Distance makes the heart grow fonder?

It seems the more I get to see and discover about Panamá, the more I like it. My girlfriend, Janice, came to visit me weeks ago and we were able to travel to many parts of this beautiful country, even parts I have not been to yet. We first stayed a couple days in Wacuco, my home pueblo so she could meet my friends and get more connected to my life here. From Wacuco we went to the city and spent a night in Casco Antiguo and the following day saw the canal (my fifth or sixth time, geez...) and went to some local churches and historic places. From the city we traveled by prop plane to Bocas Del Toro, which is on the Atlantic (North) side of Panamá which has a culture of its own there. It was described to me by an Englishman I met there as Aruba in the 70´s before it got all developed and extremely touristy. Well, seeing that I have never been to Aruba and I was born in the 80´s; I just took his word for it. We stayed on the Island Colón and traveled to some of the other ones to snorkel, see a butterfly sanctuary, beach it and see many other beautiful sites. It was a fantastic time and I was glad we were able to see another side of Panamá. We then returned to the city and then met up with Gabriel (my fellow volunteer from the great state of Kansas) to spend the last night in Tocumen with friends there. So, all in all, it was wonderful to have my girl with me in Panamá so she could share in the experience with me more and understand a little of how my life has changed over the past 10 months of living abroad. She was very graceful the whole time and took the cultural differences and discomforts in stride, so that made it even better. To comment on the title of this passage, I would say it does in my case. It has been a long separation and I can't wait to get back to the states after my time in Panamá.

Here is a picture from Bocas del Toro. One question for you viewers: Am I going going bald? I think I might be in denial, because I just say, ¨Oh, the wind was blowing in this picture, its not my hair.¨ But, the proof is in the pudding, cause there are many recent pictures of me where the male-pattern-baldness seems to be taking effect. You can click in the picture to enlarge it so you can probe the receeding hair line. It´s all good, maybe God is just making me more humble.