Salma at Casa de Fruta

Quick Note: my house in El Valle de Antón is for rent. I have dropped the rent a little and it's a great bargain. See it here: http://www.CasaPanama.com

I usually pick up my daughter Salma at Casa de Fruta on the weekends. Located on Highway 152 in the coastal mountains of Northern California, Casa de Fruta is a roadside stand gone wild. True to its name, it sells a vast array of fruits and vegetables, but also sells nuts of every imaginable variety and flavor, condiments, and chocolate covered delicacies; in addition there is a large candy store, an ice cream shop, a burrito shop, a wine shop, a restaurant, a gas station, a motel, a miniature train for children to ride on, a carousel, a playground, a duck pond... it has become a destination in itself. Salma always enjoys her time there.

Here are some photos of Salma taken in early May, the last weekend I spent with her before my Panama trip (and one photo of Casa de Fruta's fruit selection):

Salma at the Beach in Alameda, California

My daughter Salma recently attended a birthday party at the beach in Alameda, California. This is not an ocean beach but a bay beach. Here are some photos:





Salma's not in this last photo, but I think it's cool the way downtown San Francisco appears so close, as if it's just across a narrow strip of water, not on the other side of a broad bay.

Last Month in Panama

Salma's second birthday is coming up soon. Unfortunately I'm still here in Panama, but I'll be back in the USA in a month and I'll give her another party at my parents' house, Insha'Allah. I have finally begun sorting things for packing, but my first priority is the car. I went to Panama to renew the plates, but I forgot that first I must get an inspection, and also the insurance expired on July 3. Both are requirements, so I will get the inspection, renew the insurance for another year with basic liability coverage only ($150 a year), then renew the plate, get the wiper tank fixed, and put the car up for sale. It's a good car (a great city car), a 2003 Nissan Sentra in excellent condition, and I'm hoping for a good price.

I noticed recently that a leafcutter colony had set up shop in the front yard and was systematically stripping a willow tree. The leafcutters worked only at night, so it took me a few days to realize what was happening and by that time half the willow was bare. I located the leafcutter nests and pointed them out to Listo, and he put some kind of poison in the nests, so they have disappeared.

Rosa's on vacation for a month. Panamanian employees are entitled to a month's paid vacation every year, and this is her second year. The house is gradually getting a bit dirty, though I've managed to keep the dirty dishes from spiraling out of control by using only the same few plates over and over. She'll be back August 3rd, in time to clean the place up for the tenant if I find one. I do miss her cooking. I've been eating cereal for breakfast, tuna fish or peanut butter sandwiches for lunch, and either going to Mar de Plata for dinner or just skipping it altogether. Been eating lots of fruits as well. Between that and my nightly walks (to relieve boredom/loneliness and get out of the house) I've dropped a few pounds. I've become much more regular with my prayers, even waking up at 5am sometimes for the morning prayer then going back to sleep. I feel good about that and I think it's helping me cope with this transition.

I've decided to hire Bill and Adam Brunner to manage the house rental. They have experience with this, they have contracts already prepared, and their fees are reasonable. And it's handy that if anything breaks, Adam himself can fix it and deduct the fee from the rent. He will deposit the rent in my account at Scotiabank and the bank tells me that I can transfer the money by sending them a signed fax request. There's a fee for that of course, but I see no alternative. The Scotiabank ATM card does not work in the USA, and Paypal doesn't work with Panamanian banks.

***

Chris had to drive her car to Panama last Thursday to get it inspected and get a new plate, and she asked me to accompany her as she has never driven in Panama city before, so I agreed. She also ferried me around for my usual errands. I closed the Mailboxes Etc. box, by the way. We ended up in Calidonia in late afternoon where she got a cheap hotel room at a place called La Cantora, at Avenida Mexico and Calle 32. I was planning to head back to El Valle, but Chris suggested that I get my own room and stay the night so I could go to Jumah prayer next day. So I rented a room for $23, a fairly small room with dingy walls and no blankets. It did have clean sheets, a comfortable bed, cable TV and AC. We went to Multicentro in the evening and ate at the food court and then saw a movie! My first movie in Panama since Salma was born. We saw "The Happening" which turned out to be quite creepy, and it didn't help that the picture was slightly out of focus and washed out, and there was a large white streak in the center of the screen.

