This has been an adventurous week…..perhaps more than I would have liked. Let me tell you the story of my trip to Panama. It all began Thursday, when before school. I (as I have done EVERY week) dropped my laundry off at the hotel. Then went to school and made my speech and said goodbye to all the teachers there. I was planning on taking Miguel out to eat, so didn’t have to say goodbye to him quite yet. I met “the kids” for coffee, since some of them are taking off (sorry Jon, I may have missed my chance there), and then went back to the hotel to pack. I looked for my clothes, but they were nowhere to be found, so I told someone I REALLY needed them, and then Miguel got there. He also taught my neighbor across the hall (Donald), so we all visited, then left for dinner. Martin met us there, and we had a good time. Around 10p, I came home and tried to finish packing…but NO CLOTHES!!!! I had a few things I hadn’t worn that week, sweat pants, etc. but my nice stuff and most of my underwear is not anywhere to be found! OKKKKK, so I pack what I have, figuring I’ll buy somethings if I need to, and go to bed for the 4am shuttle.
The shuttle didn’t come until 5:20 and my flight left at 5:55. We called the company, a taxi, all kinds of things, but no luck until the shuttle finally arrived…and still had to pick up 3 more people! This was not looking promising. I was just a LITTLE ANGRY, but calmed down, and finally decided I was done with adventure. If I couldn’t get to Panama, I was just going to come home, leaving the stuff I still had at the hotel to be mailed. I can live without that stuff if I can live without underwear! But when I got to the airport, the wonderful guys at COPA put me on the next flight, walked me through integration, and actually put me on a plane that got to Panama only 30 minutes after mine did! Wow!
So I go to the hotel, and it is another nightmare! Only warm showers, no information about the city, no way to find my way around and to top it all off my mini-bar was locked! I finally just went to sleep. I decided to go shopping the next day, since I needed clothes. The people in Panama DRESS!!! They are also SMALL!!! Remember the clothes in Singapore Nicole? All size 12 and below. Well, I’ve given birth to one of the triplets, but no way am I a size 12! So no clothes. I got back to the hotel and my room was still unmade, so no clean towels either. I was a basket case! Did I mention it had rained the WHOLE time I was there?
I called a friend of mine at home and he talked me down from the trees. Reminded me why I was here…oh yeah, to experience life! So the next morning I checked out of the hotel, went to the car rental place, and rented a car. I drove to the Panama Canal, which was really neat, then decided to see the Caribbean side of Panama. Did I mention I got lost a lot going to the Canal? And I got lost more going to Colom…so much so that by the time I got there it was almost dark, not a good time to be driving when you have NO idea where you are going.
The roads in Panama are interesting. The signs usually have an arrow in the right direction before you turn, but no marker at the turn! And the roads are TINY!!! The look like a back alley you are turning down. So I think I’ve missed every turn I was supposed to make so far. Anyway, I ended up in Colom. There is NOTHING to see in Colom. Think Havana AFTER Castro. It looked a lot like Havana, actually. I ended up in the Meryland Hotel, and no, that is not a misspelled word. Wow…I was waiting for the shower curtain scene. So early this morning I checked out and headed to Portofino on the Caribbean coast, which the guide book says has nice hotels. I couldn’t find them. So after getting REALLY lost in Portofino, which is REALLY small, I decided it was time to try the Pacific coast. I’ll bet not many people can say they went from McDonald’s to McDonald’s and coast to coast in one long driving day, but I did!
So now I’m in a Golf Resort on the Pacific coast, debating whether or not to head back to the city tomorrow or just stay here and lay by the pool. I’ll let you know!
Love you guys…don’t you wish you were having this much adventure?!
Earline

A week of family

Hi guys,

Last week was the family week here. Sue came on Monday, and Jon on Thurs. Sue left on Friday and Jon on Sunday. So really all I did was visit! It was great! We really had a good time. Here are some pictures....

