Thursday, December 12, 2024

Last night we went to bed at 10pm, I got up several times during the night, finally threw off my side of the duvet and just used the thick sheet under it, finally waking up at 6am and getting up at 7:30.

Today is Photo and Fingerprinting Day!

Another day filled with adventure.

Did I mention I don’t like duvets? I don’t need a 2 sheet and 1 blanket combo to keep me warm, usually a single sheet is enough. Did I mention I experienced my first duvet 35 years ago in Moscow? Well, that’s another story.

I can’t seem to get any internet connection this morning.

Teresa finally realized we’re only staying one night so we’ll be checking out at noon.

We had a nothing special buffet breakfast: cold coffee, cold French toast, lots of strange things I didn’t recognize but they did have fresh fruit, juices, rice and scrambled eggs.

The lady at the front desk spoke English and she printed some documents that Laura says Teresa needs to have with her. I asked if after we check out at noon, we could leave our bags for a few hours and she said no problem. It looks like we can take a Didi to the CAS (Applicant Service Center) and even though its close by, one-way streets and highways kind of get in the way.

We left at 10:30 to go for a little walk. I was in pants, undershirt, long-sleeve shirt, and jacket. I led the way in the direction of CSA, soon took off my jacket and after about 20 minutes we arrived at Connecta 26 which is like a campus with office buildings (I noticed Teleperformance which I think is the large telemarketing office in Vizcaya mall), stores and finally we found the line outside CSA. The note on the building indicated the form they required but everyone in line I noticed had a photo attached. ☹ I had Teresa double check with the man in charge and I understood all she needed is her passport and the application. It was now about 11:15 and we had to check out of our room by noon.  Teresa needed some skin cream so we stopped in a Farmatodo where she finally chose a small container. I also asked about Zopiclona because Teresa took some of mine last night but the pharmacist asked if I had a formulario (doctor’s order). I replied, “yes, in my apt in Medellin” so I didn’t get it. When we came out of the pharmacy if we had made an immediate right we would have retraced our steps back to the campus entrance but Teresa led me straight ahead. When we arrived at the other end of the campus we both realized we were lost. When we got back to the main road, still inside the campus, we saw two opposite entrances and didn’t know which one to take. We ended up choosing the wrong one and after walking a bit I insisted we take a taxi and let the driver figure out the way. We did and I gave him the name of our hotel. After a bit the driver was in the outer lanes and passed our hotel. I asked to drop us off there and we would walk back. He did and we soon found we were at the wrong Marriott, we needed the one by the airport. We had a hotel driver take us to the right one and it cost 40mil. It was now 12:30 so I apologized to the desk clerk and we quickly packed up and I returned the room card. We had lunch in their restaurant; Teresa had chicken and I ordered the beef ribs. 

Wrong move; when will I learn not to order beef in Colombia? After a few bites of the ribs I just finished the fries and vegetables. I made a last trip to the restroom, charged 329,890 pesos ($75) for our two meals and Teresa requested a hotel van to take us to CAS. Our driver was a tallish (5’7”), thin, 40ish woman dressed in a black suit with her hair in a ponytail, small earrings and aviator sunglasses. My thought was we’ve got a female FBI agent for our driver. 😊  Bogota, like Medellin, has lots of one-way streets and after numerous cloverleafs and other turns she dropped us off 100’ from the CAS office. We grabbed a table in Starbucks and while I was setting up my laptop Teresa talked to a man at a nearby table and he clarified the few things that Teresa needed for her appointment. Now I’m sitting in Starbucks listening to original Christmas carols like Gene Autry’s Here Comes Santa Claus and Frosty the Snowman.

I kept her carry-on in a corner next to my backpack while working on my blog and she went to get in line.

Teresa returned by 3pm and said all was good. Step one is complete. I think it took about 20 minutes, most of that in line.

Teresa called Kelly for pickup and we went to the corner where she had dropped us off. I was watching for her van and when it was 100 yards away Teresa said, “there she is”. I asked how she could tell and she said she could see her ponytail. Wow, she’s got better long-distance vision than I do.

Kelly took us to the Wyndham Hotel for 46mil. She pointed out the US embassy across the street and the stoplight where we can cross. She also said something about a mall behind the hotel. We went up to the 2^nd floor lobby where I checked us in without any problem and paid for the 2 nights.

We put our bags in our room and Teresa looked out the window and asked why can’t she see the US flag? I pointed to it as she wasn’t looking high enough. 😊

We went back down to the 2^nd floor to their restaurant where she had fish and I had a bowl of minestrone soup and a limonada de coco for 129,800 pesos ($30). I paid for it with my Capital One card without a problem and I understand I have to pay for each meal separately instead of charging to our room and paying everything at the end like the Marriott.

We moved to more comfortable chairs in the lobby and looked at our phones when I should have been in our room working on this blog.

Well, the Wi-Fi here appears to be better than Marriott, which sucked, so I should be able to post something soon.

We were very tired but managed to stay up until 9pm. I set the alarm for 5:30am as we’re planning on leaving the hotel at 6:30 for her 7:15 interview.

 

JUST FUNNY