Back in the room, I discovered that the AC was neither adjustable nor automatic. There was a switch on the wall to turn it on, and it stayed on until I turned it off. The room quickly got very cold and there were no blankets (yes, that's right, no blankets). So I slept in my clothes and when I got very cold around 3am, I turned it off for the rest of the night. All in all it was acceptable for $23.

The next day after Jumah I accompanied Chris to the auto shop, and we headed back to El Valle around 6pm or so. We stopped at Quesos Chela on the way back - Chris had never been there - and I bought some Lebna with Zatar, which I actually have not tried yet. I had not given Lil' Fishy any extra food before I left and she was practically climbing the walls. It's alright, one day without food did not kill her. Not with that belly of hers. All in all it was a good trip and I got to know Chris a lot better. I discovered that the core of her identity is a dedicated teacher. She's very serious about teaching and making a difference in the lives of the children. I wonder how she will cope when she retires and moves down here full time. Maybe she'll get involved in teaching the local children. The schools could certainly use the help.

I eat out with my friend Cleo about once a week. I pay for his dinner but in exchange I get to practice my Spanish. His cute little daughter Anaidili got burned. Somehow some hot soup spilled on her and she was burned on her shoulder and chest. The hospital bandaged her and gave them some salve to apply daily, and Cleo says Anaidili most likely will not have a permanent scar.

I went to the video store the other day and when I was leaving little Alejandro was walking home from school with his mother. He's a little boy who is five or six years old but tiny. He lives near the video store and whenever I went there he would run around with Salma and teach her games. He looked very cute in his school uniform. I said hello to him and he said to his mother, "That's Salma's papa!"

I'm planning to give many of Salma's baby things to our neighbor Maria for her baby Emily, such as the bouncy seat, the blue bathtub, the boppy, etc. I'll bring some toys with me and the rest I'll distribute among babies Katleen, Anaidili, and Ani's son Antoney. As for the crib, I guess I'll try to sell it, I don't know. Very unlikely that any renters would need it, as most of them are retired couples.

Salma's Visit With Her Grandparents in Fresno, California

Some photos of Salma during her recent visit with her grandparents (my parents) in Fresno, California. We call her grandmother Nena, and her grandfather Giddu.

Salma May 2008

Some recent photos of Salma at the local park in Palo Alto, and at the Children's Science Museum in San Jose (I think).

Frogs; First Rain; Weighted Walks; Rosa

We had a few light rains last week and the toads and frogs have come out in force. Some are quite large and must have been hibernating all summer long. They are everywhere in the road. Yesterday evening driving home from dinner with Cleo and his son Caliler, I stopped the car four times to shoo the frogs out of the road, so as not to run over them.

We had our first long, heavy rain this afternoon. Looks like we're easing into the rainy season, or perhaps we are already there. I checked the entire house for leaks and so far just the same minor leaks in the foyer area and the center of the living room that we had last year. We meant to have those patched but never got around to it. Now it'll have to wait until next summer.

I did another of my 30 minute "weighted walks" this evening, wearing a pack holding two 30 lb dumbbells. I would have liked to go longer but the strap was really cutting into my chest. I need to figure out some way to carry the weight more comfortably, maybe by padding the straps with something. I enjoy walking at night, and with the weight it's the equivalent of a one hour fast march.

I managed to get Rosa all booked up six days a week, out of which I will employ her two days. I needed to cut her hours back to save money, but I wanted to find other work for her first, and I'm happy that I was able to do that.

Laura tells me that Salma has learned the word "heavy" - more or less - and now everything she carries is "heawy, heawy!" She's been having some long crying fits and nothing comforts her. I know she is missing everything and everyone she has grown up with (except her Mama, of course). I may return to California to be near her later this year, in which case I will most likely rent out this house in El Valle. I will not sell it. This is one of the beautiful, peaceful places of the world and I hope this house will one day be passed on to Salma, who is a Panamanian citizen as well as an American, Egyptian, German, Muslim.

Begone, Duende! Let my Daughter Be

Has Salma seen a duende? More likely she is just going through a phase. It started about four days ago, at least that's when I noticed it. She was in the bedroom watching an Elmo DVD that we recently got. Normally either Laura or I am in the room with her, but at that moment Laura had gone to the kitchen to get Salma a snack. Elmo is pretty harmless anyway. Suddenly Salma came running out of the room, crying.

