Up at 6am, and, Romillo and his mate, arrived just after 7.30am, unfortunately, shortly after a local came to see what rubbish, we needed taking away, and Pépe slipped between Romillo\’s legs, and out into the road, he didn\’t know what to do next, Pépe that is… he had found his freedom, and wasn\’t going to give it up easily. First he ran up the road, then despite our best efforts, he ran passed us, down the road, and horror of horrors, straight into Conrado\’s house, as he heard me outside, he ran out, and into their yard, where a bantam cock, was tethered by it\’s leg, I was imagining Pépe licking his lips, and sizing it up for breakfast, but he about turned and off down the road, I followed after apologising to Señora \’Conrado\’, who seemed to think it was hilarious, and just replied, as they all do \”Tranquilo!\”, both Romillo and myself were calling him, and eventually I think he decided he had pushed his luck as far as he could in one day, and back he came, thank goodness there were no buses.
We were out for just after 9am, to go and collect my new bike, I didn\’t have that \’happy feeling\’ I have had when picking up other bikes, I guess because of it\’s size, but it does what it says on the box, and we now have a second form of transport. At least the registration is easy to remember \’Love Furry Friends 99 Dogs\’ !!! 🙂
From there, Marcela headed off to the Shop that sold my old bike, they were playing silly buggers about paying up the balance, it didn\’t make sense taking two vehicles, so I made my way back to the Apartment, our task for the day, was to clean it, ready to hand in the keys on Monday.
At the Urbanisation, I had a big welcome from another \’brother\’, Elkin is a lovely bloke, along with Alvaro, they are two of the three Gate Security, and I always stopped on the way back from my morning walk with Pépe, sat and had a natter with them, but for some reason, Elkin started referring to me as his brother, and it stuck, so be are now honorary \’brothers\’!
I made a start on the cleaning, Marcela arrived, we did a bit more, then walked up the road for lunch… I\’ll miss my £2.50 lunches, I always had the same, it became a standing joke, they don\’t ask me now, I always had, frijoles (bean soup), followed by chicharron with rice and salad, and guarapo to drink, we\’ll get back there occasionally, but certainly not as often.
After lunch, it was back to the cleaning, and once that was done, we headed home, surprising that a 150cc bike can beat a 2.0l car back to the finca, but I did, and I set off after Marcela! I did help that bikes don\’t have to pay on the toll road, so I whizzed down passed the queue, whilst Marcela was stuck in it.
Back home, Marcela went to see Conrado\’s wife, the workmen here, had changed their minds and didn\’t want half of the things, that were going to be chucked out, old straw mattresses, an old prison bunk bed, etc., Conrado\’s wife ( we don\’t know her name yet!) came hurtling round with daughters and Conrado (under duress, I think he was a bit embarrassed), and everything flew out of the gate, including a couple of things that shouldn\’t have, which Marcela intends to reclaim in the morning. That certainly cleared a lot out of the garden.
Marcela then walked up the road to \’La Chosca\’, where the buses turn, and there are two cafes, a small shop, and a community office, he found who she was looking for, and after haggling unsuccessfully, for a while, she arranged for a local to come and take away, all the rubble, termite infested wood and garden refuse for £16, and we both thought that was expensive, so it goes to show, I have now adopted Colombian values!
It was then time to start clearing up the garden, which thanks both to the Builders, and Pépe, looked as if a bomb had hit it, now it is looking a lot tidier, however if you hadn\’t seen it previously you might disagree with me! We came to a stop as the light was fading due to a spectacular lightening storm that moved in. , it rained for a while, but soon passed overhead.
Tomorrow, work continues, I think John wants to get finished up now, but the family are coming for lunch, and to see how things are progressing, so I won\’t get much done, which is probably a good think, I need a rest, I have to admit I am flaked. The workshop is finished, I just need to get the electric cable connected to the house, once it is painted, it will look the part, I will take some photos this week, it is almost too good to be a workshop…No don\’t even think that Philip, it is a workshop! However Ruben has got to come back, one of his window panels is too big, and won\’t fit in the frame, John\’s men are waiting to rib him when he comes on Monday, I think, I\’ll lock myself away somewhere for the duration.
Well, that\’s it, off the bed to read a coupl,e of pages, before I fall asleep!
An Englishman in Colombia 