Updated Blog!

How do I catch everyone up on what's been going on in the last few months? I don't! I'm going to hit the highlights and show some cool pics and promise to post more often...but this may or may not be true...I'll try. I thought I'd start with my apartment. I live in a 2 bedroom apartment behind another house...so, my apartment is off the street. This is a big deal in Nicaragua because the noise level is greatly reduced and because people can't just stop by my house...which is the custom here. As far as apartments go mine is very nice. The previous volunteer lived here before me and as soon as she left I took over. My ceilings meet the walls, I have glass on my windows and tile on my floor. This is not the norm in Nicaragua. Also, I have 2 orange trees, 2 banana trees, one mandarin orange tree, one lime tree, one sour orange tree, and an avacado tree in my patio. There is also mint and cilantro growing everywhere on the ground. The family that owns the house in front, whom is very nice, take very good care of the plants. Okay, so this is my house. Nice, comfortable and I can eat things that grow in my patio. My Dad came to Nicaragua recently and we spent a few days in Granada, a d ay in Jinotega and then we went to Panama. We had a great time. I was so glad to see my Dad and we had a great time. These pictures are all out of order because I have not been able to figure out how to move the pictures around like I want them....so, just ignore that if you can. We rented a car in Panama...which turned out to be an adventure in and of itself. We made our plane from Managua to Panama by the skin of our teeth...they were calling our names as we were running up to the gate....long story involving a passport and a subway sandwich. Anyway, we made it. Landed in Panama aroung 8 o'clock. And were actually able to find our hotel all the way across town...we followed a thrifty employee for 80 percent of the way and then got horribly lost. We stopped at a McDonald's to ask directions... and to get something to eat. We thought we had the right directions but there was this one turnabout highway on/off ramp that kept messing us up. We eventually paid a taxista a few dollars to follow hime to the hotel. One of the things I learned on this trip is that my Dad and I are not what you would call strict by the map navigators. We are more trial and error types. Now, both styles are valid but with the latter type you have to be a little more relaxed and open to new and unexpected experiences...it turns out we both are and we did fine with this style of navigation. Funny thing is, that McDonalds we stopped at the first night became a very important point of reference for our future tours around the city. We saw the canal, the old city of Panama ( the oldest city in all of the America's on the Pacific coast), native Kuna peoples, the beautiful pacific and just had a great time. The picture overlooking the big buildings of Panama was taken from the top of Ancon hill where we were staying. We had a blast. Of all the things we saw and did, my dad said that he like Jinotega, where I live, the best and that he wanted to come back and spend a little more time there. We introduced him to a panadaria where they make these sweet treats and if you now what time to to you can get them fresh out of the oven. I hope he comes back.