Half a Cake is Better Than None

Tomorow I hope to head for Cochabamba.
I had an idea for a business in Colombia that sounded like fun for me and had ofers o help from two quarters. My thoughts are turning that way because in looking a world wide costs and values, and doing some calculating ---- my availanle principle is now worth only half of what it did just two years ago. Not good. Still days are pleasant and cost are down since this intestial infection has cut into my appetite.

A Beginning

Well I am writing this seated between two very young children with a drunken father seated to the left of the the little girl on my left and a nervous mother, trying to appear calm hovering around and pehaps tying to use SKYPE.

Had A nice lunch. A bit like stake and eggs. Translated to the language of Philly it might be called ýeah Frankie!´ It was set off by a very large glass of strawberry juice. Here the better restaurants have double linen as many once did.

This situation is disturbing my mood a bit. The kids are behaving, but the ´father´ is a borderline case.

My rooms at La Montana Magica, which seem very inviting at this point, were a bit like a Swiss or Barvarian chelet. Downstairs was a nicely apointd small living room, a small kitichen, and a bath. Upstairs the bedrom had five very large windows with marvelous log views of cyprus covered valleys and ridges. One of the widows was done in cut glass much liea church window.

In the bedroom was a nice double bed with elegant linen, four wool blankets, and a simple quilt. Close to the been was a nice small raised fire place. I position to enjoy the views was a hamoc, and a wool rug set with pillows. I had the bautiful quiet place with two very good large meals a day --- for 40 dollars a day and cried about the steep prices. Enjoyed myself anyway. I evenejoyed looking at the rabbits, chickens, ducks, geese, goats and sheep on the property.

Made to pligimages down to Medelin and saw the changes to be amazing. Beautiful transportation system of elevated rails and cables plus a very good bus system. Tall beautiful buildings everywhere. Great shopping places. Ruanas and carriels were gone and the arrepas were flat!

Still in place were much of the Antioquian fine manners and the beautiful Antioquenas long graceful legs.

While here in Santa Cruz, I plan to attend two days of a festival of barroc and renaisances music. (I need a functional spellcheck!) The festival has been held every other year for about a decade. I have encountered a Dane and a Japanese that not only plan to attend but also to play. A While back, while some wooden mission buildings the Jesuits had constucted in the 1600 and 1700s were being saved, about a thousand pages of original barocco an ranacanse music was found around which the festival developed.

Time to Eat

I am feeling a bit hungry and am a bit disturbed by loud Brazilian TV program.
Seems this blog is all about me.
Still I feel a bit frustrated not having gotten to the parts of this trip I find must interesting.

AOL has been resopnsive and helpful.
Avianca, Taca, and other airline personal have been ver helpful.

árrepa´was a roasted ball of a simple cornmeal recepie. These days it takes a bit more the for of a tortilla. Another form is made from fresh corn from the cob and when done correctly DELICIOUS. I like it topped with a bit of fresh cheese.

My spellchek wants me to write in Spanish and is making all corrections in that language.

´choclo´ is fresh corn on the cob.

Kevin Maloney, maloney2000@yahoo.co.uk, sportsman, lover,world traveler, and all around good man would like to hear from you. He knows a good movie when he sees it and has a weakness for beautiful woman.

La Montana Magica is a resort at nearly 9000 feet near Santan Elena and not far from Rionegro, Antioquia. Its name is taken from the novel of the same name by Thomas Mann.

I find my sister´s sites at: http://gerryart.blogspot.com and http://gerrysgeneology.blogspot.com/ interesting.

My flight from Lima (Callo?) was supposed to be to La Paz, bbut by mistsake was to Santa Cruz. By mistake also it seems that that $390 flight may cost me nothing.

Well I have´t gotten to the Venezuela Amasador or even the Bolivian Ambasador; much less the hammoc and the geese, the buck rogers transport system, love, money, politics ........ appitites .....











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Tired and Pleased

I am in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, the Capital of SantaCruz state of Bolivia. I turned getting here into a bit of an adventure. Some would call it making unneccessary complications. I will try to provide some iterestig deails aout where I am and how I got here, but first I´d like to thank my sister ad my property maager for checkig this log with some regularity. My sister has tow nice blogs of her own and I am trying to learn from her example. My property manager, Kim Fulgum of http://www.monsterrealty.net/ seems to be doing ad very good job of taking care of my nice little rental property.
I find it very difficult to impossible to view, muchless download, photos or PDF files from the variety of boworred or rented computors I am using these days.
I Found a very nice place to stay not so very far from Medellin, Colombia; visited Bogota, touched down in Lima, and La Paz. More on that later I hope.

