some ISP staff

On day 1 of staff training, we broke into small groups to discuss pedagogy.  The picture from that just surfaced today.

From left:  Erica, Salah, Ron, Laura, Wendy, Laurie, and Nelson in the front.

scuba saturday in Portobelo, part II

As we were coming up from our dive, a friend snorkelling on the surface took this picture.  I am about 80% certain that I am the one on the bottom right.  But it's a cool shot with all of the bubbles, right?

scuba saturday in Portobelo, Panama

getting gear ready

our very fancy transportation out to the dive site

dock of our hotel

great sunset

Signs in Panama

Some of my favorite street signs in Panama, as captured by Carolyn's iPhone.  Clockwise from upper left:

Bodybuilders chasing balls (aka children playing)

When cars hit they make fireworks (aka blind corner)

Robot with a big butt crossing the street  (aka crosswalk)

Terrifying mini-dinosaur crossing (aka iguana crossing in the middle of Soberania Nat'l Park)

Frank y Lulu

Frank Sinatra, so named for his blue eyes

My friend Carolyn was in Panama City visiting this week, and got some gorgeous shots of my cats.

So, I'm going to be a crazy cat lady for a minute, and post pictures of my cats, with their beautiful blue and green eyes, on the internet.

Lulu (Tallulah Bankhead) so named for her wild personality

whale watching

Some friends and I went whale watching on the Pacific this weekend. In the top video, the whale surfaced so close to us that the boat was rocking for two minutes (and all I could do was laugh).  The bottom video is just a nice shot of swimming whales, blowholes, and humpback faces.

birthday quiche

For my birthday this year, my Panama friends got me some great gifts.  One is fixing my phone, and the another, with whom I share a free period, offered to make us breakfast to enjoy during that free period.  He made this delicious bacon/broccoli/garlic/mushroom quiche, with a homemade pate bris crust, and a lot of cheese.  It was delicious, and a lovely way to start out the day.