Panama Update #108
December 29, 2008
I called up the same guy who helped us move to this apartment and asked if he could help us pick up a couple of bikes. He has a pick-up truck and does this kind of thing for a living. We originally found him since he is a friend of our landlord. He does not speak English and is of Chinese descent, but communication in Spanish was not a problem. He drove us quite a ways (about 30 minutes)to the Goodwill store where they sell donated bikes for about $50. Nikki found one that she liked and I decided to get another to have for guests. The driver is also a mechanic and he adjusted one of the bikes on the spot to fix some minor problems. He charged us $20 for the round-trip and we gave him a tip for helping fix one of the bikes. Nikki is excited about biking with me tomorrow in the afternoon, after I buy her a helmet in the morning.
Ariel, our first guest in Panama, arrived today. She is the 24 year old daughter of a friend of my sister. She started her journey last March in Mexico City, spent 6 months doing volunteer work in Guatemala, and has finally biked to Panama City. She found her way to the large Police Station near here and I met her there. If her mom is reading this, I had enough bail money to get her out (just kidding). She was separated by her biking partner, but through email has figured out where he is and they will meet up tomorrow and both of them will probably stay here one more night.
