Not much to report again. It has been rather a lacklustre kind of day. Alonso had to leave early this morning, so I stayed home and tried to do laundry, which I could not figure out, especially why there was no water in the washer. After two cycles of dry and dirty clothes, I texted Alonso, and he was also mystified, and we agreed that I should wait for him to come home before I damaged anything. I went grocery shopping in the neighbourhood and on the way back started chatting with a man in the neighbourhood. His name is Mauricio and it turns out he is related to the couple I met yesterday who live across the hall from us. Then in the hall, I met Gabriel, an older fellow who lives in another of the three apartments on our floor. Again, very friendly people here.
I spent time off and on today preparing and cooking red beans and brown rice etcetera for dinner. Then I went for a longer walk. There are mountains nearby, and I wanted to see how close I could get to them. On the way I was walking by one of the many streams and ravines that run through this city. There were two men sitting nearby, one in his thirties the other perhaps in his fifties. They seemed down and out, harmless, and friendly and kind souls, so we stopped and chatted a bit, then I gave them some money to buy water because they said they were thirsty. This by the way, is one of many examples of things I really ought not to do here in Colombia, because there is a very widespread and often irrational fear among the middle class that the poor are dangerous and should be avoided. But I felt safe with those guys, Otherwise, I would steer a wide berth., Further up the hill and through other neighbourhoods, I was already coming up the mountain, just past the University of Medellín. This man who looked kind of fragile approached me for money, but something didn't seem right or safe. He was also carrying a black plastic bag over his arm, and I have no idea if he was concealing anything, so I politely refused and walked well around him. Then right in the poor barrio, after a couple of beautiful golden red roosters crossed my path I saw various groupings of local guys, and again something did not feel right. Unsafe actually, so I retraced my steps and returned to one of the high streets, where I gave a lot of coins to an indigenous woman on the sidewalk with her little girl.
I walked home, and Alonso looking all natty in white shirt and tie as he was preparing for a job interview on Skype. This is the first time in the five days I have been here that he has been home in the afternoon, In fact, this will be the first time that I came home while he was present, and not vice versa! I eavesdropped on the interview, which was all in Spanish, and noted that Alonso was telling the interviewer his age and his marital status and domestic situation, which are considered in Colombia to be legitimate and necessary questions in a job interview, but never in Canada! We had quite an interesting chat about it after.
And... then my friend helped me with my laundry. The problem? I had put the clothes in the dryer instead of the washer!
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