Time to leave Cali. There is a female hotel employee in the housekeeping department who we have come to know. We smile and hug but barely get through a “good morning” in our conversation. She is a short woman, I’ d say in her 50’s. We see her in her white uniform busily working around the hotel. – (a word about uniforms down here later). During covid, she was one we prayed for knowing that the hotel would be shut down and she would have no income. When we say her yesterday, we hugged and asked how she got through covid. She too told us that the hotel continued to employ her. Not sure what she did — perhaps thoroughly clean the rooms or work maintaining things, but she was employed. We were so happy.
On the uniforms – They love them! And I have to say that they do look sharp. Everyone has them, the street cleaners, check out clerks, doormen, beauticians, cable men, construction workers, etc.
There are a lot of people here from the US. Many come for dental work which is 1/4 to 1/3 the cost of the US. Yesterday we met a woman who got 11 implants, several root canals, etc. down here. We also met a couple of people who have gotten teeth veneers, crowns, etc. Even Noe gets his dental work down here.
This morning we met a female Dr. who works in infectious diseases research. She reported that almost exclusively the present deaths from covid are occurring in those not immunized. She said that covid has made her feel like a liar. One day they are saying one thing and the next another. We noted that she was only wearing one of those disposable masks and nothing at the table. She also told us that syphilis is out of control in Texas due to immigration. It is lethal to newborns and can be transmitted to baby. Houston had 79 reported cases of newborns having syphilis last month alone. She explained that it has horrible, lifelong effects on the children and even death.
We have met many interesting people. Last night we met a 70 year old woman and her son. She speaks English, Spanish and German. After WWII there was a contingency of Germans (no questions asked) that settled in Colombia. They established a German university here in Cali which of course is top notch. She and each of her three boys attended that college. Two are presently living in Germany, one as a University professor and the other as as program analysist. The third presently lives here in Cali. He however is in the process of moving to the states. Because he chose to do it legally, he is having difficulty. She, at age 70 is going to move to Germany. Problem is, Germany is not granting citizenships. So her plan is to move to Spain, stay 2 years to gain citizenship there and then through the EU, move to Germany. Amazing woman.
Our flight is ready to board. More later. Love ya