Ever since that moment, this is what we're going through:

Salma will not stay in any room alone, even for a moment. If we're playing in the living room and I get up to go to the bathroom or get a glass of water, she will whine or cry and follow me.

Salma refuses to sleep in her crib, until she first cries for an hour or more. I (or Laura) hold her, sing to her, she falls asleep, but as soon as I try to lay her down she clutches my shirt and cries. If I set her down she will scream and cry. The only thing that will work is for me or Laura to sleep in the bed that is next to her crib. Even then she cries and wails before settling down.

Same thing for daytime naps. She will not sleep on her own. She cries and screams as soon as I set her down. Even Ani cannot get her to sleep.

She has also become very insecure. She used to be intrepid, exploring everything, approaching everyone. Now all of a sudden everything frightens her. I picked up the vacuum cleaner the other day - it was off - and Salma ran away just at the sight of it.

As a result Salma is exhausted, so she whines cries all the time and doesn't want to eat. She's a total basket case, and I am becoming one too. It's wearing me out. What on earth is going on?

Meanwhile Rosa is out sick, apparently with an infected molar. Her husband Claudio came by today and I gave him Rosa's pay for the week to pay for her medical care. I mentioned to him what was happening with Salma, and he said very matter of factly, "Maybe she saw a Duende."

Because of a discussion I had with Corrin Skubin last week, I just happen to know what this is. A duende is a mythological figure similar to a fairy or goblin. According to some, it's a goblin or elf that appears in the form of a dwarf and takes small children.

Wikipedia says, "They are believed to be of a small stature wearing big hats whistling a mystical song while walking in the forest. Using their talent they are believed to lure young girls to the forest and causing them to lose their way home. Conversely, in some Latin cultures the Duendes are believed to be the helpers of people who get lost in the forest so they could find their way home.

In Hispanic folklore of the American Southwest, Duendes are known as evil, green-skinned, red-eyed little monsters who live inside the walls of homes, especially in bedroom walls of young children. They attempt to convince children to misbehave, and will eventually try to steal a child's soul."

It's true that I sometimes hear noises coming from inside the air conditioning unit in Salma's room. Laura has mentioned that we might have mice in there.

In all seriousness, though, I hope Salma gets over this problem soon, Insha'Allah.

Salma Playing in the Yard

In the afternoon our side yard is shaded and now that it's summer Salma loves to go outside and play on the grass. She plays with her green ball, dances, or tumbles on the grass. Sometimes we fill a yellow plastic tub with water and she puts toys in it and splashes about.

Click on any photo to see a much larger version:

If you'd like to print one of these, I recommend this next one:

This is the yellow tub that we fill with water. Climbing on things is another Salma favorite.


Salma dances at the least provocation. Humming a tune is sufficient to get her going.


We have many fruits growing in our yard and Salma enjoys eating them straight off the tree (we do not use pesticides or chemical fertilizers). Here she is biting into a lemon. She loves the tartness.

What, are you talking to me?

Don't make me come after you:


This last one is my favorite, and another good one to print and put up on the fridge:

Zippy the Cat

A few people have expressed concern about Salma, since I wrote some time ago that she was not feeling well. Not to worry, she's fine.

It's true that for more than two weeks she had a fever, vomiting, diarrhea and sleeplessness, and we couldn't figure out the problem. Well, it turned out that she had four molars coming in at once. That's a painful change and it was wreaking havoc on all her systems, but once the teeth came in she was fine.

Our cat Zippy, on the other hand, is not doing so well. He's the orange on on the right, above.

Zippy is almost 14 years old now. He lived with me for years in my studio apartment on Market Street in San Francisco, then years more in Oakland after Laura and I were married, then in Linda's house in Palo Alto after I moved to Panama, and then finally he made the trip here to El Valle de Anton.

Both Zippy and Li'l Fishy settled in well here and have been quite happy, but I'm aware that they are getting quite high up in years for a cat.

Zippy has always had a healthy appetite, but about two weeks ago he suddenly began refusing to eat. At first we thought maybe he had eaten a toad or a gecko. The thing is he still has the desire for food. He cries for food at his mealtimes, but when we put his bowl down he simply walks away without tasting it. We called the local vet and he thought that maybe Zippy had an infected tooth, so he gave him antiobiotic injections for three days, and gave us a vitamin solution to feed to Zippy with a syringe.

