No shortage of beautiful sunrises in Boca Chica. 
AFter a good rain the dinghy double functions as a bathtub. 
Happiness captured! Love these guys. 
Too cool for school.. 
My Cousin’s Awesome “getaway” vessel. 
Reunited with my madre! 
A Photoshoot with My beautiful cousin Kelly – yes, she’s a model.
August was a lot like July. The days and weeks and months have started to blend into one another. We went on a whale watching and snorkeling adventure to Islas Bolanos, followed by some low-key island time at, you guessed it, Isla Gamez. Without too much travel, this month just felt a lot like living. The highlight, as it was in July, was working with the kids in Boca Chica in the after school program where we played games, sang silly songs and did our best to teach them English. It’s a good thing for us that they are (usually) eager and patient learners. Our sidetrips to Boquete (for all things gringo, like kale and sourdough!) and Playa Grande (for nekkid bodysurfing) also top the list. Towards the end of August I started preparing to leave the country for a month long trip to the US. Jeff accompanied me to David where we had our first “date night” in a long time – complete with cuba libres at the pool, chicken wings and a movie. A fantastic send-off.
Here’s the recap in numbers!
25 … miles travelled (very light travel month aboard Serenity…just out to the islands and back)
31 … nights on the hook
0 … nights at sea
0 … nights on a mooring
0 … nights at a marina
$1639 … monthly cruising expenses
70 … years alive on planet earth celebrated by our new friend Bitsy in Boca Chica (one of the sweetest women alive) – Happy Birthday Bitsy!
3 … whales spotted on our trip out to Islas Bolanos
250 … individual whales that have been identified in the Gulf of Chiriqui by the Panacetacea Organization (Source: Panacetacea)
8300 … kilometers (5157 miles), the distance humpback whales travel from their feeding grounds in Antarctica to their breeding grounds in the Gulf of Chiriqui – of all mammals, humpbacks cover the greatest distance in their migrations (Source: Panacetacea)
1000 … total estimated population of humpback whales that visit the Gulf of Panama every year based on sightings of 295 individuals (Source: Smithsonian)
17000 … number of ships that cross the Gulf of Panama every year (Source: Smithsonian)
93 … anticipated percent reduction of whale and ship collisions in the Gulf of Panama when new shipping routes are established based on recommendations made by researchers at the Smithsonian Institute (Source: Smithsonian)
10 … number of local pangas in Boca Chica that take tourists out to the islands for snorkeling, whale watching and island exploration – it appears that Boca Chica is transitioning from a fishing economy to a tourist economy
$75,000 … USD amount of money donated by local expats for improvement projects in Boca Chica – the top four priorities decided at a town meeting were water, garbage, education and town “beautification”
94.1 … percent, adult literacy rate in Panama in 2012 according to UNICEF (Source: UNICEF)
86 … percent, adults who were considered to have basic literacy skills in the USA based on a National Center for Education Statistics survey (Source: NCES)
32,000,000 … estimated number of adults in the USA who are reading at a below basic level…if you can trust the Huff Post (Source: Huffington Post)
8 … grades taught at the Boca Chica shool (pre-kinder to 6th grade)
32 … estimated number of kids who attend the Boca Chica school (I didn’t get a proper head count)
3 … teachers who teach at the Boca Chica School (one teacher for pre-kinder and kinder, one teacher for 1st – 3rd grade and one teacher for 4th – 6th grade)
11 … number of people who at one point or another volunteered their time to the “after school program” at the Boca Chica school
8 … average number of girls in Jeff and my’s “after school” English class
11 … different games played with the kids (Red Light/Green Light, Simon Says, Kubb, Kickball, Duck Duck Goose, Freeze Tag, Uno Stax, Bingo, Volleyball, Soccer)
5 … number of songs we attempted to teach to the kids – some were definitely more successful than others (Row Row Row Your Boat, Old McDonald Had a Farm, the Alphabet Song, Hokey Pokey, Father Abraham, The Wheels on the Bus) – their favorite verse of any song (by far) was Merrily merrily merrily merrily, life is but a dream!
215,100 … estimated number of people without access to improved* water sources in Panama (Source: WHO + UNICEF)
86.6 … percent, rural access to improved* water sources in Panama in 2012 (Source: WHO + UNICEF)
94.3 … percent, total (rural + urban) access to improved* water sources in Panama in 2012 (Source: WHO + UNICEF)
2,639,500 … estimated number of people without access to improved* water sources in the USA in 2012 (Source: WHO + UNICEF)
98 … percent, rural access to improved* water sources in the USA in 2012 (Source: WHO + UNICEF)
99.2 … percent, total (rural + urban) access to improved* water sources in the USA in 2012 (Source: WHO + UNICEF)
55 … days, approximate amount of time it took for the town leaders in Boca Chica to implement a water improvement project after agreeing that it was a priority (I’ve never seen government work so fast!)
$3 … USD, monthly cost per household for water service in Boca Chica
64.2 … percent, population served by municipal waste management services in Panama in 2009 (Source: UN)
100 … percent, population served by municipal waste management services in USA in 2005 (Source: UN)
249 … tons, municipal waste collected per person served in Panama in 2009 (Source: UN)
736 … tons, municipal waste collected per person served in the USA in 2005 (Source: UN)
4 … new trash depositories installed in Boca Chica, the trash will now be taken to the nearby landfill at Horconcitos rather than thrown in the ravine behind the soccer field (hooray!)
$3 … USD, the monthly cost to local residents for the new trash collection service (it’s $5 for the foreign residents)
10 … different flavors of hot wings to choose from at Buffalo Wings Factory in David
$2 … USD, cost of a strong Cuba Libre (rum + coke + lime) at a casino/bar in David
2 … movie theaters we went to in search of a subtitled movie we actually wanted to see – we didn’t discover that our selection (Planet of the Apes) was dubbed until we got comfy
5 … supremely friendly strangers who helped me find my way to my hostel in Alajuela, Costa Rica before I flew back to the US
6 … Beattles songs sung at the top of my lungs with new friends met at a karaoke bar / pizza restaurant in Alajuela, Costa Rica – one was a professional singer, the other a lawyer, both had incredible voices, as did the Aussie I was hanging out with
5 … years since I’ve seen my cousin Amelia who got married at the end of August in Florida – an absolutely beautiful wedding
6 … nights I spent on the Gulf of Mexico with my mom, auntie Mary and cousin Kelly in a lovely little vacation house celebrating Amelia’s wedding and the baptism of their son
4 … times I enjoyed Southern BBQ (yum) and sweet tea
947 … photos taken of my cousin Kelly when we decided to do a photoshoot on the beach for fun
*An improved water source, by nature of its construction or through active intervention, is likely to be protected from outside contamination (Source: UNICEF + WHO)
**Adult literacy rate, as defined by UNICEF, is the percentage of people ages 15 and above who can, with understanding, read and write a short, simple statement on their everyday life. (Source: WorldBank)
***Literacy was defined by the National Center for Education Statistics as the knowledge and skills needed to search, comprehend, and use information from continuous texts. Adults (16 and older) at the Below Basic level range from being non-literate in English to being able to locate easily identifiable information in short, commonplace prose texts. (Source: NCES)
It all depends on your definition.