Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Last night half way through my “melatonin hour” I realized I was reading my Nook with the light on.  Maybe because of that it took me about 30 minutes to fall asleep.  Despite getting up several times during the night I felt I slept pretty well waking up at 7am and getting up at 7:30.

After a simple cereal breakfast I left the apt at 8:45.  After a 5 minute wait I was on a metro bus.  Traffic was backed up so much I could have easily walked to the metro faster than the bus was moving.

When I arrived at the chess league I was surprised Jose wasn’t already there.  After a few minutes I called him on his cell but got no answer.  I should have confirmed with him last night as I know he was talking about playing in a tournament that would have had him playing last night and again tonight.  So I understand he was probably too tired to play today.

I waited until 10:23, walked over to Jumbo and looked for a few things then walked over to the Suramericana Station where I caught a metro train back to Envigado.

When I returned I got Laura to go with me to the bank.  The plan was for me to receive my brother’s World Remit transfer without Laura’s help; explaining that she was just backup.  After about a 30 minute wait we walked to the appropriate cashier.  I asked if she spoke English and she said “a little”.  Speaking mostly in my broken Spanish I told her my brother sent me money from the US and I gave her my information.  (One thing I learned is that she needed my original Cedula not a copy.)  I signed a form with my name, date, signature and a fingerprint and she gave me the cash.  In the future if I have problems I know I can go to the pretty young cashier with the black hair who speaks English.  Wait, most of them have black hair! 

I had Laura call Teresa and she met us for lunch at La Casita Parilla.  Teresa had the chicken breast and Laura and I tried the ribs.  They were very good and all dishes come with an arepa, small salad and baked potato.  The cost for the 3 of us was 40mil (about $14).  We told the owner that we will be back tomorrow with my brother and his girlfriend and we ordered a bottle of wine for them.

Teresa left for her 2pm massage appointment at Stella Duran.

I dropped off my brother’s cash at the apt and then headed to the park.  I first walked to the bookstore to exchange books.  On the way I passed the pretty cashier I had just seen 90 minutes earlier.  Unfortunately, the book store was closed for some reason.

I made a withdrawal from an ATM and then paid the finca electricity bill at Cotrafa.  On my way back to the park I bought a blueberry muffin.  There were tables available at Bartolos so I took my time eating my muffin and drinking a couple café con leches.

I left about 4pm and felt a single raindrop from a dark cloud overhead.

We got a little rain from 4:30 to 5pm.  At 5:30 it started raining again - harder. 

Laura borrowed my umbrella and left at 5:45 for her driving lesson.  Good thing it’s just classroom training thus far.

I watched 2 more episodes of The Walking Dead.

I got several calls from Teresa that it’s almost impossible to catch a taxi in the rain.  I Googled Medellin taxis and gave her a number that might work.  Laura needs to teach Teresa how to call for a taxi using the Easy Taxi, Tappsi or Uber apps.

I finished reading Michael Connelly’s The Burning Room Harry Bosch #17) and downloaded his The Crossing Bosch #18).

Teresa called at 8:30 to tell me she got a ride from Esmeralda; she finally got back at 9pm.

T-shirt of the day: You had me at hello.