Saturday, June 3, 2017

Last night I slept pretty well despite getting up several times during the night.

This morning the sky is sunny.

I had my usual scrambled eggs and an arepa with coffee for breakfast and Teresa just had a soft boiled egg.

I did a speed test at 8:30 from my computer room and only got 0.86Mbps download and 1.30 Mbps upload.  Yikes!

Teresa left for a nail appointment at 9:10 and I left a couple minutes later.  I stopped at Citibank but again the ATM didn’t work for me so I stopped at Bancolombia where I withdrew some cash.

I stopped at Gana and added 20,000 pesos to my cell phone.  I repeated the number that I saw on the screen in English and the lady said something about I was speaking too fast.  I told her I have the same problem with Spanish.  I added 50,000 pesos to Teresa’s cell phone and this time I repeated the number very slowly digit by digit and we both laughed.

At Todo Drogas I bought my medicine for the month.  This time I charged it and there was no extra 3.5% charge.

At the corner outside Exito a young lady was handing out free adn newspapers. 

I stopped at El Pastelito across from where Teresa was having her nails done.  I ordered a café con leche but it took a second order and a total of 20 minutes for it to arrive.  I skimmed through the newspaper (pretty quickly, because there isn’t a lot I understand) but I did see an article entitled The World Rebels Against D. Trump #Total Loser.  Other articles were about the 50^th anniversary of The Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band album, the Champions League final match today between Juventus and Real Madrid, and Atletico Nacional playing Jaguares tonight at 8:15 in Medellin. 

But the most interesting was an article on the next to last page that caught my attention.  With my limited Spanish I understood that a 2-story Nutella (chocolate & hazelnut) retail store (the only one in the world) has opened a few blocks from Millenium Park in Chicago.  Nutella Café offers toasted Italian sandwiches, soups and salads.  I didn’t realize that Nutella was so popular in the US.

Teresa joined me about 11am and she had a chicken breast plate with salad and a bottle of water.  She left the salad for me to finish.  I’ll have my lunch somewhere nearby while she’s getting her massage.

I did a speed test at noon from my computer room and got 1.80Mbps download and 0.80 Mbps upload.  Not much better.

MT arrived at noon as I understand she’s getting massages at the same place as Teresa.  We left the apt right away and immediately caught a taxi across the street.

At Stella Duran I told Teresa I was going for lunch and I would meet her after her massage at the bakery across the street.  I walked a couple blocks and ended up eating at El Carriel de La Hamburguesa.  I ordered their cheeseburger which was oozing with cheese and a Coke for 11,800 (about $4.25).

I walked back to the bakery and they had the Juventus vs Real Madrid game on.  I ordered a small Coke and started reading my Nook book.  Just before the match started the TV went blank and all I saw after that was “Verify cable signal”. 

I finished Garry Kasparov’s Deep Thinking and then downloaded John Otis’ Law of the Jungle: The Hunt for Colombian Guerrillas, American Hostages, and Buried Treasure, a book that Alex recommended.

When the ladies returned they told me they wanted to go shopping in Oviedo.  I told them I don’t have my debit card nor a lot of cash but they were okay with that.

On our way to the mall we saw a motorcycle, driven by a young lady, with a sidecar filled with what looked like purchases for the home.

We stopped in Starbucks and the ladies had a yogurt with seasonal fruit and I had a vanilla latte.  The young lady wrote on my cup in Spanish “what a marvelous name you have” and “nice day”.

The ladies left to go shopping and I read my Nook.  I think there was a young gringo sitting next to me with a laptop but we didn’t communicate with each other.

The ladies came back about 90 minutes later and we quickly caught a taxi back to the apt.

I made a glass of iced tea.  Stan, one of my readers, is right.  It’s difficult to get sugar to dissolve in cold tea.  He suggests I make up a separate mixture with hot water and sugar and store that in the fridge for mixing with my tea.  I’m going to have to think about that.

I did a speed test at 5pm from my computer room and got 0.59Mbps download and 0.70 Mbps upload.  Yikes again!

At 5:30 Teresa surprised me by asking to go back to Pizza Gourmet (Calle 38Sur & Carrera 35) in Envigado.  Teresa, MT, and I left at 5:45, arrived there and we each placed our order.  We walked across the street to El Trebejo to look for a study desk for Laura.  At first I didn’t see the chess table I had seen before but it had just been moved to a different room.  We didn’t find a desk with drawers but I think Teresa said they should have one soon.

Back at the restaurant we each enjoyed 2 slices of pizza and a Te Hatsu for 66,000 pesos (about $23).  Teresa informed me that MT would pay next time.  Sounds good to me.

The Colombian Peso closed at 2,916 to the US Dollar.

I did a speed test at 9pm from my computer room and got 0.69Mbps download and 1.69 Mbps upload.  That will never do.  Maybe I will get better results when I move my laptop to the dining room table.  We’ll see.

T-shirt of the day: Silence is golden.  Duct Tape is silver.