Monday, August 20, 2018

Today is another holiday.  This time it’s Asunción de María (Assumption of Mary).

Last night I slept pretty well despite getting up twice but I was awakened at 6:40 by the parrots squawking in the tree outside the apt so I got up.

Teresa left at 7am for the finca to check out the plants and things.  She’s going to try to come back in time so we can see the movie tonight.  It will probably be the 3D version starting at 7pm.

I had a little bit of a runny nose this morning so I hope I didn’t somehow catch Laura’s cold.

I left the apt at 8:05.  The streets and sidewalks are nearly deserted.  There was a ciclovia going on on the closed street leading to the park.  I had calentado and a café con leche at Carbon de Leña for the usual 8,500 pesos.  Passing back through the park there was an exercise class just getting organized.  I was back at the apt by 8:50 so I guess here to there and back with breakfast takes about 45 minutes.

I wached the first 20 minutes of the Today show and then left for the gym.  The exercise class in the park was now in progress.

I completed all my exercises in 2 hours.  For the 2^nd time my hamstrings felt like normal on the leg flex machine.  I’m pretty satisfied with the muscle I’ve put on in the last 2 years, now I need to work on my cardio.  I skipped 2 simple but time consuming exercises that I usually do and instead walked for 5 minutes at speed 5 on the treadmill.  I know I need to increase the speed and time in order to work my heart but I am limited by how much force my old joints can take.  At one point I saw a man walked past me wearing a Chicago t-shirt.

Back at the apt Laura finally came out of her bedroom about 12:30.

I understand Teresa won’t be returning until later so Laura called and ordered a full chicken plus salads and a Pepsi for me from Frisby for 56mil.  This way there will be some food for Teresa when she returns.

Laura shared with me a voice mail and messages from Trevor, one of the young men I met last week at Santafe mall.  He’s the one from SF that spoke English with me while the other 2 spoke English with Teresa.  He sounds like he’s infatuated with her; time will tell.

I took a nap from 2:30 to 3:45.

Teresa called at 5:45 to report that she’s still waiting to catch a bus from the finca back to Envigado.  If she catches a bus then I’ll go early to Oviedo to buy tickets and they will catch up with me later.

Teresa finally called just after 6pm.  She caught a taxi but traffic was heavy so things are still a little up in the air.  I changed clothes, walked down the hill and caught a taxi to Oviedo.  Thankfully, there was no line and there were lots of seats available.  I waited for Teresa to call to tell me whether to buy tickets or not.  Finally she called and I understood that it would only be me and Laura so I bought 2 preferred seating 3D tickets for 20mil each.  A little later I got a text message from Laura that she was coming in a taxi with Teresa.  Is Teresa just accompanying her or is she going to see the movie also?  They showed up just before 7pm and we managed to buy another seat right next to the other two.  (I now have 29 total ticket purchases this year on my Cine Colombia card.)  We bought popcorn and sodas and entered the theater just before the main feature began.

It was really cold inside.  Teresa brought a piece of Frisby chicken with her and at one point I warned her because I saw a Cine Colombia employee walking the aisles.

When another employee came by later I asked her why it was so cold inside.  Of course I didn’t understand her answer so I had her repeat it for Teresa who then explained to me that another room was full of people so they had to turn up the A/C for them.  Obviously they don’t have separate controls for each theater.

The movie was okay as they had to kill the Megaladon several times.  Interestingly I recognized the actor Robert Taylor who I remember from the TV series Longmire.

Outside Oviedo we quickly caught a taxi back to the apt for 8mil.

Wow, Trevor sent Laura a text message asking how her day was.

Today’s Step Count was 8,566.

Joke of the day

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN

Thought for the Day

A married man should forget his mistakes. There's no reason for two people to have to remember the same thing!

Sunday, August 19, 2018

Pretty much what has become a typical night, although I went to bed a little late (11:45) because of the football game, got up once during the night and woke at 6:30 and got up at 7:30.

Laura was feeling better this morning and left for work at 8:30.  I think we’ll be able to see the movie tomorrow.

Teresa and I left the apt at 11am, met MT down the hill and quickly caught a taxi to Terminal del Sur (South bus terminal).

