Friday, June 9, 2023

Last night I went to bed at 9:30, got up twice during the night, finally waking/getting up at 6:45.

I left the apt about 8:30 and walked to the mall. I stopped first at the ATM where I made a large withdrawal from my Capital One account.

Entering Smartfit the rep said something to me. I told her I don’t understand a lot of Spanish so was it something important? She said, “no” but it only took a few minutes for me to figure out they had no air conditioning. After I completed my workout, I sat outside for a couple minutes to cool down. I took my shower then sat outside again for a couple more minutes.

I went to Claro to pay our cellphone bills. It seemed like they came early this month, and on the same day. Unusual. I was waiting in line with 2 guys ahead of me and for some reason I looked at the 2 bills over and over again. It finally dawned on me these were from May 9^th and today is June 9^th. Yikes! I quickly left.

I stopped in Decathalon and looked for another pair of convertible pants from Quechua in size 46 (36W x 34L) but no luck.

In Linea Estetica I bought a bottle of AOX Therapy for Teresa for 208,000 pesos ($49). (Back in the apt I googled it and found, “AOX THERAPY is an oral antioxidant supplement that contains the most potent antioxidant produced by the human body, superoxide dismutase (SOD), as well as wheat extract and maltodextrin” and “AOX THERAPY, is a dietary supplement that reduces accelerated aging of the skin and strengthens the defenses.”)

I took the back way through the garage to Exito where I paid our utility bill and picked up a copy of Gente newspaper.

I stopped in Urbania where I had a latte and a glass of ice water while reading the newspaper.

I left about 11am and stopped in Exito where I bought a package of salchichas (hotdogs), large and small bottles of ketchup, a can of Hunt’s pasta sauce, and 2 nearly ripe bananas. I returned to the apt by taxi. I stopped in the garage storage unit and picked up my Phillips screwdriver so I can start installing the corner guards.

Teresa called me just before noon to tell me she’s having lunch with her mother but she’ll be back by 12:30 to make me frijoles with salchichas (kind of a makeshift pork & beans).

I met Marcos at Los Porteños at 1:30 where he told me about his vacation to Europe; every day was something new to experience. His trip back was on Air Europa, the same plane we’ll be taking both ways. He said the flight includes a meal (like chicken or pasta) and they have onboard wifi where you can watch movies on a screen on the back of the seat in front of you. He said they will provide earphones if you don’t have them. He loaned me a pair of US to Europe electrical converters but I see now they are only USB on the female side.  I shared my convoluted trip to Chicago. He left after about an hour and I hung around a little longer. I ordered a pastafrola dulce de leche and a small latte for 17,400 pesos.

The dessert was a little on the dry side. I returned to the apt.

I watched another episode of The Americans.

Teresa wanted patacones so we took a Didi to the house on Calle 38 & Carrera 35 where we had patacones with avocado and ground beef and a small Coke for 40mil. Gloria’s Pizza across the street looked really busy.

We bought 2 pastries for our porteros at the usual bakery before returning to the apt by taxi.

 

America’s Decline into Idiocy