Saturday, October 11th, 2014

I got up once during the night and immediately after, I drank a little water already prepared with Passion Flower drops.  It still took me a little while to get to sleep but I think it was quicker than usual.

We got up at 8am and Teresa made a new type of arepa with cheese inside that we bought yesterday at Exito but I didn’t like it as much as the thinner ones she makes and then puts a thin slice of cheese on.  I also had a bowl of granola.

The roofing guy came at 9:30 and I understand he can fix the roof next Tuesday for a little under 80mil.  I think I communicated to Laura that in the US you would probably need to add a new layer of shingles at a cost of $5000.  I hope that is close to being accurate.

We went to take a nap at 10:45.  I understand Teresa got up at 11:30 but I didn’t wake up until noon.

At 1pm I scanned through the regular sports channels.  Lots of soccer of course but I did find some tennis and baseball – Kansas City vs Baltimore – in the American League Championship Series.

At 1:30 I had Teresa call Elizabeth to find out why I couldn’t see any NFL Football last Thursday on Direct TV.  I understood it has to be ordered separately so we did that.  I understand I will be billed 59,735 in November and 149,275 each month December through March.  The correct channels for NFL Direct Ticket are 687-695.  Right now nothing shows but I understand I should see the NFL games listed tomorrow.

At 3pm I had a nice lunch of 4 ribs with rice and a little cucumber salad and juice.

At 6pm Laura left dressed up looking nice with a little makeup.  I understand she is visiting Teresa’s sister and husband in Caldas and then will stay overnight in her mother’s apartment in Envigado.

We started watching Evolution but Teresa thought it was too gruesome so I changed to Criminal Minds.  I made popcorn with butter and salt that we enjoyed during the series.

At 6:30 I had a cheese sandwich and cup of coffee.

I was going to start watching my new book but found that I didn’t have an internet connection long enough to follow the next step necessary to download it prior to starting to read it.

We went to bed at 9:30.

T-shirt of the day: This is the beginning of anything you want.

Friday, October 10th, 2014

I got up twice during the night and we woke up at 8:30am.  She was kidding me by saying I don’t like her very much.  For some reason I broke her up laughing by replying “Why do you believe I don’t like you very much?”

She told me we should go to Industriales this morning.  When I hear that word all I think of is the Metro Station.  Luckily when she repeated it she said Edificio Inteligente and I understood she was talking about returning the router to the Une building where I had been twice before.  Of course that’s a better idea than waiting at the apartment for 4 hours as long as they will accept it that way.

We got up and Teresa made breakfast of scrambled eggs with ham and chocolate milk (sin azucar) because we have run out of sugar.

Teresa asked me to call Jhon and I found out that when Une calls Jhon that they are coming to my apartment he will tell them we are returning the router to Une’s office in the Intelligent Building.

I asked Teresa if the dogs have eaten and I understood she gave them each a little but ran out of dog food.  I gave each of them 3 dog biscuits so they won’t starve today.  Except Peter, who is probably off somewhere exploring at the bottom of the hill.  He came back later and I managed to get him 2 dog biscuits without the others stealing them from him.

Teresa put on a shirt and sweater and wants me to wear a jacket to Medellin.  I don’t think so!

I had told her that I wanted to stop at Home Center for some things and she asked me what – just to make sure it was important enough for us to stop today.  As I was telling her we got interruped and I didn’t get to finish my list.

We were confronted by the killer dogs as we passed the neighbor’s house and Tony almost got bit because he was straggling behind us.  Teresa yelled at him to go back but he followed us all the way down to the road.  We caught a bus after only a 5 minute wait and got off at the Poblado station.  We took a taxi to Cedimed and, since I was there before, I knew exactly where to go and what procedures to follow.  I understood the receptionist told Teresa that blood draws are today only from 12:30 to 1pm and 6am tomorrow.  It was about 11:25 at this point.  First I stopped at the their BanColombia ATM and withdrew 400mil but for some reason I didn’t get a receipt.

