Wednesday

.I left the house at 10am with no plan in mind except to locate a fluorescent light tube for my room. There are two 48 inch tubes in there at the moment and one has bitten the dust making it difficult to read after the sun goes down. I walked around the market area and slowly worked my way toward the tallest hotel in this part of town. My plan then was to get some lunch but they were only serving breakfast so I decided to go to the top floor and sit pool-side for a while and read. I took several pictures and fully enjoyed sitting up there in the quiet, all by myself, reading. After about half an hour I began to get very hungry and wanted lunch so I left the Hotel and stopped by a little sidewalk café for fish and chips and a coke. After eating I was feeling pretty chipper so I continued my search for the fluorescent tubes. I found several stores in old town who sold such an item but none with a length of 48 inches. I then decided to get on a bus and ride it to Wal-Mart; there was no doubt in my mind they would have what I was searching for. Well, that was a bust so I walked across the street to Ley Market; Ley has everything except fluorescent tubes. I then spent 50 Pesos to have a Pulmonia drive me to Home Depot so I could again be disappointed. Home Depot had a large assortment of such things but no 48 inchers. I then walked a quarter mile to Mega Store. Same story. I purchased a bottle of Bacardi Rum to resupply Natalia’s liquor cabinet and a bottle of Coke for the same location and a box of cereal that will last me until Friday week when I will be leaving this wonderful winter behind me. I paid 10 Pesos to a bus driver to drive me home and drop me off 20 feet from the front door….Last night I helped Natalia make a stuffed red pepper salad with Tuna and she promised to leave one for me to have for dinner tonight so I ate that and wrote down the ingredients so I can attempt to reproduce it when I get home. The only spice it has in it is the Red Pepper itself. It is a fantastic way to make a tuna salad! Oh, BTW I am becoming very excited about using sea salt instead of iodized salt, delicious and much more flavorful. I guess that is saying the same thing in two different ways. Anyway, large grains for cooking and small grain for sprinkling. Tip: When chopping up a pineapple boil the skin and top for a while then let it cool. The water that is left over is great for your liver. Natalia takes the water to work the next day and sips it away before coming home. I stopped by to see Nancy at her Volunteer Stand this morning, she said she only met 4 tourists all morning; she had been there almost three hours. It appears that since Carnaval time has ended the tourist season is coming to an end for this winter, at least for Old Town. The man driving the Pulmonia told me that about 80% of the tourists in town at the moment are from Canada. Can’t say I blame them. I don’t think Canada has a Banana Belt to escape to in the winter time.

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