We bought tickets to Rio Negro (at least that’s where I thought we were going) for 7,500 pesos each.  (MT gave me 50mil to cover at least her bus ticket and lunch so that was unexpected but nice.)  There was about a 15 minute wait until the bus left.

We arrived in San Antionio (I found out a little later) in an hour and 45 minutes. 

It took longer than Teresa thought and also wasn’t what she was told it would be like from her friend.  I think she was very disappointed.  After walking around their park filled with booths a little we had a menu del dia at a small restaurant.  The chicken shish kebab we all had was delicious.

We walked down the street where we finally found a bakery.  We got the last table and I had 2 café con leches, and Teresa and MT had coffees.  I also had a pastry with guanabana (or something like that) inside.  There was a 30-something woman sitting at the next table off Teresa’s side.  On two different occasions she got up and left her purse sitting on a chair next to hers.  Later I learned that she asked Teresa to watch her things but as Teresa said she didn’t know us at all.  I told Teresa we could have had half of her money for her and half for me.  What about my mother she asked?  Let her find her own mark.  Lol.

Highlights of the trip: 1) a man walking a small pig, 2) a man creating pencil drawings with his feet as he had no arms, 3) a visit to the restroom where I saw a man using the urinal at the same time as he was brushing his teeth (now that’s multi-tasking).  I also noticed a booth selling waffles that was using a double-sided Cuisinart machine.  They had 4 of them so I guess there must have been quite a demand.

We were back at the bus stop by 5:45 for our 6pm return trip.  Luckily we bought tickets ahead of time as there was a long line.  Just after 6pm a bus arrived and people started to get on and it was obvious everyone wasn’t going to fit on this small bus.  One or two women behind me constantly called out to just let those on board who have tickets.  As far as I could see that’s what they did.  The last few people on had to stand.

The bus left when it looked like we would be the next ones on.

The next bus arrived at 7pm, we got seats and we were on our way.  I was sitting next to a woman with a young baby with Teresa and MT on the other side of the aisle.  This young woman also had a backpack at her feet that she struggled to get things out of since her hands were pretty full.  Finally she said something to me in Spanish and I asked Teresa for help.  The young woman got up and switched places with another friend.  This second young woman was even prettier than the first and she had a young baby also.  I never heard a peep out of either baby all the way back to Medellin.

We got off at San Diego mall and quickly caught a taxi back to the apt.

Teresa thought the trip was a waste of time but for me it’s interesting to see a new place – not that I would want to return.

The Colombian Peso closed for the week at 3,031 to the US Dollar.  It’s nice to see it over 3,000 again.

Today’s Step Count was 4,179.

Joke of the day

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN

Children

A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favorite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams.

A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.

Saturday, August 18, 2018

Last night I fell asleep quickly but was awakened at 3:30 in the morning by 2 ladies talking loudly outside.  They were probably drunk.  I fell back asleep quickly, finally waking at 6:30 and getting up at 7am.

I left the apt about 8:30 with Laura as she ordered an Uber car to take her to Los Patios Hostel Boutique.  I met Juliana, John’s wife, and explored the hostel.  Juliana is kind of cute, very petite and pretty thin.  The hostel is pretty neat with lots of information for the traveler.

I left about 9:15 and it was only about a 5-block walk to Envios Market.  I picked up my August Chess Life magazine and a letter from Citibank.  The letter was basically just a reminder to keep my email address up-to-date.

It was a nice morning so instead of taking a bus I walked up to McDonald’s.  I used the restroom and was pleasantly surprised that it had toilet seats and toilet paper.  There was also, oh my god, a hook on the wall.  But it wasn’t in a practical location because anyone outside the stall could have taken whatever you hung on it.  Being it was a handicapped stall I had a couple of bars to hang things on.

I ordered a cappuccino frappe and read my magazine for about an hour and then after a 5 minute wait caught a Sabaneta bus back to the apt.

I stopped at Exito and picked up a few things but forgot to buy tomatoes.

