Thanksgiving

It was delicious. And now I'm gone til Monday. Yeahhhh

Coolest Dog Ever

I love Annie, and I'm not at all saying that this dog is cuter than her, but I must admit that it is a little bit cooler. This is our friend Steve's dog Murphy. We are going to steal him. Very soon.

I just found out this morning that I'm going to spend the weekend in Chiriqui (the red-orange province right by Costa Rica) to work with the Peace Corps on a sea turtle conservation project! I'm so excited!

Fishing Trip

First, another Halloween picture

My school!

Private beach! We just pulled up to an uninhabited island

Taboga island

No one caught a single fish. Oh well.

Halloween + more

I somehow didn't take a single picture at any Halloween party we went to, so I scanned facebook to steal other people's shots. I only found one picture from that weekend, but I came across a few other random ones spanning our time here. They're fun.

Animal Encounters

Last weekend at the beach, our neighbors had monkeys! So the guy brought over Pepe for us to play with. He had a little candy in his mouth, which he removed and offered to one of the guys. Haha.



I had the most interesting cab ride the other day. The driver looked hesitant to let me in the car. He told me he had an animal with him. I looked in the back seat, and saw something I have never seen before in my life. It had a raccoon's tail, but a face reminiscent of an anteater. It was adorable. I hopped in.

So the whole way home the driver told me all about Chuy, his beloved pet. He called it a gato solo, but I later realized it is what we call a coatimundi. Chuy is about the size of a cat, but he's only six months old, and the guy says he'll grow big as a dog!

Coatimundi - so you can get a full body shot

For Thanksgiving, us international students got invited to feast at a totally ritzy place downtown called the Union Club. Sweet.

Playa Gorgona

Panama is great because everyone in the city owns a beach house. I went with some friends from school and a bunch of local Panamanians to spend the weekend on the Pacific coast.

Steps from the door to the sand

While I was there I got incredibly homesick ... for La Boca (the neighborhood I live in). I couldn't believe how much I missed my housemates. We're just like a crazy little family in our big, gecko-filled, ant-infested house, and I missed it terribly for the three days I was away.

I just love this country. And a Panamanian told me I speak beautiful Spanish. Yay.

I feel like I am going to get so homesick when I go to California for Christmas, because this is where my life is right now. I mean, I have a Blockbuster card down here and everything.

Late October Overview

My pictures have been piling up from various random occurrences here in Panama. So here's a couple highlights I guess.

Chiva for Cynthia's birthday

Stephanie Murray, Jake, Stephanie Manciagli, Josh
I went to the Smithsonian Marine exhibit on the Causeway. It was pretty lame except when I asked an employee why one of the turtles was in a little pool all alone. It's a biter, so it has to live alone until its anger subsides and it learns to share. Hahahah

School here is so intense. There was a mandatory pumpkin carving contest for one of my classes. This is the Pumpkin Princess, created by Seana, Libby, StephanieManciagli, and me.
I hope we win.

Rainshower

Last night it rained so hard that my roommate Seana suggested we go outside and wash our hair. So we took rainshowers, get it?


We are going to make it some sort of tradition.

SAN BLAS

San Blas is an archipelago of 365 tiny Caribbean islands off the north coast of Panama, near Colombia. It is controlled and inhabited by the native Kuna indians. We stayed on Kuanidup, an island the size of a football field (seriously). Except for 4 old French people, us 35 FSU international kids had the island all to ourselves. It was incredible.

The tiny plane we took from Albrook airport! It's like a 30 min flight Plane view of my awesome location. I can look out the window during class and watch boats going though the canal.
Kuanidup - the island we stayed on

Stephanie and I volunteered to camp due to the cabin shortage
We visited a Kuna community on another island

My neighbor Josh

Roommate/tentmate Stephanie - haha she looked away

I finally attempted the "Panorama Assist" mode on my camera

It was an amazing weekend filled with hammocking, tanning, snorkeling, and some serious seafood. I can't believe I get to go back next semester!

Recently

No one believes that I'm really going to school here. I got a 98 on my chemistry test and a 96 on my psychology quiz. Yay

Some random pictures of from the past week:

Casino

Brooke + chicken?

Why does Rob have pet turkeys?

Tomorrow we are going to San Blas for the weekend! It's like a chain of 365 deserted islands. Did you know that 3 seasons of Survivor were filmed in Panama?