Saturday, August 13th, 2016

The Colombian Peso closed for the week at 2,929 to the Dollar.

In the morning I was going to go to MBE to pick up my documents and pay for August and September’s rent.  I was all dressed and ready to go but luckily I had Teresa call them first to have my stuff ready for pickup and also ask if I could pay using my debit card.  Someone finally answered and explained that they are closed today because the guy who usually covers on Saturday had an accident.  I’ll bet it was a motorcycle accident.  I guess I’ll go on Tuesday morning.  Teresa forgot to ask about the debit card.

So I’m all dressed with nowhere to go?  I walked down to the Exito by the highway where I bought a medium/hot jar of salsa, a bag of nacho chips (they didn’t have the brand I usually get), a bottle of Smuckers strawberry sundae syrup, and a small notebook to keep track of what weight I use on each exercise apparatus.

My checker was a pretty young girl (will be prettier when she’s out of braces) who first scanned my Exito card.  I always enjoy their reaction when my name pops up and I wonder if they are going to attempt to pronounce it.  She hesitated a second and said “Terry” perfectly.  I congratulated her and asked where she learned her English and in perfect English she told me she was born in New Jersey.  Her name is Anjelica.

I took my time walking back up the monster hill.

I wrote and submitted a review of Pizzeria Olivia to Trip Advisor.

Back at the apt Teresa informed me the Turkish clothing store is going out of business and everything is really cheap.  I went with her and since there was no place for me to sit I told her I would meet her back at the bakery.  I ordered a café con leche and pastry with arequipe inside, paid something less than 3,000 pesos ($1) and sat down to enjoy it while reading my Nook.  Teresa arrived about 5 minutes later with 3 dresses that cost her about 100,000 pesos (about $33 total or $11 each).  We left about 5 minutes later.

We left the apt when Martha picked us up at 1:40.  Her daughter was with her.  Again the ride was very herky jerky (sp?).  Across one of the streets I saw a banner advertising a movie “El Gordo y El Flacco” (The Fat and the Skinny) with a caracature of Oliver & Hardy.  No idea what that was about!

Martha took us to Centro Empresarial Obelisco across the street (west side) from the Stadium.  We went up to the 8^th floor, were admitted and then walked up more stairs to the 10^th floor.  I understood Teresa was going to have something done to her eyebrows for 160,000 pesos.  I went back down to the 8^th floor and waited in a comfortable sofa watching the Olympics (Spain vs. Argentina in tennis).  Teresa came down a while later and I understood the cost was 320,000 pesos (was the first price for one eyebrow?).  She came down again later and told me to forget it because a guy now says it costs 485,000 pesos.  Martha had the procedure done and then her daughter drove us back to the apt.  At one point she asked if the upcoming road was San Juan.  I replied “yes, Calle 44 is San Juan” and she was amused I knew where it was.  I told her this was my old neighborhood.  At least the ride back was smooth.

Teresa informed me she was very hungry (and I guess didn’t want to cook) so she sent me to Frisby for chicken.

I watched more Olympics on my Slingbox.

I see from the TV directory that that unidentified game where they dribble a small ball and throw it into a soccer goal is called “handball” (at least here in Colombia).

T-shirt of the day: Black is a beautiful color.