waterfall in Penonome

A friend and I went to Penonome this weekend.  We went with two septugenarians who also work at ISP.  It was a weird weekend, since the older ladies had planned a handful of "surprises" for us that we had no say in.  One of these was an early morning hike to a waterfall.  It was a gorgeous location, and once I got over the initial cold-water shock, it was very fun to swim in the natural pool.

I am the little white person on the left hand side of the picture- it was a pretty great swim.

And my friend Julia has a waterproof camera, with which I had a lot of fun playing.

Tropicana over-the-top costumes that put Vegas showgirls to shame

oh, the hats...

oh, the capes...

oh, the copious tassels...

oh, the feathers!

Oh, the sparkles...

Is it too much to ask to have CHANDELIERS attached to their frickin' heads?

scuba (s)cuba

Catching up on some photos from my fun filled Feb trip to a lovely island nation in the Caribbean.  I look kind of dorky when diving, but I just love it, and enjoy the peacefulness of being underwater hanging out with the stingrays and the coral.

Jim (a funny Brit who is a professional dive master, who was just happened to be on our dive), Andrew, Mallory, and I after a dive.

Katrina, me, and the Bun-Bun

At the family fun fair in March, there were mascots wandering all over the school.  For some reason, I fixated on the idea of taking a picture with the Energizer Bunny, and luckily, my friend Katrina was obsessed as well.

Gamboa with the Girls

Laura, Jen, Nora, and Amanda at the Miraflores Locks

Some girlfriends from the States are down here visiting for a week, which is great.  First stop on the trip was a visit to the Canal.  From there, we headed out to the Gamboa Rainforest Resort.  The hotel oozed post-colonial charm, and although the capuchins stayed hidden in the trees, we had a lovely time exploring the jungle (via tram car- who wants to hike?). 

The caterpillar as wide as my foot.

View of the Chagres River from the 10-story observation tower.

photo booth

Like I said, the ISP family fun fair was pretty darn fun.  They even had a photo booth, complete with props.  It cost two tickets, but my friend Allison somehow got a hold of 30 free tickets, so we took a lot of pictures.  It was too funny to see the 3 of us crouched over, looking for matching sequined bows.

This is me, Mallory, and Allison:  FFF '13, baby!!!!  The bottom one is totally my favorite.

Zorro Plateado

After eight months of living in Panama, it was time to buy a car.  While my roommate has been very generous about loaning me her car for occasional shopping trips, there have been times where I could have used my own wheels.   I bought this car from encuentra24.com (Panama's craigslist) from a retired Venezuelan diplomat who is moving back to Venezuela (right after Chavez's death???), and I got a great deal, if I do say so myself.  The car has ONLY 15,000 km (=9,000 miles), is a stick shift, does not have auto locks or windows (he's not perfect), and a great a/c.  I have named it Zorro Plateado, the Silver Fox.