When I went to a fancy mall to grab groceries, he called the place yeye (YAY-yay), which means "posh."
After only a month practicing my Spanish, I already feel a lot more confident speaking it in everyday situations. Sometimes I can even act as a translator when I'm in town with friends who only speak English, which makes me feel proud of how far my listening skills have come.
Another difference between Panama and the United States are the bugs. Because Panama has a warmer climate year-round, there are more types of bugs, especially here in the rainforest. Mosquitoes are common, so I was told to wear long-sleeve shirts and pants. When I first arrived in Panama, I noticed everyone else was wearing shorts and t-shirts because it was so warm! It didn't take me long to realize that a little bug spray would keep mosquitoes away while I was in town and around the lab, and I only had to wear my long pants and shirts when going out into the forest. Seeing giant dragonflies and katydids isn't uncommon, and I've learned to get used to the large spiders I see in the forest. Before I came to the island, spiders used to really creep me out, but here I'm fascinated by how many different types there are. In addition, spiders are pretty neat because they're one of the only bugs here that tries to run away from people! Mosquitoes will bite, moths will fly up to the light from my headlamp and ants have no problem crawling into my backpack, but every spider I've seen has actively tried to avoid me. They really are more scared of us than we are of them!
Finally, I'm getting better at using measurements from the metric system, with meters, liters and degrees Celsius.
