A stitch in time

This battle-scarred, peaceful road warrior is now back home and has hung up her backpack for now. If you are new to this blog, you don't have to start at the beginning to get my drift but be sure to at least click on this link "On the road to Tunja -- possibly more than you want to know" before reading the following ones.

No matter how sweet the journey it's always nice to be back home. We had great food while we were away but I always miss being able to pick out my ingredients, herbs and spices and connoct something a little different each time.

I was able to get an appointment with my doctor to pull out my stitches. What a hassle! Once I said that I needed sutures removed, that started an interrogation. Then I felt like I was a game show contestant. Ooops, I said the secret word -- accident. The medical practice doesn't take accident cases. But, I convinced the assistant that I was not going to be involved in a law suit and answered the rest of the questions correctly. The grand prize was an appointment.

My doctor whom I really like wasn't at all happy once she saw what needed to be done. The sutures that the Colombian doctor stitched in were black so it was hard to distinguish from my hair. My doctor said that she would have used a contrasting color. Also, the sutures were thick and coarse not like the thin, flexible ones that she uses. Anyway, they were removed and the wound had healed well.

I discovered that my neighborhood grocery store sells all the makings for a delicious Colombian meal -- I found masarepa flour for making arepas (it's precooked corn flour, different from regular corn flour or corn meal. I got aji picante, guava paste, guanabana, maracuya, plantanos, etc.

So, I am able to stretch my vacation out just a little longer with the wonderful tastes of South America and by getting vicarious pleasures from reading Alisa and Nate's posts on their blogs.