We walked down to MBE where I was given my monthly deposit statement from Sears and my Chess Life magazine.  We walked back to Cedimed and it was 11:55.  I was unsuccessful at getting a Wi-Fi network from where we were sitting just outside.  I moved into the lobby and sat at the side of a fountain where I finally found the CediMed network.  What looked like an intern came out and told me I couldn’t sit there.   I stood up and walked closer to the entrance and another man asked if he could help me.  I asked him for the password for their Wi-Fi and he told me “intern3t”.  I keyed it in and it wasn’t correct.  I tried again by capitalizing the “I” but it still didn’t work.  Finally, he went inside and someone wrote down for me “INTERN3T” and when I entered that it finally worked.  I sat down in their waiting room and a minute later I asked the receptionist if it was okay for me to sit there.  She said yes so I asked her if it was okay for my girlfriend to join me and she said “of course”.  I went back outside and waved Teresa inside.  After we sat down for a few minutes the receptionist asked for my work order and my cedula.  I did have time to read a few emails.  Then I paid 130,000 for my blood draw and 2 tests – PSA Total and PSA Free.  I tried to charge it but for some reason the process failed so I just paid cash.  I understood the results would be ready in 4 days.  They took us inside where a young lady withdrew 2 vials of blood.

We then had lunch at their restaurant – Il Capuccino – for 28mil.  It included the usual chicken and rice, a cooked slice of plantain (a cousin of bananas), cole slaw, sliced tomatoes, and juice.  Very tasty!

We took a taxi from there to the Intelligent Building where we were finally able to return the router to Une under Dilan’s name.

Teresa asked me again what is so important that we need to stop at Home Center and I told her what I needed.

Across the street was Plaza Mayor where we went to try to pay for, and cancel, Laura’s “wi-fi”.  But we couldn’t find the MoviStar office.  Finally we talked to a security guard there and he told us that they have an office in Premium Plaza.  Interestingly, he spoke some English and was happy to practice a little with me.  

We took a taxi to premium plaza and as soon as we entered Teresa started asking a security guard where it was.  I looked up and saw the sign for Movistar so we were already there.  While we were waiting I told Teresa that I read an email earlier that Movistar has Wi-Fi.  She talked to the service man about it and we learned they have 8mg Wi-Fi.  I paid 43mil to pay for last month’s usage and the cancellation fee.

Teresa noticed an Envigado bus as we were leaving so we waited at the bus stop for about 10 minutes and took a Sabaneta bus and got off in Envigado.  The bus was pretty slow in heavy traffic but we finally got off near Parque Envigado.  Walking down the street Teresa recommended we stop at an ice cream cake store where she had a brownie with vanilla ice cream and I had a slice of Tres Leches Torta.

While we were sitting there her brother Wilson walked by with apparently heavy bags in both hands.  I called to him and got Teresa’s attention but he didn’t stop.  We finished our snack and then walked down the hill to his bar so say “hi”.  We understood he must have been in a hurry to open the bar.

Finally, for the first time of the day, I was able to get a strong internet connection and I downloaded the 850 page Fall of Giants (The Century Trilogy #1) by Ken Follett for $9.99.

We left for Home Center and again Teresa asked me what we are going to get there.  I told her it’s a surprise and we had a good laugh about that.

Once there she picked out some rope for us to use to raise things into the attic.  I found a couple pull chains for the light socket adapters and I still needed a couple 3-1 sockets.  I tried to explain to one of the employees what I was looking for and she sent us downstairs.  We found another employee who took us in the direction of the small electric accessories.  On the way I found a display with exactly what I was looking for but it was part of a set.  I showed it to the employee and he took me straight to them.  I bought a couple for the finca.  I paid 50,700 cash for everything.

I’m glad I didn’t bring a jacket because I didn’t feel cold all day.

We went to Exito where we bought more food and other things like spray for the cockroaches.  When I walked into the pet aisle to buy food for the dogs I was surprised to see a dove standing in the middle of the aisle.  (At least it was in the right aisle if it was looking for pet food.)  I charged 78,860 to my debit card.

We carried everything over to the bus stop and waited 15 minutes for a bus.  When we got on I was surprised to see a handwritten note taped to each of our seats.  After a couple stops a man got on and for some reason he got Teresa’s seat.  I have no idea what that was about.

Just as we got out of Medellin I noticed a Motel.  Other than it having a front gate it didn’t look much different than ones in the US.  I could see through the gate that it was 2 stories, horseshoe shaped with cars parked in the center.

Traffic was very heavy and I understood from Teresa that more people that usual are getting out of town for the weekend because next Monday is a holiday.

By the time we got off the bus, 6:15, it was dark.  I turned on the torch (hey, that’s what the option is called) on my cell phone and we used that to walk up the hill.  She was carrying 2 heavier bags and I had the two lighter ones so I could both get up the hill and carry my cell phone flashlight.  When we got to the turnoff she wanted me to turn off my light so as not to alert the killer dogs.  I turned it towards my body, we waited a minute for our eyes to get used to the dark, and we started walking.  The problem was that without the light you slip on the rocks and they hear you anyway.  When they came charging out I shone the light in their eyes and was ready with the pepper spray.  It appears that as long as you are facing them they won’t charge you but don’t turn your back on them.  Finally Teresa’s dogs came up to meet us and I felt comfortable enough to just concentrate on the path.

