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Yesterday was an exercise in finances as we strove to find suitable exchange rates for US cash that I had brought with me (without any problem I might add). The rate on the internet for $1 US Dollar was around 3921 pesos. My usual exchanger was offering 3755p, and I saw 3800p at the busy kiosk at the Bogota airport. Another kiosk was barren and offering a paltry 3250p. A very good friend needed US Dollars for a proposed upcoming holiday to Mexico, so he paid 3800p for almost 1/2 of our stash. We can wait to cash the rest when the exchange rate is better as is expected.
From -30C and misery and snow where I left, to +29C and sticky heat requires a lot of adjustment.... The first thing was to find sleveless tees, light shorts and sandals.... And to sleep 14 hours to combat the jet lag and almost 36 hours awake. I was out almost immediately. Cristina says she has found sleep aid pills that aremore reliable than melatonin... We will test this out for sure...
One of the things that slaps you awake here is the amazingly beautiful women everywhere! That is definitely not a myth....
We did rise at 4:45am to walk 5 of the dogs, NeNe, Princesa, Turi, Rocas and Buddy. Cristina has decided that she would join me every day to comply with her doctor's order to walk more to combat her migraines. We walked almost an hour as I showed her our normal route.
We went by the Parque Recreational which used to house the Animal Park as I named it, and it has been razed and returned to a recreation use with running track (ugh, in cement) and all. Very wide open now.
Cristina says the Animal Park has moved out of town, west to Campo Alegre, and that might be a nice long walk to undertake some day.
I stayed in bed until past 11am and took one good look outside and made a call asking our buddy Leonel to advise when he could tackle the huge mess in our back yard... We were in luck that it was his day off, so he came from 1:30pm to 5pm and the difference is amazing! This guys works quickly and hard and does whatever we ask, and knows his horticulture.... We are so fortunate to have such a man toil for us. He got very well paid today.
I was having a quick nap during all this after a nice leftover tourtierre lunch with fresh fruit juice. I am rejuvenating again.
I stepped out to take a few shots of the birds, etc and was graced by a visit of our tiny buddy Tom Thumb! What a treat to see them all again!
We again had sirens preceeding the showing off of Queen Of Andalucia candidates individually. We happened to catch 2 of them going by, but are not happy with our shots....
I am again shooting RAW with the Nikon but the laptop is again not cooperating and I am pulling my hair out at all the problems caused. I just may have to revert to JPG shooting again...
After 5 pm Cristina and I took a walk to the nearby dentist to make an appointment for me. It was like a hot sauna in that office, so we accepted a Tuesday morning appointment at 8:30am.
Then we walked to our buddy Roger's place a block over and found him on the front sidewalk with some of his dogs and cats. His ex was roaming in the background, mingling with her family. Apparently one of the girls is a Queen contestant so she may be the one in the pink that I almost missed...
I am surely not missing -50C forecasts.
I hope you enjoy the pictures. That was the day’s excitement.
Al
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Nevado del Ruiz 
Taken with cel 
Cristina wearing her gifts 
She is happy with the gifts 
The back yard was shameful 
Leonel to the rescue 
He is a master 
Hibiscus is thriving 
Our pet tame pigeon Palomin 
Aloe Vera sprouting 
We have many plaitains 
Kiskadees 
My buddy Tom Thumb 
Tom in silhouette 
Part of Roger's family may be Queen? 
Lots of followers 
Another contestant 
Nikon was balky
