Here’s a quick catch up post. Quick because there isn’t much from my most recent handwritten notes worth transferring over, which makes me kinda happy because transferring stuff over usually bores me to tears!
On June 16th I Wrote
The feria has mamon chino (aka rambutan) fruit again! YAY! I love it! The season for it is from now until about October or November, if I remember rightly from last year. I was super sad when it stopped appearing at the feria, in grocery stores and fruit stands.
Tried a peanut butter and banana sandwich today. (I had heard good things about them from a number of friends, so decided to try it.) NOT a fan. I like peanut butter and jelly or peanut butter and honey because I can still taste the peanut butter, but all I could taste in this combo was the banana.
The Rain is Beating Down in Buckets Right Now
I wonder what it sounds like upstairs in Deb’s abode. I bet it’s glorious!
What If My Pensionado App Happens or Hits a Snag
…while Jon is in France next month? Been thinking about that.
Luckily for me, I have Margaret Aliff as an immigration coach, too. So, if there’s a snag, I can send Jon and her the email that details it and do what they say to respond right away (within 10 days) to acknowledge receipt and fashion a response that will give me a few months to fix whatever the snag is.
And if I get an acceptance while Jon is gone, I will follow instructions to get the funds paid to bank (or correo?) and CAJA to apply for my DIMEX card. Then I can hire Adilio to take me to immigration to get the DIMEX card right away so I won’t have to wait weeks or months to get it in the mail.
And I can ask a neighbor, Ed Fagan, to help me understand the CAJA app, too! He said he’ll show me the ropes on that as soon as I get entered into the CAJA system.
It’s under control!
But the likelihood of it happening while Jon is away is extremely slim, so I’m not gonna let it keep me up nights thinking about “going it alone” here in Grecia (bank, correo, CAJA) in Jon’s absence.
Voters Need to Purge the Entire U.S. Administration
…and it’s likelier than ever before, given the NYT’s recent reporting on the administration meetings in the Situation Room that were all about protecting T-Wrecks from the Epstein Files disclosures. My fingers are crossed, but DEMS need to win the mid-terms by enormous, undeniable percentages to overcome the nefarious roadblocks that the GOP have placed to keep that from happening. Voters, please make that happen!!!
On June 18th I Wrote
10 a.m. 6000+ steps so far this morning…
The Realtor and his photographer are here. They’ll be photographing this apartment last, they say.
Deb was blown away by how much I “detailed” it. She said it looks like no one lives here right now! (That was my plan: to take everything out that is mine and to put away everything that is hers that won’t be going with the sale (glasses, cups, mugs, dinnerware, etc.)
I did take my own pix of the apartment, too, all without my stuff. It looks lovely but I don’t have permission to share the images publicly. If you’re interested in seeing them, e me at krisAT wordwhispererDOTnet and I will send them to you if I know you! Otherwise, you will need to wait for the listing, which I will post as soon as it goes LIVE in the next few days.
The photographer will be taking drone footage
…of the property, too. It’s too bad the lawn care attendants got rained out two days ago. They wont be able to get back here until Saturday. So, the lawn doesn’t looked manicured, the way it usually does…
God, it’s gorgeous here. With all the curtains and blinds open to light up this apartment on three sides, it really shows that it’s surrounded by nature. Glorious! Heaven on Earth!
I need to remember to tell Joel (the photographer) that I have some stunning images of sunsets and one sunrise, taken from the back patio, too. I’m sure he could use them to help show the property in all its glory. (UPDATE: I sent them to him and he is thrilled!)
I sure hope that when this place sells, it goes to DEMS
… or INDEPENDENTS (if it sells to people from the U.S.). I won’t stay here (even if they want to keep a reliable renter) if a T-Wrecks or current GOP voter buys it. NO WAY! My money will NEVER go to a T-Wrecks landlord. (Deb much prefers to sell to a progressive DEM, too.)
The avocados LOOK ripe and ready in the tree outside
…but I just tried to pinch about three of them, and nope! It’s gonna be a while more before they’re ready to be picked.
Cindy Winder and I Are Going Shopping Tomorrow
…and on the way back from Mas Por Menos and Compre Bien we’re stopping at the Carne Solis soda to buy to-go lunches to take to her home and eat there. Her puppy Harper is in a crate and Cindy doesn’t want to leave her in there any longer than necessary because she still has a tiny bladder and she’s trying to housebreak her and doesn’t want her to have to pee before we get back.
Yesterday Fri June 19 I Wrote
There is a scheduled power outage this morning from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. so I’m keeping the fridge and freezer doors closed until the power is restored. I’ve closed the blinds to keep as much of the sunlight outside as possible so it doesn’t get too toasty in here before I get back at around 11:30 or so. Charli will be fine up here in the heights without the fans running. She loves the heat, should it get a little toasty in here.
