complicated...

Some aspects of life here are truly pure and simple. We buy our fruits and veggies from open-air, outdoor markets. I hang our clothes on lines to air dry in the sun. We don't have a car. My day is fairly quiet... busy... but uneventful if that makes sense.

But some things about living here are VERY complicated. The most complicated aspect so far is our visas. We need to apply for Missionary Visas, but currently aren't able to (for a variety of reasons I won't bore you with). So while we work on that, we still have temporary tourist visas... and they are only good for 90 days at a time. We moved here last January, and in April had to go to Costa Rica for three nights and come back into Panama to get new tourist visas. Then in July we were in America. Now it's nearly November and it's time to go!

Eric and I have been going back and forth, back and forth, trying to figure out a way to leave the country with spending too much money or too many hours traveling (it's so hard with a toddler, you know?!) We've contemplated the idea of flying to San Jose, Costa Rica... or Miami, or even Peru. We've discussed the various ways of getting up to the border of Panama and Costa Rica and just enduring the border crossing on foot. We've had about 10 different plans in the past week. One of which called for Eric to leave this week and leave us here alone, and the for us all to make another trip in a few weeks. ick.

But as it turns out, I think we have a good plan figured out. We are going to leave on Monday and fly from Panama City to David (the northern most airport in Panama). From David airport we will take a taxi to the bus terminal. We will take a bus to the border (about an hour). Then we will brave the border crossing and pray for God's mercy! We will then hop on another bus for an hour and a half to the coastal town of Golfito. We found a beach house rental online for very inexpensive and the place even has wireless internet (can I get a Hallelujah?) We will stay 3 or 4 nights and then do the same routine all the way back home.

Complicated isn't it? I just wish we could stay home and not have to deal with all this visa stuff! Too bad that's illegal. Anyways, just wanted to share the saga with you... I figured since I've been losing sleep over it, that I would share.