Laura had a new movie for use to watch – 3^rd Person starring Liam Neesom.  Teresa made popcorn and we started watching it but while it was in English Laura couldn’t get the Spanish subtitles to appear within the viewing area.  It was a very strange movie with 3 different relationships going on at the same time.  I tried to convey to Teresa and Laura that I didn’t know what was going on.  Another night they will watch it in Spanish; good luck to them in understanding it.  One good thing; you get to see the dark haired young lady from the House TV series in full frontal nudity.  Nice figure!

We went to bed at 10:30.

T-shirt of the day: We are the young.

Thursday, October 9th, 2014

We both woke up at 8:30am and right away we had a difference of opinion.  I was thinking today is when Une is coming to my apartment and Teresa thought it was tomorrow.

We got up and Teresa started cleaning the kitchen while I called Jhon.  Teresa was right, so today she wants us to go to the pueblo (small village) Amaga to buy fruits and vegetables.

I saw an advertisement for the NFL package on Direct TV and they specifically mentioned channels 689 – 695.  I checked channel 689 and it said “Programming not Available”.  It won’t even stop on the other channels.  Tonight I’ll see if I can get the Thursday night game of the week and if not then I’ll need to call them to complain.

It was already a very cool day today and then it started drizzling.  Teresa gave me the remainder of the container of ice cream to finish and now I’m cold.

At noon Teresa told me Une is here but she was a little upset because she was trying to make lunch.

The two Une guys came in for about 15 minutes and filled out some paperwork so I’m really hopeful I will be able to get Wi-Fi here.

They left at 12:30 and Teresa and I walked with them to protect them from the neighbor’s dogs with my pepper spray.  Three of Teresa’s dogs followed us.  We stopped at the neighbor’s house and the Une guys talked to the neighbor.  The 2 “killer dogs” came out and the Doberman sniffed up one of the guys.  The 2 guys didn’t seem afraid of the dogs at all.  It’s obvious that Teresa’s 3 dogs and the neighbors 2 dogs do not get along.  At one point 2 of Teresa’s dogs confronted the 2^nd of the neighbor’s dogs and while they were busy the Doberman chased Teresa’s 3^rd dog down the path.  With so much barking and snarling I’m surprised that anyone was able to hear anyone else.

I finished Ken Follett’s 326 pages Eye of the Needle; now I need an internet connection before I can download another book.

Lunch was fried chicken breast, rice, cucumber salad, and juice.  There was another type of fried meat and I tried it and immediately spit it out.  I told her its fish and she told me its tuna.  That’s the 2^nd time she’s tried to slip fish past me.

I asked her about getting Wi-Fi and I understand it hasn’t been determined yet.  She told me the Une rep wants to charge more by declaring we are in estrato 5 when actually we are in estrato 3.   I told her getting Wi-Fi is most important to me not which estrato we are in.  She said I’m wrong and stated that she pays 40-50mil for electricity here and her brother, in estrato 6 in Envigado, pays 200mil for electricity and Direct TV.  So I don’t know what’s going to happen.

Because of the cold and rain she doesn’t believe we would be able to get a taxi back from Amaga so I understand we aren’t going there today.

We talked more about the estrato situation.  Her epm bill says she is in estrato 5 and she doesn’t have anything that says she is in estrato 3.  She believes she is in estrato 3 because all her neighbors are.  I don’t know how it works in Colombia but it seems to me if she wants to be known she is in estrato 3 she needs to somehow change her epm bill to declare that.

The bill for Laura’s “wi-fi” is due tomorrow and Teresa was going to cancel it because we should have Wi-Fi soon but after another discussion we will pay it for one more month until we know we will be able to get Wi-Fi.  Who knows, if we can’t get it, I may be getting the same portable “wi-fi” that Laura has.

We went to bed at 10:30.

T-shirt of the day: Lousiana

October Wednesday, 8th, 2014

I got up once during the night and exactly at 6am Teresa’s dogs started barking; I understood because the man was cutting “the garden” again at the break of dawn.  After 10 minutes all of them stopped barking except the youngest, Tony, who continued almost nonstop for the next 2 hours.  

Teresa got up at 8am and I got up at 9am.

