Manchester......la la la!

In the middle of of a very good weekend in Manchester. Catching up with my old friend Joely. Her 2 beautiful daughters Sassie and Kitty are pictured here, a picture of son Jacob will soon follow. Had a meeting about a job on Friday, seeing them again on Monday....and then (hopefully) decisions decisions.

Houston....we have a problem!

Left Panama OK but the slender chance of catching my connection to London disappeared when we spent 20 minutes on the tarmac at Houston while the biggest aeroplane traffic jam I have ever seen (every one a Continental Airlines plane) was being sorted out. Still, its a nice hotel (free) and all meals thrown in! Time to ring room service!!

A week to go.........

So .... just a week to go before I come back to England, 6 months have flown by and I have had a fantastic time. Really pleased with my Spanish (but there's a long way to go before I am fluent). I have made some really good friends here and feel very comfortable with the idea of living here for a while. Top of the list of things to miss however will be this little fellow (Shlok) and his dad (my cousin Alkesh). We are very different but also alike in many ways and I am so pleased that our blood runs thicker than water, our Grandfather would have been chuffed.

Toxic Chinese Goods......

Toxic Chinese goods have been in Panama's news a lot in the last year or so. A toxin-laced cough syrup traced back to China lead to the painful deaths (by slow organ shutdown) of dozens of people here about 6 months ago. No surprise then that it should be Panama that detects the latest problem of Toxic Toothpaste, or that it should only become an international news item when the US gets wind of it several weeks later. It was some clever investigative journalism by the New York Times which followed the trail back to the original supplier in China.
This does however highlight the porous nature of Panama's free trade zone which is supposed to police the throughput of all goods, especially foodstuffs and medicines which supposedly require much more documentation regarding the age of goods, ingredients, and origins.

Leon's birthday

Judging from these pictures (and the fact that I am on the other side of the world) one might be forgiven for thinking that I was a little remiss in my Godfatherly duties.....but oh no, thanks to Leon's clever Mum & Dad, his Godfather was able to get him the pair of Walkie-Talkies that he had been eyeing up for a while, and I for my part sent him the photo message (thanks to Maruja & Gaby for their help on that one)

I can remember being the ripe old age of 11 before I got my first set of walkie-talkies. In retrospect I think my cap gun fixation went on far too long.

But guys, did you really have to make that beautiful boy make quite such a awful face?

Costa Rica...or "The Crackhead got the Nachos"

The tranquility of low rise San Jose, the ominous, rumbling presence of Volcan Arenal, the other worldliness of the outdoor thermal springs, the cool splendour of the Monte Verde cloud forest, the Pacific coast beaches of Manuel Antonio.....Costa Rica was and is AMAZING

It´s Panama for business, but it´s Costa Rica for pleasure

I met lots of nice people - Costa Ricans and Americans alike - and enjoyed myself no end

Never has the phrase, "bad decisions, good times" been so apt.
Pictures of "Edwardo quarente manos" will follow shortly

Check the flickr page for some pictures of my trip

I seek-a a week-a in Costa Rica!

At 11 am tomorrow, an air-conditioned coach will leave the Bus Terminal in Panama, with yours truly on board. A MERE 16 HOURS LATER, I will arrive dead on my feet in San Jose, Costa Rica.

As the world's worst ever Geography graduate, I am looking forward to finally setting my eyes on an active volcano at Volcan Arenal, followed by a few days on the Pacific Coastline around the Manuel Antonio nature reserve.

I can´t help getting the feeling that as great as Panama has been, I am about to enter a paradise without parallel. I may be travelling in hope (the best way to travel) but its a racing certainty that as the 16 hours will end in San Jose around 3am, I will be arriving in pieces!