February 2012
3 posts
“Going for Water
The well was dry beside the door, And so we went with pail and...”
– Robert Frost.
As of February 8, 2012...
We’ve made great strides in our recycling program, which really means, we’ve started one for the first time ever and people have taken a liking to the idea of recycling and managing their waste differently for their own health and that of the community. Next up, trying to secure the last bit of funding we need to get our two recycling centers built.
Now that the rain has stopped and all has dried...
January 2012
7 posts
““You have to take risks.
We will only understand the miracle of life fully...”
– Paulo Coelho
““I thought I’d learned my lesson
But I secretly expected
A choir...”
– St. Vincent
It’s Summertime in Pilón
It is January 18 (when I’m writing this) and we are deep into the dog days of a Pilón summer, though they don’t use that phrase here.
Here, summer means trips to the river and long dirt-path walks home at twilight in wet shorts and t-shirts because, here, even a one-piece bathing suit shows too much skin.
Summer means steaming pots full of white rice dressed up for the season with the...
December 2011
12 posts
And, it's time to go back...
In Panama at 3:00pm tomorrow…or so says American Airlines.
Viva Panama viva!
It was amazing to be home but it’ll also be nice to get back to Pilon. I really do get the best of both worlds. How lucky am I?
“The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes.”
– Frank Lloyd Wright (via elige (via pinkseersucker)
I like sparklers: 10:09am on Sunday. →
pinkseersucker:
This morning is for: being a bit jetlagged, Michael Buble Christmas, missing The Brit, missing the way The Brit made me proper tea on holiday, watching Love Actually followed by The Holiday and wishing it was last Sunday when I was setting off for The Cotswolds.
but then…
This afternoon will be…
Click on and keep reading about her afternoon…
This, from...
November 2011
9 posts
“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And...”
– Maya Angelou (via libraryland)
Yes.
Gobble, gobble...up all the traditional Turkey Day...
But first, I had to get there.
Thanksgiving travel in Panama…turns out, just as un-fun as it is in the U.S. At least there were great friends, good wine and a grand feast at the end of it. Complete with [very] cold temperatures up in the mountains of Chiriqui, and a dance party to finish it all off.
Feliz Turkey Day/Night from here!
And tomorrow…beings the countdown to Christmas.
“Nothing is worth more than laughter. It is strength to laugh and to abandon...”
– Frida Kahlo (via neobutterfly)
From my mom and dad, to me here.
When those who shall not be named bear false witness, take solace in Shakespeare: “Wisdom and goodness to the vile seem vile” [King Lear] “Then to Silvia let us sing/That Silvia is excelling;/She excels each mortal thing/Upon the dull earth dwelling;/To her let us garlands bring.” [Two Gentlemen of Verona]
October 2011
9 posts
Cut your arm? No sex for you.
You remember the posmo that I wrote about last year? The Panamanian sickness that one gets when mixing cold and hot things in, or on, their body? Well, yesterday I learned about something even better than posmo, trumping it by a landslide, I’d say. How could there be anything better than a scientifically dubious bout of posmo, you say? Here’s how.
It doesn’t have a name, but when informing me of...
October 2011
I’m not quite sure how it happened, but this month for me is crazy busy. I seem to remember last October being similarly chock full of events, activities, to-dos, even though I wasn’t then even remotely involved in anything of great importance here in Pilón. Who even knows if I can say I am involved in things of great importance now, a full year later, but nevertheless my schedule is indeed full...
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be...”
– -Steve Jobs
Reblogged on my Mac.
(via valleygirldubs)
Also, reblogged on my Mac, from Panama.
“What is more important than the meal? Doesn’t the least observant [wo]...”
– Valéry
I wish Panamanians had this sort of mentality re: food…and more importantly, good food.
My name is Nick.
Nicknames (apodos or sobrenombres in Spanish) are so common here that the other day, when looking for a student in the Primer Ciclo, I asked a profe if he knew where I could find Jesus. Jesus? He looked at me inquisitively. Oh you mean, “Toto.”
Okay, yes, Toto. And sure enough, the profe knew where Toto was.
Some people have three, even four nicknames here. I’d say it’s common to have at least...
September 2011
6 posts
“The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect...”
– Nelson Henderson
August 2011
16 posts
“Do all things with love.”
– Og Mandino