Two weeks later there has been no change. Zippy's weight has dropped from 18 pounds to 13.5. We can get him to eat a spoonful of wet food at a time but it takes five minutes of following him around, enticing him and petting him.

We may take him down to a vet in Coronado who has more diagnostic facilities. But in the end I think we have to accept the fact that our beloved companion is nearing his last days.

I'm happy that Zippy has been able to live out his last years here in this beautiful place. He loves to go out in the yard and watch the birds, chase frogs, eat grass and lay on the car in the sun. There are no cars to worry about, and the few dogs who wander into our yard leave Zippy alone because he's much larger than the local feral cats. The house itself is by far the largest place we have lived in and Zippy has many comfy spots to sleep or relax. So I feel good for him that he has been able to experience this perfect place.

Salma's New Game; Worrying About the Kid

In the past, whenever we got home from a big shopping trip, one of us would have to care for Salma while the other put the groceries away. Not anymore. We have discovered that all we have to do is put Salma down on the floor with a bag of (non-breakable) groceries and she will happily spend an hour stacking the items on top of each other, knocking them down, and sorting and re-sorting them. Sometimes she gets stacks of three!


I worry about her a lot. Most of the time she is energetic, playful, happy and talkative. But she seems to get sick a lot. Little things like colds, fever, mysterious rashes that come and go... For the last two days she's been very irritable, not sleeping well and wanting to be held all the time. Today we noticed a rash on her chest and back. It could be insect bites and frankly I hope that's the case, because that's easy to fix. Put some ointment on her, air out her mattress and bedding and make sure there are no bugs around.


I've found that being a parent means worrying a lot. I worry that she'll fall down, eat the wrong thing, become ill, get stung, or simply be unhappy.

When Salma is irritable and weepy like she has been lately, we have a standard set of distractions that we employ to keep her occupied and entertained. We take her to the Centro Commercial - the main store in town. She knows all the employees, the store has two cats and several pigeons living in the store or the storeroom in back, and they have a small tricycle that Salma likes to sit on.

Then we go down the street to the open air market. Again, Salma knows the vendors there and often there are children or babies for her to look at and interact with. I enjoy walking through the aisles and browsing the crafts, though I rarely buy anything except perhaps some fruits or vegetables.

Back at home we try reading books to Salma, walking around the house with her, or even letting her play with things that are normally forbidden, like my cell phone.

If none of this works and Salma is still grouchy, there is a last resort: the TV.

Well, what are you gonna do? Idealism is fine, but when you've got a crying kid, believe me, you're glad for Sesame Street. No matter how bad Salma's mood is, if I sit her down in my lap and put Big Bird and Elmo on, she gets a big smile on her face and settles down to watch peacefully and happily.

By the way, we don't curl Salma's hair. That's 100% natural.

Power Outages; Salma is Better; Ramadan Half Over; Microwave is Dead

We've had two long power outages this week, for several hours each time. These usually occur in the late afternoon or at night. Whenever this happens we get out our candles and light them, wind up our lanterns and flashlights, and settle down for an evening of quiet reading. We have a pair of very nice crank-powered lanterns. 100 turns of the handle gives more than an hour of light.

If I want to work I get out my large UPS device, basically a super-duper battery back up unit that can power my computer for up to eight hours on battery power alone.

I don't mind any of this. I'm kind of glad that Salma gets to grow up in a place where the power goes out. I remember this happening during my childhood in Libya and other places; it's kind of exciting for a child, like camping in your own home. Now, as an adult, it remind me how thin our veneer of modernity really is: take away the power, and we're back to doing things much as they were done by our ancestors.

Today when the power went out I went to the Centro Commercial and bought several more votive candles with stickers of San Jose (the saint, not the city) on them. That's the only kind of votive they sell - I just peel off the stickers. By the time I got home, the power was back.

*****

Salma was sick for almost a month, vomiting at night, eating very little, crying a lot, and carrying a fever. We took her to the doctor, had a stool sample tested, and just worried a lot. We thought it might be a virus, or a food allergy. Well, it turned out to be her teeth. She had four molars coming in all at once. Apparently this can cause all the symptoms mentioned, and of course the pain would be bad as well. Poor baby.

