During the week, Yami invited me to spend a day with her at her clinic, in the tiny hamlet of Toabré in the hills outside Penonome. In order for dentists and doctors to receive permission from the government to work as medical professionals in Panama, upon completion of their degree/doctorates, they must complete two years as an intern, which basically involves working for the Ministry of Health in the ‘interior’ of Panama (i.e in the country, away from Panama City). New dentists and doctors are assigned clinics in which they …

Days 282 to 293 – Wednesday 28th June to Sunday 9th July 2006
I arrived in Panama City in mid afternoon, and didn’t want to travel out to Penonome that same day so I checked in at Zuly’s, the hostel I stayed at back in February, and caught up with goings on in the World Cup, before heading to Penonome to see Yami the following morning.

Days 265 to 281 – Sunday 11th to Tuesday 27th June 2006
I flew back to Panama, spent a week with Yami and returned to Cartagena. I then tried to go south to Medellin, but the buses were a little bit of a problem due to the FARC in the region, so I decided to take another route, via boat from Colombia back to Panama. The trips are organised regularly, and sailed whenever there were enough people on-board. I called the Captain of one boat, arranged my ticket, and as …

Day 140 – Monday 6th February 2006
My time in Central America was up. I had my flight at 6pm, and spent most of the day with Yami saying goodbye and dragging her around the city trying to get a few things done before heading to the ariport.

Day 139 – Sunday 5th February 2006
The late nights and not being able to sleep cauht up with me on Sunday, and I didn’t have the energy to do much. Therefore I didn’t. I just lazed around my hostel reading and sleeping.

Day 138 – Saturday 4th February 2005
I am turning into my Dad. For my third date with Yami, we found ourselves at the Hippodrome, the horse racing course in Panama City. Many a time have I heard my mum saying how my Dad used to drag her to the dogs when they were first together, and here I was, third date with Yami, at the races.

Day 137 – Friday 3rd February 2006
I invited Yami out for the day to Portobelo, but she already had plans, so we arranged to meet up in the evening instead. When I got to the bus station and boarded the bus I was sat next to a screaming kid.

Day 136 – Thursday 2nd February 2006
Bit of a nothing day really, I was tired from the day before and didnt sleep too well again, so just hung out at the hostel reading and eating. In the afternoon I did go into the Marriot hotel, walked into the lobby, straight through and up to the health suite, walked into that and used the gym, the swimming pool and the sauna for nothing without anyone asking a question. That took up most of the afternoon, and I didn’t do much else. …