I shoulda charged my phone before the power went out
…but didn’t think about it until too late. It’s down to 12%. But I have plugged it into an external power pack, so it’s slowly coming back up to par.
Back from Grecia!
The power is back on. Looks like it was restored prior to 11 a.m.
I spent $140 on groceries and cat food and had a wonderful time with Cindy, because we’re both super efficient shoppers. We grabbed separate carts and headed in two different directions. Got ready to check out within five minutes of each other, too.
We bought 99.5% of our groceries at the first stop, Mas Por Menos. The second stop at Compre Bien was mainly to get Cindy’s favorite coffee creamer, because it’s the only place that carries it. She gets two to three months’ supply at a time, so she only shops that far afield about that often.
I hope I get invited to go again anytime she does.
I got lots of good stuff
Breakfast cereals, nutrition bars (as snacks), a huge container of honey mustard dressing (since I love Subway’s Mostasa Dulce so much), pure extra virgin olive oil, shredded iceberg lettuce, a plastic container of spinach, more cat food for Charli, etc.
On the way back we stopped at Carne Solis
…(as mentioned above) to get take home lunches. I got a piece of fatty pork, which is a major treat here (called chicharrones, I think), two pieces of pescado (species, tilapia) and a mixed green salad. Cindy got two pieces of chicken, a chicharrone, and a pasta salad.
Cindy drove us to her place, where we unloaded her purchases and ate our lunches. Cindy offered me a ginger ale as the beverage; it was yummy.
I was able to recall the names of five of her eleven pets:
Lucy (golden red color, part retriever), Oreo (you guessed her color!), Harper (the black and white puppy), plus two of her three cats: Ebony (a black beauty with green eyes), and Calico (you guessed her color).
She has another gorgeous cat, a ginger/honey and white colored longhair who she raised from a tiny, three day old. I can’t recall her name, or the names of her two chihuahuas or her curly dog OR the “bitey” dog. (By “bitey”, I mean she used to bite a lot — fear biter — but now she has settled and isn’t as reactive as in months gone by. She hasn’t totally warmed up to me, yet, so when she came right up to me and I offered to pet her, she snapped a little but didn’t try to connect. So, she’ll come around eventually. It’s just gonna take more visits and time.)
Cindy and I have Confirmed a Milestone Birthday Lunch for Her in July
She has a special place that she loves in Grecia (I can’t recall the name right now, only heard it once), so we will be going there for a brunch or lunch on July 11th. It isn’t any place I have been before, but she will drive, so we’ll get there reliably, for sure. She is a terrific driver. I felt very safe as her passenger!
I plan to join Cindy’s Drumming Circle Tomorrow A.M.
Cindy has two kettle drums and says she can show me some simple beats on one of them or I can play a rattle or other easy instrument as long as I know how to keep a beat. (I do.) It’s going to be a lot of fun and I will try to remember to take some photos! Dang! I should have taken a few yesterday to illustrate this post, but I just never thought to…
She played both drums a little bit for me. She is a PRO! I was impressed!
MAO (Mauricio Marin) Reached Out Again
He wants to enlist me for a virtual classroom session this coming Wednesday night for about an hour to help his third year English students (two of whom I know personally now) wrap their minds around the differences in usage between could have, would have, should have, might have and must have (as well as possibly a few more perfect modals).
It should be a lot of fun. I’m very much looking forward to it…
I love it when Mao enlists me to help his English students. It feels like I’m giving back/paying it forward every time. It’s totally enjoyable, too!
This Morning I Walked to the Soccer Field and Back
…and a wonderful fellow whose last name is Thomas — whom I have encountered briefly once before — stopped with his two dogs to say hello. He was heading back up Calle San Isidro as I was heading down and I warned him that the black and white biting dog up near Telephone Pole 69 was out, jumping and yapping in a warning manner from behind a fenced driveway on my way down just a few minutes before. (The dog can leave that fenced front and run out through the bushes any time it chooses.)
I told him that it has bitten me once already and come after me two more times. He said he was aware of it and that it knows he will kick its ass if it tries to tackle him or his dogs.
And then he reached into his pocket and offered me his pepper spray!
I declined at first. That stuff is expensive. But he insisted, saying, “I have two more at home.” I offered to buy the one he offered me; he declined.
“Absolutely not. If that dog has it out for you, you need this. That cane might not be enough!”
So, once again, here in PuraVidaLand: the kindness of strangers!
He’s a gringo, but he has adopted this kind, concerned culture as his own, for sure!
So, I feel doubly blessed this weekend
My two newest neighbors (Cindy and Mr. Thomas) have revealed their kind, generous spirits to me. Tomorrow I hope to meet a few more neighbors when I join their drum circle up near or beyond San Francisco.
Will keep you posted, for sure!
Looking forward!