Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Last night I went to bed at 11pm and didn’t wake up until 5am but then had trouble getting back to sleep finally getting up at 8am.

I left for the gym at 9:30.  Because I was so early I managed to get an adn newspaper.  (One article stated that Medellin has the 5^th worst traffic on the continent with LA #1, NY #3.)  While I was on the biceps machine someone started talking to me in English.  Colin is from England, now staying in Sabaneta, and told me his problems since his bank froze his debit cards.  I did all my exercises in an hour and 45 minutes.  Coming out I saw a large Saint Bernard lying at the top of the steps.  Very lazy, very friendly.

I’ve decided to try to remember to post new photos on Saturdays with descriptions.

Back at the apt Laura informed me that it was too early for her to go to lunch.  Instead of going to Deli Hoy I left the apt at 12:15, took a bus to Parque Poblado, took another bus up the hill to about Calle 37 where I found The Flip Flop Sandwich Shop open with the same owner - Paula.  I had a sloppy joe and Coke for 14mil.  I picked up a couple brochures for a Comuna 13 Graffiti Tour and a Futbol tour.

I walked over to Vizcaya, bought 2 tickets for 3mil apiece (they have half price tickets on Tuesdays and Wednesdays) and then texted Jose.  He arrived 15 minutes later.  He spent some time at the box office and then came back with a little Cine Colombia pail.  I learned that you can get a free Cine Colombia card and then when you purchase 30 tickets within a year you get promoted to their Platinum card.  That’s when you get a little pail that gives you free popcorn (or maybe just free refills), and a couple free ticket certificates.  I bought a small popcorn and medium soda for myself for 14,600 ($5).

We saw The Post starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks.  There were about 3 dozen others in the theater.  Afterwards, Jose helped me get my own Cine Colombia card.  It wasn’t completely free, I had to put 52,000 pesos on the card.  (Back at the apt I completed the account registration.)

We had coffee one level below the theater.  I learned that Jose works for Telesentinel an alarm monitoring company.  He goes out to businesses and teaches them how to use their system.  He also likes the TV series Transparent (ABC), Scandal, Black Mirror, and Vikings (History Channel).  We walked across the street where we caught a taxi.  Jose got out at the Starbucks close to Parque Poblado and after crawling down the Gold Mile we arrived at the apt.

I had missed the first 15 minutes but I watched the rest of the next 2 episodes of The Walking Dead.

Teresa (with Laura) returned and reported she’s not sure if the prospective renter is interested or not.

My eyes were very tired but I managed to make it to 11pm before going to bed.

T-shirt of the day: All I want for Christmas is a plane ticket.