining for most of the evening.