Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Help! I'm Having Too Much Fun!


What can I say! I'm definitely keeping busy! Here I am at my first Chica event. We are eating at a very nice secret Italian restaurant in Boquete. Notice the open windows behind me that lead to a soothing river. After the dinner, several of us went to a cute "adult" play called Social Security. I spent the night at Penny's house (she formed the Chica group & is sitting to my right). Instead of the ocean, I listened to a babbling brook while I slept that night. The next day, Penny graciously gave me the VIP tour of Boquete, then she left for a 10-day vacation in Cuba (why? because American's aren't allowed in Cuba & she likes to go where she is not allowed). I drove back home to prepare for my midnight hike up Volcan Baru. I "thought" the midnight hike left at 12:00 a.m. on Saturday. I drove back up to Boquete & met with Gordon, the leader. I spent 4 hours sleeping at Penny's house, then drove to the meeting spot (near the turnoff to Volcancito). When my watch said 12:30 a.m., I called Gordon's cell phone (thank God for Panama cell phones). He answered after a couple of rings & said, "Elaine, you have the wrong night!" OK! Now I had to face one of my biggest fears - driving at night on a WEEKEND just after payday! Luckily, it was a beautiful moonlit night (perfect time to ascend he volcano) & I made it home without killing any drunk walkers. I drove up the next afternoon (after consulting the email that said the hike left at 12:00 a.m. on SUNDAY), stopping along the way to visit friends Don, Mirna & Wesley. They have a finca (farm) full of pigs, chickens, and cows. I had a nice visit and tried to drive back up to Boquete to sleep again before the hike. Hummm. The keys are locked in the car! The Kia automatically locks & I had left the keys in the car! Don used a slim-Jim & opened the car, but by this time, it was dark, raining & I was loosing my motivation. Mirna suggested that maybe God was trying to tell me something (like don't go up the Volcano, you idiot). So, I spent the night, putting off the climb to another day. I don't know if Gordon's group went up the mountain or not. I could see moonlight at 3:30 a.m., so maybe the trip was a success. I'm hoping for a more mellow weekend with a new Chica friend, Louise. Maybe we'll play some bocci ball, bird watch and eat some Caribbean Organic Chocolate.
Saludos,
Elena

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hello Elaine, it's your cousin's wife, April, just stopping by to say, "Wow, am I jealous." We are having Thanksgiving w/Britta, Don & MaryEllen. I hope you are having a great holiday and I will stop in to look at those gorgeous pictures of your new digs!

April Borgeson