Fwd: Esto ha sido nuestro 79th. ano en este planeta - nuestros cumpleanos son el 18 de Febrero para Jean y el 27 de Enero para Jim.

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: James Donald <tiare.taporo3@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2025 at 15:21
Subject: Esto ha sido nuestro 79th. ano en este planeta - nuestros cumpleanos son el 18 de Febrero para Jean y el 27 de Enero para Jim.
To: Perry Lanaway <Perry_Lanaway@hotmail.com>

Hi to everyone once again - from Jim and Jean in El Retiro, Colombia,

We hope that all is well and that so far life in 2025 has been treating you well, in spite of all the huge uncertainties in the world which currently surround us.

In February we had the pleasure of a visit from Jim's eldest Midwife daughter, Amanda and her long-time boyfriend, Dave. They arrived via Santiago (Chile) and Bogota and then left for Cartagena, Santa Marta and Palomino on the Caribbean coast. After that they went to Lima, Peru and the Peruvian Amazon.  Then Santiago again before returning to Godzone!! As they're both working in NZ, their total time is limited, but we made the most of it. We hadn't seen her since 2019 when we were last in NZ, so it was an emotionally short time here and of course one never knows the future. 

Anyway, they saw where and how we live here in El Retiro and we also went to Medellin where we went up on the Parque Arvi cable car with its spectacular views of the city. And also the Botero Museum with its iconic paintings (mainly portraits), and huge sculptures, in the Botero style. But the highlight was on the Saturday night at Salon Malaga. This place has been operational since the 1920's and is the centre of tango dancing here in Medellin. There are all sorts of memorabilia there, including antique juke-boxes and photos of old Medellin. The music was electrifying and the tango was itself spectacular. There was quite a crowd and it is necessary to book in advance, but it is not possible to book more than 7 days in advance so our friend Daniela did the booking by phone for us. The crowd was almost entirely Colombian and they are so exuberant and demonstrative! It was great to see multigenerational family groups all having a great time and singing together. Grannies, grandchildren and all in between!! We would probably have sung too but we didn't know the Spanish words!! Probably just as well, because we wouldn't necessarily have added to the harmony!!  It was a wonderful night which we will all remember. Drank far too much Ron Medellin, but surprisingly felt reasonably good the next day! 

On their last day here we went to Guatape, which is an artificial lake created for a hydro dam. The original town was flooded when the lake was originally filled, but there is another town on the lake shore which is now very touristified. Not exactly our idea of where to go, but the history is interesting. The area flooded is very topographically rugged which has created a fascinating vista of islands and inlets almost as far as one can see. And there is a volcanic plug (El Penol) near the new town of Guatape which one can climb (750 steps!!) if one's knees are up to it. The view from the top is even more spectacular.

It was emotional saying goodbye when the time came all too soon for them to depart. But we all enjoyed the visit and they achieved an overview of Retiro and Colombia which they can build upon with their next visit.

The other highly personal event was by contrast so sad. Our very good friend, world-renowned orchid breeder and fellow New Zealander, Andy Easton, passed away in his sleep at the age of 77 sometime during the night of 2nd. - 3rd. July. It was so sudden that it hit us like a sledgehammer. Only the previous Sunday June 29th. we had had our usual very enjoyable extended breakfast at 4Elementos - a relatively new breakfast/brunch restaurant at La Fe - only about a 15 minute drive from here, and of course we were looking forward to repeating the weekly experience, but it was not to be.

At least Amanda and Dave met Andy when we all had dinner at our favorite Restaurante Inspiracion in the Media Luna Mall, about a mile from our house.

Anyway, even after 18 weeks it is still painful to write about and we did send everyone a copy of Andy's obituary which no doubt you all read. Suffice it to say that Andy probably possessed the best knowledge of Cymbidium Orchids of anyone of his era. He was absolutely immersed and singularly focused with what had been his life (with a few interruptions!) for the last 66 years. He was academically qualified with a B.Sc. in Botany from Victoria University, Wellington and a masters degree from Colorado State University where he met his first wife, Carol, who was a highly qualified biologist. He dealt with suppliers and customers from Asia to Europe and in the US. And of course also in NZ and Australia. Just a few months before his passing, he had travelled with his Colombian wife, Patricia, visiting Turkey, the Netherlands and China. It can only be hoped that sufficient people are coming on in the orchid world to carry on his inspiring work. It needs people who are not just academically qualified, but also possessed of that unquantifiable and difficult to define passion for orchids. He will be difficult to replace. Andy has been a real ambassador for New Zealand, and a passionate advocate for orchids and the orchid world world-wide.