I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast.

While taking my shower I heard the dogs going crazy again and I thought I heard the voice of the neighbor with the “killer dogs”.  After my shower I learned that the men from Une were here and something about their telephone line being broken and the street and we’re waiting to find out if I can have Wi-Fi.

At 10:10, the Une guys came back and what I understood from Teresa is that we can get Wi-Fi if some box is repaired first.

The guys left at 10:25 and I understood some other guys have to come back and repair the “box”.  I asked Teresa about the timing and I understand she has to call them about Saturday to find out.

About 11:30 Teresa tried to tell me something and I considered it important enough to call Jhon for clarification.  Understandably Teresa doesn’t want to have to ask me every time she needs money for something.  So, on the 2^nd of each month, starting in November, I will give her 1,000,000 pesos for household expenses: food and other family expenses.  Of course, that doesn’t include paying for Direct TV and Wi-Fi.  Also, the money I accidentally found under her mattress I now understand was to buy my birthday present.

Lunch was chicken with rice, lettuce and cucumber salad, and juice.  I asked Teresa if she cooked the chicken differently this time and she said no.  I asked her if the chicken was different and she said this was chicken breast.

We all sat down to watch a movie and this time I lost out because it was all dubbed in Spanish but I got excited when I saw Julia Roberts driving out of an airport and I saw a United Airlines jet crossing over the road behind her because I knew it was O’Hare Airport in Chicago.  Of course it was a little unrealistic because from the airport you see her drive past McCormick Place and south on Lake Shore Drive, places you wouldn’t pass on your way from the airport to downtown Chicago.  I recognized Hilton Hotel & Towers and Marina Towers.

At 2pm Teresa asked me to go out with her; something about the man cutting the garden.  She wanted me to put on a long sleeved shirt but I told her I didn’t want to do that.  I took my pepper spray and she wrapped a towel around my shoulders and we started up the path.  About 100 feet later she turned towards the plants and I understood she wanted to check the work the man did.  (Every 2 months he comes and cuts down most of the plants around her finca for 100mil.)  We followed the path down and across and back up.  I saw some plantain trees that before I would certainly think were banana trees, although they are similar.

We saw an advertisement for The Gladiator for tonight at 10pm and The 40 Year Old Virgin for some other time.

From about 2:45 to 3:15 we moved a lot of things, including bags of something that I can’t imagine is anything but dirt, from the large outdoor storage area to the old chicken coop.  Then we moved her son Sebastian’s old bed to the storage area.

Jhon called at 3:30 to tell me that Une will be at my apartment sometime Friday afternoon between 1 to 4pm to pick up the router that was rented under Dilan’s name when I was living in apartment 201. 

Teresa made popcorn and we watched a couple terror movies and then Casino Royale.

We went to bed at 10:30pm.  I got up twice during the night and had trouble getting back to sleep.  I had a little heartburn so I got up and took one Tums and went back to bed.  I think hearing the rain kept me awake also.

T-shirt of the day: This is what perfect looks like.

Tuesday, October 7th, 2014

I got up 3 times during the night, and after the last time I had some difficulty getting back to sleep.  Finally I fell back asleep.  I was aware of Teresa getting up at sometime when I could see some light coming through cracks in the shutters.  I finally woke/got up at 9:40am.

For breakfast Teresa made me scrambled eggs with tomato, an arepa and coffee con leche.

I went through the Direct TV brochure and created my own list of stations with channel numbers on my laptop.  It appears some of the movies can be shown in English with Spanish subtitles and others in either English or Spanish without subtitles.

For part of the morning Teresa and Laura watched a movie in Spanish starring Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony.

For lunch Teresa made some kind of vegetable soup, chicken, rice, and juice.

At 3pm, Teresa just told me Une is coming tomorrow morning to install Wi-Fi for me.   That’s great news!

At 3:30 Teresa said she would like me and Laura to go into town to buy milk and a few other things.

Laura and I got just past the neighbor before the bad dogs came out.  We only waited about 5 minutes for a bus to Caldas.  On the way the road was blocked at one point between a minor fender bender between a SUV and a truck.  In town we walked a couple blocks to a small grocery where we bought a large bag of Fab detergent, a package of arepas, milk, and toilet paper.  We stopped at one of those lottery shops where I recharged Teresa’s cell phone with 20mil and Laura’s with 3mil.  We only waited 5 minutes for the return bus.  On the way back at one point our lane was blocked by 3 dogs with 2 others on the side of the road.  Two of the dogs were not going to move because one was screwing the other and the bus had to go around them.  I had a clear view of the action through the windshield but Laura missed the action.

