Austin

cracking us

up on the causeway

Just some more images of the last few days in the City. Photo #2 -cargo ship in the canal; #3 - "Charlie's Angels" in Casa Viejo; #4 - a large mola made by the Kuna women; #5 - some of our brothers going to the Zone visit. The video is the singing at the zone visit in Spanish. Later today I will try and put some more photos and a few more thoughts on our overall experience. Also friends, if you were not aware, Austin had a separate blog: www.lookatmeitsaustin.blogspot.com.

Hola! We arrived in the City Saturday morning at 5:30. We took the midnight bus from David. We thought it would take 7 1/2 hours, but it only took 5 1/2! Dave took his Dramamine at the start of the trip. Around 5 he woke up and took another one thinking we had 2 more hours. So about the time we arrived at the station, the dramamine was kicking in. We made it to the hotel, but couldn't check in until 10:30. So Dave crashed on a couch in the lobby until the "drugs" wore off. Of course we had a little fun with it (see picture). After we had breakfast and checked in we did a little sight seeing with the Burkes. Then we attended the special assembly here. It was a Zone visit. It was held at the Rod Carew Stadium just outside the City. It was a 2 hour program, with a special talk given by a Bethel Speaker. It was based on the account in Psalms 84. The program was translated into English and Cantonese. There are only 13,000 witnesses in Panama, but there were 15,000 in attendance! That evening we went to dinner on the causeway with our friends and half of Bethel.

Sunday we started in the old town, Casa Viejo. Then we made our way over to the Canal and watched 2 large boats go thru. Pretty impressive! Today we went to the Gamboa Rainforest to hike.We didn't see as much wildlife as hoped. We did see more howler monkeys, sloths, the big brilliant blue butterflies and a crocodile. Our driver then took us to a little zoo that cost $1. We saw lots of monkeys and toucans. The rest of the day we hung out at the hotel with the Burkes playing cards. We had to part ways this evening. It was really hard to say goodbye to our new friends. Having their family there made our trip so much nicer. All of us were crying when we left. So this is our last night in Panama. This trip has changed all of us in so many important ways. We all feel incredibly blessed to be able to do this. I think we are all coming home with a new appreciation for living the simple life and what are really necessities. We also have appreciated how quickly and easily you can develop close friends when your goals and priorites are the same. We have met some amazing families and individuals and 5 weeks just wasn't enough time to spend with them. So, time is slipping away and we have an early flight. I'll try to write more tomorrow. Thanks for tuning in!