The teeth have now come in and she's back to normal - Alhamdulillah, thank God. Playing, laughing, shrieking at cats, dogs, balloons and piñatas, eating, and sleeping well.

We just received a gift for her from our friends Jen, Brian and Greta - thank you, guys! It's a wooden, articulated crocodile on wheels with a string attached. See the photo to the left (click on it for a larger version). The crocodile undulates and clacks loudly when Salma pulls it. Salma loves it and likes to hold her Mama's hand and walk while pulling the crocodile with her other hand.

*****

Ramadan is about half over. I do miss being around other Muslims during Ramadan. I go to Panama or Penonome for Friday prayer, but that's about it. The rest of the time I pray at home, break fast by myself, listen to Qur'an on my iPod... still, Ramadan is a special time.

I find myself eating less and less. My appetite is simply drying up. I break my fast with a date and a sandwich, maybe a banana, and then I'm full. I mean really, I feel stuffed, and cannot eat anymore for several hours. I don't even feel the desire to eat. It makes me realize that outside of Ramadan I eat so much more than my body really needs - it boggles my mind.

*****

Our microwave just quit for good. Enter the time and press start and it will count down the time ok, but no microwaves. Not even an itty bitty wave. I'll have to go to Panama and buy a new one next week, but I've been to Panama and Penonome three times in the last week and for now I need a break from driving. We'll just have to get by with an oven and a toaster, like cavemen!

Trip to the Doctor for Salma

Salma has experienced several bouts of diarrhea and night-time vomiting over the last few weeks. Monday night she began vomiting around 2am and continued every few hours. She couldn't hold anything down. We called Dr. Medrano, Salma's pediatrician, and make an appointment to see him that same day. That's him with Salma in the photo above. You can see that she's not in a good mood.

Dr. Medrano speaks fluent English, and despite the photo above he's good with children and Salma is generally quite comfortable with him. He's a good doctor.

By the time we saw him in the afternoon Salma seemed to be doing better. She had not vomited since 8am or so and she was able to keep her drink and food down. Dr. Medrano says that there are some viruses going around, and if the problem reoccurs we'll get a stool sample and analyze it, but for now just keep her hydrated.

Today she's much better. It's hard to know what the problem is exactly. Our house is clean - we have a full time maid - but we're going to have to start keeping the floors pristine, because Salma will eat anything she finds on the floor, including cat food, insect parts or gecko droppings. Lovely, I know.

Also, I believe that Ani, Salma's nanny, is a very clean person, but just in case we'll have a talk with her about the importance of thorough hand-washing after changing Salma's diapers or going to the bathroom.

We also went to the Riba Smith grocery store for things we can't get here in El Valle, like tofu, diet root beer, almonds, cauliflower, and nice cheeses. We got back from the city late, and Salma went straight to bed. Here she is this morning doing one of her favorite things:


Now, before we get any lectures, we only let her watch a little TV each day, and she normally sits in her mama's lap a good distance from the TV. But if we let her up she heads straight for the TV, holds on to the edge of the cabinet as you see here, and dances to the Sesame Street songs by bobbing up and down and shaking her rump from side to side. It's very funny to see. We'll have to make a video.

A few recent photos of Salma

I've been having a little trouble lately with the images I upload to Blogger. They don't seem to upload in their full sizes, or they are not clickable. But here goes. These photos are quite large, so click on the photo to see the larger version:

Playing on the living room carpet with Mama:

Salma with our friend Cleo at her birthday party:

Salma in Her New Crib

Here's a view of Salma's new crib, in its place in the corner of her room, with a blurry Salma standing inside. She must have been moving when Laura took the picture.


Here she is sitting inside it, playing. Actually this is not where she plays - she's only in the crib when she's sleeping - but she seems to like it.


Of course everything must be taste-tested, even a new crib:


And it seems to meet her approval:

New Toddler Bed; iPod Nano; Frog Orchestra

Forgive me readers, it's been three weeks since my last post. Salma had a bad cold and cough - in fact the doctor prescribed a corticoid, an antibiotic and Benadryl. Then I caught the cold, and we are both just now getting over our maladies.

No photos, sorry. The recharchable battery on my Kodak Easyshare camera is no longer functioning. I can't find a replacement here in Panama, so I'll have to order one online and have it delivered. That will take a while.