Here are Sue and I at the McDonalds. Yes, I know what you are thinking...why would ANYONE in their right mind go to McDonald's in a foreign country, much less in the US, but LOOK at it. Isn't it beautiful? I go here a lot to study. It's a beautiful garden, and very peaceful in the mornings....

Here's one of Jon at McDonald's as well, since you just have to see the place...and then you have to have a picture.

Sue took this one of my home away from home at Casa Rustica...

Here are Sue and I at my favorite breakfast spot...I study so much here the guys have started correcting my homework!

I took both Sue and Jon to Santo Domingo (you all have seen pictures) and Sue took this picture of Jon and I....

I think I have told you the history of Antigua but here is a quick refresher. Antigua was the capital of this part of Central America, established by the Spanish crown in the 16th century. What they didn't plan on was the city being repeatedly destroyed by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Finally, in the 18th century, Spain moved the capital to the current location of Guatemala City, and it became illegal for anyone to live here. People still did, but the big landowners, namely the churches, all were forced to move. Jon an I visited a church which has been pretty much left as it fell. The rubble tells the story better than I could about why this city was abandoned.

Here is Jon at the entrance to the church...you can see the rubble in the background.

And here is a picture from inside the ruins. Just imagine all this falling down at once!

Pretty scary, huh!

Well, this is my last week here. Today I booked a ticket for Panama City, Panama. I leave Friday. I'll come back next Wednesday and spend my birthday at Earth Lodge. Then I leave the following Saturday for Mexico, where I'll travel around Mexico City for a while. A part of me is kind of sad. I've had a good time here, and made a couple of friends I think I'll keep with me. I don't have firm return plans yet, but I have to be back in Houston by December 10, since Jon graduates on Dec 14 and Nicole and Ryan arrive Dec 12. The kids and I will then leave for Playa del Carmen for a few days to chill and have Christmas together. As soon as I get back, I'm headed to Monroe, where Sue and I will take off for Oklahoma, and the Kouri Christmas. We'll be back just after the first. I'm planning more travel starting early in the new year, so I won't be in Houston long...just long enough to get different clothes!

Let me know when the Christmas party at TWU is.. If I can be back for that, I will!

Take care, all of you.

Earline

Company this week

Hi there,
This has been company week. Monday my cousin Sue came. She left this morning at 5:00am so I am a little groggy. My son Jon came yesterday and will stay until Sunday. So last night with both of them here we celebrated my birthday, with steak and chocolate icecream! It was great! It has been better to have them here though.

Sue and I went to Lake Atitlan again, just for the day. It was a neat trip. The lake is still beautiful. Jon and I don't know what we're going to do yet.
Love you guys,
Earline

Busy week and Earth Lodge

Hi there,
It has been a really busy week. I have basically blown off school for the last week. It was a holiday! Tuesday we built kites at the school, and then Wednesday we went to the top of the hill at the north (?) end of town and flew them. One of my friends said I should be an add...get a new hip and get your kite back!!! It was a lot of fun!

Here is the master kite builder, my teacher Miguel, with our kite...did I mention it flew right away!

And here is our kite in the air (I THINK it's ours!)

Here is a view of both our fearless kite-flying leaders (our Spanish teachers on a normal day!) and Antigua from above...

Another shot of the cross and some of the students from the school...

I was wandering around the other day and looked up to see this!

Thursday was a holiday here...Todo des Santos, or All Saints day. The big thing here is kites in the cemetaries, where it is supposed to attract the spirits. Some of the kites are huge! Some of the places have competitions and build these really cool kites. That is why we built kites at school. They are really cool! I was supposed to go see them, but I got the "traveler's disease" Thursday, and spent the day in my room next to the bathroom! Very restfull day, in a manner of speaking.

