Bullets and bronchitis in Bocas

Folks,

Well, I've done a visa run and now I'm legit until 8th September.

The pic of the week shows a house built out on the mangroves on the way between the Panamanian mainland and the islands of Bocas del Toro. The only access is by boat, and we stopped at this house on the way up to drop off a new DVD player and on the way back to pick the guy up and bring him to work.

Journey to Bocas
-----------------
Given the way the weekend went, the journey was probably the highlight! It was an early start, as I got the 6 o'clock bus from San José. I ended up knowing 3 people on the bus. One was a teacher who I interviewed when Barbara was away. She was going to Gandoca to do volunteer work with turtles. The other two were my former neighbours Olive and April from Canada. Olive now works with me in Intercultura and they were also going to Bocas on a visa run.

We got to the border town of Sixaola around 11.30. We got our passports stamped on exit from Costa Rica and then went across this rickety bridge like refugees to the Panamanian immigration on the other side. If you're from the US or Canada you have to pay for your visa, but if you're from the EU it's free.

After immigration it was a minibus journey to the boat. Bocas del Toro is an archipelago of Islands on the Panamanian Caribbean coast. The journey is beautiful, through mangrove swamps and with water perfectly reflecting the trees and the blue blue sky.

I was staying in the main town, Bocas, on the main island Isla Colón, or Colombus Island.

Bocas
------
The weather was beautiful the evening I arrived. April and Olive had travelled with me, and went to their hotel. I found a very nice and reasonable hostel nearby. We said we'd meet for a beer, but we never saw each other again!

I arrived on the Thursday, and on Friday I was out for a walk and it started to rain. I ducked into a nearby bar, and the rain was so torrential I had to stay the afternoon having a beer and reading my book. Something I've already said is one of my favourite things to do while I'm away. I was out on the decking of the bar, which was out over the sea, sheltered by a roof, but open at the sides.

So, because of the weather, it wasn't really possible to do much Friday. On Saturday, I woke up feeling really dreadful. I woke up coughing, and had no energy after I got up. I went back to bed and slept till 11.30. I went out to try to be productive for the afternoon, but only made it as far as the central square. I had no energy to go further. So I sat there for the afternoon, and finished my book.

Gunshots at the Hansi Hostal
------------------------------
I went back to the hostel, and rested for a while, so exhausting had my afternoon been sitting on a bench. Although the weather was beautiful for the day, it had broken in early evening, and there was a fairly dramatic thunderstorm. I had decided to get ready to go out to a nearby Thai restaurant and was sitting on my bed beside the window, starting my new book, when I heard this almighty crack. I thought that lightning had struck nearby. I heard shouts outside, and I looked out the open window. An American guy in a white t-shirt was lying completely prostrate across the street in the rain. I thought he'd been hit by lightning, but then remembered there hadn't been a flash. Then two police officers arrived, and shortly afterwards two police jeeps. So now a swarm of police activity.

The guy was shouting that he'd been shot at. He hadn't actually been hit. And the shooter had run around in the corner, in the direction of my Thai restaurant. So the police all ran off, and the guy was once again left on his own.

From my window, which I was sitting at, there was a garden of about six foot, then the street, and all this happened on the opposite footpath.

I spent about half an hour trying to decide whether to go to the restaurant or not. I didn't really have an appetite, but I so rarely get the chance of spicy food. In the end I decided to risk it, and had a delicious Green Chicken Curry and Mashed Potato Pie. Together with 2 beers it only cost €7.75.
-----
Well, that's it for this week. I was diagnosed as having bronchitis on my return by my landlord, who's an ex-pharmacist, and I'm on anti-biotics. So I hope I'm in better health next week, and I hope to sort out where I'm moving to by this weekend, because the end of the month is approaching pretty quickly!

Until next week,

Chao,

Éamon

Today's Headline in La Nación: Managers of appointed schools called the PLN (Political Party)