Nuestro Sitio (Our Site)

So we have been happily living in our new town for the next two years for the past week or so. It is GORGEOUS. It is approximately 5-6 hours from Panama City, and 3 hours from Colon, and it is right on the water. We have so far been ïntegrating¨as that is our job for these first three months that we have been there. This means basically that we have been adopting their lifestyle, which is suffice it to say- very laid back. The town is made up of less than about 50 buildings, most of which are just small single-family homes. Most of the people in town work their own land or someone else´s land very close to town, or they live and work in the city of Colon during the week, and come back to town on the weekends. There are anywhere between 100 and 50 people (depending on who you ask), and it is generally pretty quiet. The town is situated near another small town that lies on the opposite bank of a fairly wide river- which makes us getting to our site interesting as we have to take a boat past the mouth of the river on the ocean. So far we have been very lucky as we haven´t had to pay for gasoline for the boat ride as of yet- but as it is getting more expensive I expect that that will change. The town is also in a small, flat cove off of the ocean, and on the other side of the peninsula is a long gorgeous yellow sand beach, which according to Brandon is the most beautiful beach that he has ever seen. It is pretty gorgeous. It is lined with fully mature palm trees, and the beach is religiously cleaned and taken care of. There are only three houses on this beach, which are vacation homes for those living out of country or in the city somewhere, and are rarely inhabited, which makes for a great private beach for whoever happens to be there for the day. Nothing in our town including the amazing beach to the side of town are more than a five minute walk. It is pretty small. The people so far have been amazing. Everybody has the nicest smile, and have been welcoming to us, and open to us living in their beautiful town for two years. We are a bit apprehensive as most of them are very content with the way that life is right now (they have semi-interrupted water and electricity which usually doesn´t prove to be a problem) so there isn´t a whole lot of incentive for change- but there does seem to be a strong interest in an English class- which they will be needing. So far we have heard that there is one Pan-American who has purchased a large chunk of land directly behind the town where he plans on building about 100 tourist cabanas as part of a resort in the town, and another American has purchased the tract of land where the cleaned beach is. In the coming years this little town of ours will be teeming with tourism- they will definetly need the english language skills. As for now, we are very happy and content with our family. They always allow us our personal space (they also have a great house), they help us with our spanish (correcting us when necessary), they are always laughing, and they let me cook! Anyway... my time is running out on the computer, so I will say adios. We hope that you are all doing well, and that you have an amazing summer. We hope that we hear from you soon (as very few of you have been filling us in on your lives!!!)
Lots of Love,
Ashley and Brandon