About a year ago Andy had given us an orchid plant which he said we could just plant in the garden and it would flower. However, it never did and in fact was not looking all that healthy, so we made the decision to move it to a large pot at the back of the house. Then, in the last few weeks 2 large flower spikes have appeared and at the time of writing, the first with 17 blooms on it started opening with spectacular yellow flowers with a maroon/scarlet interior. Beautiful and we are deriving such pleasure from the orchid. Such a pity that Andy is not here to see it. There is a picture of it at the end of this blog.

Apart from that, life has been fairly quiet. We have been having our usual issues with our 32 year old German chariot - nothing serious, but so very difficult to find anyone competent enough to diagnose even the smallest thing. However, we had some time ago been recommended to go to Jose Luis in Itagui - which is a municipality south of Medellin and a bit of a trek for us from Retiro. By the time we deliver the car and then catch a combination of the Medellin Metro and the bus to Retiro from under the Metro Estacion at Exposiciones to get back home, a good chunk of the day is gone! Then when the car is ready to be collected, the process is reversed.

We had some concern lately because the last communication from Jose Luis was at the end of July and we knew he had had serious heart surgery some time previously. Our messages had been read but not answered - very strange, and we were concerned for his welfare. Anyway, we have a small remaining issue we want to get to the bottom of, so in some apprehension we took the car to a workshop in Medellin which had been recommended. But when we got there the shop was filthy and nothing gave any confidence at all. There are lots of workshops like that in Medellin. We don't expect anything too flash like a MB dealership with attendant costs, but just somewhere clean and organised with a sense of competence. However, another workshop next door which only deals with late model European cars, remembered Jose Luis and rang him. They succeeded in talking to him and we were relieved to know that at least he was ok! Typical of Colombia; sometimes you only get quite important information by the most circuitous of routes! However, a few days later we received a further communication from his family advising that he was in hospital and his recovery time was not known. We can only hope that he eventually recovers in some good health.

But, it was then of course necessary to re-evaluate our strategy. We made an approach to a workshop in Oriente de Medellin (Llanogrande), but they, like the concessionaires - Alemautos, would not look at a venerable old girl like ours! But they did give us the name of a Mercedes expert who was semi-retired in La Ceja - another town, bigger than Retiro and about 30 minutes drive from here. We have now made a preliminary visit to meet Jose and, although the workshop looks quite primitive, we were impressed with Jose's knowledge and also to learn that he and Jose Luis used to work together with Jose Luis being Jose's assistant when the W124's were current back in the 1980's-90's. So, dare we hope that we have after over 2 years found someone we can rely on? We also met his family and his 15 year old son, Matteo who when he overcomes his shyness, acts as interpreter for us and his father.

Anyway, hopefully this time the issues will be solved. The whining noise that we had sometimes experienced has turned out to be a bearing in the airconditioning compressor - it's taken 2 years to find that! And it appears that some of the electrical refurbishment that Jose Luis said he had done was not 100%. So Jose in La Ceja who has an electrical manual, is in the process of sorting those remaining issues.

Another issue which has occupied a disproportionate amount of our time was that we decided to renew the material under our roof tiles. The 16 house development at Alameda Campestre is about 15 years old and apparently that is about the life of this material, which is like a soft waterproof fabric about 1 cm thick. The integrity of the roof depends on the state of this fabric and of course of the tiles which are laid on top. Our roof is complicated by the fact that there are 2 internal gutters which take about 80% of the roof run-off into concealed downpipes at each corner of the house. The other 20% is near the edge of the roof and discharges into normal exterior gutters, which before we came here simply poured water all over our front garden. We now have proper downpipes which discharge into a drain! Spoutings which discharge into thin air are common here - for example on the other side of the house the water discharges into the next door property as our new extension is only about half a metre from the boundary! "Rules" are almost non-existent here; on the other hand NZ with its planning rules, is far too rules based and restrictive. No doubt there's a happy medium somewhere!!

So, once the fabric had been replaced in June, two roof leaks began in one of our spare bedrooms. The main leak was from one of the internal gutters. And we still had about 15 broken tiles. So, then we had to find a source of the tiles, which was not easy as they are a discontinued pattern. And no-one had told us anything of all this, which is typical of Colombia!! All part of the charm of living here!! 

Anyway, with the belated help of our roofing contractor, we managed to find a roof materials supplier in Rio Negro which in turn was able to order 20 new tiles for us from a factory about 3 hours drive south of Medellin!! So, we ordered them and then after about another month we finally received them. Then we had to have several hours of drying weather before our contractor could get on the roof, AND we had to organise an extension ladder to coincide with all of that. Finally, after about 11 weeks since the original job, the final repairs have been done and then the weather was dry so we hadn't been able to test the roof! But there was rain forecast for the next days and hopefully then we would be able to relinquish the buckets which we had been using to catch the drips!! The proof would then be in the pudding, as they say!! All in all a new roof for 5 million pesos (NZD 2,200). Can't be too bad.

Well, since writing the foregoing, we have had some quite heavy rain with no leaks, so our confidence is returning!!

