Panama Update #18
August 1, 2008
Nikki left at 5:15 AM today to catch a plane to Bocas del Toros for a work expedition. That is on the Atlantic side of Panama. It is a short flight and costs about $80 to get there. She brought the camera, so when she gets back I can post the pictures. She went with some of her colleagues for some field work and will be gone until Monday night. I am in Panama City for the first time without Nikki but it is OK, just a little quiet. My comfort level with the city is pretty good by this time (3 weeks here) so if I need something I can know how to get around and find my way back. Today was a busy day because we had to switch apartments. I did not go back to sleep after Nikki left and just started moving things. I got a lot done and then our cleaning lady came about 8:00 AM and helped me quite a bit. She cleaned up the new place, washed the sheets, and helped carry some boxes. It is amazing how much stuff we have already even for only being here a short time. Of course, many of the things I mailed down to Nikki such as the Vita-mix blender for smoothies and quite a few books and other odds and ends. Belgica (the cleaning lady) brought her son with, who looks to be about 9 years old. Between the two of us, we were able to finish by 10:00 AM. Someone told us to offer lunch to any helper, so I offered her what she had last week because she seemed to like it. We had frozen cheese, potatoe, and spinach Barekas from the Kosher Supermarket. It has good ingredients and all you have to do is heat it up for about 10 minutes.
Since the moving was finished in the morning, I decided to go see a movie in the afternoon (Made of Honor) which was in the original English with subtitles. Many of the movies are dubbed in Spanish with English subtitles, so you have to check the listings to find out which one is playing at any particular time. Afterward I combined it with a trip to the Riba Smith supermarket, which has a lot of the items from the US that we like. It is expensive there (about the same prices as in the US for the specialty items), but I bought a few things I haven't had since I got here like some rice flour crackers, asparagus, veggie burgers, and organic tofu. Since I had a lot of groceries, a bagger from the store carried out my bags and helped me find a taxi. It had been a long day and was dark by that time, so I didn't argue with the driver about the price, even though I knew he was overcharging. I was just happy to find a timely ride back.
About 9:00 PM, after putting the groceries away and grabbing a bite (a big ripe papaya) , I walked the 5 minutes to Nikki's blank to check my email and blank, and ran into some other people who live in the dorm where we stay. They knew Nikki was out of town so they invited me to a barbecue tomorrow night in a near-by apartment. That will be a nice weekend diversion.
