Shopping with Joe

It rained like hell during the night again and it even woke me up twice. However, we sleep with the windows open so it is not a stretch that the rain would wake me. However, right on cue around 11:00AM it started to clear up.
Originally Carroll and I intended to go grocery shopping, hopefully for the last time but the gloomy skies put that idea on the wait and see list. Then , while we were checking our emails at the pool area Joe and Andréa came down to do the same. During the conversation Carroll mentioned about going for some groceries. Joe said that he too was thinking about it and that he would go with us and we could take the "Local " bus services. Since Andréa was not going, Carroll decided  that she too would stay at the pool and let me do the shopping. That was not one of her best decisions. I also had to go to the bank.

Anyhow Joe ( he speaks Spanish somewhat )  and I had to walk to the main road which is about 1/2 a KM. There are no scheduled Bus Stops, you merely wave at the vehicle and it usually stops. The Bus... and I use the word loosely,  is somewhat like a Volkswagen van and it probably holds 8 to 10 people but it is possible to squeeze 20 people into it. Joe and I squeezed into the sit behind the driver along with one other passenger. Please don't even ask if there were seat belts. However the sliding side door was not even closed and I was afraid that if we rounded a corner Joe would go flying out. Joe told the driver where we wanted to go and I knew from the conversation that our stop was not on his route but he did not want to lose two fare so he said he would take us to our stop. As a result, we got a tour thru most of the city.

After shopping we had to get a regular taxi to take us home, as I had about 10 bags and you can not get on the local bus with that many bags. The taxi's  are waiting outside the store and Joe say how much to Playa Dorado and the guys says 500 P and  Joe said , forget it I'll call my regular taxi so the taxi agreed to 300P

Joe and Andrea were going out for supper with another couple who had just arrived last evening ,so they invited us to go along. We had a  nice supper and met a new couple from Flint , Michigan  and had a nice conversation.  After supper we returned the pool area as there was a Texas Holdem game about to start at 8 PM. All the men in our group played cards while Carroll and I joined the ladies to spin some yarns. The conversation got around to Christmas dinner and one of the ladies ask if we would like to join her group for Christmas dinner. We graciously accepted since we had no plans at all. Cheers