Endless Summer

This may be the only year in my life when I have two full summers. I left the USA in August after enjoying a full New England summer. Now I am in the middle of Panamanian summer which lasts December through March. The weather in the foothills where I am located is quite similar to a New England summer, except a bit drier. The downside of my endless summer is that supposing I return to the United States in October 2012, I will also have a full year without summer.

Some of you may be thinking, but in Panama isn't it always warm and summer? It is always warm outside, but between April and November it rains enough to be called "winter".

The big news is that a carretera (highway) was built through my community. It is actually a dirt road, but it was a big deal when the machines and trucks arrived to cut through the walking path. I do not like the road because it is ugly and will soon turn to mud, but at the same time I understand why everyone was so excited about it. In time the road will have passenger cars so that people can leave without having to hike. The small stores will be able to deliver food without using horses.

With community members, we started building my house on January 4. It will be about 11 feet x 12 feet in dimension with a thatched palm roof. Currently the roof is about 2/3 complete because the moon is too bright to harvest more palm leaf. It turns out that when the moon is large and bright, all of the bugs are more active and will destroy the freshly cut palm leaves.

I can't wait until the house is finished and I can move in! I expect this will take another 3 weeks to get everything set.