Tuesday, April 15, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 10:30, got up once during the night, finally waking/getting up at 6:30.

I waited until 7am for Teresa to get up. Next time I’ll take my shower first since she was soon ready to leave.

Two months from today we’ll be arriving in Chicago. 😊

Breakfast was the same as yesterday: we each had scrambled eggs, an arepa, a small croissant with butter and cheese and a café con leche but they first brought us a small plate with a few slices of pineapple and watermelon.

I moved to a shady area closer to the 2^nd pool to work on my blog.

Some details about our (superior) room: it includes an armoire with a generous number of hangers, two armchairs, a queen size bed, end tables on each side and an air conditioner that we run 24/7. As normal for Colombia there is a paucity of lighting: one bulb above the bed and another for the toilet area. There is a bulb over the armoire that doesn’t work connected to the switch by the door so after dark we just leave the other one on.

The shower is a tub with a handheld attachment where the water dribbles out but at least there is hot water. (Later I discovered I can get a stronger flow if I switch to cold water. ☹) The drain plug doesn’t work so the bathtub idea is useless.

We found 3 sets of electric outlets so I didn’t need to bring my electric cube.

The toilet is in a separate room about 3’ by 4’ with just enough space to close the door without hitting the toilet.

There is a separate nook for the sink but no light and a metal soap container fixed above it so it’s not easy to lean over to wash your face or rinse your mouth after brushing your teeth.

We also have a fridge that comes in handy for keeping cold water and some of Teresa’s things.

Teresa talked to the owner (previous?) a single woman who lives alone in an area in the back off the pool. This used to be a convent which is probably why there are so many rooms but I don’t know if she’s a leftover “sister”. Anyway, she told Teresa there’s another hosteria nearby that’s less expensive so we’ll see if we can find it and check it out.

Teresa seems to be getting tired of the food even though, except for breakfast, it’s been different every day.

Lunch today was chicharron (Colombian version of bacon?), which I don’t care for, so Teresa ordered a couple fried eggs for me which was fine.

About 2pm Teresa wanted to return to the room: too tired or too hot, I don’t know.

I’m beginning to regret not bringing my Calendula capsules but so far my back isn’t too bad. I googled and found Walmart appears to have them (60 Swanson 400mg capsules for $9.99) so I’ll stock up while we’re in the States. Oops, looks like they might only be available from Walmart online. I’ll probably order a few and have them sent to my brother’s house.

This place has a jacuzzi and steam room although I don’t know who would want to use them in this weather, anyway they are covered and/or out of order.

We moved to the main pool area where I had another dip in the pool, immediately showering off right after.

I see some rooms have window air conditioners.

My eyes feel so much better without the pollution of Medellin.

Tonight’s supper was the most disappointing. The cream of carrot soup was good, the problem was no meat on the single chicken leg they gave us but the sauce was good and it came with rice and a small salad.

We needed another bottle of water but Teresa was suddenly hit with fatigue so I made a quick trip across the street to Tienda D1 where I purchased 2 bottles of water for 1,900 peso ($0.80).

I got to bed at 10:15 and quickly fell asleep.

 

EL ARROYO