A little chain of daysies

I have one week left here in Panama. Just one week. Just one week. Just one week. Just one. One.

On one hand this is good because it means I'm going to Colorado and I get to see my whole family and meet my mom's new dog, and continue to put off reality. On the other hand this is bad because I eventually must return to said reality (thank you for reminding me so often, Georgetown).

As Kacie so astutely pointed out, I have two months worth of mail that Alsn has been politely picking up off my floor. I should open it. But really, my fireplace is so convenient.

This weekend Tim and I tried to fit in the last few things around Panama City that we didn't want to miss out on: a couple of museums, some time in the pool (he never gets to use it), a trip to Taco Bell (no, that's not a joke), a fish fry, and on Saturday a few Panamanian friends came over because they wanted to try my chili (and a greek salad and chocolate chip cookies...mmmmm).

The best part of the weekend may have been that we actually finally found the only bookstore in Panama.

Let me back up a little bit.

Panama has the biggest mall I have ever seen in my life. No, it's not bigger than Mall of America, or that crazy mall in Dubai, but it's huge, and you can buy just about anything you can imagine there (Refrigerators? Bowling balls? Cartier? Churros?) HOWEVER. There are only two "booooookstores." We will not call them bookstores. The first is called "El Hombre de la Mancha" (cute, right?), but the selection is bad, bad, bad (2006 NFL guide? why?) and half the tiny store is occupied by a cafe... in a mall with approximately 12 McDonalds. The other is a Christian book store, which Tim called "the propaganda store" and we won't discuss here any further.

But then, GLORY BE. We discovered a place called Exedra Books in downtown Panama City. The selection of English books is more "Airport Borders" than "Library of Congress" but really, it's a Spanish-speaking country, so that's totally ok. I was just glad to find a real bookstore, with... atmosphere. And, uh, books.

Don't people here read? How can there only be one legit bookstore in the whole country?

I believe we spent something like 3 hours there. But I have to say that three hours in two months is a new record for least-time-spent-in-a-bookstore for me.

I'm a schmuck and I still don't speak Spanish, so I got The Lost City of Z and Pudd'nhead Wilson, and Tim got a play called "De Barbados a Panama" written by a local woman (in Spanish and English), about her grandparents coming to Panama to work on the Canal. Because what I really needed to do was support the Panamanian economy, and put some more weight in my suitcase.

Later in the weekend, we went to Casco Viejo (this is a picture of the metropolitan cathedral) one last time and then to the Fish Market (El Marcado del Mariscos), of Anthony Bourdain fame. The only thing is, ehhhh, I love fish but I don't like to have to cook it myself, and I'm not a celebrity (*cough*cough*), so it's not really the same. I bought a pound of shrimp (ignoring the horrors that come from peeling and deveining the bastards later), and a half a pound of what I can only describe as "mini-lobsters." They weren't crawfish. They weren't lobsters. They weren't those weird langostino things... but the were delish over pasta with white wine sauce.

Weekend accomplished.

N.B. You may have noticed that I redecorated. I like it. I hope it's not hard to read, or somehow insulting to your refined sensitivities. The only problem I can see is that, before, yellow was my favorite color for, um, vociferating, and that color is totally illegible in the new design. So I've got to go through my old posts and fix the text color because it's not automatic.

I haven't decided what my new favorite shouty color will be. I wish I could always shout in color.