Friday's Exchangie Trip to Casco Viejo

Casco Viejo!

We went on a tour of La Presidencia, basically the White House of Panama. It was awesome. I took way more pictures than this, don't worry. :) The random egret (garza in Spanish) is sort of a symbol of the presidency and so there are a bunch of them running around this first floor of the building.

Second floor.

I am being strangled and Marthe is being squished. Thanks, Jingi. Everyone else has a good representation of their usual expression. :) lol. Good times.

Pictures I could have taken and uploaded 4 months ago but didn't

The Gamboa Post Office. I've never been inside because it's never open when I wander by.

A tug boat or something, on the Canal.

Here you have the Panama Canal and a fence and the Panama Railroad. Yay!

This is the only way to get into Gamboa: A one-way bridge shared with the railroad. Whenever you want to enter or leave Gamboa you have to wait for the light to turn, and often people disobey the lights and somebody has to back all the way off the bridge again. The bridge crosses where the Chagres River meets the Panama Canal.

The Railroad and the Canal and the jungle and a big metal thingy that I assume has something to do with the railroad. Idk. The other side has some lights on it.

I know what you're thinking: 'Wow! An exotic, unknown fruit!' but actually I bet you've eaten it a lot: It's a cashew! In Spanish, the fruit is called 'marañon' and the nut part is called the 'pepitos'.

Mango trees are everywhere here, all ridiculously full. And delicious.

A woodpecker: 'carpintero'.

Fast Approaching

I've been in Panama for a few weeks over four months, and I leave in 32 days. That's just four more weekends before I'm back in Mac. Crazy! And it's difficult to say how I feel about that. I love it here in Panama, and I definitely plan on coming back, hopefully repeatedly and for more extended periods of time. I want to master Spanish. And I have made friends here, who I will miss terribly when I get home, just as much as I am right now missing my friends back in Oregon. I have changed a bit since February. Definitely. Like, my hair is way longer and I'm ridiculously tan. I also have at least one foot standing in another language, I can fry plantain bananas, I have seen crazy wild bugs, woken up to the sound of howler monkeys, bought strange fruit from street vendors, chatted for hours on MSN Messenger in Spanish, lived within walking distance of a big-deal landmark (Panama Canal), worn a ridiculous school uniform, learned to salsa dance, seen a lot of stray dogs, caught an enormous toad in a plastic bag, been fascinated by ant highways, discovered that cashew nuts come from a tree called 'marañon', pulled mangoes right off the tree with a long pole, picked up crazy shells off the beach, explored a centuries-old fort and been freaked out by a tailless whip scorpion, and, um, lots of other exciting stuff! Holy cow! And I still have another month. :) I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.

I will be happy to be home next month, though. I miss you guys!