For lunch Teresa made chicken using some of the stir-fry vegetables from the bag we bought at Pricemart yesterday.  From Teresa’s reaction I don’t think she’s every eaten green beans before.  She said they always open them up and eat the “peas/beans” that are inside.  They are probably very different types of beans.

I understand Jose and Maria Cruz are visiting Chicago these last few days and having a ball.

Teresa left about 3pm to go to Mayorca with MT.

4pm and the parrots are in the tree outside our apt.  I can’t see them but I can certainly hear them.

I entered all my step counts in an Excel spreadsheet organized by day of the week.  I can’t see any obvious pattern like one day has many more or less steps.  The daily range is from a low of 5,335 to a high of 14,406 with an average of about 8,000 to 9,000.  The point is to increase my daily steps so I’ll have to try to work on that without sacrificing time away from my chess studies.

In the end the Chicago Bears edged the Denver Broncos tonight 24-23.  The main thing is I don’t believe there were any serious injuries.

Today’s Step Count was 6,325.

Joke of the day

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN

Natural

Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed.

Women somehow deteriorate during the night.

Friday, August 17, 2018

Last night I fell asleep quickly, only got up once during the night, fell back asleep quickly and woke/got up at 6:45 (by some man in the street calling out whatever he was selling).  How rude!

Teresa asked me what I wanted for breakfast.  Since I always have scrambled eggs and a muffin on gym mornings and I knew we were out of muffins I said “pan tostado” (toast).  I was therefore surprised a few minutes later when she served my French toast (Pan tostado Frances).  I guess I should have also mentioned “huevos” (eggs).  Lol.

After breakfast I took a nap from 8:05 to 8:55; I think I actually slept for about 30 minutes of that time with Teresa waking me just before 9am.

I watched the first 20 minutes of the Today show and left for the gym.  I added 10# to one of my machines and 5# to another completing all my exercises in 2 hours and 5 minutes.  On my way back to the apt as I entered the Confama building I noticed my step counter was hanging from its lanyard.  If not for the lanyard I certainly would have lost it.  I picked up a Gente newspaper and walked back to the apt.

I read something in the newspaper about Day of the Empanada and now Teresa wants to take her mother to Rionegro on Sunday.  I got included when she found out I don’t have a football game on Sunday.  My game is tomorrow night.

For lunch Teresa made penne pasta with a mushroom sauce much like we get at J&C Delicias.  After lunch we took a little nap.

Among new US movie releases I would like to see Mile 22 (6.0), Crazy Rich Asians (7.5), and Alpha (6.5).

Locally, I would like to see Megaladon (6.2) which is playing in Oviedo at 5:30 and 7pm (3D) and Vizcaya at 6:20.  It’s starring Laura’s heartthrob Jason Statham so maybe we’ll all see it on her day off which I believe is Monday.

I would also like to see Bad Samaritan (6.3) which is only playing at Unicentro at 3:20 and 6pm and maybe Knock (5.9) playing at Vizcaya at 3:50.

Laura came back about 3pm, not feeling good, and went right to bed.  I understand she has a bad cold.

We left the apt at 4pm and took an Uber to Pricesmart for 13,000 pesos.  It took less than 10 minutes for the Uber car to arrive but I’m still upset because I haven’t figured out how to override the GPS pickup location to my actual address.

We picked up a number of items and while in line to pay, Teresa decided to return the 10” Stir-Fry pan and bag of pecans that she picked out and the chocolate covered almonds that I picked out.  (I did get to keep my package of muffins though.)  Everything came to 339,800 pesos and if we’d kept the other things it would have been well over 400,000 pesos.

We packed most of our things in the 2 bags that my brother gave me.  Downstairs we quickly put our things in a taxi.  There is a man there who writes something on a clipboard and I understand for security purposes it’s the license plate of the taxi and where we are going.  I’d feel more confident if they also wrote down one of our cedula numbers.

We were back at the apt by 6pm for 15,000 pesos.

I’m getting the feeling that we save about 2,000 pesos when we take an Uber car but I think during rush hour it’s easier for us to just walk down the hill and catch a taxi.

Today’s Step Count was 6,990.

Joke of the day

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN

Dressing Up

A woman will dress up to go shopping, water the plants, empty the trash, answer the phone, read a book, and get the mail.

