Panama Update #23
Friday, August 8, 2008
Yesterday was my one month anniversary since arriving in Panama. I took a bus early in the morning (7:00 AM) to the Causeway, which is the 2 km walkway on the Pacific Ocean near the entrance to the canal. That is the place where you can rent bikes and and where you see a lot of walkers and joggers. There is also a large marina with many yachts and reataurants. The Smithsonian has a branch there for marine study and they also have a museum. I went out there for a short visit to post a notice on the bulletin board in the main office which advertises the English tutoring I am giving. I plan to return another day to see the museum.
When I returned to the main campus, a woman who works with the blank (another research branch of the blank on an island in the canal) tour guides asked me if I wanted to give two-hour English classes twice a week for the guides. It fit into my schedule and we are planning to start next week. She had heard from someone else that I am available for this kind of thing. The guides give tours of the BCI nature reserve to English tourists and some need practice in English.
Last night we ventured out of our dormitory (la jowla/the cage) for an opening of an art exhibit at Allianca Francesa. We took a taxi there at about 8:00 PM. It is in a part of town called Bella Vista where there are many nice restaurants and discos. The Allianca Francesa is a French cultural gathering place and one of Nikki's colleagues had a photo exhibit there. The gathering was in the back of the building. It was an outdoor patio, with a roof, and the photos were on display. We saw a few familiar faces from people who work at the blank. They had a live band, served wine, and had a crowd of about 75 people.
The olympics started today and I plan to watch what I can on the internet, since we don't have a TV.
