Linda's new stove and frig as well as the buffet before we ate.You probably don’t know this since most news we received is only close to our part of the world. But there have been horrendous rainstorms all over Central America for the past two weeks. The damage is wide spread, especially the mountains of Panama and even affecting the only two bridges spanning the canal.
And suddenly this week lots and lots of 5-foot Douglas fir Christmas trees have appeared for sale. Now, you know they have made a long long trip to shed their needles on warm floors all over Panama. The tree lots are often under a big tree (appropriated) and the merchandise is hung by twine from the branches. So it looks like a lot of dancing
Christmas trees under the boughs of the mother tree.
As we were driving on the main highway we came across an Atlas Beer truck which had crossed the road, hit a bus and tipped over. Several people were killed and all the carnage was gone by the time we arrive. What was amazing was that there were dozens of cars and truck stopped by the wreck with everyone rushing to take as many cases of beer as they could carry. There was police there but they were just directing traffic and making no effort to stop the looting of the truck. I have to get used to this.
I have spent my first week as a volunteer teacher at an international school. My job is to do as I am told and have a good time. And I am teaching English to Spanish, New Zealand, Mexican and Dutch kids. Then I get to do Spanish vocabulary with some of the English speaking older kids. It is fun to be in that environment 8 hours a week and the only homework is preparing for the Spanish lessons since I already know English pretty well (or is it good?).
We had our first house party today with about fifteen people. Linda decided since we don’t currently have a table to seat more than 4 that we should have a luncheon. And when we began planning the party we had a very old and dysfunctional stove and a tiny tiny fridge. So on top of scurrying around to at least five stores to find the stuff we needed (since grocery stores in Panama do not stock the same items all the time) we shopped for a stove and frig. After looking at the large chains and not striking any deal, we found a small independent store that had a wonderful stove made in Ecuador with electric sparker and a great large fridge to match. We bought it the day before the party and it was delivered at 8 that night so we were just like newlyweds with a new kitchen outfit and me outside with a fresh red weed whacker making the front steps spiffy.
Anyway as we go into month two here, Linda left for Guatemala for a one week Spanish immersion program so I am here with our two dogs and a cat. Oh yeah, we have a fresh dog. She is small black street dog named Negrita who Linda rescued along with a nice man in town. She has now been spade and is learning the joys of regular meals and getting Grayson to stop growling and starting to play.
I gotta go take the dogs to the beach.
And suddenly this week lots and lots of 5-foot Douglas fir Christmas trees have appeared for sale. Now, you know they have made a long long trip to shed their needles on warm floors all over Panama. The tree lots are often under a big tree (appropriated) and the merchandise is hung by twine from the branches. So it looks like a lot of dancing
Christmas trees under the boughs of the mother tree.
As we were driving on the main highway we came across an Atlas Beer truck which had crossed the road, hit a bus and tipped over. Several people were killed and all the carnage was gone by the time we arrive. What was amazing was that there were dozens of cars and truck stopped by the wreck with everyone rushing to take as many cases of beer as they could carry. There was police there but they were just directing traffic and making no effort to stop the looting of the truck. I have to get used to this.
I have spent my first week as a volunteer teacher at an international school. My job is to do as I am told and have a good time. And I am teaching English to Spanish, New Zealand, Mexican and Dutch kids. Then I get to do Spanish vocabulary with some of the English speaking older kids. It is fun to be in that environment 8 hours a week and the only homework is preparing for the Spanish lessons since I already know English pretty well (or is it good?).
We had our first house party today with about fifteen people. Linda decided since we don’t currently have a table to seat more than 4 that we should have a luncheon. And when we began planning the party we had a very old and dysfunctional stove and a tiny tiny fridge. So on top of scurrying around to at least five stores to find the stuff we needed (since grocery stores in Panama do not stock the same items all the time) we shopped for a stove and frig. After looking at the large chains and not striking any deal, we found a small independent store that had a wonderful stove made in Ecuador with electric sparker and a great large fridge to match. We bought it the day before the party and it was delivered at 8 that night so we were just like newlyweds with a new kitchen outfit and me outside with a fresh red weed whacker making the front steps spiffy.
Anyway as we go into month two here, Linda left for Guatemala for a one week Spanish immersion program so I am here with our two dogs and a cat. Oh yeah, we have a fresh dog. She is small black street dog named Negrita who Linda rescued along with a nice man in town. She has now been spade and is learning the joys of regular meals and getting Grayson to stop growling and starting to play.
I gotta go take the dogs to the beach.
No comments:
Post a Comment