A man will dress up for weddings and funerals.

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Last night I slept pretty well despite getting up twice during the night, finally waking at 6:30 and getting up up at 7am.

I left the apt at 9:30 and took the metro to the Rosales station.  I checked out a bike and rode to the airport and returned to the Suramericana metro station (1^st station east of Estadio station).  I had the name and address of a restaurant that serves Sunday brunch and I wanted to check it out.  The restaurant is Juan Fredo Café and it’s at Carrera 66 #48-17 and I had a nice menu del dia for 13,000 pesos.  I had some troubles ordering but a manager came up and helped me in perfect English.  When I was ready to leave I was waylayed by the American owner on my way to the restroom.  His name is John Earhart and he’s from Ohio (originally).  He explained to me that businesses in Medellin can be a gold mine as long as you can find workers that will follow your direction.  He mentioned if he had children he would send them to the best college in Medellin only so they would know what NOT to do.  Lol.  He gave me his business card and since he was leaving offered me a ride in his BMW.  I declined since I was right across the street from the metro station and I was going all the way to Envigado.

Back in Envigado I had a limonada de coco at Bartolos before continuing on to the apt.

So far I’ve been able to find time to spend an hour each day studying tactics from my new chess book.

Teresa told me she wanted to go to Buena Mesa with her mother for ice cream.  She left first and she called me an hour or so later.  I met them at the yogurt restaurant on the corner and Teresa and I had frozen yogurt with all the fixings.  For me that included fresh strawberries, blueberries and ground (grounded?  Smashed? Anyway, you know what I mean) peanuts. 

I walked down the block for a minute where I finally found the restaurant Lucio Carbon y Vino (Carrera 44A #30 Sur-40) right next to the restaurant La Doctora where I expected it to be.  

Apparently they don’t put out their sign unless they are open.  Some review I read said they have the best steaks (for me) – and fish (for Teresa) in Envigado.

Back at the apt Laura was all excited because she finally has an iPhone.  Apparently, her friend Juan David bought a new iPhone and sold her his old one for 150,000 pesos.  I questioned her if it belonged to a man, why was it pink?  She laughed and explained that it’s black she just put a pink cover on it.  She thought I was accusing him of being gay when I was actually questioning her story that she got it from him for only 150mil.

Today’s Step Count was 11,162.

Joke of the day

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN

Marriage

A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.

A man marries a woman expecting she won't change, but she does.

Colombia Grants Temporary Visa to More Than 440K Migrants from Venezuela - Colombia Reports; Medellin Living

(Image: El Billuyo)

News

Colombia grants temporary visa to more than 440K migrants from Venezuela

by Adriaan Alsema August 3, 2018

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Colombia’s President Juan Manuel on Thursday decreed a two-year visa for some 440,000 Venezuelans who have fled a crisis in their home country.

The temporary residency permit grants the migrants access to health care, allows them to study and helps them validate their Venezuelan degrees that would allow them to find work more easily.

The 442,462 new residents are added to some 380,000 who already received such a temporary visa as Colombia is trying to regulate an unprecedented influx of migrants.

The decree also seeks to help returning Colombians, millions of whom have lived in Venezuela for decades either for work or because they were forced to flee Colombia’s armed conflict.

“This is an international milestone when it comes to migration,” Santos said after signing the decree.

The temporary visa is similar to those given to Syrians in Germany, which has taken in hundreds of thousands of war refugees from the Middle Eastern country since 2015.

While the decree regulates the residency of hundreds of thousands, many more are believed to be in Colombia without having registered with authorities.

The incoming government of Ivan Duque, who is set to take office on Tuesday, is expected to come up with a political solution for these undocumented migrants.

Authorities believe that more than one million Venezuelans have sought refuge in Colombia after the 2014 bursting of a commodity bubble triggered an economic crisis and the government of President Nicolas Maduro began reforms that converted the country into a virtual one-party state.

The mass migration has caused a major crisis, especially in the border regions where many Venezuelans are staying without funds, food or shelter.

More than 200,000 migrants are registered in the capital Bogota.

