is it Tuesday already??

this is the local Dentist office

Look at the mountain and the sky...

Sweet dalmatian two doors down

a Spanish Sister's dog who lives next door..we've named him Lassie

one of the meanies by night, sweeties by day

Local Kingdom Hall where 5 congregations meet: 2 Spanish, 1 English, 1 Sign Language & 1 Ngobe Indian congregation

Another day in Volcan and it's been a beeeaaauuutiful day! No rain just occasional overcast with fluffy white clouds. At one point some dark clouds floated by but that was the extent of it. I'm quite relieved because it had rained for several days when we first got here and I thought there was no end to it.. I mean hey, we did come in the "rainy" season..

Well today I finally got an umbrella :) Found a big gorgeous green one for only $5!! Aliah modeled it for me and so I will post those pics.

Today started with a walk to breakfast, where the girls got breakfast for only $1, no lie!! Then we walked back home, started a laundry expedition!!! which is still not finished.. in an hour I'm to walk to the laundrymat (lavadoria?). After the laundry we had our meeting where Gail gave a talk and I was her householder. She did very very well! It ended up being a "Murphy Night" during the 'school' at the meeting and during the announcements Jesse stated that those with parts had the Hall cleaning, hahaha. Great way to keep us all humble :)  O and for our local needs part it was designed around being caucious in a foreign country and about parasites. Very interesting if I do say so myself :)

After the meeting the 9 of us were invited to have dinner with Jesse (husband), Sara (wife), Becky (mom/mom-n-law), Jade and Balin (children) at Loco Pollo. Well orginally it was to be at an Italian restaurant (I was going to get the girls a pizza) but it was closed, so they picked Loco Pollo. There the girls each had a bean enchilada and I asked for rice with cooked veggies. It worked out. O! I also got a Pina Colada and it was pretty tasty!! It alone was worth returning for, other than that it was so-so.

After dinner the Lee family (Jesse, Sara, etc..) offered to drive us home, and in discussion realized I still hadn't done my laundry in trying to help the other friends get theirs done.. so they swang me home to grab my clothes and took me to the laundrymat. I say landrymat but really it is a house/business with a few washers/dryers, but you pay the worker to wash/dry them for you.

Now we are home (waiting for 750p so I can go get my clean clothes:) and packing up for Boquete. Doug and Peggy are getting us at 730a and dropping us off at a store in David called Conway, it's like a Target. So that's the extent of our evening for now. I hope that all of you reading this are doing wonderfully and can imagine yourself here with us. We would love that!!!

O, one last thing I MUST add. The neighborhood children here I think are fascinated with us, and the feeling is mutual! While we were gone at one point today they left us a note in our mailbox...in Spanish, and what we could make out of it was.. that her name is Sofia, she is 8 and that she welcomes us to her neighborhood and that if she can be of any assistance to let her know :) We had some help between google translate and a friend who speaks a bit of Spanish to decifer her message. These little local children are very kind to us...and a bit clingy. During the daytime they tend to wait at our gate area for us to come outside (as of the last two days) and try to communicate with us. It's very kind and thoughtful. You just don't get the kindness that we have received her like in the states. We ARE outsiders here but aren't treated like it. And in the states we aren't "outsiders" but we are treated like it. Here everyone we pass by says "beunas dias" or "hola" and acknowledges our pressence with couretsy. It's really different and we are enjoying that part of it very much so.

I guess this is the 'end of the rope' for now. I'm thoroughly exhausted and need to go pack myself. All my love to you, and thanks for taking the time to read about our lives. Hope it is interesting enough :) There is always sooo much more than what I can type in a 'simple' post, but so much of it would be introspective and analytical.. So I think I will continue to keep the blog light and let you experience your own perspective if you get the chance to come here, or would like to talk with me (or my girls) later. Hugs xxx

{BTW: you may notice several words per post misspelled or sentences grammatically incorrect.. I must apologize for two reasons. One, I don't proof-read...I'm sure you've caught on to that.. And two, where I am in Panama typing this, my IP address is Panamanian so my spell check compares my words to Spanish..so it inevitably highlights nearly all my words :(.. So sorry }