Tuesday 10/23/12, David, Panama

A good day yesterday!

I must have found a good corner of the park yesterday morning, because the internet actually worked!! I was parked along the street on the west side, around the corner from the church. I'll have to aim for this location again and see if my luck holds. How nice to talk with Joel! Funny, we finally get to talk and neither of us can remember half of what we wanted to say but who cares. It was just nice to talk. I chatted a little with my teacher at Habla Ya, checked Facebook for news of my kids, and answered emails that had been sitting around for days. How nice after two days of internet barely working, or not working at all. I must have been there a while because last night I noticed that my left arm is sunburned.

I also found the car insurance office without a bit of trouble and the gal there took care of things in short order. So, for $91.19 I am insured until August 2013. And, I had minimal trouble with communication. 

After stopping by the park for the internet, I went to the farmers market where a very nice young man fixed me up with everything I needed. Is it possible to eat an entire pineapple and a bowl of papaya for lunch? Umm... yes. I came home with a very large papaya, two pineapples, two onions, two green peppers, two chayotes (summer squash type things, very yummy), four bananas, three plantains, a small cabbage, and a yucca (new experiment) - $7.25. 

We also had a very nice conversation about what I wanted to buy, how to cook yucca, and which language is more difficult, English or Spanish. Why is it sometimes I fall flat on my face and can't figure out what anyone is saying, and other times it goes smoothly? I love it when it's smooth and doesn't get in the way of interacting with someone. 

Oops, can't forget the yucca (but after eating it, I decided we definitely can forget the yucca in the future. It's somewhat like library paste) 

But, the papaya was amazingly wonderful! I didn't think I even liked papayas but I'm happy to eat them every day here. 

I didn't hunt for the gas place, deciding that isn't a priority. I am fine with cold showers and a hot plate indefinitely. I ended up getting turned around somehow and accidentally explored new areas of David, finally surprising myself by coming to the highway very close to home. If I had internet I could try and find out what was going on there! People with banners that said “Cologne” were blocking both ways of the highway, and police were directing traffic around them. Thankfully the way around was the road to my house so I just got out of there and came home, more than ready to start working on my fruit lunch! 

The rest of the day I kept busy in the house. The walls of the back bedroom are painted, and now it needs the storage area painted and the floors scrubbed. I did laundry, no problems with the new washing machine. I took a video of the ants before I sprinkle them with anti-ant powder. I studied Spanish and read a little, thankful I had downloaded all my kindle books.

There is a video I'm going to upload when I get a moment. It's not a video to see but rather to hear. I don't know what was in the woods across the street last night but what interesting sounds! I heard it briefly again this morning in the woods behind my house but I couldn't see anything.

Update - video is uploaded -  sounds in the night

By the way, what is happening with my compost? I put things from the kitchen out to compost, and when I go back everything is gone! The pineapple top I planted is gone too. Who am I feeding? The yard is fenced so I don't think it's dogs. I'm going to start putting it closer to the house where I can keep an eye out. Growing vegetables in this yard may not work out. 

Today we get serious about furniture shopping. I have a few stores I plan to visit, and hopefully today I can decide on some living room furniture and a dining room table. It may be cheaper to live here, but it's not cheaper to get set up. (link) But, in general I'm feeling very good. Thankfully we do have the resources to get what we need, and I'm feeling more confident every day.