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Diane's DiaryJune 19 Sunday Happy Father's Day. I called Dad today to wish him a Happy Father's day. I bought him the new Star Wars movie and another cruiser going back to the US will mail it for me. I hope he likes it! Anyway, I couldn't sleep last night and wound up sleeping in this morning until 8:30 so missed the security net. Suzi gave us both haircuts, as we both needed haircuts desperately. We'll have to get her to cut it again before we leave here. She did a great job with Larry- I only needed a slight trim. I called Janice Flattery's husband as she had kindly bought a lot of things back for me when she went to the US- new magazines, the newspaper, cap straps, Splenda sugar (which is available here but outrageously expensive), some spices etc.- it was like getting a care package from home! I also called around to exchange some money- the USD is down to 2400 so it's not that great now. However, we have to change money at whatever the rate as we are almost out of B's. It is very hot and humid outside with heavy thunderstorms in the pm. Suzi and David came over to dinner and I made spaghetti carbonara with a great recipe I have. We had a great time and they stayed until 10:30! It was great catching up with them again. I didn't play dominoes as I had to get everything ready for dinner- I made a chocolate cake also. After they left we watched the West Wing- we only have one more episode left now! I wish we could get the 5th season also as we definitely are addicted! Of course we haven't seen US regular TV is so long I can't even tell you what programs are popular or what the new programs are! We didn't even have TV in Bahia Redonda a few years ago and remember when we asked Elias to please bring us videos as we were so bored at night. Now we have cable TV (only 5 channels in English but hey it's better than nothing!) and lots of DVD's to borrow from everybody- WOW! Anyway, I finally got a hold of Angela, one of the people I trade money with- the USD is down to 2400 but she'll trade with me at 2500. June 20 Monday I helped Larry put the dinghy from the deck back into the water- yea! Now I have transportation to the mall again. I also got the bread, gas and brought the propane tank in to be filled. I lay down after lunch as it started to pour out. I finally got a hold of Angela after lunch but she only wants to exchange at 2450 now. We know the rate in Caracas is 2500 and we usually get less here so she still is giving more than the 2400 they are giving in the marina. Suzi and I decided to go by dinghy that day before the rate changed again. Unfortunately, when we got there she wasn't there so we had to wait. It was late when we went down to the mall because Angela kept having us call back all day- we left at 5pm and we thought it would be a fast change and we would be back to the boat. However, we didn't get back until almost 7pm. Angela wasn't there when we got there so we had to wait until she got back. Thank goodness I had leftover spaghetti carbonara so we were able to have a fast dinner. June 21 Tuesday I was up early at 6:30am for some odd reason so just did some early morning reading. I was going to go to Makro and kept calling Jeannie to see if she wanted to go. Finally, I just went over to her boat as she was still sleeping. She normally doesn't get up until late. Yes, she wanted to go to Makro so we left at 10am. We saw Rafael, one of the taxi drivers who regularly drives the cruisers and speaks excellent English. He was free so drove us. Instead of having him just drop us off; we just had him wait for us. The regular taxi drivers have wanted more money for their rides so if you split the taxi fare with another cruiser it's almost worth it to keep a driver waiting for you. Also, you can go to several stores this way and keep your belongings safely in their car. Jeannie wanted to go to Fiorca supermarket also so this worked out well. I did a major provisioning to get ready to leave so this involves multiple trips to the grocery store to get everything done. It's difficult to buy everything at once as you have to put everything away in stages plus it's difficult to physically just buy everything all at one time. Anyway, it took me awhile after lunch to put everything away. In the PM, Suzi came over to exchange DVD's but she didn't have many good ones. I walked 2 laps around the marina, took a quick swim and shower and back to the boat. We watched one of Suzie's DVD's later that night called "A Glimpse of Hell" about the explosion on the USS Iowa in '89. It was OK- not fantastic but since we watched it for free it was definitely worth it! They have an excellent violinist playing tonight in the restaurant but unfortunately he isn't playing till after 9pm, which is late for us-, I usually go to bed no later than 10pm. June 22 Wednesday We left the boat at 9am so Larry could get his lab test done. He can't drink or ear anything before he has the test so it's best to get it done first thing in the am. We had breakfast after the test and than walked around Lecheria going to the various boating stores. We walked back to Plaza Mayor where we left our dinghy and did some shopping in the mall. I bought Dad the latest Star Wars DVD as a Father's Day present so will get it mailed to the US. It's better to wait a few weeks after the new DVD's come out, as the first copies are usually not very good. In the PM, I made a string bean casserole and some meatloaf. It started to rain out around 3pm and continued raining for several hours after. June 23 Thursday We left at 9:30am via dinghy to go to the Doctor. We leave the dinghy at Plaza Mayor and walk the few blocks from there. Larry got a great report from the doctor. His PSA level is way down. The only problem is the medicine he's taking is very strong and he can't stay on it forever- he's going to have to come on and off it. Right now the doctor wants him to stay on it and come back in 3 months to reevaluate him. Larry is very happy with this doctor and I really like him also so if we have to come back here we come back. We were debating on leaving the boat either here or in Curacao when we go home so we're OK with either spot. Anyway, we finished with the doctor at 10:15am so we went back to the mall, walked around and than had lunch. Larry accidentally punched me in the arm when trying to start the dinghy engine - it hurt so bad I actually thought he broke it. I iced it and rested when I got back to the boat it hurt so badly. I lay down for