Panama Update #67
October 15, 2008
The school where I work has been closed yesterday and today because of the Jewish Holiday Sukkot. They are also off 2 days next week for Simchat Torah. The week after that all the Panama Independence Holidays start so it seems like all through October and November there is a holiday every week. This week it has given me a chance to catch up on some things and also a little rest and recovery time from the trip. I went to the huge fruit and vegetable market near us today to stock up on some fresh vegetables and fruits. The fresh papaya are abundent here and both of us have developed a taste for them. They seem to help quite a bit with digestion and are high in a lot of the other vitamins. If anyone is not familiar with them, here is a description I found on the web: Deliciously sweet with musky undertones and a soft, butter-like consistency, it is no wonder the papaya was reputably called the "fruit of the angels" by Christopher Columbus. Besides having a lot of the tropical fruits, the huge open air market has a large variety of vegetables so I picked up some green peppers, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, and green onions and made a big salad for lunch. I brought up a salad for Nikki to her office since I had the time today. I don't even try to negotiate a price with the merchants anymore. If they overcharge me a bit, it is still much lower than I would get in the supermarket and is not worth the trouble. Also, I am finding if you go to the same merchants and they start to recognize you, they seem to give you a fair price.
