Sometimes I am vague about where I live, but I'll tell you straight up that I live in Strata 3 - which is lower middle class digs. For me it is paradise. Nestled up against a big forest reserve called Rio Blanco, the eco-system is a tropical cloud forest. At 7,000 ft. (2,500 meters) above sea level, Manizales has been my home since January of 2019.

The secret of Colombia is that sometimes you can find really good situations in odd places.

Come along with me for another full day of training my puppy to walk on the leash, be a good friend, and obey.

All pictures are my original photography and rights are restricted to Open Minded Traveler. I use a Sony NEX-3N, and a Samsung S7. Most pictures are edited using Canva Pro.

Dear Diary - No Complaints

2020 has been a wild ride. As of now, it seems we have hit another lull for people to get their feet under themselves. Businesses are opening - including bars, and at least for a little while we are seeing a little bit of economic stimulation.

At this time, I am working enough to get by, with new opportunities on the horizon. Today, I am working on another writing project, with another one finished and ready to deliver tomorrow. However, I am extremely grateful for a few special individuals who have supported me in exceptional ways through all this.

At 10:00 AM I went out for a walk with my puppy. I carried some treats so I could reinforce the commands he is learning. Rocky is still hesitant to be walked on the leash. When his motor quits, I wait patiently with forward pressure until he relents and then I immediately release him while keeping a low resistance so he walks at my side quietly.

Our new command is "lie down," but is more difficult to teach than sit because he gets so excited. Still, he is starting to get the idea even if it means he goes to far and flops down on his stomach.

Lunch was delicious! My mom makes the best bean soup, it is finger licking good - or maybe bowl licking. ;-) I had bean soup with costeño cheese, and a side of pear.

After lunch I sat down to plan a special event for foreign residents in Pereira a week from tomorrow.

By 2:00 I was ready to take my puppy for another walk, this time going down by Quebrada Olivares. With the sound of water in the background and the sound of the wind in the trees we had a nice little adventure.

Which brings me to one of my favorite quotes by Hunter S. Thompson:

"When the going get's weird, the weird go pro."

In the late afternoon, a friend had me over for dinner. When I arrived at her apartment in the zona rosa we had dinner and coffee. As we were chatting, we were interrupted by explosions. Surely they are fireworks from a party. As I was walking home at 8:30 PM the news showed up in my facebook feed. Protests against police violence resulted in vandalism of 3 police outposts here in the city. One was near where I had been.

I arrived home at 9:00 PM and spent the rest of the evening following the news about the protests. The bizarre thing about this, is that Manizales is the safest city in Colombia. The protesters aren't even locals per se, they are university students, many who come from other places. People of Manizales don't protest with violence. Their fame is their sense of civic duty.

https://www.bcnoticias.com.co/por-desmanes-en-manizales-se-convoco-al-consejo-extraordinario-de-seguridad/?fbclid=IwAR1UYRjy8b640dwqP4ghloSNTfBbS8nKfsivKipnzq5-DV-TPyFEmc0chRs

Even on the walk home at 8:30, I felt safe and like no one was going to mess with me. When I arrived safely, I sat down to listen to news and finish this post. Now, I need to get to bed because I have a meeting at 10:00 AM, and already it is 10:30 PM.

Until tomorrow...

If you feel a kindred spirit with my DIARY entry in times of Coronavirus, New Opportunities and Colombia, then do your part to help a neighbor! Be sure to upvote, comment and/or give me a resteem, of this post. Tell a friend - and join #thediarygame so we can all bring home the rewards of high quality content curation on the @SteemitBlog ecosystem during #the50daysofsteem

I am a proud member of Team Colombia with @marpa @franyeligonzalez @josevas217, and @helengutier2.

If you missed my last post from Day #34, you can read it HERE: https://steemit.com/thediarygame/@openmindedtravel/the-diary-game-or-09-08-20-or-day-33-training-rocky