panama = fresh fruit and great fish.

The fish below is Sea Bass in English. This stuff is amazing, and makes a wonderful snack, especially prepared like "Ceviche" on crackers. Grab some fish from your local market and enjoy it with me! Click the link below, seems super easy, super tasty!http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/238/Panamanian_Ceviche11581.shtml
I could have spent hours at this market just looking at everything and talking with the vendors. Luckily our trip to "El Mercado de Mariscos" last Sat. didn't smell thanks to my stuffed nose!

Close to the fish market is this fruit/vegetable market, with many street vendors and other shops in between. We concluded that a trip to the market to stock up on this fresh stuff is more economical and fun! The grocery stores by the appartment buy from these vendors, why shouldn't we :) Thought these pics might be a fun window into Panama life.

officially migrated.

(This is my "official" identification here in Panama, our visas got extended yesterday and this gives us 30 more days to get on the paperwork for our missionary visas. I feel like I belong!!)

Interesting Panama Factoids:

Population: 3,232,000
Capital: Panama City; 813,097 (2005 estimate)
Area: 75,517 square kilometers (29,157 square miles)
Panama means: "abundance of fish and butterflies" in one of the country’s s indigenous languages.
Average Life Expectancy: 74 yrs.
Average Literacy: 93%.

• Nunez de Balboa, a Spanish explorer, was the first European to see the Pacific Ocean from Panama (1513) Balboa is a word used for dollar, but most people just say “un dollar.” I thought my friend Laura was joking when she told me how to say quarter in English because it sounds like “quwada”…so similar! U.S currency is used interchangeably and the US Mint makes Panama’s coins.
• Panama Hats come from Ecuador not Panama. Sorry bro...I'll do my best to find you one!
• In most stores, there’s a sales clerk that follows you around. I was confused at first cause I thought they might be suspicious of me for shoplifting? But that’s just their job to follow you…its kind of annoying but I’m getting used to it!
• Almost everyone that I introduce myself to calls me Patty after they hear me say Patricia. Sometimes I say, "Solo(only) Tricia" or "Patricia sin(without) Pat"..ahah...they either laugh at me or continue to call me Patty. This has GOT to be stopped!! :)
• There has been general hostility between Panamanians and Columbians since Panama gained independence in 1903. The same year, the U.S bought the rights to build the Panama Canal and gained sovereignty of the Canal Zone and land either side of the it.
• But in 1977 General Torrijos negotiated a Treaty that led to the handover of the Canal, to Panama, at the end of 1999. That same year, Mireya Moscoso became the first female president of Panama. In general, women here seem to be mostly educated, strong and successful at what they do.
• The Netherlands, and the whole of Netherlands Antilles are major trading partners with Panama. GO DUTCH!! (I was pleased to see an abundance of “Maggi” products…made in Panama nevertheless but the Dutch name remains)
• There are seven indigenous people groups in Panama: Embera, Wounaan, Guaymi, Bugle, Kuna, Naso and Bribi. Walking around the city, I spot mostly Kuna women because of their distinct colourful clothes. The men and women are all extrodinarily short!
• The city is always really noisy, from my appartment there is a consistent layer of sound that I now find comforting. Drivers love to honk their horns for little or no reason, and there is no “saftey check” needed to drive a vehicle...mmm…large clouds of exhaust fumes.
• On campus, it costs roughly un dollar for lunch, give or take a few cents...rice, plantains, beans and some sort of meat. A popular dish here is called, "Mondongo" which is the cleaned intestines and stomach of a cow...I've tried it but I think I'll pass from now on! :S
• The climate is hot, humid, and cloudy with a prolonged rainy season from May to January, short dry season from January to May. School is out for holidays around December for the summer. What a strange Christmas it will be, a hot one seems quite appealing though..
• I have joined a bible study/cell group that meets every thursday night...I'm really excited about this opportunity to lead some worship there aswell as help out in any other way needed. I meet with people from the church I attend called, "Casa De Oración" and I'm pumped!

Anyways hope this has been informative and entertaining. I thank God every morning for this amazing opportunity to be on campus full time, talking with students, ministering to the needs, planning classroom talks and informing students about the community on campus...tommorow I'm leading worship at the weekly meeting. Such fun! Your prayers and support are still so encouraging, thanks for walking alongside me as this adventure in changing the campus continues...May God continue to be glorified as I am humbled by His sovereignty.

¡Que viva Panamá!

straight from El Dorado.

(the view from "Cerro Azul" was breathtaking, we stayed here for a retreat last weekend with about 25 panamanians and our canadain team for training/fun times!)

(hugging a massive tree at a nearby national park)

(looking out from the park, the wildlife at this rainforest consisted of gigantic spiders?!?)

As you can see, I am in heaven with the scenery here. Granted, Panama City is everything but green, it doesnt take too long to find the surrounding beauty. These pictures are backtracking a bit, cause Im sitting on the 9th floor in my appartment that overlooks the busy poluted city. But I'm so happy that this day has finally come. I feel incredibly blessed to be out of that limbo state I was in last blog. Despite the fact that we’re still working on how to keep our visas, or get them as official missionaries…I have a home, a phone…the Internet…a bed, a teapot. What more do I need? Last night I killed two cockroaches and they’re smart little buggers. Fun times!!

Today we were on campus from 9 till around 4 and it was amazing. I love Thursdays here because we meet at an outdoor amphitheater called TUAL…not sure why yet. But, its always really amazing to see how numbers grow each week, with so many students hungry for more of God. Its unexplainable joy really, worshiping in Spanish with many students surrounding…unexplainable, cause I know it’s the Joy of the Lord. These things just don’t occur naturally feeling all hot and sweaty/hungry and thirsty! I’m so glad we’re finally on campus. Learning Spanish is humbling but so much fun. It’s starting to sink in that this Panama stuff is pretty permanent now and I won’t have to leave for a while. Heaven!

Habakkuk 1: 5

The Lord Replied, "Look at the nations and be amazed! Watch and be astonished at what I will do! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn't belive even if someone told you about it."