Lonely Panamanian

It's been over 8 weeks since Alex has been gone, and the long distance is coming to an end. As I type this, Alex is sitting at the Valdez airport, waiting to head back to Seattle, and then back to Panama. I can't wait for him to get back.  It's been fine, of course.  I'm fully capable of handling life on my own, but it's certainly not ideal.  I love hanging out with my best friend everyday, and the past 8 weeks have been awfully lonely without him.  Thankfully we have been lucky enough to make some amazing friends here.  I've never had so many people checking in on a daily basis, inviting me over for meals weekly, bringing me flowers to brighten my day, or just stopping by to say hi. Alex and I have always been fortunate to have extremely thoughtful people in our lives in the States, and Panama is no different.

Alaska has been a great experience for Alex.  He made lots of new connections with people and saw amazing landscape and animals.  He really enjoyed being able to hang with Travis so much and catch up with him before he officially becomes a dad :).

Here are some pictures of his adventures up there...

Exploring glaciers on his day off 

So much rain the job site flooded

Mama bear and cubs hanging around the job site 

Beautiful landscape 

As we roll into November, we find ourselves past the contract signing date of October 15th.  After many conversations over the phone, Alex and I decided we are going to stay in Panama for yet another school year, extending our contract until June 2017. Since I just started a new position, it would be great for the resume to have two years of middle school instead of one. Many top tiered international schools require at least two years experience in the field in which you are applying.  So, for that reason, staying made sense. We also considered the fact that the potential to move to Southeast Asia was likely, and we just aren't ready to move that far away at the moment, not with the events that have happened over the past few months.  Moving farther away does not sound appealing. At this point, we are happy to keep things as they are, and see how we feel next October.  It might be time to move back to the States, or continue this crazy international life.

Our upcoming adventures include a week to the beach and around the city with my brother Chris, then off to Argentina for Christmas and New Years!