My week in Panama City

Exiting the Albrook Terminal (among hundreds of buses)

Hello out there, direct from the Peace Corps office in Ciudad del Saber, Clayton, Panama! So what's up? I am just getting some more work done here in the office while I have access to free computers. I have spent the last couple days in Santa Clara visiting my host mom Ruperta. Pretty much all I have done there is talk, sleep, and I also went to an activity with her group Tercer Edad, which is a bunch of retired people that get together and do activities. They were raising money by selling guacho (basically a rice casserole) and playing bingo. I played without much luck, but when I put down my last dime to play I actually won back $1.10, so I made a profit of a dime.

The other ladies asked Ruperta if I was her "hija" (daughter) and she said yes, and that I was the only one that keeps coming to visit her. She made me take her bed and she is sleeping with her granddaughter in the other bed, even though I told her I would be just fine sleeping on the couch. It is a pretty comfy bed though, comparitively speaking. She also keeps reminding me that I am the only one of her Peace Corps kids that has seen inside her bedroom, so I must have the place of honor among them.

I still haven't taken very many pictures again, but the picture above is the national bus terminal in Panama City. It is always very loud and crowded. I know I should take more photos, but I really don't feel very safe flashing my camera around while I am walking around alone in the city. It just wouldn't be the best practice when I am out of my site. I feel completely safe from being mugged in Chichica, but outside is not so safe. I will try to take more pictures though, I promise.

I just ate the best piece of cake I have had in Panama, it was actually moist and fudgy as opposed to dry and topped with nasty liquor frosting. I also had a mozzerella tomato sandwich that could have used more seasonings but otherwise good. I love it when I can find real cheese! In general I have been a bit disappointed with the bakeries in Panama, they just don't know how to make really good bread and pastries, but once in a while I find something that is pretty good.

The last couple nights have been pretty cool (temperature-wise that is) so I actually got to sleep with the "blanket" (aka very thin sheet that doesn't even faze the mosquitos because they can stick their ugly little faces right through the holes). There was also a rainbow this morning, and considering how much it rains here I have not seen too many rainbows. I told Ruperta that when you wash a pair of jeans in Utah and leave them on the back of a chair overnight they will dry by morning, and she thought that was absolutely amazing. We were also watching TV last night and there was a movie on that was taking place in Venice, and she asked me where that was so I explained to her that the city was built over the water and instead of streets and cars they have canals and boats, and she thought that was pretty amazing too. She is such a funny old grandma!

People are in mourning here because their favorite soccer teams keep losing, like Brazil and Argentina. Everywhere I go the tvs are turned to the games and you can always tell when there is a goal scored.

So anyway, I hope that everything is going ok back home. If possible I will try and post again on Monday before I go back up to Chichica. And have some pictures. . .


Crossing the Panama Canal across the Bridge of the Americas