January 22, 2011

Just had a FULL week of school. We started back on Monday. Unlike my friends in Cincinnati, we didn’t get off MLK day or a snow day or even a snow delay. Just five full days of school. But all was ok when I was up at 6:00 am this morning ready to go out for a walk and noticed at that time the temperature registered 1 degree for Cincinnati in my little computer widget, while it showed 70 here. I will take a full week of school under those circumstances. Actually, it sorta looks like Fall here. We watch all the leaves falling off the trees in our back yard area. Granted, we are clueless as to what happens around here, but imagine it is a consequence of the dry season. We did go two days without a drop of rain and were surprised at how quickly everything dried out. But, still having an unusual amount of rain due to La Nina (or so people tell us).
The record flooding occurred early in December. Thankfully, we have not had any problems with our water supply, except for that one day. But many areas of the city are still having major problems. They may go for two or three day without water or only have water for several hours in a day. Plus, the water that is available is not directly drinkable. What a bummer. For us, it just affects the one treat Wayne loves: unlimited Diet Coke at PriceSmart (Panama’s version of Costco). So far, it is the only place we have found in Panama that has unlimited fountain drinks (OK, it might not be unlimited, but Wayne gets his money’s worth). Yep, quite a change from the states! If you get a soft drink at a restaurant here, you savor it, slowly! There are no refills. Unfortunately the PriceSmart where we go is affected by the water shortage, so there are no fountain drinks available.
Doesn’t seem like much has happened this week. After the whirlwind four weeks off and doing so much, it was strange to slow down. We were going out last night (Friday) to meet friends, but the traffic was so incredible that we turned around and came home. One of the two bridges that cross the canal is still partially closed. It is making traffic a total nightmare. And it is always Friday night, because so many leave to go to the interior (beaches, mountains, etc) for the weekend. Now they are saying the one bridge won’t be repaired until September. The bridge is fine, it is just the approach to the bridge that was damaged by the flooding.
Ace has a play date with a couple of cute gals. Several of us are meeting over by the canal at an outdoor restaurant for an early dinner with our dogs. Ace is the only boy. (Ok, Nancy is probably the only person that will appreciate that last paragraph!)