We made today another school day and were planning to do some light chores and errands in the morning. Brian went into town to take the reciclaje and was slightly surprised to run into Sunday traffic rather than a normal school day.
The traffic wasn’t the only unusual encounter for him this morning. On the way back to the house he drove into a protest which had blocked all four lanes of the major town artery.
These protesters were from the town of Alto Boquete and were fed up with the governmental delays to building an urgent care clinic in their area. Any emergency requires that patients be transported 20 minutes to David which can be too long for certain cases. Apparently there have been plans to build a medical facility for years but it just hasn’t happened. The protest was to draw awareness to this situation.
This area has grown in population significantly over the past 10 years and based on the construction sites around here it is likely to continue that pattern. They believe that makes the need for a clinic even more urgent (pun intended, sorry).
The demonstration was very peaceful. In fact, the most disruptive element was a single woman banging a pot like Will Ferrell banging a cowbell.
Brian was told by organizers that the traffic blockade would be, “diez minutos” but he was also told this again diez minutos later, so the trip to drop recycling took a bit longer than planned.
Brian admitted later that his tolerance for a lengthy delay was much higher due to the novelty of the situation and the lack of an obligation prior to afternoon school. You might say he had plenty of patience for these urgent care patients. (ok, ok, disculpe)
Reciclaje – recycling
Mas cowbell – more cowbell
Diez minutos – ten minutes
Disculpe – excuse me
5 Adventures Together 