Banco Bolivariano called first thing this morning and asked if this was our phone and some other questions to verify the information we gave them. Like we lied to them yesterday in person, but would tell them the truth over the phone today?

We met a really nice couple, Ron & Donna, from the U.S. and they picked us up this morning and we showed them the Neptuno. (No elevator yet.) The window maker had a crew there removing all of the old windows, the painter is still working on removing texturing from the walls, more of the “stuff” was hauled away, and workers were carrying materials up to start building walls.

Ron & Donna also showed us some local spots, including a nice hotel/restaurant called Hotel Punta Carnera. What a view! We shared beer, chips (plaintain) and good conversation. We hadn’t experienced any local markets yet, so they stopped there and we walked around. It was later in the day so much of the selection was already gone, but we are looking forward to doing some shopping there soon.

Mike called us this morning with some ideas for tile accents and then later came to the Alamar and went over the progress of the work on the Neptuno. He gave us a letter he had written regarding our plans that we will give to the building administrator. We also discussed what the plans are for the next week and what the schedule will be for paying the laborers, and how to use the bank to make internal transfers and external transfers to pay stores and businesses for materials we will need to buy. We are still really impressed with Mike, his professionalism, his expertise, his friendliness, his advice, and low costs of labor plus the discounts we get at the stores he uses regularly. Three days into our project and no regrets or remorse!