a while also just resting it. We turned in our boat papers and passports to get them renewed. Our 3 months are up on our passports and our 6-month cruising permit is up. It'll cost about $100 to renew both of them so it's not cheap. I walked with Suzi in the pm, took a quick swim and a shower. We watched the TV movie "Band Of Brothers" at night. I had read the book and liked it very much so was anxious to see the movie. We didn't see all the parts so were sorry we missed some. The movie was good but not as good as the book. June 24 Friday I washed some more canvas this morning- it all has to be clean before it's waterproofed. After lunch, I worked on entering our finances into the computer. Today is another Venezuelan holiday so I didn't want to go out shopping or down the canal by dinghy as the locals are all out and the stores and canals are crowded. June 25 Saturday A holiday weekend so it's crowded in PLC with lots of locals coming from PLC for the holiday. I went with Jeannie and Suzi to the fish market to buy some shrimp, as we haven't had any in weeks. However, the shrimp wasn't very good quality and was expensive so we didn't buy any. After we got back, Jeannie still wanted shrimp so we hired one of the taxi drivers Jeannie is friendly with, Carlos, and he took us around to find some. Everything was expensive and not very good quality so we didn't buy any. Suzi lent us 14 of her DVD's- and watched a few others. Tonight we watched "Replacements" which was pretty good. We don't want to keep it but it was worth watching. June 26 Sunday I made some cheese omelets for breakfast and than did some emails. I played some dominoes and got a 345. I usually score around this range. I only placed once and that was a third. Oh, well, I have a good time and that's what counts. I made some cheese enchiladas for dinner when I got back and than walked a few laps with Suzi in the late pm. We usually don't walk until about 4:30 or so when it gets cooler out. Big news event- Chavez, Castro and various Presidents of the Caribbean nations are coming here to Maremares hotel starting Tuesday. Effective today through Thursday the port is closed to ALL boat traffic including dinghies. I am sure with all these big gins coming here to PLC security will be very tight and traffic will be a nightmare. June 27 Monday I waterproofed some canvas this morning before we left for the doctor's office at 11am. Larry has a benign tumor on his shoulder he needs removed. When he got the others done a few months ago the doctor didn't want to do these at that time as he said they were larger than the others and should be done separately. He thought one of them would need stitches so Larry didn't want to get this done while we were on the hard so that's why he waited. The doctor had given this same growth a shot last year but it grew back. Anyway, he gave him another shot and said he should come back in 2 weeks. He also took another growth off his back that he wanted to biopsy- he didn't think it was cancer but wanted to make sure it wasn't. Anyway, we were planning on leaving but guess we'll just have to wait to see what the doctor says in 2 weeks. We stopped at the chawarma place for lunch and the food here is definitely better and cheaper than the El Amir Palace. June 28 Tuesday At 9am, I went on Jaime's free shopping trip to Makro. My arm still hurts a lot and I can't pick up anything heavy with that arm so had a lot of difficulty picking up the heavy packages. David from Ariyl was on the trip, saw me struggling but didn't bother to help at all. Another cruiser, Wayne from Conch Daddy who I didn't even know at all, helped me. Thank you Wayne! I put away all the groceries after lunch and than took a nap. We were having Elias over for dinner so I made homemade spaghetti sauce, meatballs, brownies and a salad for dinner. Elias stayed till 9pm and we had a great time talking. Our Spanish must be getting better as we spent the entire time conversing in Spanish. Elias' English is getting much better also. There has been massive traffic jams since Chavez, Castro and the others are here in PLC. There is no real reason we have to go out in this traffic so we are just staying in the marina until it's all over on Friday. Several dinghies have been confiscated for being in the canal and a large catamaran that was trying to leave the canal was returned to his berth. I had a Doctor's appointment for Thursday but since the traffic is so bad (we have heard up to a 3 hour delay!) I'll cancel it and reschedule. June 29 Wednesday I put another coat of waterproofing on the canvas as the material still is not waterproofed even though I did 2 coats. We hadn't waterproofed the canvas for 2 years so it really needed to be done. I also think the canvas is getting old and the waterproofing is not working as well as it once did. I brought the laundry in, vacuumed- just doing routine housework. I also spoke to Carlos about our marina bill- since we need to come back in November anyway, and the marina is so full, we are just going to pay for our slip when we leave as the marina can't guarantee us a spot if we leave and want to return. There is a long waiting list to come in here so we are just going to sublet our spot. Jeannie told me someone who is looking for a spot, I called them, and they agreed to take our spot so it all works out for both of us. June 30 Thursday I made some phone calls this morning and borrowed some DVD's from Autumn Wind. It's too bad we don't have enough electric while we are out cruising to watch movies every night but that's the way it goes. Unless we have a lot of wind, we have just enough power to meet all our electrical needs except for the TV. Oh well, it's nice when we come back here into the marina and have lots of electric to watch all the movies we want. It rained during lunch and continued for a few hours. It stopped for a little while and Suzi and I were able to get our 3 laps of the marina in. It takes us over an hour to do this walk but of course many people stop to talk with us so we wind up making lots of stops. Carlos, the marina manager came over for drinks and appetizers around 5:30 and wound up staying until after 9pm. He has been very good to us by not increasing our rent as much as all the newcomers are paying, of course, we've been here for 4 years. We have always liked him though and I periodically make chocolate cake and give some to him and others in the marina- I need to do it again before we leave.
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