We're all doing relatively well, alhamdulillah. Laura ordered an aerobics step and a step DVD from Amazon.com and is getting ready to start steppin' here at home. She used to attend the step classes at Gold's Gym in Oakland and she always enjoyed it tremendously.

Salma is growing daily. She is energetic, even a little frantic at times. She likes to laugh, be tickled, shake her head, grunt and roar, and lately she has been pulling herself up to an unsteady standing position. She is endlessly fascinated with animals, loves to smile at people, and is recently putting up some resistance at naptime. She's becoming a bit of a Baba's girl (Daddy's girl) and sometimes I am the only one who can put her to sleep, much to Laura's chagrin.

She has outrown her bassinet, so Laura and I left Salma in the capable hands of Ani, our part-time nanny, and headed to Panama City to buy a toddler bed. This was our first time leaving Salma alone for an entire day, and I felt bad about it. We went to a place called Poppy's on Via España. They had a lot of choices, but all much more expensive than I had anticipated. But we were looking at a convertible crib that functions as a toddler crib, then converts to a toddler bed, then later can be expanded into a child's bed. Laura assured me that it was a long-term investment and would suffice for Salma until at least the age of ten. So I bit the bullet and shelled out the bucks. I negotiated a discount for paying cash, but I didn't have quite enough, so we went across the street to the ATM and withdrew as much as we could (there is a daily withdrawal limit). This left us with barely enough to pay for the crib, and not enough to pay Ani when we got home.

It was hard work getting the bed to fit into the car. Three young men helped us out and worked on it for several minutes before they finally got it all in. The passenger seat had to be pushed all the way forward, so Laura had to sit sideways and with her legs squeezed together tightly, and even then we had a piece sticking out the rear window. But we made it, and Salma has a lovely new bed that will last her for many years, we hope.

We got home after dark, around 6:45 pm or so. Salma had a tear in her eye when we got home and was very happy to see us. But Ani did a good job with her, as always. We told Ani apologetically that we'd have to pay her tomorrow, and Laura gave her a ride home in the car.

I've been going to Penonomé for Friday prayer, working hard at my online businesses, and trying to find time to exercise. My Hapkido students quit coming. I am thinking of coercing the gardener into practicing with me for an hour every morning. That's how desperate I have become.

Laura bought me an iPod Nano for my birthday and it's the perfect gift. I've downloaded audiobooks and the Qur'an, Spanish lessons and songs, and I've subscribed to various NPR programs, like Fresh Air and Talk of the Nation, that I always enjoyed in California. I plan to listen to it while taking my evening walks here in El Valle.

The rains have become regular and the frog population is once again exploding. I am pleased, as I was worried that the fungus epidemic last year had wiped them all out. At night they are a veritable orchestra of whimpers, whines, groans and mutters.

Salma's First Blog Entry

Laura asked me to hold Salma just now, as I was sitting at the computer. Salma immediately reached for the keyboard and began banging it and dragging her fingers across it. I guess she has seen me working and she knows that you are supposed to do something to the keyboard with your hands. I did not realize she was that perceptive.

So I am posting Salma's first official blog entry. This is what she typed:

, .
0/////////////////0.20.03 ♥
"
kkkkkkkkkkkkkkmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm kk,m /
bnm+-*
01
m
6-*+
..................
bn
+-* nb

/'[
n
m.;;;;;;;;//////////////////x
+-
;[+
+-* *-+
/+

How did she make the heart symbol at the top? It does not appear on the keyboard.

Salma with her duck, looking grown up

Click on the photo to see a much larger version.

Here's Salma with her bath ducky, looking somehow grown up (Salma, I mean, not the duck). And her mommy in the background. This photo was taken at Bruschetta, a local eatery here in El Valle de Anton.

Salma has a cold now, unfortunately. I suspect she caught it at the doctor's office when we took her for her eight month checkup. The stream of mucus from her nose into her mouth is constant. She woke up twenty times last night... we'll see how it goes tonight. Bad timing, since we are going to Cartagena, Colombia tomorrow.

Happy Baby, Panama Canal Cruise

Here's Salma sitting on her Grandpa Hale's lap on the upper deck of the Pacific Queen, the boat on which we took our Panama Canal cruise recently. She's a happy baby, Alhamdulillah, always excited to see someone she knows, and usually even happy to see a stranger.

I'll write a little more about the Panama Canal transit later.