Blogs from Boquete, Chiriquí, Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 6

Today we planned to go river rafting. A driver picked us up and drove us first south to David, then north, almost to the Costa Rica border. We met up with some other people and all headed into an area that is all torn up with a hydro-electric dam project. I am not sure why they use this area as their put-in to the river, but they do. We got all fitted with helmets and water shoes and life jackets, then we stood around while we got the safety talk - things like how to paddle and what to do if you fall out of the boat. We wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. Then, we started to walk down to the river. The road was steep and rocky with water trickling down it, making ... read more

This map shows the second part of our trip. A looong bus ride from San Jose, CR to Bocas del Toro, Panama. We cross the boarder at Changuinola, then catch a water taxi across to Bocas. After 3 days there, we head back to the mainland and into the mountainous interior of Boquete. We will take a day trip to Isla Boca Brava on the Pacific Coast, then will fly back to San Jose from David.... read more

Christmas in Panama! The shoppers are no less driven to find the best deal than anybody at home bac in the States. Stores are open for long hours; there is free christmas wrapping; there are all kinds of shiny things: new bikes, toys, tools, electronics. And the grocery stores have long lines and carts are full of rice, beans, meat, beer, wine. Many prices are pretty comparable to merchandise at home, and so it would make sense that many people are calling Panama City a first world city, after all. We did not entirely escape the pre-Chrismas craziness however, this just had a different smell and flavor to it, as it were -the smell around the meat counter was nauseating. Naturally, I would have enjoyed spending Christmas with my family, but it's cold in Seattle, and ... read more

Home and Garden Monkeys no longer wake us up in the morning, now it’s up to the birds and crazy roosters. Yes, crazy roosters, they start around 03.00 am already, crazy enough right ? The birds are funny, they make all kinds of sounds. There is one type of bird that kinda talks. He says things like “one two threeeee” or “el camino” or”l don’t believe you” or “we’ll go with you” or “l miss you” And no we were NOT drunk when we heard this because it was early in the morning. We started working in the garden, taking grass out so we can plant tomatoes and other veggies. But last month was the rainy month so that stopped us. Before that we were able to do a lot of weeding, and l mean , ... read more

The Week Continues... On Wednesday we had the morning off because the school was closed for some reason, but went to Casa Esperanza in the afternoon to do some art projects. We brought some black and white outlines of pictures for them to color in and made a long chain out of construction paper which they had a lot of fun with. On Thursday we had our first day at the school. It is a bit far away so we took a taxi there in the morning for about $3. While Tim worked with the guys outside I was in charge of teaching in front of a class of about 25 1st graders! As someone who has never taught a class before it was definitely a bit overwhelming. I had prepared a word search for them ... read more