Changing the subject, we have finally found a sheep farm about 20 kms from here just outside La Ceja. We haven't been there yet, but they deliver, so we ordered 2 lamb racks, a shoulder and a leg. So far, we have consumed everything - the racks, shoulder and leg - the latter of which our friend, Monica slow cooked overnight a couple of months ago, as a practice run for Christmas when Jean's son, Perry, and Tracie and the 2 nietos (Carter and Nash) are here from Miami. We've decided that the shoulders are best so we have ordered 3 - 1 for another test cooking and 2 for Christmas.

We are looking forward to seeing them for their first Colombian Christmas. Sheep meat in Colombia is not really well-known or popular, but maybe over time it will become an accepted part of the local cuisine. But for us, we are very pleased to have discovered the farm because lamb is almost the only thing we miss about New Zealand.

And sometimes we are asked what we do all day!! All the above is at least partially the answer, and with the language issues, we won't be getting Dementia!!

Apart from all that, we certainly continue to enjoy living here, and in fact consider ourselves very lucky, as the people are wonderful, as is the town and its surroundings. And the wonderful raw materials for food continue in abundance, and at such reasonable prices. Never a dull moment, as they say.

However, a slight dark cloud - as at 13/11, the NZ currency (NZD) has depreciated by just over 13.5% against the Colombian Peso (COP) so far this year, which is having a negative effect on our living costs. However, we just have to hope that the NZ economy improves going into 2026. And the US dollar (USD) by an almost identical amount - 13.6%.  We are now also slowly getting a bit more disciplined with internet sites to further our Spanish speaking ability - Jean is more diligent than Jim!! Jean has a daily session on Duolingo, which is certainly helping. 

And finally, some geopolitical comments, which are unavoidable in this world of rapidly increasing madness:

** Firstly, we have to say with much disappointment, that we are very concerned at the direction that the Trump Administration in the US has taken. There seemed to be some promise that they could reverse the disastrous course of the US in recent years, both financially with the Federal debt now over 38 TRILLION US dollars and with geopolitical events having been handled so incompetently. But not so it seems. Both of these situations have the potential for very serious ramifications for all of us, and they are rapidly getting worse. More belligerent and ignorant incompetence.

We have come to realise that the only thing which can save the world from belligerent US foreign policy is the inevitable financial crash in the US, which is coming. We can only hope that it comes in time. Many commentators whose opinions we respect and agree with are all saying the same thing. The last person who we have heard to express similar opinions was Warren Buffet - 95 years old and having invested in the US for the last 70 of those years. You cannot ignore that degree of experience and wisdom. 

** Ukraine - we have talked about this disaster before. The Russian Federation was forced into the invasion in February 2022 by continual provocations by the US (CIA) and NATO (CIA and MI6). The original NATO aim was twofold - to force regime change in Russia and also the dismemberment of the Russian Federation into smaller compliant states. Both objectives have failed spectacularly and have blown up in NATO's and the US's faces with Russia now certain to retake the originally Russian port city of Odessa (founded by Catherine the Great in the 1700's), and to complete their line of advance to the Dnieper River. What is left of Ukraine will then deservedly become a landlocked rump state.

Mention should also be made of the British who are heavily involved behind the scenes with MI6 stirring up as much trouble as they can in Ukraine and in central Asia with all the countries around the Caspian Sea just north of Iran. The British created the Palestinian Mandate in 1917 by drawing straight lines on a map which has caused endless problems ever since. They have always had a fixation with "containing" Russia; just remember the battle of the Crimea in 1853 with the "Charge of the Light Brigade". How did that go?!! And now they still have delusions of empire, but Russia is a very different animal compared to the 1850's as the lunatics in Whitehall are finding out to their cost.

Russia will not accept any peace settlement until ALL of the above territorial requirements are achieved and Ukraine de-Nazified with a cast-iron undertaking to NEVER be part of NATO. All completely reasonable and in line with their insistence on total security for their southern border. 

And all very similar to US demands over Soviet Russian missiles in Cuba in 1962. Russian demands over Ukraine (which unlike Cuba, has a contiguous land border with Russia) should and must be respected.

The Russian victory in Ukraine will in any case cause NATO to be disbanded (which should have happened when the old Soviet Union collapsed in 1991) and in all probability the EU itself will also not survive the Ukraine debacle and defeat.

Many European economies are now in free-fall and their globalist governments won't last much longer. In spite of directions from the US and the EU in Brussels, they will be re-organising to buy much cheaper oil and gas from Russia in an effort to re-ignite their industries. Germany in particular has been very hard-hit by the forced lack of energy caused by the US blowing up the Nordstream pipeline which ran from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea. Possibly it can be repaired - but who would pay?!!

And finally - we must all be VERY thankful that President Putin is the President of the Russian Federation.

