plans

just won 5 dollars at the crown casino! feeling the triumph of the winning streaks --- feel like a winner.

we´re off to rent a "four wheeler" to get us to the jungle tomorrow for hiking, horsebacking riding and other adventure-type explorations. after spending today trying to figure out panama with only internet as info and the urgency of limited time at our backs, we managed to put together an awesome itin -- two days of jungle, then back to panama city to take a quick tiny plane to the san blas islands, to stay on an island the size of nyc block, to swing gently in a hammock, eat seafood that has just been pulled from the ocean. you can get to the many other islands to visit indigenous peoples - the kuna, who have been there for centuries and are near autonomous from the rest of the country- by small boat, or by swimming!

http://www.enjoypanama.com/hotels/yandup-lodge.htm

besides planning, we had a leisurely sunday, walking around the city finding food and other necessities, seeing the canal, a soccer game, and, two trips to the casino. i have a terrible personality for gambling, the wrong one for gambling - very emotional, most of my attention focused on whether or not im "lucky" at any particular moment, and blaming various nonsensical people and events on my turn of luck. im all too likely to shun my loved ones for the sake of it - very scary. very attached - should really find a different way of thinking about it.

feels a bit helpless to be here with such a limited grasp of spanish -- am so dependent on ben for most everything. but am starting to at least follow along to some degree -- just takes such a long long time to process, and even longer to even think about contsructing my basic sentences, the conversation has long moved on. but, is fun to be here with a bilingua, so that i can get direct translation on everything so quickly...

off to process and get ready...