Coming back down the path we were only challenged briefly by the 2^nd dog, the doberman wasn’t in sight.

Teresa showed me a bottle she got from her mother but she couldn’t read it because she thought it was in English.  I’m pretty sure it was in French and from the smell and the word “parfum” I told her I think its perfume.  

Using the extra extension cord I bought the other day Teresa drilled a hole in the corner of the shower and we put up the plastic soap holder.

At one point Teresa affectionately put her head against the top of my nose but she used too much force and we both heard it go “crack”.

For dinner we ran out of sandwich bread so she cut a couple pieces of French bread for a ham and cheese sandwich and I also had an arepa with butter and a cup of coffee con leche.

Later I made popcorn, first only with salt, and then another with butter and salt and we all watched a horror film called The Grudge 3.

We went to bed at 10:30am.

T-shirt of the day: Tough as nails

Monday, October 6th, 2014

Happy Birthday to me; today I turned 69!  I think I still have a lot of years left in me but I understand the good Lord could call me at any time.

I got up once during the night at 3:40am.  We both woke up briefly during the early morning and about 8:30 I was kidding with her, telling her that today Direct TV will come but we won’t have any electricity.  Maybe we’ll have Direct TV by next year because something keeps coming up.

I heard some buzzing-like sound but Teresa told me it’s just the man cutting the garden (garden in this case might just mean plants) but that set the dogs to barking almost nonstop.  (Later I saw him briefly and he was using the usual weedeater.)

I asked her if she had checked the circuit breakers and she told me they are okay.  At 8:50 the radio came back on (she always leaves it on in the bedroom when she leaves the house) so we knew we had electricity again.  I was concerned it might be intermittently on and off but after an hour it’s still on.

I found 2 new mosquito bites on my right arm.

At 10:10 the power went out again as we were trying to reach Direct TV by cellphone.  

Teresa and Laura brought each of the dogs in one at a time and I had a session trying to teach them to “sit” for a dog biscuit.  We were partially successful.

Teresa was a little upset to find out we spent 134mil at Patrick’s yesterday.  We agreed next time we will just have drinks and snacks to hold down the cost.

About 1pm we all sat down to a lunch of spaghetti with chicken and a bowl of lentils with 4 ribs inside.  I ate about half of my spaghetti and a couple ribs and spoonfuls of lentils but I couldn’t eat anymore.  They gave me a hard time about not eating more food.  She finally told me that from now on she would make me less food and if I wanted more I would just ask her for it.  Sounds like a good idea to me!

About 2:45 Teresa and I went into the bedroom for a short nap but a couple minutes later she got a call I understood was from Direct TV.  I understood they would be here soon and we needed to go up the path to protect them from the neighbor’s dogs.  I asked her if they could still install the new system if we didn’t have electricity and she said the lady said yes.  We headed up with 3 of her dogs following us.  As we walked past the neighbor’s house Teresa called to him and he called his dogs off.  When we got to the highest point we saw two guys from Direct TV coming up the road.  As we all walked back down the path the dogs started barking and the doberman and the other dog came out but they put on the brakes when they saw Teresa’s dogs there.  They turned around and we started heading down the path with her dogs now leading us.  I looked back over my shoulder and I saw the Doberman gaining on me.  I called to Teresa and just that fast her 4 dogs were back challenging the neighbor’s dogs.  They turned tail and ran and I gained a lot respect for her Fox Terriers.

It was 3:15 and I understood the guys were only supposed to be here until 4 or 5pm but they could wait that long for the lights to come back on.  Unbelievably the electricity came back exactly at 3:30 but while they were working outside with an electric drill to reposition the satellite dish at 3:50 it started raining and lightning.  It’s always something!

They continued some work under the eaves of the finca but 5 minutes later I was surprised to see one guy drilling holes standing on a metal ladder in the rain.  And in a house that may not have its electricity grounded.  They took the satellite dish that had been sitting in her fireplace and bolted it to a nearby post.

We switched her old kitchen table with the one from my apartment because she liked the glass top even though it was a tad smaller.  I understand she’s going to use the other one as an ironing board in the laundry room.

Then I think he rotated the satellite dish until he had a signal.  They left at 5pm.  I wanted to go with them to protect them from the dogs but they insisted they would be alright although they did borrow Laura’s walking stick.