Regional distribution of Venezuelans in Colombia

The thousands of Venezuelans abandoning their country every day will pose one of the biggest challenges for Duque, who has vowed to continue the outgoing government’s policy of trying to regulate the migration flow as much as possible.

Colombia's Most Famous Dish (Bandeja Paisa) - CNN Travel (video)

https://edition.cnn.com/videos/travel/2018/08/03/colombia-bendeja-paisa.cnn

Medellin: City of Inclusive Innovation - Medellin Living

Medellín: City of inclusive innovation

Colombian metropolis uses its transport system, facilities and innovation as weapons against violence and poverty

 home > world, life, americas 04.08.2018     

By Daniel Salgar and Maria Paula Triviño

MEDELLIN, Colombia

The Colombian city of Medellín is usually associated with drug lord Pablo Escobar, cocaine, armed groups and the mafia. 

Although it is still battling various social problems, a number of public policies aimed at social transformation have generated important advances in efforts to eradicate violence and drug trafficking. 

Today, Medellin is known for its inclusive and innovative projects that encompass the development of a unique transportation system in Colombia, model public libraries that have brought culture and knowledge to marginal areas, a large number of sports facilities that can be used for free, the development of the biggest textile industry in the country and the opening of several projects focused on promoting entrepreneurship and innovation.

The City

Medellín is divided into 16 communes, and since the middle of the 20th century, they have been expanding up the city’s hillsides. Some of them became home to internal migrants attempting to escape violence in rural areas, but the resulting poverty, unemployment and violence became a headache for the local government.

“In 1991, when the city passed through the more violent chapter of its history, the homicide rate was 381 people per 100,000 inhabitants,” said Medellín Mayor Federico Gutierrez.

A security strategy focused on armed repression of crime reached its peak with Operation Orion in 2002. Nobody in Medellín can forget the massive presence of armed forces in slum 13 in an operation that lasted for two days in which dozens of people disappeared as the National Army fired on paramilitary groups, ELN and FARC guerillas and urban militias from helicopters.

Armed repression was not very successful, and instead, new policies of social urbanism were introduced in 2004 with the government of Mayor Sergio Fajardo based on the model of so-called "urban acupuncture" developed by architect Jaime Lerner, who was mayor of Curitiba, Brazil from 1971-1975, 1979-1983 and 1989-1992.

This model focuses on bringing new opportunities to the historically marginalized areas of the city, and one of the keys to the success of these policies is that successive local governments have continued them under mayors Alonso Salazar (2008-2011), Aníbal Gaviria Correa (2012-2015) and Federico Gutiérrez (2016 to present).

Inclusive transportation system

One of the milestones of the city’s transformation is its inclusive transportation system. With seven lines, the Medellin Metro is the only metro system in Colombia. It began operating in 1995 and now also has four Metrocable cable-car lines, a system that was the first in the world serving as public transport year round, two bus lines that connect with the metro and a tram that carries people to slums 8 and 9. 

More than transporting people, the territories around this system have been transformed. Sports, tourism, commerce and urban art, for example, have been reactivated around the transport infrastructure. Today, it is normal every day to see hundreds of tourists visiting the city’s slums. Decades ago, it was impossible to enter these areas.

Public Libraries

Medellin is the Colombian city with the highest readership, according to National Reading Survey 2017. One of the measures that made this possible was the construction of eight library-parks at hotspots in the city where there was a high degree of violence and crime. 

These places have become neutral spaces that now receive around 8,000 visitors daily. According to Daniel Zapata, Undersecretary of Reading, Libraries and Heritage, “these spaces weave community networks in the slums”.

In the literature room of the San Javier library, opened in 2006 and built in an area where a women's prison was previously located, Zapata assured that these projects "have allowed a large number of young people to be removed from a violent context where they are vulnerable…These are oases of coexistence amid very complex realities, even between people there previously involved in armed and social conflict”.

Sports

In addition to culture and knowledge, sport has been one of the most important areas in the transformation of Medellín. Some 886 sports facilities can be used for free. The director of the Institute of Sports and Recreation of Medellín, Daniel Palacios, says that on average, 700,000 people use these facilities monthly. They visit them to play basketball, rugby and for gymnastics and street workouts. 

