Day of the Three "C's" (Tuesday)

Today was defined by three different "C" words:  Colleagues in the morning, Canal in the afternoon, and Chicken at night.

1)  Colleagues.
We started by heading over to UTP so my colleagues and friends there could meet Anna Rachel and vice versa.  After talking about her for so long, it was nice to actually show people that she does, indeed, exist.  As a proud Mama, I enjoyed the chance to observe her poise and to see her (great) skills esp. at navigating social situations in a different language.  I enjoyed giving her a picture of where I've been spending my past four months as well.  She even took a picture of the Masters students' Affinity Diagram from the "Speedy Bead" User Research project.

2)  Canal:

As in "The Panama Canal" of course.  It's just not possible to come here and NOT see the Canal.  So in the afternoon, we set out to visit it.  Even though I've been there 3 times, it's still amazing.  And fascinating.  Each time I learn something new also.  This time, it was that my body is 76% water according to one of the exhibits.  Not sure what that means - especially since all it took besides the weight was your age and gender - but there you have it.  And I guess that means I'm officially "all wet."

But out on the Observation Deck, we watched several ships go through the Miraflores Locks, and saw how the water levels drop (since in the afternoons, ships are coming down from the Atlantic side to the Pacific side) and how the ships power forward in the locks, guided by the trusty "Mules" - still my favorite part of the Canal.

No trip is complete without photos of this all happening in real time, so here are some of Anna Rachel's shots - as well as some photos to prove we were there.

  

3)  Chicken.

Of course, this was only one of the many defining elements of our amazing meal with Martha and Carlos Maduro as well as their amazing daughters, Emily (and Edwin and Emita) and Essie (and Charlie).  First, the food.  Martha is famous for her great meals, as I can attest from an earlier visit where I shared a meal with the same crowd (sans Anna Rachel) and tonight was no exception.  Simple, yes - chicken with pasta, creamed chicken, salad.  But luscious!  And dessert was too - frozen  mini Snickers bars.  Yum yum yum!

(L to R) Carlos, Anna Rachel, Essie,
Martha (missing are Emily, her
husband, Edwin, and Essie's
beau, Charlie)

The REAL defining element of the evening was the incredible family who invited us into their home and to their table, and who treated us like long lost family.  Their warmth and intelligence swirled around us and we talked about all manner of things.  We had one particularly hilarious conversation about Panama's seemingly ubiquitous "Push Buttons" - hotels you rent by the hour, which give you total anonymity.  You pull into a garage where you push the button to close the garage door, open the room, and then, when you are done doing whatever it is you do during your time (ahem!) so they can check the room to make sure everything is OK before they push the button to open the garage door - all without having to interact with anyone.  You can imagine what they are used for.  There's no particular stigma about going to a Push Button - and we were regaled with tales of funny happenings at Push Buttons, as well as a more serious discussion of their value in a country where there is very little privacy for adult children who often live with their parents until they marry, and for their parents too.  Everyone knew the locations of them - in fact, there's a locally famous street with many of them (stay tuned for a tour on Sunday!) and one of their friends gives her address as being "between the McDonalds and the Royal Garden Suites (a well-known Push Button)"  

When the time came to say good-bye, Carlos and Martha drove Anna Rachel and me to 2 different pharmacies and helped me get some inhalers and cough suppressants (not to mention cough drops) to take care of my cough that has been building the past few days.  They went well out of their way and spent quite a lot of time helping us.

I guess the real word to define the evening is "Family" - but heck, that doesn't start with a "C", so it will just have to stay "Chicken."

Tomorrow - we arise EARLY to fly to San Blas!  Gotta sleep in a hurry!

Ouch!!!! (Saturday)

This critter made my day - but not in a good way!  After a day spent working on the presentation/class I'll be giving at the Satellite campuses of UTP week after next, and having a delightful Skype call with Sewellyn,  I settled in to watch a movie and do a bit of beading to relax.  I was quietly minding my own business when, about 9 am, it felt a sharp bite on my leg.  I jumped up, and felt 2 more bites as I tried to shake whatever it was out of my pants and, since that wasn't being successful, stripping them off as fast as I could.  Out crawled the able beastie.

Stomp.  Die you!  (wiggle wiggle)  Stomp STOMP!  (wiggle)  Stomp STOMP STOMP (with vocals added and a couple of, well, let's just call them "R" rated words)  Finally, no wiggles.

BUT I felt my tongue getting tingly.  And maybe to swell?  Panic!

I raced into the bathroom and grabbed an Alavert - 10 mg of Loratadine in a Fresh mint flavored  disintegrating tablet.  The welts on my leg were getting bigger and bigger and I felt panic!  Here I am in Panama, with minimal Spanish and a numb tongue!  What to do?

Luckily, one of the wonderful people at Balboa Union Church, Emily Maduro, is a doctor.  I quickly grabbed my phone and "What's App'ed" her.  And, doubly luckily, she answered!  We had a back and forth conversation where I told her what had happened, and what was going on now.  At first, it seemed like I should go to an ER - fast!  I was afraid!  How to get there?  (Cab)  What about my bad Spanish?  (She said that a private hospital should have English speakers so not to worry about the issue of language.)  But I was really scared.  I think that made me feel tightness in the chest - but then, the welts started to go down and the pain eased, while the numbness of the tongue started to lessen as well.  I can't say it's totally gone now - but perhaps that's from something else.  Emily stayed with me until it seemed that the crisis had passed.  I am so incredibly grateful!

Whew!

Another lucky moment!  Thank you so much, Dr. Emily!  

Emmalita - a sequence

Like many babies these days, 6 month old Emmalita is very aware of the camera on cell phones and she stops smiling immediately upon seeing it.  This time, I was trying to get her to smile when Conny distracted her and here is the result: