Beaching It

One should never be stressed on the weekends, especially when the weekend involves a beach. However the lack of time to use the Internet definitely drives gets to me just a bit. Luckily once I´m back out hearing the waves and drinking fresh juice, life is smooth again. Anyway, enough rambling about the Internet; I better spend my time writing a quick entry before breakfast.

Canoa is home on the weekends. It´s so relaxing and peaceful-especially this weekend. Starting Friday, alcohol has been banned to keep people from getting drunk before going to the poles. Today is a major election day. Surprisingly enough, the bars are actually closed, stores are not selling any booze and restaurants are also pretty much following the order. Tourists are here this weekend, but everyone is taking it easy.

Just so I can put up a photo or two, last weekend I went with a few friends to Isla de la Corazon. The island is well-known in the area for it´s mangroves and bird population. I think it has one of the largest frigate bird colonies in the world. We took a motor boat to the island, then took a canoe through a mangrove tunnel. We saw lots of frigate birds, herons and red crabs. Later in the tour, we walked along a raised pathway through the mangroves and up to a lookout point. Our guide, Francisco has worked hard to make Isla de la Corzon known as a tourist destination, partially as a way to save the mangroves. He is a very personable guy and completely self-taught. We ended the morning with a juicy snack of fresh pineapple slices and bananas. So tasty!

Sporting the Sexy Life Jacket

Mangrove Tunnel

Short story from this weekend. Yesterday afternoon I finally found time to hit the beach (the morning was filled with breakfast-which takes a while here, a trip to Bahia to stock up on snacks and mola, and the Internet). I was happily reading on a towel, soaking up the suns rays when suddenly I was overcome with salt water. I grabbed what I could of my stuff and ran for dry ground. The whole situation was so weird. With the crash of one wave, the tide briefly rose 25-30 feet. My friends, who were sitting under a cabaña in front of me were even worse off. Thankfully, my camera was in a ziploc. My clothes, towel and leather flip flops and daypack were a sandy mess (I pulled 3 handfuls of sand out of my daypack later on). The most unsettling part of the whole scenario for me was the fact that I was reading a friend´s book that is actually on loan to him from a professor. It survived, but I might be paying for new book in the future. Andres on the other hand, may have lost the use of his cell phone. And his beloved Panama had was ruined.

Dinner at Cafe Flor

Farm life is still a blast. This week as part of my course I transplanted basil, built a hot compost, made a small double-digging plant bed, and learned about various compost methods, ways to created plant bed and natural fertilizers. Every morning this week I was on pig duty. The poo is not the most inviting way to start the day, but I do love waking up to cute piglets. During the hours that did not involve animals or the course, I weeded beds, painted a cart and put soil into bags which will be used to grow seedlings. During the cultural afternoon I made my own mate bowl. It´s such a unique souvenir to take home, but it was definitely hard work. So the bowl doesn´t rot, I had to make sure every last bit of the flesh was extracted. Then I sanded the inside of the bowl and created a personal design on the outside.

Last night´s sunset

Okay...gotta run to breakfast. Hope there aren´t too many spelling or grammar errors. I also added a few pictures to last week.

Becky