Panama Update #59
October 3, 2008
Today I took the Miami Metro Rail to the Whole Foods to stock up on a few items that we can't get in Panama or are really expensive there. For example, we found a place that has Cliff Bars in Panama City but the selection is small and they are about double the price. Specialty items like the organic raw food protein bars that Nikki likes can't be found there at all. Items like shampoo and soap that we like cannot be found there either. Another big bill to pay for it all, but that's what happens when you buy a lot of supplements, vitamins, etc. The plan is that the items will last until our next time out of the country in San Francisco in December. Of course we can live without those items, but as long as we have a chance to get them we may as well.
When I was walking to the store from the train station I saw a sign for the University of Miami, which I didn't realize was in that area. I took a detour and walked around the campus at that time since I had planned to go look at it anyway. It is a huge campus with a big pond located in the middle that is surrounded by all the classroom buildings and various departments. It is very modern looking and I imagine they can dress in shorts and t-shirts for all of the school year, rather than the multiple layers of clothing in the Minnesota winters. A large part of the campus is devoted to all the athletic facilities for the teams. The Miami Hurricanes have been very successful in recent years with many of the sports and it looks like they have put a lot of money into the facilities.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Panama Update #58
Panama Update #58
October 2, 2008
I stepped back on US soil today for the first time in 3 months. They let me through customs very easily. The taxi driver from Panama is supposed to pick me up again on Sunday for the next leg of the trip. There will be a lot of back and forth this week. It was only about a 2 hour flight from Panama City to Miami. I got a lot done here in only one afternoon. You forget how easy it is to navigate a city when you speak the language and understand the system. I am staying at a very nice hotel call the Mayfair in a section of town called Coconut Grove. There are a lot of restaurants and stores near-by and the Marina is only 2 blocks away. I picked the hotel from studying it on the internet and I think it worked out. I already have a pay-by-the-minute cell phone to use for the next week and I have figured out how to get to the Whole Foods market on the public transportation system. I found a nice juice bar that makes wholesome sandwiches and a papaya shake and spinach pie for lunch. There is a movie theatre across the street but none of them look appealing. There is a large screen TV in the room and for tonight will probably watch the VP debate and whatever else is on.
October 2, 2008
I stepped back on US soil today for the first time in 3 months. They let me through customs very easily. The taxi driver from Panama is supposed to pick me up again on Sunday for the next leg of the trip. There will be a lot of back and forth this week. It was only about a 2 hour flight from Panama City to Miami. I got a lot done here in only one afternoon. You forget how easy it is to navigate a city when you speak the language and understand the system. I am staying at a very nice hotel call the Mayfair in a section of town called Coconut Grove. There are a lot of restaurants and stores near-by and the Marina is only 2 blocks away. I picked the hotel from studying it on the internet and I think it worked out. I already have a pay-by-the-minute cell phone to use for the next week and I have figured out how to get to the Whole Foods market on the public transportation system. I found a nice juice bar that makes wholesome sandwiches and a papaya shake and spinach pie for lunch. There is a movie theatre across the street but none of them look appealing. There is a large screen TV in the room and for tonight will probably watch the VP debate and whatever else is on.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Panama Update #57
Panama Update #57
October 1, 2008
I had an appointment this morning at the home of the family that home schools their 6 children. It was raining heavily at the time that I was getting ready to leave so I called the family and told them I would be late. I have learned that it is very difficult to find a taxi in the rain and the woman understood. They are looking for someone to help the 3 younger kids (ages 6, 7, 9) with their home school internet curriculum. I arrived with an umbrella in hand and felt like the nanny in Sound of Music. They live in a beautiful house in a nice neighborhood that I had never been before called El Dorado. It is on a hill with a beautiful view of the city. The 3 older kids seem to be able to follow the curriculum on their own and are apparently doing fine. I sat on the shaded deck out in the back of the house with all 6 kids and the two parents. They have a view of the area from their deck with a pool and lawn. Each child introduced themselves and gave their age and what subjects they liked. I wrote down all their names as they talked to help me learn them. I stayed for about an hour and a half and tried to figure out if it is a job I want. At this point, as I've written before, I am interested in working more with adults. It has been long time since I have helped a first grader learn to read. But I also have a feel now for what is available in Panama and will have to decide accordingly. The job I accepted last week at the private school, along with some private tutoring, is probably enough, but I wanted to see what this job was all about.
Since we are leaving the country tomorrow for several days, I told them I would get back to them after I returned.
October 1, 2008
I had an appointment this morning at the home of the family that home schools their 6 children. It was raining heavily at the time that I was getting ready to leave so I called the family and told them I would be late. I have learned that it is very difficult to find a taxi in the rain and the woman understood. They are looking for someone to help the 3 younger kids (ages 6, 7, 9) with their home school internet curriculum. I arrived with an umbrella in hand and felt like the nanny in Sound of Music. They live in a beautiful house in a nice neighborhood that I had never been before called El Dorado. It is on a hill with a beautiful view of the city. The 3 older kids seem to be able to follow the curriculum on their own and are apparently doing fine. I sat on the shaded deck out in the back of the house with all 6 kids and the two parents. They have a view of the area from their deck with a pool and lawn. Each child introduced themselves and gave their age and what subjects they liked. I wrote down all their names as they talked to help me learn them. I stayed for about an hour and a half and tried to figure out if it is a job I want. At this point, as I've written before, I am interested in working more with adults. It has been long time since I have helped a first grader learn to read. But I also have a feel now for what is available in Panama and will have to decide accordingly. The job I accepted last week at the private school, along with some private tutoring, is probably enough, but I wanted to see what this job was all about.
