This morning, after breakfast, I worked on the computer until about 10:00 a.m. At that time, we decided that we needed to go on another adventure.
While we were preparing to leave, Ariana called to tell me that my USB drive was ready to return. She had transferred the files to it that she wanted to give me. We arranged to meet around 10:10 a.m. by La Torre Rosada (the Pink Tower), which is in the middle of the street near her apartment.
I have no idea what the story is behind La Torre Rosada. It's a tower with a pitched roof standing in the middle of the intersection of three streets. When I asked back in 2007, I was told that it probably was put there when they introduced electricity to this part of Xela. Other than that, no one knows much about it.
After picking up my USB drive, we walked toward Parque Central to catch a microbus heading for Hiper Paiz and Pradera Mall. We were looking for some cough medicine for Linda and thought that we might have more selection there.
Wonder of wonders, we did get to our destination without a problem. Once there, even though we had eaten a good breakfast, we were both hungry, so we headed for the food court and had a Q25 ($3.00) shrimp special at Pollo Campero.
After our early lunch, we walked through the mall and stopped by several shops selling computers to see if there was an external antenna that could be used with a laptop to increase the strength of a WiFi signal. (I later learned that there are, but that they are primarily used with external WiFi cards. There's really no way to use such things with internal WiFi cards, like you find in most laptops, unless you have a great deal of electronics experience and knowledge.)
We walked through Hiper Paiz looking for the cough medicine and were soon referred to the pharmacy department, where we found some Vicks Formula 44. When we showed it to the pharmacist, he recommended that we try a different product. It is a German preparation called Abrilar Jarabe (April Syrup), which contains an extract of Hedera Helix (Common Ivy).
We then headed over to the Pollo Campero on the street in front of the mall and had a soft-serve ice cream. From there, we crossed the four-lane highway by the elevated walkway and walked down the road to where the Burger King was situated. We had heard that there was a branch of the Bake Shop located there. We never found it, although we did find another strip mall with a very interesting fitness center in the middle of it's entrance.
Walking back towards Pradera Mall, we crossed the four-lane again by the elevated walkway and looked for a microbus heading for Parque Democracia, which isn't far from the original Bake Shop.
The Bake Shop, by the way, is a bakery that is operated by a group of Mennonites who live in the mountains surrounding Xela. It's only open two days a week (Tuesday and Friday), because it 's so difficult for them to make the trip into town. It's the only place in town to get American-style baked goods and real cheddar cheese. We purchased some cheddar and a loaf of delicious banana bread.
After getting our goodies, we begin to look for a microbus that will take us to Parque Calvario, near where our guest house is located. We start by looking where we had gotten one just yesterday, but saw none. We soon discovered that the routes were disrupted today by a parade and market day. We tried six different locations before we conceded defeat and soon found a microbus heading towards Parque Central. Once there, we decided to have an early supper. another shrimp special for Q25, at Pollo Campero.
After eating, we headed over to the Dispensa Familar to pick up some items we needed and then headed back to the guest house. Once there, we worked on our computers and read until it was time to call it a night.
