17MR08
Colour me your colour, baby
Colour me your car
Colour me your colour, darling
I know who you are
Come up off your colour chart
I know where you're coming from
Call me on the line
Call me call me any anytime
Call me my love you can call me any day or night
Call me
Call me call me any anytime
Call me for a ride
Call me call me for some overtime
Call me in my life
Call me call me in a sweet design
Call me call me for your lover's lover's alibi
Call me on the line
Call me call me any anytime
Call me
Oh, call me, ooh ooh ah.
Call me my love.
Call me, call me any anytime.
I woke up at 3am today and sat for a couple of hours resizing photos so I can post them. I could hear dogs barking and howling like coyotes, donkeys baying and roosters crowing. There is one bird that goes “whoooop” and another that caws, one that tsk tsk tsks and one that ha ha ha has. I could hear the buzz of a motorcycle then the lower more steady sound of a car. He stopped and repeatedly sounded his horn. A moment later I heard a car door slam and the sound of the car faded into the night. What the hell are roosters doing cock-a-doodle-dooing at 3am??? And dogs and birds and donkeys aren’t exactly supposed to be the most nocturnal animals either. So what gives – are they on Toronto time – do they think it’s 5am? It’s pitch black guys – go get some freakin sleep ya little jungle babies …
Finally I got back to sleep for a couple of hours. The kids got up before me and made some tostadas for breakfast. We set off about 10am, and walked down the boulevard. I think the boulevard is 4th avenue. We got stopped at a farmacia on the boulevard, and found out that Ventolin is about 126L (about $6 or $7) anyone need meds? No prescriptions required! We saw a grubby boy about Ciaran’s size and age selling kites. Ciaran was quite introspective as we talked about the fact that this was his job. This was not to make extra money to buy computer games, but more probably to buy food for his family. I think Ciaran is really starting to begin to understand that what we take for granted in Toronto is not what the whole world has.
I stopped at the small mall, and there was a Tigo phone store there, but they didn’t seem all that friendly. After I waited about 15 – 20 minutes the lady at the counter was curt and unhelpful – I felt like I was in Germany. She said “No English” and gave me a blank bored stare as I tried to explain myself. Despite all the other people in the store who didn’t speak English understanding me and telling her that I wanted an inexpensive phone, and pointing to the one I wanted she just held up a big form and looked at me with a defiant look and said “no Español’ and something that sounded like “too much work – I can’t be bothered”. A couple of other people in the store looked uncomfortable with her behaviour. I just smiled and said gracias. She’s the first rude person I have met here. I know there had to be at least one! I found the big Jordan store (like a small Home Depot) and turned left up some little street and I found the big mall. I went upstairs to the Tigo store there and the people in that store more than made up for the lady at the other Tigo store. I never mentioned my foray at the other store to them. The one lady at the second store did speak English, but I think they could have helped me even if she didn’t. I would have had a couple of things I didn’t understand, but I could have coped. They also gave me a free Tigo beach towel, and 250 free minutes between local cell phones. They even gave Ciaran a free Tigo sports bottle and let him fill it at their water cooler!
So CALL ME if you want to. My phone number, (from anywhere in the world I think), is:
011 504 96 49 32 23
We went to the Carrion store in the mall – no kidding “Carrion” They didn’t seem to sell any dead rotting meat, just clothing and household items, like a small Zellers. We picked up a small rice cooker and a chartreuse green set of 100% cotton sheets with big white flowers on them. Everyone is happy! Aodhan said he really wanted a Coca Cola, I had promised he could have one if he didn’t complain all the way there and wouldn’t complain on the way home – and true to his word, he didn’t. I was able to make a local call no problem, and I gave Rita my phone number. When I tried to call home, I got a message. I tried half a dozen times before I went back to the store and asked one of the salespeople. She dialed in the number for me and it worked fine, no message. One of life’s little mysteries. I let the kids talk to Jerry and then I called Greg. He was thrilled that I have a cell phone, and he called me back later, so I know both ways work. I will just have to remember to charge my little black Motorola regularly.
We stopped at our homestay house and said hi. It was good timing, because Aodhan really really needed a bathroom by the time we got there. Marjorie’s son was great and told me how to get to a really nice swimming pool that you can pay admission for. It is at Hotel Santa Maria. Here are the directions. You go to the Jordan store on the boulevard and you can see the Texaco (pronounced like exacto, or ex-actor) from the corner – you go to the Texaco, and you can see the Pizza Hut from there – you go to the Pizza Hut and you can see the Dunkin Donuts from there – the Hotel Santa Maria is right there – you can see it from the Dunkin Donuts. I’m getting it!
We left and walked back towards the Parque Central. We found a cool stone tower on the way and took a photo of it. There were guys all lined beside the wall chatting beside their pick up trucks. There was another tower, and we realized it was an old fort or something with a tower on each corner – it was quite large. The towers and the walls were crumbling and the walls were made out of several different materials sometimes a stone wall, sometimes a wooden wall etc. Just all patched together. Inside the walls they had piles of cement blocks and trucks etc. It looks as if this may be the public works department. One sign said something about an Esquela? At the front of the “fort”, the walls and towers had been re-plastered and painted ochre yellow, and there was biblioteca in one corner. It was a room with several large tables surrounded by chairs, and a long desk, behind which there was about 6 – 8 large library shelves of books.
We went a few more blocks and I was somewhat startled to realize that we were back at the Parqua Central already. Now I just have to find the market, and I am all set. Perhaps that will be part of my goal tomorrow – go swimming at Santa Maria, and find the market.
We stopped for a long while at the little hotel that has a kitten. They seem to really like Aodhan, and he doesn’t seem to bother them so much. I think he entertains them as much as their kitten entertains him. He is kind of like a cute little animal that wanders in to be petted every so often!
We stopped at the Jumbo and then tried the other bank card at the Banco Atlantida. It still gave the same message about this being an invalid / illegal operation. Hmmmm. I will have to try some other banks, and I will have to ask Rita if that doesn’t work.
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