Since we are leaving the country tomorrow for several days, I told them I would get back to them after I returned.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Panama Update #56
Panama Update #56
September 30, 2008
On Sunday we were invited for an early dinner over to a new friend's house who lives in a place called the Ciudad del Saber (City of Knowledge). It is a former Canal Zone, gated city, which has nice parks, schools, and many non-profit groups devoted to helping the under served of Panama. It is a person I met through the Yoga classes. She is Jewish and was born and raised in Jamaica. She showed us a book that her mother wrote on the history of Jews in Jamaica. She said her family has been there since the 1600s. She came to Panama 6 years ago when her husband from Trinidad was relocated here. You can see that Panama is a real international city with people of quite varied backgrounds. She picked Nikki and I up and drove us to her house. The house is located on a park in a place called Colonel's row, where former high ranking officers lived during the Canal Zone days. We had juice, tea, quiche, and baklava. We also visited with her son and husband. I may pick up something at the store for her that would be very expensive to mail and is difficult to get in Panama. She lent Nikki two books, one by Bill Bryson called something like A Small Island. It is funny, light hearted reading. They belong to a book club and exchange English books because they are more difficult to find here.
Also yesterday, someone answered an ad I had in put in Craig's list a couple of weeks ago about offering English tutoring services. She is from Canada and has lived in Panama with her husband and children for about 3 years. She has 6 children (ages 6, 7, 11, 13, 17, and 19) and has been home schooling them. She is looking for someone to come in and work with the younger children a few hours a week. I am supposed to meet them tomorrow morning at 10:00 to discuss it and meet the children. I also need to figure out if this will fit in with my new job at the private school that I started last week.
September 30, 2008
On Sunday we were invited for an early dinner over to a new friend's house who lives in a place called the Ciudad del Saber (City of Knowledge). It is a former Canal Zone, gated city, which has nice parks, schools, and many non-profit groups devoted to helping the under served of Panama. It is a person I met through the Yoga classes. She is Jewish and was born and raised in Jamaica. She showed us a book that her mother wrote on the history of Jews in Jamaica. She said her family has been there since the 1600s. She came to Panama 6 years ago when her husband from Trinidad was relocated here. You can see that Panama is a real international city with people of quite varied backgrounds. She picked Nikki and I up and drove us to her house. The house is located on a park in a place called Colonel's row, where former high ranking officers lived during the Canal Zone days. We had juice, tea, quiche, and baklava. We also visited with her son and husband. I may pick up something at the store for her that would be very expensive to mail and is difficult to get in Panama. She lent Nikki two books, one by Bill Bryson called something like A Small Island. It is funny, light hearted reading. They belong to a book club and exchange English books because they are more difficult to find here.
Also yesterday, someone answered an ad I had in put in Craig's list a couple of weeks ago about offering English tutoring services. She is from Canada and has lived in Panama with her husband and children for about 3 years. She has 6 children (ages 6, 7, 11, 13, 17, and 19) and has been home schooling them. She is looking for someone to come in and work with the younger children a few hours a week. I am supposed to meet them tomorrow morning at 10:00 to discuss it and meet the children. I also need to figure out if this will fit in with my new job at the private school that I started last week.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Panama Update #55
Panama Update #55
September 28, 2008
This weekend we are taking it easy and not planning any special activities. We are leaving town on Thursday (Oct. 2) for a week. I go to Miami for 3 days and then meet Nikki in Houston. She goes directly to Houston for a Geology convention. She is busy (as usual) preparing for her two presentations at the conference. We have a reservation in Houston at a hotel that is right on the light rail line. From researching it on the web, they have a light rail line in the central corridor of downtown Houston that starts at the Astrodome on one end of town, goes through the medical district, the museum district, the business district and then ends up at the convention center where Nikki's conference is. We are staying in the medical district which is about a 20 minute train ride to the convention center. It is cheaper to stay in that area than within walking distance of the convention center. Nikki will be there for 8 nights and I will join her there for 4 nights. While she is at the convention I think there will be a lot of activities. It looks like there is a lot of museums, college campuses, and a zoo right off the light rail line. I think it will be a nice break from Panama.
We are still waiting to see if and when the apartment we found will be available. The person who is moving out is waiting to hear from his potential new landlord and until that is settled, we don't know what will happen. We walked over to visit our potential landlord yesterday to let him know we are still interested if the guy moving out can work things out.
We don't have any special plans for the holidays. The only thing we are thinking about is inviting a couple people over Monday night for some borscht and apples and honey.