Rio Negro, Antioquia

I´m here. Still very tired from trip. It seems more expensive than Thailand. Cost about a dollar and a half an hour to use this computer at this cybor cafe. I´m having to listen to Colombian hip hop as type this. For lunch I had a delicious arrepa de choclo with some very nice cheese. Drank blackberry smoothie and a cup of coffee with it for about 2 dollars. That was great. Had what might be called a typical Antioquian dinner. It was very Colombian.
The country side is beautiful.
What are my impressions?
Not sure yet.
Glad to be here.
More after I´ve slept.

Values

What's important about our Constitutions?
Why might it be important to talk about The Bill of Rights?
How might it be useful to discuss our legislative rights?
What good might come from a dialogue concerning our assumptions about the rule of law?
Christian and Classic love includes nurturance and support, doesn't it?
To give nurturance and support we must know enough about the loved to know what nurtures it, must we not?
Do we love our country? What do we know about our country that enables us to give it truly nurturing love?
Do we love our rights?
What do we know about our system of rights?
What do we know about loving our Constitution?
How do we love our country?
How do we love our republic?
How do we love our nation?
What do we love.
What do we actively nurture and support.
Why don't we talk about it??

Simple? Maybe.

I've reserved a seat on an Avianca flight leaving LAX in California for MDE in Antioquia on this coming Tuesday. Simple? Maybe.

Camp Thunderbird, my present home base, is located on the desert, not far from the village of 29 palms, and within sight of the great Marine base located in this part of California. It is not very close to Los Angeles.

Let me try to explain this "maybe" lack of simplicity in chronological order. First, I chose Venezuela and Bolivia as my destinations. Soon I found that Bolivian visa regulations seemed to be in flux. Next, I found flights to Venezuela to be a bit expensive. Searching online for the cheapest flights to South America from airports close to me, I found those to Colombia to be least expensive.
"Good," I thought, "I'll fly into Bogota and start my acclimation to La Paz altitude there." Bogota is at about 8000 ft. and La Paz has an altitude of over 12000! While in Bogota I could visit: some hot springs around Cundinemarca, the Gold Museum in that capital, and the marvelous cathedral of salt near-by. However, things were not so simple. I was shopping for price and found that it was cheaper to fly to Medellin via Bogota, than it was to fly to Bogota!

"Okay," I thought, "let it be Medellin." I haven't visited Medellin since 1967. I had spent a total of four pleasant years in that city of cultured and industrious people. I could simply revisit that place of fond memory. Some interesting changes must be evident after four decades. Of course there are changes in 40 years. Changes in me and in the city. One change in me is that I now no that I am less comfortable in a city that I am in a town or village. Medellin wasn't tiny forty years ago and it has grown. Another change in me is that I am now so aware of air quality that I made finding pure air a priority of this trip. I hear credible rumors that the air of the valley of Aurraba where Medellin is located is not as crystalline as it once was. Another change is that the main airport for Medellin is no longer in Medellin, but is now close to the attractive city of Rio Negro. When I live in Medellin, a sensible person did not go to Rio Negro without intending to stay at least one night. So, I'm going to Bolivia by flying to Medellin, but will probably stay in Rio Negro and not even go down to Medellin. Ah, the simple freedom of travel!

Now, in order to take my seat on Avianca flight AV49, I must first get to LAX. Renting a car to get there had worked out more than once. I called a rental agency I had used before. Their office was on the Marine base and they delivered. I called them and was told that, they were sorry, but they no longer dealt with civilians. I'd have to check agencies in Yucca Valley, a $30, or so, cab ride from 29. The first agency I called in YV told me that they did not handle one ways to airports. Then I called the Hertz agency. The agent was out to lunch so I was connected to the Hertz national reservations office. There I reserved a car one way to LAX from YV for $72, including insurance. I than told that agent about the cab ride that I had heard of people paying $60 dollars for. She was silent a bit and then said that their YV office would reimburse my for the taxi fare! After lunch I called the YV agent and asked if the reimbursement were truly available and she said, in tone which sounded a bit sad, "Yes."

The world is wonderfully not simple.

America can be a Beautiful Symphony of Brotherhood

Why is speaking speaking out an agnoy? What am I learning from what is happening? Why do I sometimes feel a darkness close around me? What am I learning about the world in which I live? How do I love my nation? What is the nature of trustful give and take? What do I have to say to my fellow citizens? What is good for us?