It's been a while - this is mostly meant for family and friends. but I thought it might be of interest to some here. No photos posted here cuz you can't post photos! It's boring, may be unintentionally factually incorrect in parts, sometimes exaggerated and you don't have to read it, haha.
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Thursday, March 19, 2020
I didn’t realize that it’s been nearly 2 months since my last post. Not too much to report. I’ve been too busy with retirement! More on that.
I understand people are frightened (handheld high) and are hardly in the mood for frivolity. If you find anything offensive here, and I truly hope you don’t, it’s meant in good spirit.
Some people never retire. I now get it.
How is it possible to have less “free” time when retired than when working? It seems that every day, I can’t finish what I set out to do. That includes blog posts. Life is more is (or was) busier now than I went into retirement. Things are time consuming here, mostly due to bureaucracy and it’s simply the culture. But you gotta take the good with the bad. Colombia is more laid back than the US and people are accustomed to waiting. There are lines at the banks and most everywhere. I won’t talk about the maniacal practice to see ID’s (cedulas) and take fingerprints constantly. I’m guessing it’s because of the government’s paranoia of money laundering. The supermarket clerk moves at a snail’s pace, more so than anywhere else I’ve been. Restaurants and many businesses – just as guilty. I have lots of bureaucratic stuff that needs to be taken care of. And my very personal issue, getting lost all the time! I swear, one day I’m going to sue google maps if it tells me to go north, south, east or west. If I knew which way was up, I wouldn’t need a navigator! How the heck do I know which way is south?!
It took an act of God to solve the time issue. Life in the new world leaves plenty of free time, including enough time to think all sorts of crazy thoughts. I had a runny nose [running nose?] and immediately thought to myself that this is the end.
How is everyone coping? Before the gravity of the situation finally sunk in, I was looking for all sorts of ways to escape Medellin. New draconian measures are enacted daily. I made plans to go to a scenic and out of the way pueblo, Jardin. Then I found out the hotel situation was sketchy and most everything was closed. Then, I figured that the virus would surely not find the remote Amazon. Plans were cut short though. Rumors are circulating that the only airport in the region (Leticia) was going to close and leave me stranded in the jungle. I gave up and resigned myself to my new and hopefully temporary new life.
I have 2 balconies, a nice luxury. Unfortunately, I haven’t used them for much except for plants and recently, a hummingbird feeder. For the first time in the 9 months I’m living in my current apartment, I found time to relax on the balcony and think about nothing. What a pleasure. Plus, doing all the things I’ve been putting off with excuses. Like doing my taxes. Done.
Bruce and Aaron! A long-planned trip having my best university buddies for our 50th anniversary (of meeting) had to be canceled. An entire week of festivities cancelled. Plus, they brought me a pastrami and pretzels!! I’ve been secretly planning a trip to the US just for a whiff of the food. But alas, they canceled just in time. Shortly after, the powers that be started doing nasty things to trips involving an airplane.
I’m mostly self-isolating with some small exceptions. I continue to exercise outside before dawn when there’s less people. I foolishly started running again for part of the “walk.” My knees don’t appreciate it. There’s less people and cars outside at that time now. You would think that there would be less pollution, but such is not the case. But I digress. And I continue to go for my usual breakfast at Café Zendaya. I was previously venturing out for breakfast occasionally in Envigado and Poblado, but I am avoiding the metro. I’m itching to hang out at the park, but that’s probably pushing the envelope too far.
I don’t know about all the protective measures taken in the US, but I have a feeling that the new rules in Colombia are stronger. For example, all international flights are canceled for everyone, citizen or no. Self-isolation is required for anyone 70 years old. And the usual measures found throughout the world. And speaking of which, I got 5 liters of hand sanitizer today. I have no idea how long it will last, but I think I have enough for a while.
Speaking of stupidity, or was that the last post (?), we were shopping and went out to eat in the El Tesoro Mall (centro commerciale) in Poblado, the most upscale mall in Medellin. In Colombia, malls are called centro commerciales. The food sucked, but that’s another story. It’s all chain food restaurants. Malls here are very different than in the US. I thought the kiddies hung out at malls a bit much in the US. Here, it’s the whole family and it’s like the event of the week, practically a full day outing, kind of like going to the amusement park. I don’t get it though. A not so scientific study revealed that 90% of the stores and restaurants are the same as in other malls. The difference seemed to be only a few very upscale stores you don’t find anywhere else. And like most every other mall here, they sell cars. El Tesoro sells Audis. That’ll give you an idea of the type of mall they are. [Can you imagine buying a car at Queens Center Mall in the US?] They also have a Rolex store.
But what really sets the malls apart from the US is the architecture. Sorry, I’m not a fan. The malls are like pieces of art. It’s too bad they’re not very functional. It takes forever to find the escalators, bathrooms or whatever you’re looking for. There are so many aisles to go down, even Google Maps v15.8 won’t help. They do have some of the better restaurants around, even though many of them are chains. Perhaps I may be biased against malls since I always hated them and was proud to never step into them post amazon.com. And in Colombia, it’s not a simple thing to do to find a simple item and then try to relieve yourself after walking all around looking for the thingamajig you forgot what you were going to buy. It would be nice if they had AC also. High temperatures in the malls are not a draw for this gringo.
To all you Spanish speaking folk. Please settle a very serious problem. Ever since I’ve been here, I’m trying to order eggs over easy without a hassle. It turns out they’re not a very often ordered item. I was given a bunch of suggestions, some worked sometimes, some I got WTF are you talking about? Here goes, huevos fritos suaves (soft), huevos fritos blandos (soft) and huevos fritos secos (dry). I’m pretty sure the last one is dead wrong cuz I got very dry almost inedible eggs. So, how do you say it?
Like most everyone else, I wonder if a permanent change in lifestyle has begun.
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