Thursday, February 23, 2017

Regarding teaching English here in Colombia, I seem to recall that since I’m here on a Pensionado visa I’m not supposed to be working, or at least such work that could possibly take a job away from a Colombian so I’m not sure if teaching English here would qualify.

Teresa made some phone calls and arranged for us to see the apt at 10:30.  That gave me time to watch the beginning of the Today show.

As soon as we were inside the building we saw they have a portera (doorman).  In back was a garage with about 6 spaces.  I wonder if this apt includes a garage space?  I thought I saw 2 garage doors so maybe there is additional space somewhere.  They have a modern looking working elevator that doesn’t look like it will break down tomorrow.  We got off on the 4^th floor and there are only 2 apartments on the floor.  So, 5 floors of apartments x 2 apartments equals 10 apartments, maybe there’s a garage space for each apartment.

The apt has a good sized balcony (Chuck will be envious) although I’m a little concerned about the security of the sliding glass doors.  The distant view from the balcony is pretty nice as we’re the tallest building facing that direction.  There is almost a 180 degree view of hills and mountains.  The closer view is not so nice – looking down on junk piled on rooftops.

The living room/dining room looks to be a little larger than our current apt.  The kitchen is a little smaller but Teresa said she could live with that.  There is a utility room with space for a washing machine and a utility tub for the manual washing of clothes. 

There is a guest bathroom and all the appliances look pretty modern and new.

The bedrooms look to be about the same size as our current apt but with much more closet space.  The master bedroom has its own bathroom.

There isn’t a lot of window space to open with the exception of the sliding glass doors.  The main thing is that this location should be quieter than where we are now.

Teresa talked to the agency guy but a few things are still unclear to me: if it includes a garage, something about “until April”, and I’m not sure if the price is 1,600,000 pesos.

After lunch it felt like I had some food attached to my tongue but I couldn’t shake it loose.  I went in to the bathroom and rinsed my mouth and the water was bloody.  Somehow I cut a flap of skin loose in the middle of my tongue.

I called Fossil and the reason my order wasn’t accepted is they detected my IPS address and knew I was out of the country.  The rep at the store guided my order through and I should be receiving an order invoice shortly.

I checked online and Fossil billed me twice so now I have to call them again for that.

Laura and I left the apt at 3:30 and caught a taxi at Avenida Poblado.  The driver spoke a little English.  He said he worked for a year in a restaurant in Boston but didn’t have much of an opportunity to speak English.  Later he said something about 9 years in Boston.  I understood that was 16 years ago.  He said the only way he knew how to get to El Tesoro was from Calle 10 so we had to deal with the traffic on Avenida Poblado and Calle 10.  He was very funny so he was forgiven and we still arrived 20 minutes early.

Dr. Rendon didn’t like Laura’s braces but said she’s doing well.  He agreed that she needs to have all 4 molars removed but he said we should go to an oral surgeon to avoid any inflammation.  He said that would cost 700-1000mil.  He did start cleaning her teeth however.  We’re coming back next week for him to finish her cleaning.

We waited in line for about 15 minutes for a return taxi ride.

Teresa said she would pay for Teresa’s moral extraction from the finca rental money.

At 6:30 it started raining pretty hard.  I left just before 7pm with my largest umbrella.  It was a 10 block walk to Tepito Tacos y Tequila in the La Mesa area of Envigado.  I met Jeff at the entrance and he said 60 gringos/gringas had confirmed attendance.  I found a seat at the bar where I met Doyle from Texas.  He’s 74 and lives about 3 blocks away.  He says he is working remotely here.  He lived in Costa Rica for about 10 years.

I had chicken quesadillas and a Te Hatsu for 30,000 pesos.  It started getting too congested and noisy for me so I left after being there for only an hour.  I hope next time they choose a larger place that will facilitate conversation.

One thing I learned from Doyle is that EasyTaxi is better than Uber because they can at least find you and there’s no charge if they can’t.  I also picked up a business card by the register for Tours in Colombia at 302 301 8470.

I got back to the apt by 8pm and it was still raining. 

I understand we’re supposed to enroll at Smartfit using their online website but it’s in Spanish.  With Laura’s help I may have figured it out but I haven’t even seen their equipment so Laura and I are going to check it out tomorrow morning and maybe I can find someone who speaks English to help me with the registration.

I went to bed at 10:45 and it was still raining.

T-shirt of the day: I thought growing old would take longer.