Thursday...

 Thursday was a very interesting day...the morning was spent doing what we had been doing all week: counting eggs...but lunch was a treat! We walked further down the causeway (I was actually on the hunt for pizza....I know, I don't get it either!) I haven't ever went past Mi Ranchitos while I have been here, but I'm sure glad I did!! There are many more restaurants and and a smoothie stand and a convenience store....you get my point. We passed by a place that had an executive lunch menu for only $4.95! So, of course I had to stop in.....and feast!!!

Thursday evening was even better. We (me, Kaza, Kathryn, and Abby) caught the 4pm busito back to La Jaula. Kaza and Abby made dinner (yes...I helped!) very quickly...but not quickly enough. We had to race to Tupper to catch a 5:30 bus out to Colon for a seminar. We rounded up as many tupperware containers as we could find and brought our dinners with us...only to get there and wait on the hot bus for another 10 minutes! Erggggg! Waiting....and waiting....hungry.....but the bus driver says no eating on the bus....sighhhhh. Finally, we are leaving....and we go from sweating to shivering as the AC is put on full blast. But, it was a comfy 45 minute ride out to Colon.

The talk at Colon was given by a young PhD student named Maya deVries. Her research was on the camaron mantis (mantis shrimp) in Punta Galeta. She also spoke about some of the educational outreach she is doing with children in Colon. But here's the catch...the entire talk was in Spanish! And I followed along....and understood just about everything! Granted, she isn't a native speaker, but still! I was very proud of myself!

The talk was given in an old American battery, Battery Morgan, on the coast of Colon. This place was given to Punta Galeta and used as a sort of meeting house for the community. It was a really informal talk....some of the kids that she worked with came and the volunteers that helped with her research also came.