What can I say?

View from our living room. These ships have just crossed the Canal.

The urban view from our kitchen

Ten days into settling in Panama City and what can I say but just that it has been "Love at first sight"?

Like I mentioned previously, we landed on a Saturday very late at night, had a "nothing" type of day on Sunday and then Monday came! We were up bright and early and off we went into the streets, shops, banks, dealers, veterinary, PO Boxes, properties and so forth to get our life into action as quickly as possible and with the help of this lovely and helpful people, the Panamanians and our realtor, we were very successful and oh man... are we very happy or what and I repeat: It has been "Love at First Sight".

Joel and I are so positively impressed at how sweet and kind these people are and I am not just talking about the people at car dealers or banks who HAVE to be nice to people, but instead, I am talking about people walking in and out of the elevator, general people on the streets who we ask some info for, people at the supermarket, at church... all good, amen to that!

Carlota got herself a cystitis so she has already taken 5 very painful injections... poor little thing.... on the other hand, if there were an ego meter, I am sure hers would be at its highest ever... EVERYBODY talks to her, amazingly delicious!! In the early hours of the mornings, when either Joel or I go down to take her for some pees and poos, we meet some 6 or 8 young kids who are waiting for their school bus. My friends, it's just so totally cute... as soon as they see Carlota coming out of the lift they say in Spanish things like: "Good morning Carlota" or "Carlota, how are you?" or "Carlota, did you sleep well?" and so on. So gorgeous! When we move flats, I'm sure Carlota will miss this welcoming committee she has here.

The other day I had a very memorable moment, those that reminds me how exciting it's to be a Latin person! One of these children, got into the elevator with me and in her best Latin passionate way of explaining things, she told me of the big debate that went on in the lobby after I passed with Carlota carrying a urine sample bottle (I was about to collect a sample of her urine to sent to the lab). Some of them thought that Carlota drinks her own urine and some other kids were sure she didn't, so apparently the debate went on and on for a long time, extending itself to the school bus. Now you tell me, are we not to be in love with this place??

Joel started with his new job this past Monday with a trip to Caracas (ouch, Chaves land) and is already back on full swing.

When I first heard of the invitation to come to Panama, all I could think of were their Noriega's days back in the 80's but after some research, learned that it is now history and that the Country has left that historical moment behind and that is very good!

Voila, Bridge of the Americas and the very entrance or exit to the Canal.

Also, it's kind of cool having left HK, located in one extreme of the Pacific Ocean and come to the very other extreme of that same Ocean, which here is "shoring" literally at our door. Also, it gives me a thrill to go over "the America's bridge"... the bridge that unifies 2 HUGE pieces of land... the North/ Central America through to South America... beautiful piece of engineering. Talking about beautiful pieces of engineering... yesterday we had lunch at a restaurant located at the very last bit of the isthmus, right by the entrance to the Panama Canal! Although I am not an engineer myself, but daughter, sister and wife of those, it gives me goose pimples on their behalf (not that they have asked me to) to observe this massive thing that is the Panama Canal. The original idea came from a French engineer in the 19th century. So in a rough translation into nowadays life, we can picture him in a happy hour with his colleagues drinking some French wine when he opened his mouth and said something like: "hey gentlemen, how about we slit open the bottom of Central America?" Can you just imagine the faces?? Anyway, the French didn't manage to finish their plan due mostly to tropical diseases that were abundant in those days and were decimating the workers. Today, the Canal not only has been at service for almost 100 years as it is being expanded!

Cheers to all the lost lives that were committed to its construction and cheers to this idea that was once a dream and is now a need!