The new graduate and her husband.

She has worked very hard for a long time. Elizabeth started school (at her insistence) at age 4. She has been a dedicated student, always focused, always persistent, and always self motivated. She thinks I’ve been a positive influence but she has done the vast majority herself. I never told her to do her homework or asked her to go to class. I tried my best to provide good opportunities, and then tried to stay out of her way while she built her own life.

Elizabeth and I after graduation (photo taken by my sister)

Elizabeth was at the top of her class in high school, was an award winning cross country runner, and an outstanding oboist in the Florida Youth Symphony, all while taking AP and honors classes, and working part time after school. Her excellent grades earned her an undergraduate degree in physics at Florida State Universtiy paid for by the Bright Futures program, and then a masters and doctorate at the University of Texas paid for by her work in the physics department.

Elizabeth and Joel, who has been there every step of the way.

There was a party at Elizabeth’s house after graduation and I had an interesting conversation with one of her professors, another one of the few women physicists.  She said Elizabeth had not only done an outstanding job, but she was always kind to her coworkers, helpful and patient with other students, and never arrogant in spite of her considerable expertise. She said Elizabeth holds great promise as a scientist, and is also a wonderful role model for other young women considering a career in science. Because of Elizabeth’s success in the program, UT is more likely to consider other women interested in entering the physics program.

Elizabeth and Drew, and one of their three cats.

Elizabeth is married to Drew, also a very intelligent, capable, and successful scientist who works in the computer field. Next month they will be moving to Seattle, her to start her job at Microsoft, and he to work for Redfin. It will be very interesting to see how the next stages of their lives unfold!

Of course, there are more pictures….

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The only person missing was Elizabeth’s sister who has a brand new baby, but she was definitely here in spirit. We kept in close touch by phone, sent pictures, and carried her around the party by iPad so she could talk to everyone and attend from afar. Technology is a wonderful thing!

My week of bragging is up on Tuesday, well… bragging about this anyway. Tomorrow we’re going to CA to see my other daughter and her husband, and meet the new baby. There will be more news and pictures! We won’t be back in Panama for a couple more weeks but I will keep in touch from afar – maybe work on the website, study some Spanish, and do some other things between helping my daughter and son in law,  and spoiling my new grandson. Whew! What a month this is turning out to be.

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I asked the neighbors about the caiman and apparently it is very unusual to see one here. One neighbor who has been here for maybe 10 years had never seen one before. People swim in this river all the time and no one knows of anyone having a problem in the water. I wonder if his appearance here has anything to do with the low water levels, or maybe the recent heavy rain? I’m happy to say it took off when I got too close, so he didn’t seem interested in being close to me any more than I wanted to be too close to him.

A couple pics of the food court in the Panama City bus terminal:

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Yesterday we had breakfast in a hotel in Panama City, and today we had breakfast in a hotel in Austin. It’s an interesting contrast.
Panama – lots of fresh fruit (melon, papaya, pineapple, watermelon), yogurt, scrambled eggs, a couple meat products (ham, stewed hot dog/sausage slices), cheese, pancakes, toast, coffee, tea, fruit juice, water
Austin – hard boiled eggs (very hard), scrambled eggs that were a bit odd, very sweet muffins that tasted like chocolate brownies, low fat yogurt, white toast, plain white bagels, waffles, cereals, coffee or tea

A couple pics of Panama City:

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US people seem so much bigger, so much taller, but also heavier. The Panama breakfast seemed better balanced than the US breakfast which was so sugar and white carb heavy. I know not all breakfasts are like this in the US, but it sure made for an interesting comparison. We’re also not used to people who smoke so it’s been odd to smell smoke in many places.

But overall, the trip so far has gone very smoothly. We took the bus from David to Panama City. It was a bit chillier than usual even with a sweater but it is a comfortable trip, and now that we are getting more used to the trip it didn’t seem especially long or tedious. I did notice that central Panama still looks quite dry and brown though. Send in the rains!!

