Update # 7

Today was a day out on the town! We began our morning at 9:00am when the Hoffman's host came to pick us 4 up at Delores' house. They were so excited to take us out and show us the ins and outs of Panama. They had 2 guests with them...my reader's (Jessica) kids. First, they took us to the Botanical Garden. There were animals we have in the US, but there were some that we've never seen before. There was one that looked like a mixture between a pig and a hippo. Ha! It was the most weirdest looking animal. There were so many animals I couldn't describe it to you. We saw tucans, vultures, jaguars, monkeys, crocodiles, and different kinds of birds. The place was beautiful. That is one thing about Panama that the teams loves; it's the amount of green and trees and mountains that there is. You always feel like you are in the tropics. So, we spent a couple hours walking around the garden. We found a beautiful bridge that went over a swamp like thing. As I went to take a picture on the bridge, I glanced in the icky brown water and barely saw a head and some eyes looking in my direction..it was a crocodile! There were no fences, no walls, no nothing to separate me from the crocodile. I then froze, yelled and said, "Ummm, that's a crocodile, I don't think so!", and took off back to the path as fast as I could. Everyone laughed and told me that he wouldn't bother me. I still wasn't ok with the fact that there was a "free" crocodile just swimming around while we walk around near it. It freaked me out. But, I toughed it out and made my way (very quickly) to the bridge and took some pictures. We also had experienced a lizard encounter. Jaclyn & I were walking ahead of the group, minding our own business, when the tiniest lizard jumped in front of us causing us to scream. As the group caught up to us, we then pointed out the tiny lizard to the 2 kids. Terry had put his arm out for the lizard to climb on. The little boy (4 yrs. old) with us wanted to touch it but was so scared. Then, Taylor got it on her arm, and the boy tried to put his arm out for the first time, but pulled away really quick. While we are trying to explain to the boy that the lizard wouldn't hurt him, the lizard darted off Taylor's arm and attached to the boy's shirt on his chest. He screamed and slung it off of him so fast, we all began laughing so hard!! It was the funniest thing of the day. The look on that kids face was priceless. As we continued the adventure through the beautiful and "hot" Botanical Garden, Jaclyn & I noticed a huge fake cow. We decided to jump on and take some pictures with the cow. It's fun to be silly sometimes. :) After that tour, we then went to the place we'd all been waiting for...The Panama Canal! We watched a movie (in English) that told the story of the canal, then we walked through a museum like tour to the top of the Locke. We then watched the ships move through the Locke from the Atlantic to the Pacific side of the ocean. It was the most amazing thing we'd seen here in Panama. We stayed there for 2 hours, then made our way down the Causeway, which is a long road down the coastline. There are many restaurants and stores along the coast. We had lunch on the Causeway, and wanted to walk down it. But, the hard rain surprised us, which kept us from walking. We had stopped at a few souvenir shops. So many cute things for such a cheap price. Once we finally got back to Delores' house, it was almost 6:00pm. We had a couple boys that go to church with us, come over and hang out with us. Terry & Taylor wanted to head back to their host's house to take a nap, as did we. We put on ET and watched that (in Spanish...which was interesting) and took a nap. Terry & Taylor wanted to come back this evening to say goodbye, because Taylor is flying home tomorrow morning at 7:00am. We will miss our teammate so much! Taylor has saved us many times because of her fluent Spanish speaking skills. It just won't be the same without her. We love you Taylor!! Well, now the day is over and it's time to prepare for a church day tomorrow. So, we are hitting the sack. Goodnight.

With Christian Love,

Sarah