We
send greeting to all of you. Miss you already, but our
adventures have only just begun
So after 3 days on some sort of car,bus and or plane we are finally here. 2 days (we split it up mercifully) to get to Miami in the car. Arrived at the airport at 9pm. Security was easy really, very little trouble there and customs, except for the language barrier, was also easy.
As tourists they expect us to be dumb I guess, and we kept everyone amused by our very poor Spanish. We arrived Panama in 1:30 their time which corresponds to EST when we have not changed our clocks, and we more or less waited for 4:30 to arrive. We slept or talk or wandered around the Panama airport for 3 hours. We had thought to take the Red Bus from the airport for a dollar a head, but ended up hiring a van and driver for 40. He took us straight to the bus station without stops and we made the 5:30am bus for David just in the knick of time. He loaded and unloaded our luggage and got us through the hassel of the bus station very quickly and past the language barrier within less than 7 minutes tops. He was so fast that we didn't even buy tickets for the bus. They just "herded" us on and we went. Paid cash to the driver later and we were AWAY. At high speed I might add.
At this point in our "day" (its been 3 days on the move) we were so tired I think I could have slept on a camel, which compares quite closely to the way the bus felt...... A camel might have felt smoother. Jumping, jostling, bucking, swerving. I fell asleep as did Jim. Jim says he woke up here and there and looked out the window to see gorgeous beautiful scenery, but was too tired to pick up the camera and take pictures before he fell back to sleep.
The driver must be an excellent one because we didn't hit anything (other vehicles or humans, that we know of anyway) but we were avoiding lots of obstacles, mostly trucks bigger than us. We seemed to spend a fair amount of time creating 3 lanes from only 2. There are lines on the road, but nobody seems to notice them When Harriette saw our bus pass the coke cola truck, and there was NO passing lane, and oncoming traffic, and curves ahead........ Ok then was her thought. Whew we made it. I was probably sleeping. The road was actually better than we thought it would be. At least the cliffs were a few more feet away from the road than we had expected.
Green and lush, with hills covered in hugh trees and lots of fruit stands along the way,
in the small towns we
passed through. The whole countryside looks like one big
national park.
The people are short, around 5 feet average, very Indian looking for the most part and chocolate skin in all varieties. A beautiful people to look at. As gringos we stand out like sore thumbs..... we are way to tall and light skinned. You can see us from a mile away.....Oh well, It's my parents fault, is what I always say.
The Bus was an experience all to itself (when we weren't sleeping). At one point it was positively necessary to use the toilet at the back of the bus. Mind you the bus is cooled to about refrig. temp good for keeping meat fresh, downright cold. One kind sister warned us and we were prepared with an extra sweater. The bathroom on the other hand was another story. It must be directly over the engine because you could fry eggs back there !!!!. It was about 95 degrees. So imagine going from frostbite to to dehydration in a matter of 25 feet. And as we are bouncing all over the place imagine trying to "hover" over the toilet (a raised hole with a cover, sort of) and not lose your balance. Lawson came back from his bathroom experience and said he had invented a new game....(remember the bus is jumping and swaying up and down like a camel).. "Try and Hit the Hole....". We had brought our own toilet paper, again thanks to a certain sister, and a good thing too. No paper on the bus. And the best part I have left for last. The bus of course has many many windows about the general size of a picture window you might put in a house for a really great view of the scenery. All of them have curtains so that you can darken the bus and sleep at will. ........ All of the windows have curtains ...... except the bathroom window!!! We called it going PEE with a view.
Thankfully there are LONG stretches of road that have no living person in sight !!!!!
I did get a little nervous during my "hover procedure" wondering that if I lost my balance would the window break if I landed up against it...... thankfully didn't have to test that.
And that about covers that part. Many more stories to come I am sure.
We stopped at around 9:30 in a small town, bus station and had breakfast.
The food was very different and very
good. The eggs here taste better than anything I have had since
I raised my own chickens. "Real Eggs" I call them.
We arrived in David at 1:30 pm. From there we met Doug and Peggy, they helped us with our luggage, since the car was too small.
I have decided that I must travel lighter !!! I will find a way
to get rid of a suitcase before I go home....
We managed to get our car and insurance also in remarkable time.... 30 minutes at the most, went with, Doug and Peggy "up to" Volcan (pronounced: Bol con , soft b sound), got dropped off with our bags and 30 minutes later we were wandering around town (in our car) looking for food, telephones and a restaurant to feed us, since we were too tired to cook at home.
All was accomplished by around 7 pm. This included going back to Doug and Peggy's and getting their cell phone numbers that they had not given us earlier and trying to catch up with Valora since she is in a different house. We did find that our internet here at our house works all the time, which is a blessing. So we can be available whenever we are home.
Tomorrow however starts our first "real" work day here in Panama. We are gearing up for service at 8:30 in the morning from the Kingdom Hall.
There are 5 groups here in this hall. 2 Spanish, 1 English, 1 Spanish sign language, and one Ngobe Indian. Hopefully we will get to meet at least one of the Spanish groups. I love the Spanish culture.
My passable Spanish is improving by the hour. Grocery shopping is interesting and challenging. Try walking around with a "phrase book" and asking for baking soda.....The local grocery store was delighted to see us and will no doubt be delighted to see us again. When you walk out with $65 dollars worth of groceries for 5 people, no wonder.
We are trying our best NOT to buy gringo food. There is a wealth of fresh vegs
and fruits here. Bananas taste better here
than I have ever eaten ANYWHERE else. They are maybe 2 hours
old in the stores here. In the states they are shipped green
with chemicals sprayed on them to hold them "fresh" until
they can be unpacked in the stores......they are picked before the
banana plant knew that it was growing them !!!!