September 28, 2008
This weekend we are taking it easy and not planning any special activities. We are leaving town on Thursday (Oct. 2) for a week. I go to Miami for 3 days and then meet Nikki in Houston. She goes directly to Houston for a Geology convention. She is busy (as usual) preparing for her two presentations at the conference. We have a reservation in Houston at a hotel that is right on the light rail line. From researching it on the web, they have a light rail line in the central corridor of downtown Houston that starts at the Astrodome on one end of town, goes through the medical district, the museum district, the business district and then ends up at the convention center where Nikki's conference is. We are staying in the medical district which is about a 20 minute train ride to the convention center. It is cheaper to stay in that area than within walking distance of the convention center. Nikki will be there for 8 nights and I will join her there for 4 nights. While she is at the convention I think there will be a lot of activities. It looks like there is a lot of museums, college campuses, and a zoo right off the light rail line. I think it will be a nice break from Panama.
We are still waiting to see if and when the apartment we found will be available. The person who is moving out is waiting to hear from his potential new landlord and until that is settled, we don't know what will happen. We walked over to visit our potential landlord yesterday to let him know we are still interested if the guy moving out can work things out.
We don't have any special plans for the holidays. The only thing we are thinking about is inviting a couple people over Monday night for some borscht and apples and honey.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Panama Update #54
Panama Update #54
September 26, 2008
So far I have spent two days at the new job. The second day was better, after the initial shock wore off for me. I haven't been in a 7th grade class for a long time since for the last 6 years I have been working with high school students. As I mentioned in the last blog, most of the students have a lot of trouble with English and/or math. It is supposed to be an English based school, but they have a lot of catch up to do. Same with math. Most of them need a lot of review. With academic problems usually comes a lot of behavior problems. I am assisting the regular teacher by taking small groups of students who are either ahead or behind the class and are either bored or frustrated. This seems to be how I can best help, but the job will probably continue to evolve. I think it will be a nice way to fill out my day a little and give it some consistency, since the private tutoring students seem to come and go. Last night there was an open house at the school and Nikki came along. A lot of parents came to hear the teachers talk. It is a new school and they are paying a lot of money (about $10,000 per year) for tuition. This is a huge amount for Panama and a large amount for anywhere. Nikki found some of the religious teachers to speak Hebrew with. Because of all the Jewish Holidays coming up and the trip to the US from Oct. 2-10, I don't go back to work again until Oct. 13. We are not sure where we will celebrate the High Holidays this year.
September 26, 2008
So far I have spent two days at the new job. The second day was better, after the initial shock wore off for me. I haven't been in a 7th grade class for a long time since for the last 6 years I have been working with high school students. As I mentioned in the last blog, most of the students have a lot of trouble with English and/or math. It is supposed to be an English based school, but they have a lot of catch up to do. Same with math. Most of them need a lot of review. With academic problems usually comes a lot of behavior problems. I am assisting the regular teacher by taking small groups of students who are either ahead or behind the class and are either bored or frustrated. This seems to be how I can best help, but the job will probably continue to evolve. I think it will be a nice way to fill out my day a little and give it some consistency, since the private tutoring students seem to come and go. Last night there was an open house at the school and Nikki came along. A lot of parents came to hear the teachers talk. It is a new school and they are paying a lot of money (about $10,000 per year) for tuition. This is a huge amount for Panama and a large amount for anywhere. Nikki found some of the religious teachers to speak Hebrew with. Because of all the Jewish Holidays coming up and the trip to the US from Oct. 2-10, I don't go back to work again until Oct. 13. We are not sure where we will celebrate the High Holidays this year.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Panama Update #53
Panama Update #53
September 24, 2008
I started at the new job today. In the blog I have been trying not to mention specific names of institutions or schools for several different reasons. If anyone wants the names or the reasons, send me an email. I can see why they asked me to come and help at this school. It is a brand new private school that combines both secular and religious education. It seems like the older students who transferred to this school must have been having problems at their other schools. I was assisting the teacher in a 7th grade math class and it is only the first day so we are still trying to figure out how I can best be of assistance. There are all different ability levels in both English and math. Some speak English well but can't read, and the same goes for their math levels. Some have skills for algebra and some have trouble with basic multiplication and division. They asked me to come to parent conferences on Thursday night to introduce myself, meet them and answer any questions. I only stay at the school for about 2 hours a day, and with transportation it is about 3 hours. The timing is good because it allows me to still continue with my other activities.
September 24, 2008
I started at the new job today. In the blog I have been trying not to mention specific names of institutions or schools for several different reasons. If anyone wants the names or the reasons, send me an email. I can see why they asked me to come and help at this school. It is a brand new private school that combines both secular and religious education. It seems like the older students who transferred to this school must have been having problems at their other schools. I was assisting the teacher in a 7th grade math class and it is only the first day so we are still trying to figure out how I can best be of assistance. There are all different ability levels in both English and math. Some speak English well but can't read, and the same goes for their math levels. Some have skills for algebra and some have trouble with basic multiplication and division. They asked me to come to parent conferences on Thursday night to introduce myself, meet them and answer any questions. I only stay at the school for about 2 hours a day, and with transportation it is about 3 hours. The timing is good because it allows me to still continue with my other activities.
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