The morning started out well, I applied a liberal amount of sunscreen in the hopes that I wouldn’t burn. We took a carrito to Nacional to pick up some snacks, and then another carrito to Maria’s place so she could pick up a few things. Then we called a taxi to take us to the bus station where we were lucky and able to hop on a bus that left only minutes later. The bus ride to the beach was relatively enjoyable and about 40 min in length. We arrived, found a nice plot of sand, and plunked ourselves there (and in the water) for the next few hours.
On the way back, we caught another bus, but this one was not quite as nice as the one we had taken to the beach. Additionally, it ended up stopping at one point and we had to get out and into another bus. This bus was super packed (at least by my standards). I ended up being right by an open window, and the wind on my face was almost too much to handle, even with my sunglasses on (thus windburn). When we arrived back in the city, we took a carrito to Nacional and then walked home from there.
About an hour later, Maria came by to pick me up so that we could go to the arts and crafts market in the Colonial Zone. This time, we walked down close to the ocean and caught a carrito to where we needed to go. We wandered around quite a bit in our attempt to find this market, even asked several police officers where we should be going. We never found it though. So instead we wandered a bit more and then went for a bite to eat at a pizza place that Maria really likes.
On our way back, we stopped at Maria’s friend Johan’s place. He then walked with us back to the apartment where Pavol was waiting to cook them dinner. I proceeded to my room to have my daily chats with mom and dad and then with Bart.
At work today, things were pretty normal. One of the best moments though was when the phone at our desk rang, it was Sr. S so I went to answer (that’s the only time I answer the phone cause if its anyone else, they just hang up when I answer as they are always looking for O), picked up the phone, and then realized there was no cord attaching the phone part to the body of the phone. I looked at O, and he said, “there is no cord.” “Yes, I noticed that, where is the cord?” O doesn’t know. I will never cease to be amused by my life here.
Second best moment, was when Sr.S called me into a meeting to explain what the term "arm's length" means. So, this was in a legal document so I tried to put it as simply as possible and said there is a relationship between the parties, but the transaction is independent or separate. This didn't quite satisfy them. They brought in another guy who speaks both Spanish and English and he described it as a sale being fair/equal. After the fact, I did a google search and found out that by combining how both of us explained it, you get a pretty good explanation. More importantly, it is surprising how much pressure you feel in those types of situations, which I seem to face almost daily around here.
I also had to call a firm in Bermuda today. That was fun. Mainly because the receptionist sounded like she had just arrived from Texas. I was expecting a lovely British-Caribbean accent...
All in all, a good day. Now an evening of (hopefully) relaxation.
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