Luis Arrives!

Luis is here! We went to pick him up yesterday in the town of Penonome. Luis´Uncle Miguel brought Luis´there after picking him up in Panama City and serving him a quick lunch at his house. He had a snack with us and then we got on the road to head back to David because it was getting dark.
There was lots to see on the drive to Penonome. Before Luis arrived we visited the small town, La Pintada. It was very quiet and peaceful. Birds sang and we sat on a bench in a lovely park next to a simple little white church. A few girls laughed together on a nearby bench and a little loose dog sat panting gently next to their bench hoping for a bite of something good to eat. We stayed for quite a while, all of us very excited about seeing Luis. A caramel colored little boy of about twelve suddenly appeared in the church tower above us. His smile was huge and he waved to us. He sat down on the edge of the little window where the church bell hung and extended his slim leg over the edge on the window causing both Luis´mom and I to gasp anxiously. Smiling all the while he lifted two sticks and began to strike the bell. Luis´Mom laughed because the boy didn´t strike it in a steady, solemn rhythm, but instead drummed it rapidly in a cumbia style, laughing and smiling in unison with a girl who struck the bell on the opposite side of the white tower.
A minute later a sleek black bird flew near us and began to walk sticking his chest out and moving his shiny tail back and forth with each step.
¨Scrwaahhhk!¨It said.
I pointed him out to Luis´parents. Jose´s face scrunched up in disgust.
¨These birds are everywhere in cities. They are not from here and they kill other birds.¨
¨They make an ugly sound.¨said Luis´mother. As if to prove Jose´s point another similar bird flew in and moved aggressively toward the other. Suddenly there was a great tumble and flurry of sleek feathers. A third black bird swooped into the fight.
Everywhere we go there are all kinds of birds!
We drove back to David with Luis as it was getting dark. For the majority of the drive it is only trees and darkness. Figures could be made out in the darkness, a man on horseback here, chickens, donkey´s, children walking hand in hand along the road there....occasionally a small town. We came across a strange animal with a long tail, his round eyes glowing in the dark. His long slippery looking body crouched close to the road, moving low as if he was getting away with something, scurrying into the darkness.
Everywhere we have been in Panama we are confronted with so much life.
On our drive yesterday morning a truck with 4 cows was making its way down a winding road where it turned in front of us. The cows faces were expressionless as their heads bobbed with the movement of the truck.
¨They are going to the slaughterhouse.¨Luis´father said. I watched them with a similar feeling to the one I had when I was a kid in my stepdad´s veterinary clinic and I found a thin old cat sitting on an examination table. I pet him and he purred contentedly. When I asked my stepdad what was wrong with the cat, he told me it had come in to be put to sleep.
¨If the cows knew where they were going, there would definitely be a cow uprising!¨said Luis´Father laughing. I feel slightly better about the cows when I think about their lives. They spend their days in the mountains, basking together in shimmering green fields and cooling themselves in the shade of trees. With luck, those cows had no idea where they were going.
Well, there´s an update! Have a wonderful day!