We stayed at the Hotel Costa Inn in Panama City – Avenida Peru and 39th St. It had mixed reviews but we thought it was fine. It’s older and showing it’s age, but it was very clean and comfortable, the staff was very pleasant, and it was certainly nice enough for a decent place to sleep. At $66 with free internet, breakfast included, and a ride to the airport included (which would have been around $30 in a cab), we thought it was an excellent value. We would definitely stay there again.

We had a layover in Houston. What is it with the 10 mile hike from the international flights to the domestic flights?? It’s that way in Miami too. Thank goodness we had a 1 1/2 hr layover because we needed every bit of it. We were the last to board our flight to Austin, but we made it and all was well. The TSA inspected one of our bags though, which caused enough delay it didn’t make it on the flight so we didn’t get it until this morning. United gave us a care package of toiletries and had the bag delivered to the hotel, so they did what they could to make it easier. We know to have a couple days of necessities in the carry on’s, so we’re fine.

We’re at the Quality Inn in Austin (6911 N Interstate Hwy 35 78752). It’s also a less expensive hotel, older and showing its age, but it’s perfectly comfortable, clean, and adequate for our needs so we’re happy here.

Tomorrow is graduation and related festivities, so there will be news and photos! It’s going to be an exciting weekend and a great couple weeks in the US.

So in the interest of blog research, of course, we decided to investigate. There are a couple places on the west side of town, one with signs advertising $10 options.

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Privacy is a priority. There are walls in front so when someone drives inside, they cannot be seen from the road. Once they are in a garage, they are totally out of sight. I believe the one we visited was typical of how things work. When we got behind the wall, we saw a line of garage doors. Some of the doors were open and through them we could see signs with the basic prices of the room ($10, $12, or $25. We chose a $12 room).

When you are in the garage, there is a button on the wall that you push to close the garage door behind you (this is where the name Push Button comes from).  There is a slot in the door and you are supposed to put your money in there. The staff is alerted by the garage door button so they come pick up your money and then unlock the inner door. Then, you can enter without ever being seen by them.

I was surprised by the room – large, pleasant, very clean, and comfortable. I expected something a lot more basic. What would you get in the US for $12? They provided clean towels wrapped in plastic (along with a bar of soap, a couple hard candies, and a condom!). There was air conditioning, almost worth a visit itself on a hot afternoon. There were menus on the wall for food and drinks – a very good selection at reasonable prices, everything from light snacks to full meals. If you order something it is put in the box at the back door, and you then slide your side open and pick up your order.  We didn’t get anything to eat so I can’t comment on the quality of the food. But, you definitely could stay for as long as you wish with all your basic needs provided for.

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When you want to leave you call on the phone and tell them you are ready, and go get in your car. They check the room to be sure you haven’t run off with anything, and then open the garage door so you can drive off. So, from arrival to departure you can spend the entire time there without ever seeing another person or being seen by anyone.

We were seen though because I didn’t understand the slot in the door thing when we arrived, and the staff gal had to open the door and ask for the money. But, she was really nice and polite. I’m sure she had a story to tell her coworkers about a couple old, confused gringos! I’m glad we went though. I have seen these places for ages and was very curious. This one was a lot nicer than I ever expected, and didn’t feel the least bit sleazy or funky. Maybe we’ll have to go check out some of the others. I’ve heard stories about themes for decor, hot tubs, and who knows what other fun stuff.

I asked my friends about the push buttons, and was told they are also called push buttons or just push in Spanish. They were surprised and she giggled when I told them of our plans, and both said they have never been to such a place. They live with a son, a daughter and son in law, two grandsons, her mother during the week, and his mother on some weekends. If it were me I’d go just for the peace and quiet! But, I also didn’t get the impression that they thought these places were bad, just something they themselves didn’t use.