I guess the only way I’ll know for sure if I can see all the Bears games is to stay here each game day and see.  I did notice the Monday night game was on – Seattle Seahawks vs Washington Redskins.

I put a bag of ACT II popcorn in the microwave and 3 ½ minutes later we all enjoyed a bag of popcorn (with butter, American style) while we watched The Perfect Man starring Chris Noth and Heather Locklear.

About 8pm some thunder and lightning came through and Tony started pushing against the door because he was frightened.  Teresa opened the little “window” on the door and said “No senor”.

Everyone liked the American style popcorn so much I made the other 2 bags and we quickly wolfed them down while we scanned through a number of other movies.

We went to bed at 11pm.

T-shirt of the day: World’s highest bakery

Sunday, October 5th, 2014

Happy Birthday Teresa!  Today she’s 56 years old; I think!

Last night I got up once at 4:20, woke up at 7:10 and got up at 8am.

Teresa made scrambled eggs with tomato and onion and an arepa with cheese for breakfast.  She also made coffee with cream in her blender that we shared.

Laura is going with us to today’s Bears game at Patrick’s so that will be a little different.  She will probably love seeing the young gringos there with their blue eyes.

Teresa wants to leave at 10:30 but I want to leave at 10am because I’m afraid we might have to wait for 30 minutes to catch a bus.

We left the finca at 10:15 and were lucky that the dogs didn’t hear us until we were already past the house and then the doberman didn’t come out at all.   The other dog hung back, maybe because we were already so far away or maybe because he isn’t with the alpha male.

We got to the road at 10:25 and only had to wait 10 minutes for a bus.  We were at the Poblado station by just after 11am.  Thinking that I may need to buy a modem soon I told Teresa there is something I’m going to need to buy at Monterrey soon so we went there.  I learned of a new way to get across the street by actually going under the bridge by the highway and there is a back entrance into the mall.  But being Sunday almost all the stores were closed.  I believe Laura was able to get wi-fi on her cell phone but I wasn’t able to get it on my iPad.  Teresa did her nails and I read some in my Nook while Laura played with her phone.  

At 11:45 we took a taxi to Patrick’s and got there 3 minutes early.  He put the game on and we all had a drink and sat inside to watch it.  Just after halftime it started raining, then harder, and finally we actually saw hail hitting the awning of the restaurant across the street.  One of the gringos went out on the porch and took some video of it.  Laura had the beef stroganoff and Teresa and I each had the Thai Stir Fry Chicken.  Laura had a couple juices, I had a couple Cokes and Teresa had a couple Miller Lights.  The Bears built up a 2 touchdown lead but the Panthers got one back just before halftime.  

I checked Amazon.com and found I can purchase pepper spray so I should be able to renew my supply as long as customs allows it through.

I also got an email that I have a package at MBE for me to pick up.  I wonder what that could be.

The Bears ended up losing by a touchdown.  I paid 134,750 for lunch with my debit card and we left.  The rain had stopped and we walked a couple blocks where we caught a taxi to Envigado.  About 5 minutes into the ride I couldn’t see his meter and I guess they noticed this as the driver finally turned it on and I believe he was apologizing for forgetting.  I was going to tip him an extra 2mil but he ended up adding 3mil to the total for our ride anyway.

At Exito I took enough money out of their Davivienda ATM to cover the final payment on the closet and then we did some shopping.  It’s not a good idea to shop on the weekends, it was really crowded.  I paid 163,652 for food.  I now have 25,000 Exito points; maybe when my brother comes I can talk to Teresa about what we can use them for.  I just talked to Teresa about it and she said that if you don’t use the points you can use them so next time we’re in Exito she will check on what they can be used for.

The clouds looked threatening again but we managed to get to the bus stop and only had to wait 5 minutes for one.  It started raining again on the way but luckily it had stopped by the time we got off.  Going up the hill we observed a nice car stuck on the road but for some reason Teresa didn’t want to help push them out.  About the time we were even with the house with the dogs they started barking but the owner came out and shut them up.

When we got back to the house we were surprised to see that we no longer had electricity.  We used all the cell phones and flashlights we had but it looked like they were all soon in need of recharging.  We bought ice cream and cake to celebrate our birthdays but my the time we got back to the finca the ice cream was more like soup.  Nevertheless, we each had a slice of cake and a bowl of vanilla soup and I sang Happy Birthday to celebrate her birthday.  Teresa went to bed at 8:30 and its 9:35 and the electricity still hasn’t come back on but now it’s time for me to go to bed.

T-shirt of the day: Born free – Surfrider Beach