A lot happens in 25 years...

I'm now back in David, the town I lived in for a year so, so, so long ago. I thought I remembered nothing of panama city (PC), but equally David has changed a lot.

When I arrived in panama and went to the interior with Margarita, the radio station was having an 80's day, so the music was exactly as it was when I was last on these roads. Who'd have thought Kenny Loggins' "Footloose" could bring a tear to the eye...

Midnight Oil are also really popular here (as they were in Argentina), and still feature quite regularly on the radio. In fact if you You Tube the Oils you'll see a number of tracks with Spanish subtitles.

Took a bus from PC to David, hoping to view some scenery on the way, but missed the bus I was supposed to be on (I swear it left early), and had to cram onto the next. No window seat, and they all keep the curtains shut so saw nothing unfortunately (#9). They had a movie on the bus, "Titanic", in fact two movies - they showed " Titanic" twice! (#10). At least i now know the spanish for 'iceberg' ('iceberg', but said with a spanish accent), but if i need to say that during my Caribbean cruise, something has gone SERIOUSLY pear shaped... Met at David by my host mother and brother, and am back in my old room!

Went for a wander around town this morning, and at least found something familiar - the Post Office. I used to walk by there nearly every day and look into the glass fronted PO Box to see if any letters had come in, and hence remember it well!

I've been trying to contact old school friends here, via phone directory and face book, but have you any idea how many "Jose Carlos" and "Elizabeth Rosas" there are in the world? I have found one person who was a great friend, now living in PC, but I can see from her wall that she is not a regular FB user. Look at your profile Yadira!!! Later in the week I will go to Radio Chiriqui and see if they will broadcast a message. I hopefully only need to find one, who will then know others etc.

Panama had two schools per day, one in the morning, and another in the afternoon (still does). I was a morning student, and after school we'd go home and change, then meet up later at a particular corner of the town square. So I went back there this morning, but no-one showed up. I'm 25 years too late. Or maybe I was 3 hours early? Most likely though they no longer meet there I think? Would be a bit sad if they did...

Here's hoping the radio idea works!

Very interesting politically here at the moment, but I'll leave that for another blog when I've grasped more...

Hasta!