Sunday, January 25, 2026
Update 6
Good news! The man, Fran who'd escaped has been returned. Found naked in a factory. He is only about 30 and as I mentioned, needs meds to control his schizophrenia. He is good looking, fit and always walking usually with a scowl. He ignores everyone but the sisters give him lots of jobs. On Thursday, the nuns have what they call a day in. Locals showed up, builds a wood fire, put a plow share on top & cooked a local dish called Sorrentino. Kinda like a stew. They gave us a big pan of it. Delicious. Since the nuns weren't around to tell us what to do, we spent more time coloring with the men and playing balloon volleyball which they loved. We saw some move in ways we didn't know they could! We spent more time with Atilio. He especially enjoyed listening to The Raven, by Poe and a couple poem by Frost. We ate Sorrentino for dinner so had longer bike ride instead and we had time to play a couple games of cribbage.
Friday was my birthday and I was flooded with birthday wishes via email, WhatsApp, Facebook, Messenger & Instagram! Amazing and confusing to have some many ways to communicate…and all free!
I told Rog not to tell the nuns it was my BD as they already have so much to do & would probably feel obligated to do something. And the men don't seem to be capable of understanding or couldn't do anything if they could. Except Atilio—so I told him & took him a piece of chocolate bread we had. We went about the day encouraging coloring, volleyball, building with duplo blocks and preparing & serving meals. Left on our bikes around 8 in search of a good steak dinner. Rog had checked several restaurants out by looking at their website pictures & ratings. We headed for the best. The restaurant was quite simple & the waitress had a sleeping baby on her shoulder. An older man who seemed to be the owner brought us appetizers & tried to talk English but we ended up using our translator. (They are fantastic!). The steak was tender & delicious, the French fries & onion rings were crispy and Rog had a cold beer & I had Coke Zero. The owner checked on us man times & chatted with us. He was pleased to hear we were from USA, helping at MofC and that it was my BD. He brought us a creamy, Carmel topped flan and champagne. A vendor selling flowers came by & Rog couldn't resist so he bought me flowers & had to pay over $10. When we got our dinner bill of $38, Rog pulled out his credit card, as usual. Unfortunately, they didn't take credit cards. We pooled what pesos we had & were still $10 short. (Shouldn't have bought those flowers.). The owner said, "No hay problema. Manana!" So we biked off feeling pretty strange. (Update: took him $ next day with a big tip). I went to sleep thinking about all the countries I've celebrated my BD in, all the BD wishes I got, and the chance to talk to so many people I love dearly. I thought about how lucky I am to be well enough to celebrate my 75th birthday like I did today!
Friday was my birthday and I was flooded with birthday wishes via email, WhatsApp, Facebook, Messenger & Instagram! Amazing and confusing to have some many ways to communicate…and all free!
I told Rog not to tell the nuns it was my BD as they already have so much to do & would probably feel obligated to do something. And the men don't seem to be capable of understanding or couldn't do anything if they could. Except Atilio—so I told him & took him a piece of chocolate bread we had. We went about the day encouraging coloring, volleyball, building with duplo blocks and preparing & serving meals. Left on our bikes around 8 in search of a good steak dinner. Rog had checked several restaurants out by looking at their website pictures & ratings. We headed for the best. The restaurant was quite simple & the waitress had a sleeping baby on her shoulder. An older man who seemed to be the owner brought us appetizers & tried to talk English but we ended up using our translator. (They are fantastic!). The steak was tender & delicious, the French fries & onion rings were crispy and Rog had a cold beer & I had Coke Zero. The owner checked on us man times & chatted with us. He was pleased to hear we were from USA, helping at MofC and that it was my BD. He brought us a creamy, Carmel topped flan and champagne. A vendor selling flowers came by & Rog couldn't resist so he bought me flowers & had to pay over $10. When we got our dinner bill of $38, Rog pulled out his credit card, as usual. Unfortunately, they didn't take credit cards. We pooled what pesos we had & were still $10 short. (Shouldn't have bought those flowers.). The owner said, "No hay problema. Manana!" So we biked off feeling pretty strange. (Update: took him $ next day with a big tip). I went to sleep thinking about all the countries I've celebrated my BD in, all the BD wishes I got, and the chance to talk to so many people I love dearly. I thought about how lucky I am to be well enough to celebrate my 75th birthday like I did today!
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