"Great minds think alike"

Today (Thursday) brought a wonderful note from Fulbrighter Jean Andino who was at UTP - AND in this same apartment - when she was here for her Fulbright in 2012 - 2013.  Jean has been extremely supportive and generous in giving information and sharing her experiences - and that has helped a lot.

So I was thrilled to see a note from her in my in-box this morning.

And even MORE thrilled to see that she was recommending I buy a bus card to make travel to the El Dorado Mall (where there's a great grocery store) easier and much much cheaper.

Wonderful because that is exactly what I had done, with Elba's help, just hours before she sent the email.  It was definitely a "Great Minds Think Alike" moment!

This is short because I have to get to bed EARLY tonight.  Tomorrow, I will be going to the countryside with Aris and her students, and she's picking me up at 4:45 AM!  So it's off to dreamland for me... stay tuned because tomorrow is likely to bring a much longer (and probably illustrated) post.

Night night in the meantime...

Saturday

Today began with some tummy bug issues which I will not describe, but which led to a long nap from which I awoke feeling much better.  Which was good.  Very, very good.

So I set off to the SuperExpress market up the hill on Tumbla Muerta (one of the main drags)  It's not far, and it was breezy, so I felt just fine walking up there.  Once I got inside, however, it became clear just how hot I was.  I sweated the whole time I was there.  Which was a while because I found the upstairs - and explored up there.  There's a really nifty escalator for carts in addition to the one for people.  Here are some photos of the way down:

Approaching the top (with my trusty shopping cart in the basket)

It enters the mechanism..

And engages with it..

to carry it down while I'm on the escalator

and as it approaches the bottom...

and voila!  We're down!

 It was fun as always to be at the supermarket, and this time, I really lingered and explored, finding many things I hadn't expected - such as an apron (to keep me from messing my clothes up).  I didn't find a Panama FIFA jersey in my size - but I'll keep looking.  That is definitely something I want to find.

I walked back home with my trusty grocery cart (THANKS, Jean Andino!) and felt very proud of myself that I had managed with exactly the right amount of stuff to fit into it, with the TP in a nylon bag I brought with me.

The results of the shopping expedition

So I put everything away, and did laundry, and now, I'm completely exhausted so good night all!  Thanks for coming with me on the journey!