Casco Viejo, Panama City, Panama, November 2019

I have just returned to Panama from a trip to Canada and Portugal. As you may have gathered from my previous posts, I enjoyed the trip tremendously: celebrating my birthday with with dear friends in Toronto, and savouring Portuguese autumn charms in Obidos and its surroundings!

Now, back to my work reality, and busy following up on various existing and potential crises in Bolivia, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina and Paraguay, various Central American countries and Haiti. Some of the political developments in the region are worrying, as they can easily end up in more humanitarian stresses, or fully blown disasters.

Yet, we are in the middle of November, and therefore, on a personal level, I am preparing for the end of the year. In December, I will be going to San Jose of Costa Rica for a week, and then just before Christmas, Tahir will come over to visit me from Toronto! I can't wait for these two experiences, especially to welcome Tahir in my new place and explore Panama with him!

Before the travel to Costa Rica and a visit of Tahir take place, the community of Casco Viejo, where I live in Panama City is arranging for a huge Thanksgiving Celebrations here. All residents of the neighbourhood are invited and we are meant to prepare a dish from our own countries… I have already informed the organisers that I will cook my favourite beetroot soup! They certainly thought it was an unusual plate, and are looking forward to taste it… Wish me luck