The ROOSTER CROWS at 3am

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That is not code for anything. I was awaken unexpectedly from my sleep by the screams of a rooster who continued its yelling till 7am. "Oh this can´t be" I thought as I dragged myself out of bed to the shower. The water was freezing cold. I mean ´ice off the mounain in springtime´ cold. I wanted to rest my head against the bathroom wall in defeat but at this moment it is the residence to a spider the size of my elbow. Day 1 begins.

Took me an hour to wash and then I surfaced to the upper level of the home where my host mother met me with a steaming cup o panamanian coffee. It was the smoothest coffee I have ever tasted. Organic coffee farming is prevelant throughout the province of Chiriqui. Some of te coffee sells to Japan at $400.00 a kilo.

With pep now back in my step and a dictionary in hand, I asked to go into town to find my langauage school. I thought my hostmother would show me the town but instead I was drawn a map and pointed in the direction to start...

All insecurities of being completely out of my element flooded my brain for a brief moment and then I was off. The scenery is gorgeous despite the low hanging clouds. It looks as if the city is in a valley of a mountain range and volcano. Everything is green and decorated with flora and fauna in so many colors that the CRAYOLA company could add another 30-40 shades to their box.

Getting into town is about a 15 minute walk and about 25-30 minutes to get back depending on your shoes and the capability of your calves and thighs. The hill is huge, the steps many and my cardio is pathetic. My goal is to get the hike back to be the same time as it takes me to get to town. I have 3 weeks.

The town has not yet been affected by the numerous Europeans AND American who have recently decended on the area to retire. There are no chain restaurants yet. There are 20,000 people in Boquete and there is a local indian tribe named Ngobe.

I located the supermarkets which believe it or not 24 hours. There are multiple fresh fruit stands with fruits I have never seen or tasted. (I spent an hour in there with one of the farmers who let me try them all then I in turn bought most of them for my trek home, you know in case I got lost or somethig. (12 different fruits cost me $2).

Pricing here makes no sense. Fruits are inexplicably cheap, paper products as expensive as a gallon of gas, panamanian meals at a restaurant are $3 and contain more food than one could ever consume in a sitting. These meals consist always of a salad, meat, vegetable, and carb. One mal is good fo th whole day.

I located my school and had my lesson with a teacher who spoke no english. It is certainly a new way to learn.

After 4 hours of lessons to which I only retained one word: Zumbido --which means buzzing as in ´ mia cabeca est zumbido!!!

It is very humid today and the clouds can been moving in quickly. I head home just in time for the skies to open and the thunderstorm to start. It stormed for 3 hours.

I took a nap.

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Photos

Jesus
My host brother who gave me a fake cell phone and calls me often.

Grey skies or sunny
the clouds are always just out of reach

The post office
There are no addesses in and around town. Everything is found by being "near to" or "across from".

public bathroom sign
It sounds more poetic in Spanish.

The fruit guy
I cannot describe the flavors or the tastes except YUMMY! Wish I could take some home to share.

mamachino
strange spiny sea urchin fruit which is very poular here. You peal back the hard layer to get to the silky white fruit.

street view of town
the lines on the road are merely suggestions

My Moby Dick
And if i catch him we will b eatig him for dinner. My host mother said she wold be most grateful if I did.

the volcano
This is th hike I hav opted oout of since I cannot handle th walk home yet. 8 hours up and 8 hours back. No Muchos gracis!

local Ngobe tribe
The women have children very young. The men are mostly farmers and their children are adorable. Their smiles are simply beautiful.

The locals are friendly
The gentleman on the left called me Meg Ryan and almost fell off his horse laughing.

I fall asleep to the sound of beating drums
Every night I fall sleep to th sound of bating drums. The schools are preparing for Independance day of Panama in Noveber. They practice well into the night.

He knows as much Spanish as I do
And greets me on my morning walks into town