Bill’s Last Post

26 July 2019 14:28 R.E.D. Friday (Remember Everyone Deployed)
We have a taxi lined up for tomorrow’s trip to the airport with our favorite driver Aley. We both seem ready to head back to the United States but a little sad to be leaving Colombia. It has been a good trip overall, we have seen a lot, learned some Spanish (Emily more than me) and ate really good food. 
This morning we were thinking we ran out of things we wanted to do and see while here so Emily checked the guide book Cartagena & Colombia’s Caribbean Coast by Moon publishers to make sure. Emily does have kitesurfing on her bucket list but we don’t have enough time for that. She didn’t think about it early enough. She did find a couple restaurants to try before we go. We walked into town and found the first one, the other we are going to tonight. We got pictures, it was a very neat place and the air worked well. It’s exceptionally humid today, my exposed skin is wet almost as soon as I’m outside on days like this. There were a couple fellas that came in after we had ordered and Emily heard English being spoken so she went over to chat with them. Turned out they are Marines and one was from Missouri. The food was very good. I had fish and chips. Mine was a lunch special and it came with a dessert that Emily and I shared that was very good. It was a torte with cake, pudding, coconut and a little chocolate sauce. Tips are usually already added to the bills, this place does that but they are voluntary, you can ask to have it taken off if you wish, if I read right through they are supposed to ask if you do, so far none have asked. It’s only 10% and in pesos that is never very much. 
We are looking forward to dinner tonight, Emily has picked out sea bass and I may have a steak but we’ll have to see. I have seen horse steak on some menus here and while I’m sure it is probably good to some I don’t want to eat horse unless I’m on the range and I had to shoot my horse before it died in agony, maybe if I was starving then possibly. 
Emily is at her last class, it sounds like it will be another hard class and the ending will be without any fanfare. I’m disappointed that I didn’t learn more and with the school’s administration. I wish they had been more proactive. They lacked customer service, 24 hours is a long time to wait between responses, there should be someone at the school that could help when situations that will reflect on the school happen. As a business I can’t recommend them. Emily says the Costa Rican school is run better. I will have to let her pick the school next time. Until then I will continue with my DouLingo and other self study aids. I may also join Emily and Sharon’s club if possible. 
I do recommend visiting Cartagena. Emily and I may have to return to visit more of Colombia in the future. I hear it’s cooler in the mountains. 
I’m going to do one last load of laundry here tonight, with luck no major leaks. Since the guy came and fixed the large leak there has been a smaller leak after the machine is done that has steadily gotten bigger. Being able to do laundry while we have been here has been nice, we will come back with very few dirty clothes. In Peru we had some laundry done and that was very helpful. We are learning that either having a washer or having laundry done means you can pack so much less stuff. The Hynes 44l carryon does hold a lot. https://hyneseagle.com/collections/carry-on-backpacks/products/santiago
If you travel I recommend getting this bag! I hopefully will never have to wait for luggage at the carousel again! 
The LocTote bag is a great idea, luckily we have not had to test it on the streets. We did lock our things in it while SCUBA diving and that was nice. https://loctote.com/collections/all/products/flak-sack-sport
Worth looking at, a better lock would be nice, but in the end it’s about keeping honest people honest since the bad guys always find a way sooner or later. At least you make them work for it. I also wish it was a complete dry bag. I am going to email and see if they will be doing one in the future. There is a dry pocket inside that does work, we tested it. The bag itself resists water but the ropes will wick in moisture. 
I’m hearing a lot of thunder again this afternoon, there was some yesterday as well and it did rain some while Emily was in class. The windows in the apartment do not muffle any sounds. Rain may be nice if it’s done before I go to meet up with Emily. 
I’m hoping the weather will be good when we get back so we can get some canoeing and bike riding in before it cools off and Emily gets busy with work. Seems like I’ve been off a long time. From here it feels odd thinking about going back on shift next Thursday, but I’m sure once I get there it will be like the last 23 years, minus the first two years of college. 
One of the interesting things here is how much they decorate the busses but you don’t see a lot of customized cars or motorcycles. Occasionally a car will have some different wheels and a few stickers and motorcycles may have a different seat and some stickers but the busses are painted bright colors, usually red, yellow or green but the are plastered with stickers, little murals and chrome pipes. We had a cab today that was decorated inside I had to take a picture. So many of the stickers on the vehicles here are advertising for products we see all the time in the USA but not here. We do see clothing here with English words on them, sometimes I wonder if they know what it says, I would Google translate it if it were me. 
20:01
The restaurant Emily had picked was closed, seems they don’t open until 7:30pmWe went to the tried and true find someone with restaurant menus and go there. The food was good, I had some ribs since it been a week and they didn’t have chicken wings. I may have to do some when I get back home. 
We stopped and picked up some leather keepsakes. I got a new wallet and Emily got a small purse of Colombian leather. 
I’m mostly packed at this point and my clothes are laid out for tomorrow. The trip home is less exciting than the trip here. I will be sad to leave but happy to be back stateside. Hot showers, central air and real bedding. This bedding is way to light and I get tangled up in it. It will be strange not hearing the beeping, sirens, dogs barking, big trucks and the rest of the big city sounds, but I will enjoy the quiet. I also look forward to color, the plain white of the apartment and the lack of green space I won’t miss. We’ve officially entered the lame duck period!