First thing’s first. Fanny packs are HUGE here. And not for tourists. For runners! I’m not talking about the small pouches that hold a house key and maybe a dollar or two. I’m talking about what you and your mom wore at Disney World at 1991. Eric and I took a walk along the Cinta Costera (by the water) towards the Fish Market and Casco Viejo (the old city) one night earlier this week. Eric had run down that way one morning – actually around 11 am when it was SUPER hot…not smart – and I wanted to see what was there. Turns out there is a whole park with a clock made out of shrubs, a playground, paths everywhere, grassy areas, gazebo/tent things…it’s really pretty and modern looking. Kinda Alice in Wonderland-y. You can’t really tell much from these pictures, but here you go anyway…plus a few of the view looking back towards the rest of Avenida Balboa.
So back to the important stuff. As we began walking home, I commented that I had seen more than a few fanny packs. So we started keeping track. I made rules – the tiny runner ones for just keys and whatever didn’t count, if you weren’t positive you saw it, it didn’t count – we were strict. In the space of about 20 minutes, we saw a total of 17 fanny packs. ALL on runners! What do they keep in there? Not water. Not big enough or oddly shaped enough for a bottle. How does that not bother them when they run? I don’t even like it when my shorts don’t fit right. I’m going to have to investigate further. If anyone knows anything about this, please let me know. I’ll let you know if I hear anything.
After that bit of fun news, I have to report the frustration of the week. The next door neighbors got a puppy. And I think they’re trying to crate train it. The stupid thing has yipped ALL night long for the past five nights. And everyone here keeps their windows open all the time because of the heat, so guess who hasn’t slept well in five nights? It’s awful. We’re getting used to the traffic noise, the car alarms, the sirens…but oh my gosh, the puppy. They keep it in their kitchen, and those windows are right next to our bedroom windows. Super fun. I’ve composed neighborly letters in Spanish in my head all week long, but I can’t, for the life of me, figure out what good a letter would do. Surely they’re aware that their dog is annoying. Surely they’re aware that we can hear it. What are they going to do? I think we’ll just have to find earplugs and tough it out until we move out of here.
Meanwhile, I’m also composing my review of this apartment for AirBnb.com. It helps me to deal with any imperfections I find. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fine place. There are a lot of great things about it. Eric thinks it’s great. I admit that I’m spoiled in a lot of areas and that I’m having a hard time adjusting to certain things. My internal review composition is a good coping mechanism for now.
Oh, and speaking of noises, there’s this odd one that we can’t figure out. Nearly every day, we hear what sounds almost like a Muslim call to prayer. It only happens once a day though, and I imagine that if it were a call to prayer, it would happen five times a day. Anyway, when it happens, we run to the window to try to see where it’s coming from. I’ve only seen the source once, and it appears to be a guy in the back of a pickup truck with a big speaker. He speaks quickly though and his voice is muddled, so I can’t even tell if he’s speaking Spanish or another language. And…that’s the whole story. I’ll let you know if that develops further.
Our Spanish teacher delayed the beginning of our lessons until Monday, so nothing to report there. I finished reading the Magicians trilogy by Lev Grossman that I had started before we left. It’s good. Worth a read, I think, if you like Narnia and Harry Potter, but a grown-up version. Not as epic, and no one will remember the name Grossman, but it’s entertaining. Anyway, all that to say that I decided I should be reading a book in Spanish. So I chose El León, La Bruja y El Ropero – The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I don’t think I ever finished the series when I was younger, and they’re easy enough reading that I can do pretty well in Spanish. So far it’s challenging enough that I’m learning, but easy enough that I don’t hate picking it up. I just feel like I’m reading any other book, only with a few more tricky words.
And one confession before I go…Eric asked me to play a nerdy Playstation game with him today. One of those where there’s a whole story and half of it is almost like a movie, then you fight a few guys, then chose what the character says. Anyway, for some reason, he wanted me to try to play, and it was raining, so I agreed. I picked this magical Maleficent-type character and he showed me how you can customize how she looks. I mean EVERY detail. I spent 30 minutes changing her face and picking how far apart I wanted her eyes to be and whether she should have a double chin (seriously, you can’t make this stuff up), gave her horns, then named her Pearl. What does this have to do with Panama? Nothing. I just thought y’all would get a kick out of it. Happy husband, happy life? Isn’t that how it goes?