“We want to dignify people's lives in all the communes, but especially in those which the population has more needs. In other cities of the world, it is very difficult to find free public spaces, and that is the purpose: to transform Medellín through sports,” said Palacios.

Textile industry

Internationally renowned events such as Colombiatex and Colombiamoda made Medellín the center of the textile industry and fashion, representing 50 percent of the national production.

More than runways and trends, these events are promoters of industry, entrepreneurship and innovation. In the 29th edition of Colombiamoda, which took place between Aug. 24 and 27 this year, more than 11,000 national and international buyers invested US$169 million. Through these events, Colombia has strengthened its commercial relations around textiles and clothing with countries such as the U.S., Ecuador, México, Peru, Brazil and Costa Rica.

Route N

The construction of a huge building called the Route N Innovation District is a recent bet to turn Medellín into a platform for entrepreneurship. It is a high-tech and environmentally friendly building where 70 companies are found. In 2017 alone, they generated 2,795 jobs, and studies are even carried out on Zika, Chikungunya and other tropical diseases.

“We attract companies from other countries to hire national talent, strengthen local capabilities, expand the business network of the city and develop innovative projects that can transform Medellin into an environmentally friendly place, with high technology and even artificial intelligence," said Sergio Naranjo, Route N’s press officer.

Through these milestones, the transformation of Medellín is visible. Although the problems of violence, weapons and narcotics persist in several marginal areas, the developments made in public transportation and fashion over 30 years and the sustained policies during the last 14 have made Medellín a capital of innovation and social inclusion.

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

I slept pretty well, only getting up once during the night, woke up at 5am and got up at 6am.  I’ll probably be taking a nap after lunch.

After breakfast I took a nap from 8:15 to 9am.

I watched the first 20 minutes of the Today show and left for the gym completing all my exercises in 2 hours.  I saw Oscar and he told me he would rather be called George; it only took 2 years for that to come out.  I saw Jose, the personal trainer, working with a young lady who was lying on her stomach on a mat on the floor.  He was stretching her so much it hurt for me to watch.

Back at the apt Laura called and I learned that Brock was feeling better today and was able to leave for the airport on time for his 2pm flight.

Laura said that John confided in her that he left his wife Juliana.  He is still staying in the finca but she has moved to Poblado.  I understand it was a marriage of convenience anyway so that he could stay in Colombia and she would get half of the business they built.  I also understand Juliana is very skinny like Teresa’s friend Ana and their relationship was purely platonic so I guess he finally figured it was time to move on.  Not sure how they would divvy up the business unless maybe they still remain business partners.

Teresa and I took another nap after lunch for about 30 minutes.

Just before 5pm I used my Cabify app to look for a taxi.  Again GPS gave an incorrect home address but I was able to text the driver with the correct address.  It took about 15 minutes but he arrived just up the street.  He took us to Oviedo and it only cost 5mil because we got a 5 mil discount.  I texted Jose that I was successful with the Cabify app and he would finally get his 8mil credit. 

We bought 2 preferred seating tickets to Adrift for 7,250 pesos each (half price Wednesday).  I now have 26 total ticket purchases on my Cine Colombia card.  My balance was getting low so I added 40mil.  Teresa checked out a few stores and then we went downstairs to the food court where she bought a Subway sandwich.  Back upstairs I made a trip to the restroom while Teresa got in line at the concession counter.  We bought a medium popcorn and large and medium sodas.  As we were walking into the theater we ran into Jose with a male friend and they were going to see the same movie.

Teresa and I both enjoyed the movie which was a true story of a young couple whose sailboat became adrift in the Pacific.

Outside the mall there was a strangely dressed man who was getting taxis for people waiting for them.  He actually was an unnecessary middle man as I’m sure the taxis would stop for us without a man running into the street to flag them down.  I gave him the 300 pesos I had in my pocket and the taxi driver gave him some change also.  We all laughed at the situation.

We were back at the apt just after 8pm.

I finished Dale Brown’s paperback Storming Heaven.

Today’s Step Count was 7,499.

Joke of the day

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN

Success

A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.

A successful woman is one who can find such a man.