More mundane updates

For those of you wondering the outcome of the bed saga, I have good news. I’ve decided to use the wood from my bed to 1.) Make a bookshelf and 2.) Make a birdhouse, perhaps decorated with happy rainforest scenes. It will have to be a very big birdhouse as I have a lot of wood and not that many books -- maybe birdhouse for elusive harpie eagle who will decide to nest in my birdhouse, making me world famous birdhouse builder, thus surging demand for Perilla-made birdhouses to unprecedented levels. This will result in massive wealth which I will generously share with all those who paved my path to success, those who I like or those deserving of my generosity. Also with sales lady and cashier lady who sold me poor quality child’s bed. So all is not lost. One must think positive in these less than ideal situations. I have decided to go with the bohemian “mattress on the floor” look for my room and even found a foam mattress so now I’m about 14 inches of the ground which is better than 8. I also covered a red camping chair with a blue blanket and throw pillow to use as a lounge chair for my future guests, though only one can sit in the chair at a time. I am very proud of this achievement. I also bought some goblet style wine glasses for future house parties. I bought six but three broke by the time I got home. While disappointed, I wasn’t too surprised. But now I can only have three-wine drinking guests at a time. But it’s OK because I bought 6 shot glasses and none of those broke. OK, enough about my purchases…I seem very superficial if I keep going this way.

I have a cat now. I don’t know its name, so I just call it Cat. The cat actually belongs to Austrian lady, but as she is going to be in Austria all summer, it’s like it is mine. Cats being so quiet and making their presence hardly known, I forgot to feed it or give it water for two days…I felt so bad I made it warm Nesquick chocolate milk and lentils for breakfast yesterday and it was really pleased and ate everything. But now the cat follows me around everywhere and if I leave a cup out and unsupervised, it sticks its paw in and feeds itself. It’s actually pretty cute but I feel somewhat responsible for Cat’s bad manners.

Cats in general are not very fun pets, though, because they don’t pay me much attention and don’t let themselves be smothered. I am not a smotherer, but it’s nice to have the option once in a while. However, this particular cat has grown on me a little, so maybe one day, love will develop. It’s hard to say at these early stages of the relationship. It’s weird to think that anyone who loves me is at least an hour’s plane ride away. You take for granted those things, being near your family and friends and having people who care about you always nearby. But being I try to keep things trivial here, so enough of that.

In other news, I am going to try to start giving children’s arts and crafts classes. I am thinking of charging $15 per class. I’m not sure what a good price in Panama would be; yoga costs about $10 per class, but I’d have to buy materials and I think the neighborhood I’m living in is pretty well off. It would be nice if I could charge $20-$25, but I don’t know if that’s feasible. If I can get a few students, that could be my spending money and I think I’d also enjoy it. Maybe I can do private English tutoring too. I need to start earning a little more money and also figure out how to pay my taxes…

It rained crazy hard on Saturday. Almost all the streets were flooded at least 18 inches and most cars couldn’t even get by. I had to stand under a restaurant awning for almost two hours because the street was too flooded to cross without risking losing my flip flops. Also, water was pretty nasty looking and I was wearing a white dress which was a very bad idea and did not want to parade around in that state. Panamanians, like Colombians, have an almost irrational fear of getting a cold, as if a cold was Ebola or other always fatal disease. To me a cold is nothing, but they all look at you like you’re crazy to be walking around in even a drizzle. With yellow fever, malaria and typhoid, why worry so much about a cold?

I was sitting on the patio of the Duran Coffee Store in Clayton and was pleasantly surprised to discover the inside was very dark and café like. The patio stares onto a parking lot, but you can’t have it all. I kept seeing all these people with kayaks on their cars and that made me wish I was outdoorsy kayaking type because it’s good exercise and very romantic and I could purchase cool looking outdoor gear, but then I reminded myself to stop wishing for everything. Overall though, I am pretty happy with how things are in my life. I hope I am able to keep my job here and stay for at least two years. It would be nice if I was living the reclusive yet satisfying life of a children’s book author and dedicating my days to thinking of new ideas, drawing and writing, rather than working 9-5 job, but I have to do something in the meanwhile before I get there. Also, I am very nervous about getting there because what do you do after you’ve accomplished your life’s goal? It’s like growing up in rich in New York City. No matter what else you see in life, how can it ever compare if you’ve already seen the best of the best? Having something new and better to look forward to is half the fun in life, at least for me.