So I hate to brag, but I’m just gonna say it. I live with the coolest family in Panama! They are so wonderful and include me in everything they do. Because of this, I have been lucky to go on different trips with them. I live with a woman named Edixa (pretty much my Panamanian mom in El Higo) and on the weekends her daughter Erika, son Javier, and Erika’s unido Juan Carlos come to visit. Her kids live and work in Panama City, but they have a car so they drive over to good old H-town every weekend. And they are adventurous, which is so fun! So a few weeks ago I got to go with them to Panama City with another volunteer. We went all over, got to see the locks in the Canal, they gave me a hammock, we went to Casco Viejo, Cinta Costera, the mall, and saw a movie. And they wouldn’t let me pay for another because they said I was their guest. So hospitable! Then a few weeks later, they ask if I had any plans on Saturday, which was obviously no because I’m mostly hanging in El Higo haha. So they said we were going to go to Colon, another province of Panama for the day! We left at 5:30 in the morning and spent the whole day in Colon seeing different forts that the Spanish had built and then going to an island off the coast of Colon. This island is called Isla Grande and it’s in the Caribbean so the water is crystal clear and so warm! We swam around, hiked to a lighthouse on top of the island and just enjoyed the natural beauty of Panama. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family in Panama!
I have also gone on other adventures with friends here. There is a town called El Valle, which is in the mountains (even though it’s called “the Valley” haha) and it’s gorgeous! Another benefit of this place besides its beauty is that it’s usually cooler than my site, like when my site in 95 degrees, El Valle is 65-70. So basically I love it there! My friend Catherine, lives right by there, so I have gone a few times with her. One time, we got to go with my cousin and her class from the university of Chorrera on a field trip. It was so fun to see El Valle, but with a group of Panamanian university students instead of feeling like the tourist I also feel like I am. We went hiking, learned about the history of El Valle and swam in one of the natural pools below a waterfall. Another time, we went to the aguas termales, or hot springs, which was so fun! It’s a natural hot springs where you get to cover yourself in the natural cleansing mud and then swim in the super warm pool. It was so crazy! I’ll try to put up pictures on facebook soon (sorry that I haven’t put up pictures at all yet…I just haven’t had a good internet connection so far!).
So other than random adventures around Panama, life has been normal: get up at 5:30, teach most of the day, say silly things in Spanish, sweat a lot, visit people’s houses, eat rice, read, and then go to bed :) Standard.
I miss you all terribly although I’ve made lots of friends and I do feel pretty settled here. But don’t worry, none of you are being replaced :) And I’m moving into my new tiny house in June so I’ll be ready for any and all visitors! Lots of love and hugs from Panama!