All for now friends. Jim and Lawson are sleeping the sleep of the "dead tired", we will try and walk later before dark. It is
such
a beautiful area. Yesterday we saw briefly through the breaking
clouds the top of the volcano.
Covered in lush greenery, we
hope to be able to hike up there at some point with the help of some
of the friends. So close, I can not bear to think we might not
make it while we are here.
Love to all,
Agape'
All 5 of us (Gail, Harriette, Jim, Lawson and Aidan)
So after 3 days on some sort of car,bus and or plane we are finally here. 2 days (we split it up mercifully) to get to Miami in the car. Arrived at the airport at 9pm. Security was easy really, very little trouble there and customs, except for the language barrier, was also easy.
As tourists they expect us to be dumb I guess, and we kept everyone amused by our very poor Spanish. We arrived Panama in 1:30 their time which corresponds to EST when we have not changed our clocks, and we more or less waited for 4:30 to arrive. We slept or talk or wandered around the Panama airport for 3 hours. We had thought to take the Red Bus from the airport for a dollar a head, but ended up hiring a van and driver for 40. He took us straight to the bus station without stops and we made the 5:30am bus for David just in the knick of time. He loaded and unloaded our luggage and got us through the hassel of the bus station very quickly and past the language barrier within less than 7 minutes tops. He was so fast that we didn't even buy tickets for the bus. They just "herded" us on and we went. Paid cash to the driver later and we were AWAY. At high speed I might add.
At this point in our "day" (its been 3 days on the move) we were so tired I think I could have slept on a camel, which compares quite closely to the way the bus felt...... A camel might have felt smoother. Jumping, jostling, bucking, swerving. I fell asleep as did Jim. Jim says he woke up here and there and looked out the window to see gorgeous beautiful scenery, but was too tired to pick up the camera and take pictures before he fell back to sleep.
The driver must be an excellent one because we didn't hit anything (other vehicles or humans, that we know of anyway) but we were avoiding lots of obstacles, mostly trucks bigger than us. We seemed to spend a fair amount of time creating 3 lanes from only 2. There are lines on the road, but nobody seems to notice them When Harriette saw our bus pass the coke cola truck, and there was NO passing lane, and oncoming traffic, and curves ahead........ Ok then was her thought. Whew we made it. I was probably sleeping. The road was actually better than we thought it would be. At least the cliffs were a few more feet away from the road than we had expected.
Green and lush, with hills covered in hugh trees and lots of fruit stands along the way,
The people are short, around 5 feet average, very Indian looking for the most part and chocolate skin in all varieties. A beautiful people to look at. As gringos we stand out like sore thumbs..... we are way to tall and light skinned. You can see us from a mile away.....Oh well, It's my parents fault, is what I always say.
The Bus was an experience all to itself (when we weren't sleeping). At one point it was positively necessary to use the toilet at the back of the bus. Mind you the bus is cooled to about refrig. temp good for keeping meat fresh, downright cold. One kind sister warned us and we were prepared with an extra sweater. The bathroom on the other hand was another story. It must be directly over the engine because you could fry eggs back there !!!!. It was about 95 degrees. So imagine going from frostbite to to dehydration in a matter of 25 feet. And as we are bouncing all over the place imagine trying to "hover" over the toilet (a raised hole with a cover, sort of) and not lose your balance. Lawson came back from his bathroom experience and said he had invented a new game....(remember the bus is jumping and swaying up and down like a camel).. "Try and Hit the Hole....". We had brought our own toilet paper, again thanks to a certain sister, and a good thing too. No paper on the bus. And the best part I have left for last. The bus of course has many many windows about the general size of a picture window you might put in a house for a really great view of the scenery. All of them have curtains so that you can darken the bus and sleep at will. ........ All of the windows have curtains ...... except the bathroom window!!! We called it going PEE with a view.
Thankfully there are LONG stretches of road that have no living person in sight !!!!!
I did get a little nervous during my "hover procedure" wondering that if I lost my balance would the window break if I landed up against it...... thankfully didn't have to test that.
And that about covers that part. Many more stories to come I am sure.
We stopped at around 9:30 in a small town, bus station and had breakfast.
 |
| Breakfast at the "Bus-stop |
We arrived in David at 1:30 pm. From there we met Doug and Peggy, they helped us with our luggage, since the car was too small.
We managed to get our car and insurance also in remarkable time.... 30 minutes at the most, went with, Doug and Peggy "up to" Volcan (pronounced: Bol con , soft b sound), got dropped off with our bags and 30 minutes later we were wandering around town (in our car) looking for food, telephones and a restaurant to feed us, since we were too tired to cook at home.
All was accomplished by around 7 pm. This included going back to Doug and Peggy's and getting their cell phone numbers that they had not given us earlier and trying to catch up with Valora since she is in a different house. We did find that our internet here at our house works all the time, which is a blessing. So we can be available whenever we are home.
Tomorrow however starts our first "real" work day here in Panama. We are gearing up for service at 8:30 in the morning from the Kingdom Hall.
There are 5 groups here in this hall. 2 Spanish, 1 English, 1 Spanish sign language, and one Ngobe Indian. Hopefully we will get to meet at least one of the Spanish groups. I love the Spanish culture.
My passable Spanish is improving by the hour. Grocery shopping is interesting and challenging. Try walking around with a "phrase book" and asking for baking soda.....The local grocery store was delighted to see us and will no doubt be delighted to see us again. When you walk out with $65 dollars worth of groceries for 5 people, no wonder.
We are trying our best NOT to buy gringo food. There is a wealth of fresh vegs
All for now friends. Jim and Lawson are sleeping the sleep of the "dead tired", we will try and walk later before dark. It is
Love to all,
Agape'
All 5 of us (Gail, Harriette, Jim, Lawson and Aidan)
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6629-2801
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