Since January...

Since January we've been busy. Busy plugging away at the Cerro Brisa latrine project, busy holding health seminars for local kids, busy escaping the amazingly suffocating heat of a tropical isthmus, and busy having a wonderful time hosting Mike, Alice and my dad during their respective visits to our steamy home. But through all the busyness we've also been having a great time getting closer to our host family each day, improving our Spanish, and exploring parts of Panama that make us swoon.

Mike came to visit us in February, and stayed with us for ten days total. We picked him up from the airport in Panama City and whisked him immediately back to our site for three days and nights of beans n rice, sweaty hiking, and generally (very) simple living.




Mike and Aron by the river, showing the rest of us why they are generally regarded as the toughest punks on the block.



















Mike, enjoying a "pipa" (green coconut which locals often cut open to drink the sweet water within) with a latrine project family. Yes, yes, we know they don't look happy at all. But they are and I can assure you that once the photo was taken, everyone relaxed into the amiable expressions that they usually carry. There's just something about photos that makes 'em so serious...









Being with Mike in Cerro Brisa was great, and we're really glad that he was able to make it out to visit us. After three days of hiking, visiting, eating (and being eaten by insects), we stole away to the cool, lush Panama highlands at Cerro Punta. Cerro Punta remains one of our favorite Panama destinations due to its cleanliness, altitude (around 6,000 ft!), crisp and dry weather, and location in an amazing tropical cloud forest.






Mike and I during a short hike into the Parque Internacional La Amistad, which is a jungle preserve shared by both Panama and Costa Rica, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and remains breathtakingly primeval.









Mike, lookin' suave against the backdrop of Cerro Punta. This shot was taken at the beginning of an amazing 6-hour hike to the world famous coffee growing region of Boquete.










Towards the end of our hike.

















Myself, Amanda and Casey on the last mile into Boquete.










Beautiful!







After Cerro Punta we spent a night eating well and sipping on 25-year port in Boquete to celebrate my birthday. A little rest of this sort was just what we needed after the six-hour journey. We then woke early and headed back down to the lowlands where we met our host family in San Felix, a typical local Panamanian town with a great swimming river nearby. The next five hours were spent jumping off rocks and swimming in the deep river, eating local-made bollos (chicken and corn filled tamale-like things), and waiting out a torrential downpour for our taxi to come and take us back to the house at which we stayed.







Ñata, Polo, and Bebé, sharing a laugh of some kind down by the Río San Felix.











The Río San Felix.












If you've ever sat and wondered where cashews come from, wonder no more. This is the cashew fruit, from which you can see hanging a cashew seed. The seed is removed from its fruit (which is usually then eaten or made into juice), toasted in an open fire, and then opened to reveal its yummy cashew inside. Delicious!






Well soaked and well rested from our highland trip and subsequent river-swim, we made our way back to Panama City and spent a few days at the famous Miraflores Locks (where ships are raised and lowered to navigate canal elevation differences), ate well in "Casco Viejo" (the Old Quarter, filled with beautifully well-preserved French Victorian apartments), and enjoyed the last of Mike.

We look forward to seeing him again this June when we all head off to Ireland for a few weeks. That's right, Ireland. We'll be flying there with the rest of the family this June for a few days of seeing the motherland. While we still don't have specifics, the trip sounds absolutely amazing and we can hardly wait!