The Honeymoon is Over - a rant

Where the blast is fall? That was the question I asked myself earlier this week as it all came crashing around me. Panama is ON MY NERVES. And I don't mean the language, the people, the culture, my house, the sloths or birds, the driving, the school, or the food. I mean EVERYTHING is just - oh, what's the word? ACGHK. Something like that.

Before you start feeling sorry for me, or worrying, relax. It is part of the normal transition experience. First is the honeymoon, when everything, including the noisy birds and the crazy driving, is just wonderful and marvelous! But one day, it hits, and suddenly everything stinks, and no matter how good it is, life is just THE PITS. And then the bats poop on your laundry and it rains all day...

I think I figured out what is really the problem - EVERY day here is the same! It's Groundhog Day, only in the tropics. You wake up, it's dark, then the sun comes up at 6:10, and it's hot. Sometimes the birds are loud, sometimes they're really loud. Sometimes there's a sloth on your porch... There's a boat in the canal, the sky is pink, with wispy clouds, and it's another day in paradise. I looked at my calendar the other day and said, "Holy COW!! It's almost NOVEMBER!!" Of course I KNEW this, but now it's in my heart and soul and I can FEEL the effect it's having on me.

Fortunately, next Thursday and Friday are vacation days. About bloody time. It's been a long haul, but we have only ONE full week of school between now and the end of the semester, and then a month at Christmas. I will survive...