Panama Update #139
Friday, February 27, 2009
All week long I and we have been contemplating whether to revoke my leave with Minneapolis Schools for next year. I am on a 3 year leave, but the contract states I can revoke it by March 1 of each year if I want to return. With Nikki's job situation still up in the air, I had to make a decision by today if I was going back to the district or not. This morning I called the Human Resources office and they ended up giving me a month's extension, which is really great. That means I can return to the same job if I let them know by April 1. It gives us more time to figure out what is happening with Nikki.
The owners of our apartment building have been collecting dogs lately for some reason. They have 3 now, plus the upstairs apartment has 2 more. The problem is that the dogs are barking or howling all the time, day and night. A couple of weeks ago, when Laurie was here, they brought in a pregnant dog that someone had given them, so they could have even more, I guess. She had the babies recently but rolled over on them and all but one died. Today they hauled the mother away somewhere. She is real mean and they needed several people to tie her up in the pick-up truck. They told me they were bringing her to the Darien, which is the most isolated jungle part of Panama. I think the little puppy is too young to be separated from the mother, but now it is living here now too. She is the size of a palm and the eyes are still closed. It is better to wait about 6 weeks for separation, not one.
We are excited to see that the movie Slumdog Millonaire opened in Panama City today, at the movie theatre closest to us. We plan to go tomorrow.
Next weekend we go to Costa Rica for 3 nights to renew my tourist visa. In two weeks, Michael G. and his family arrive for a week-long visit.
My return reservation to Minneapolis is for June 2. Nikki goes to a convention in Denver on the same day for a week and then will join me in Minneapolis. We plan to be there for the rest of June and July.
