Panama Update #36
August 22, 2008
This afternoon I went to see a potential house for our future living arrangement. I had posted on Craigs List a couple of days ago that we are looking for an apartment to rent. Several people have responded so far, and the apartment we looked at in Casco Viejo a couple of days ago is still a possibility. We can stay in the dorm until the end of December if we need to, so we can be a little picky at this point. We are also saving money by staying in the dorm since it is only $350 a month, including everything. A woman wrote me that she and a friend have rented a 4 bedroom house in a suburb that is located about 10 miles north of the city. She said they are still looking to rent 2 of the bedrooms. I went to look at the house and meet them this afternoon. It is a very nice house with a nice yard and the room they would rent to us is huge with a separate bathroom. There is one woman and one man in the house now and they are recent college graduates. They are starting an American nonprofit called Gobal Brigades which is described on the internet as this:
"Global Brigades is a secular charitable organization that empowers students and professional volunteers to provide communities in developing nations with sustainable solutions that improve quality of life while respecting local culture. Our vision is to become the largest student-led social movement on the planet."
I had never hear of it, but it is a big and growing international organization. It seems kind of like the Peace Corps, but not connected to the government.
The people in the house were nice, but it is not a good fit for us because it is farther away from Ancon and the Smithsonian than we want to live and it is better for us to live in our own house or apartment. It might be OK as a single person to rent a room there, but it doesn't make sense for a married couple.