Our friend Ryan did a video of his visit to a couple places, and the first one he talks about is the same one we visited.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WarEbQLephw  He just went behind the walls though, not into any of the rooms, and he is a bit more judgmental of the concept but it’s still interesting. Of course human nature is what it is, and some people will have more interest than others in not being seen together. But, from what I have read, the most common danger is people leaving their car on in the garage and becoming overcome by the carbon monoxide. Like anything in life, a good dose of common sense is in order.

Reblogged from FindingMySelfinPanama:

This weeks photo challenge is patterns. To me, a pattern is something that repeats, a predictable element - an idea, a color, a texture. I had no idea where I was going to go with this until we took a walk down to the river this morning.

Many types of grass are flowering, and when you look down on them the flowers look like stars, or snowflakes, or patterns of lace.

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There were many leaves with interesting color patterns and textures.

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A few other things that caught my eye.

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It was very late in the day when we went down, and so dark we were glad for our flashlights as we made our way back up to the street. The photos have a dusky bluish tint because of the low light, but you can see how muddy the water is. It’s quite different from the calm, clear water of less than two weeks ago.

It’s good to have the rain. The air is cool and comfortable. We already went out on our bikes this morning and we have no where else we have to be. The electricity seems to be hanging in there, so what does one do on a rainy afternoon. Update the website!

I’ve had the website for quite a while but haven’t done a whole lot with it yet. I’m sure it will always be a work in progress, but I have made a bit more progress today. Hopefully it will be a useful place to visit for some of the many people who are interested in learning more about this part of the world.

• I did a lot of work on the information page. It has links to all kinds of things we have written about. 
• There has also been a little work on the links page. If you have a site or know of a site that would be good to include, please let me know.
• I have installed a program that alerts me when there is email from the contact us page.  I thought I had it set up to foward to my regular email account but it didn’t work out that way, so when I went to look at the mailbox I discovered it has some really old mail in there (how embarassing, and thankfully these folks also contacted me here). Now I have something that pops up a window on my computer and won’t go away until I attend to it.
• I have added some new banner pictures to mix it up a bit.

Zemanta brought up some news articles (which are all pretty much the same article). It’s interesting though to see how our water problems in Panama have made the news in so many US newspapers. I’m curious about the canal – two ships in a lock at once? Those ships are SO big! I’ll have to watch the webcam and see what is going on. I also like the Live Marine Traffic page to identify the ships. Right now I see a cargo ship from Denmark entering the Miliflores Locks, and another from Libera in Miliflores Lake.

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Reblogged from FindingMySelfinPanama:

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Kris and I had always wanted to visit "Raquel's Ark"  in Volcan. I first found Raquel's posts on Gringos in David where she has often mentioned that people are welcome to visit and see the various animals. Raquel says "I have an organization called Raquel’s Ark that was set up to help injured or abused wildlife of Panama.  I am located in the mountains of Panama near the Costa Rica border. 

Read more… 292 more words

For more information see the articles on Wikipedia, yourpanama.com, La Prensa (in Spanish), and Portal of Tourism of Volcan,

The site is on a private family farm, and the owners are the custodians of the site and the artifacts.  You can see stone carvings, ceramic artifacts, and excavation areas. Many of the stones are unusual because there is little to see until they are wet, and then the designs become visible. The boy who greeted us on arrival requested $3 per car to walk around on your own, or $3 per person for a guided tour. The owner was busy with another tour so we decided to walk around on our own.

Our friend Ryan has also visited this site and made a video of his trip. The link is HERE if you want to check it out. He took the tour so in his video you will see the owner explaining everything, and there is a lot of very interesting information.

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I expected to see artifacts, but I did not expect to see so much other beauty. It is a spectacular area full of flowers, trees, and many birds. There are paths for walking, and I really enjoy exploring this area.

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This was only one of our stops on this trip to Volcan. We visited Raquel’s Ark, and I will repost Joel’s blog post about that visit. On our way home we stopped by a Janson’s Coffee Farm. We were tired and didn’t have enough time to really explore this, so we will return on another day. It’s a beautiful spot with a lot of things to do, and looks like it is well worth a return visit.