Panama Update #27
August 11, 2008
I remembered that it would be my mom's 80th birthday today if she were still here. She passed away 18 years ago, which seems simply amazing that it has been that long. It was so vivid at the time and still is, but time just keeps moving and eventually leaves all of us behind. Nikki's work here is going back 15-20 million years, which makes the human lifespan seem so tiny. The rocks are definitely our connection to the past on this planet.
I got a call from another school today. It is another highly regarded private high school for local Panamanians. The other type of private schools here are more international and serve children of professionals from out of the country. I had sent in a Resume some time ago and now they want to talk to me about interviewing for a position. They asked if I could come in for an interview at 8:00 AM tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. At this point my schedule is pretty full between the Yoga classes, Biofeedback and English tutoring, so I was reluctant to say yes, but they assured me the job was part-time. They told me they needed someone to teach a World Literature class to 10th graders (really!). I have decided to keep the appointment because if nothing else it gives me some insight into the school system here and I get to see a new part of town.
I was also in touch today with some people I met through the Panama Group websites that you access through Yahoo. I had been advertising on those sites a couple of weeks ago for spaces to hold Yoga classes. One guy who got in touch is a retired advertising and marketing guy who has some ideas on how to market the classes. He and his wife have retired down here from the US (they call them expats) and we have aranged to have lunch later this week. There is another guy who is a Reiki specialist and is very interested in seeing how the Biofeedback works. I emailed him a brochure and he wants to try a session, so we are also making arrangements to meet. I think it is worth the time to meet these people because there is a large expat community here that is looking for these kind of things, but being at the Smithsonian we are not meeting any of those types. The blank is a kind of specialized community of scientists that can be a bit isolated from the rest of Panama. But that is also what makes it a fun and interesting place to live and work.
