March 4, 2012

Dry season is still here. Can’t remember seeing everything so dry, but we are still enjoying it. Occasionally, we go out onto our balconies and find lots of ash that has landed from fires in the interior. Now, last week, we actually saw a fire nearby. It was in the jungle just up the street from us, so we took a walk and watched it for awhile. Unbelievable. I have never been in a forest fire, so this had to be the biggest fire that I have ever seen. Just the noise from the fire was incredible. But there were plenty of firemen, forest fire fighters (so their uniforms said), lot of spectators, and people behind their homes wetting everything down with garden hoses. Later, we found out that the fire was likley set on purpose to thin out the jungle. It is interesting to notice the jungles appear much thinner because the grass and underbrush has dried up so much. You can actually see into the jungle some.
But, with absolutely not a drop of rain since before Christmas, you can only imagine how dry the jungle gets when it normally gets inches a day of rain. Someone told us that it won’t be long before the canal is complaining of a lack of water to work the locks. However, we are so enjoying this weather. Low humidity, strong breezes and no mold. The middle of the day is so hot when in the sun, but early morning walks and evening walks are absolutely delightful. Trees have dropped their leaves, but strangely, beautiful flowers have popped out all over the place.
We just noticed Thursday that another brand new private school is opening in our little town. This one is a British school with a “British” curriculum. Private schools are every place around here. Then, another IB private school is opening right across the canal from our neighborhood. Only the very poor put their children into the public schools. It is very sad for a country with a booming economy to put very little money into their public schools, or so it seems from our perspective. I do know one gentleman from our church that teaches in a public school. He teaches in a rather middle class neighborhood, but the school has few students. The parents in that particular neighborhood have enough money to put their children in private schools.
I met a gentleman a couple of weeks ago that has been talking with me about hopefully placing some computers into a town in the interior. Apparently, once a child finishes 6th grade, he can go to high school if he takes a long bus ride into the nearest “big city”. The bus costs a dollar each way and the kids can be on the bus for well over an hour. Being that someone in the interior may only make 7 dollars a day, that cost is a big part of the family’s salary. Also, they usually need their older child at home to work. So maybe computers in a supervised location nearby could help remedy the situation, if a kid was motive to get school online. I don’t know if Panama City is 2nd or 3rd world, but the interior is certainly 3rd world. The gap between the rich and the poor is wide.