Sunset

 It usually starts raining at about 2pm each day, but occasionally, we get some gorgeous sunsets. 

ISP 30th Anniversary Staff Gala

At my old school, I had to buy chalk.  Literally.  Each year, I would go to Office Depot and get the one good kind of chalk, because the school always bought the cheap stuff that didn't erase.  When we had staff parties, we had to pay $30 to attend, which included one alcoholic beverage.

At my new school, they feed us at staff meetings, they buy new materials, and when they throw a staff party to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the school, they do it at the Marriot, complete with gift baskets for each teacher, unlimited food and alcohol (I drank a lovely amount of champagne), and with a 10 piece live band for after dinner dancing.

My friend Janelle and I

I am still a strong believer in public education and the right of poor kids to get a world class education, but last night's party pulled me over to the privatization dark side, just for a few hours. 

The traditional Panamanian dancers who performed.

When the 8 piece band started playing, everyone, and I mean everyone, started dancing.  Gotta love those Latin coworkers.  They danced for hours, all in 6" heels.  I am still in awe of them. 

PanaMUN XX

This week, ISP hosted the 20th Int'l School of Panama Model United Nations conference, aka PanaMUN.  Every student in the high school participated, as well as 100 kids from 13 other countries, including Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Canada, and the US.  It was a wonderful event, all student run and organized.  Next year I will be the PanaMUN director, and after seeing how well run this event is, I am both excited and daunted.

Prosecco in Panama

What I think a glass of prosecco should look like.

What a glass of Prosecco looks like in Panama:  poured over ice, mixed with a shot of Red Bull, and garnished with a squeeze of lemon and a straw.  I tried to drink it, but just couldn't make do.  Panama bartender:  1, Laura: 0.  

The Best Empenadas in Panama

 So everyone raves about this place;  if you are driving to the Pacific Beaches, you MUST stop at Quesos Chela on the way.  As you can see, it's not much to look at.  What you cannot see from this picture is the line of 25 people waiting to buy fresh-made cheese, empenadas, and breads. 




So here is a cheese empenada, supposedly the best in Panama.  After taking a bite, I can confirm that while it had a nice blend of sweet corn tortilla mixed with very salty cheese, it can't hold a candle to the empenadas in Chile.

Verdict:  For Panama, it isn't bad.  For the world, it is just mas o menos (so-so). 

Swimhole

What'd you do this weekend?  Oh, you know, just kayaked to a hidden waterfall, and swam around in the swimhole created by the waterfall.  The water in the swimhole was much chillier than the bathtub water in the Pacific, but the chance of maybe running into a crocodile make it that much more exciting!

Monkeys!

This weekend, my mom and I took a jungle cruise on the lakes of the Canal, and there were monkeys everywhere.  Our captain had brought a bunch of peanuts and bananas, which he distributed to us to get the monkeys to come over.  It was pretty darn amazing.

These tiny little white bundles (which kind of look like owls) are actually tiny little monkeys.  I got to feed one- it was pretty great. 

You can see how tiny this monkey is- the captain told us that it weighs something like 16oz, and is about 6 inches long.  Kind of like a gerbil-sized monkey. 









And the monkeys felt comfortable enough to play around the boat.  I really enjoy how sprightly this little guy looks in this picture. 

A parrot bathing during a rainstorm

In the jungle this weekend, my mom and I got to hang out on a houseboat which had a lot of birds, all of whom had been rescued from various bad situations.  This parrot was rescued from a bar.  In the middle of the afternoon, a rainforest-worthy rainstorm began.  The parrot started showering in the rain run-off, and I had to take a video of it because it's pretty darn funny.