Putin has consistently shown great restraint in the face of outrageous provocation. The lunatics in the US, Britain, France and Germany have been lobbing medium-range missiles into the Russian heartland with gay abandon ever since the war began. Russia has so far not retaliated in any serious way, but that will change soon, unless these deranged "leaders" change their ways. Otto von Bismarck (the unifier of Germany in the 19th. century) once famously said - "it is easy to let the Russian bear out of its cage, but it is difficult to put it back in"!!

Russia and China have hypersonic missiles which can hit their targets at upwards of 9,000 mph. The kinetic energy thus released is said to easily exceed that of a small yield nuclear device, but without the fallout. They cannot be detected, much less intercepted. The US has NOTHING anywhere near comparable.

** Israel and the Middle East - Israel is a rogue genocidal state and unbelievably has in the vicinity of 300 nuclear weapons. No wonder Iran wants (needs) to create their own nuclear deterrent in the face of such unpredictable and determined aggression. 

Israel has become a pariah state with its systematic murder of the Palestinians - mainly in Gaza, but also on the West Bank. A common and horrific practice is to lure starving women and their children to "food distribution centres" where they are then executed. And of course the continual and on-going bombing of Gaza has killed a further untold number. Unofficial estimates vary, but are upwards of 200,000 and the world DOES NOTHING. At least Colombia had some guts and kicked the entire Israeli embassy out of Bogota. 

The real worry is that Israel knows that they cannot sustain any conventional military action against Iran without the guaranteed support of the US, which in itself is in serious military decline, compared with Russia and China. Therefore, once desperation sets in, they could well resort to nuclear weapons. 

However, the US remains 100% willing (although that willingness is now declining) to do Israel's bidding, but it is becoming increasingly clear that blackmail is being used against President Trump, and possibly others in his Administration. The source of this blackmail is what has become known as the Epstein Files, which were used by Israel and the Mossaad to effectively set prominent people up and then use sexual blackmail in order to further their control of the US Government. No further comment should be necessary if you follow the true (and not the so-called mainstream) news. If you don't, we can't help you!!!!

The fact that world geopolitical events, with potentially horrendous consequences, should be affected by such sordid details, is the real concern. 

The publication of the Epstein Files has been blocked by Trump ever since he took office, in spite of promising to do the opposite during his election campaign. Wonder why he has taken this stance?? Surely he can't be compromised?!!!

** And Venezuela - our neighbour here in Colombia. Trump has definitely lost the plot with a heavy cruiser, 2 amphibious landing ships with 4,500 Marines on board, 5 destroyers, a nuclear submarine and now a complete aircraft carrier strike group being transferred from the Middle East - no doubt to avoid the carrier being sunk by a Russian hypersonic Oreznik missile!! And they are all floating around off the Venezuelan coast - to achieve what exactly??? And Russian missiles are now also in Venezuela! 

Venezuela is a country slightly bigger than France and Germany combined and so, if Trump is contemplating an invasion, he needs to rethink. If they attempt it with just 4,500 Marines, it would be a guaranteed bloodbath. Venezuela has just mobilised between 200,000 and 300,000 troops - depending on whose report you read. The excuse for any military action against Venezuela is drug smuggling, but the real reason, apart from Venezuela's mineral resources, which they plan to steal, is to maintain declining US hegemony over all of S America. This is completely delusional and as usual, all that the US is doing is to bolster complete lack of trust in themselves -  already well under way, after domination of the Western Hemisphere since the 1820's. US influence in this part of the world is rapidly coming to an end, as it is in many other areas of the world. And the rise of BRICS, which offers an alternative method of international trade and international trade settlements in currencies other than the US dollar, is hastening this decline of US international hegemony.

And it must be said, with all these seemingly non-connected conflicts, that they are actually very much connected, because they all constitute, or have evolved into, an overall conflict between the old globalist world order (mainly the US, some British Commonwealth countries and Western Europe) and those countries represented by the BRICS movement. The latter is characterised by fairness and free trade, whereas the former is dominating, threatening and demanding. Unsurprisingly therefore, an increasing number of countries are choosing BRICS, whose total GDP is increasing at 3 times the rate of the G7 countries. And the BRICS countries - led by the Russian Federation and China - now constitute approximately 50% of the world's population - and that percentage is also growing.

So the (mainly economic) conflict between Globalism and BRICS is not going to end any time soon. We must just hope that as the scales tip more and more in favour of BRICS, the Globalists do not resort to extreme military measures as their desperation grows. We don't have to define "extreme military measures".

 And on that happy note this well overdue blog must come to an end. We hope that everyone is well and looking forward to a Happy Christmas. We hope that 2026 treats you well.

With all best wishes and lotsaluv from us in El Retiro, Colombia,

Jim and Jean

Phs. (Whatsapp) - Jean +57 4184948798 and Jim +57 3103069697