Friday a bunch of us went to a phenomenal place called Earth Lodge, about 3o minutes up in the mountains from here. This involves meeting in Central park where 2 pickups come for the 15 of us. We climbed in the beds, and flew up the hill. (Our driver was faster, just let me point that out!) We get to the middle of nowhere, and are dropped off by a path that goes downhill for about a quarter of a mile. That's right, getting in is easy...getting out, well let's just say it takes a BIT more effort!

Earth Lodge is run by a couple who have created this place out of nothing. It is on the side of a mountain, has a dorm, cabins, a sauna, and tons of hammocks, games, music, views, and some of the best food I've had since I've been here!!! We had mashed potatoes (of COURSE there was the gravy lake!) salad, roast chicken, cake (warm!), and just really good food. It was so good, we decided to stay for dinner the next night as well. They are doing a Thanksgiving dinner, and if we don't do something here, I may go back, if I can gear myself up for the walk out!

Here's a picture of the main reception area/movie room (behind the green door)/dining area/general cool spot to hang out...A typical seating area at Earth Lodge...

And the view during the day....

And at sunset....

Our crew playing twister...I was the official spectator...The twistermaster is Toby, from England. The girl standing facing the camera (sort of) is Frederica, an MD student from Sweden who will start working at the clinic I was working at Monday. The rest of the group is divided into Swedish and Dutch, but at the Lodge we had French, Spanish, American, Australian, Guatemalan, Dutch, and English travelers. I THINK I got all the counties, but it was hard to keep up. There were more Americans there than I'm used to being around, but it was kind of nice to actually understand ALL of the conversation (OK, well, MOST of it, since when we switched to Spanish I usually got the idea). I'm sort of getting a crash immersion course in Swedish, and it is not taking!!!

One thing I figured out last week...I've got to permanently quit smoking. I start, stop, and start again. But now I have the muscles to do what I want, but not the air!!! It's kind of cool, but it hasn't mattered in several years, so I didn't worry about it. Forgot them in the mountains, and one of the guys said "see...a sign!" He's probably right, so no mas! Now, it matters! I'm amazed. It's funny the little things I notice, like walking past someone on the sidewalk, actually walking faster than someone!!! Wow! And not taking so long to get anywhere. I'm really enjoying this.

Another interesting thing about this weekend is realizing there is a whole subculture out there which has opted out and are doing whatever they want where ever they want. I met a whole crew of people who had been traveling for a year or two...or more! They work when they need to, move when they want to, and just generally live a life far different from any I've ever known. They are not embassy, oil, military, or peace corp. They are just the wanderers of the world, with no more than 2 suitcases of stuff to their names, and more memories made in a year than most people make in a lifetime. It's very seductive to think about doing that. Makes me wonder if I really ever want to "go home"! Home, to these guys, is where you are, and there is always more to see.

Well, I'm going to stop now and see if I can add some pictures. Maybe we'll get lucky.(WE DID!!)

Jon and Sue come this week! Yippee!
Earline

More about the lake

Here are a few more pictures from the lake. Below is a beautiful house, looked like an Italian villa, but we're somewhere else!
Below is the view around the corner from where we were staying. The volcano is dormant, but wow...how beautiful!
A bride an groom were taking pictures on the dock below us. I'll bet they were beautiful!

This is Santiago. While we were here, we went to see one of the local sights, a "diety" called Maximon. This statue moves from house to house as determined by the leaders. Offerings are made (cigarettes, liquor, cigars, money) and healings are conducted by special healers. While we were there, there was a ceremony in progress, complete with incense, chanting, offerings, etc. But in the middle, the guy who was doing the chanting's cell phone went off! Cute little ring, and then the whole thing was interrupted by "Halo, halo...." It was a really funny juxtaposition of modern and ancient, and for heavens sake...turn off your cell phone in church!!!!
This is my hotel...I mean Elena's hotel...it's casa Elena. Pretty, huh...
I'll post this and see if I can load the pictures from last week and this weekend. Time is just going too fast!!!!
Earline