Impressions of Panama
Panama City cannot be Damascus, Syria, because there is no street called Straight. The streets follow watercourses, and run around any unevenness, rather than the straight and level cut-and-fill that I am used to. During morning rush hour, counter-commute traffic is as terrifying as commute traffic. Instead of two lanes in each direction, it becomes three in the busy direction and one lane in the other. Each direction is as crowded as the other, with no passing in the single lane. The surface of most streets was constructed by that French contractor, Mssr. deTour—very rough.
We are all immersed in Spanish day and night. Our speech rhythms will be ruined for weeks after we return home. Hearers will think we are talking down because we speak so slowly and distinctly. We are so used to acting out each word for non-English speakers that it is dangerous to stand too close while we are talking. I will have to sit on my hands for the first week after returning. Last night all my dreams were in Spanish—didn’t understand a word. Here, it does not matter, because everyone is both friendly, and too polite to point out errors in our pidgin Spanish. Well, some errors are so funny (or embarrassing) that the hearer cannot stifle a laugh.
The English readings are all taken from the Bible. Every day we discuss how we plan to explain unusual words in the next lesson, and in the process we have many disagreements about vocabulary. As a result, we spend several man hours daily gaining new insights into stories we thought we knew well.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
They're Here . . . .
They’re here!
The rest of our team arrived late Monday night, finally getting to bed by 1am. Our hard working folks hit the ground running working a long day in the tropical heat without the benefit of a good night’s rest. Great spirits continued through the day as the reading team continued to work with their readers and the construction crew worked at digging footings, hand mixing cement in wheelbarrows, and pouring new footings. Walter’s house is a crowed, chaotic, wonderful hub of all kinds of activities. I am happy to report that Shelia and Gertrue have successfully invaded the kitchen. The bad news is that we are now two days SPAM free, already we have the shakes… perhaps we can sneak out and get some SPAM. We continue to ask for your prayers for the work here and the people we are touching.
Mike Crowley
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