Car Alarms and Howler Monkeys

At 5:00 am, a car alarm rousts me from sleep here in this air conditioned room on the 5th floor of a Panama City hotel. I'd rather hear the howler monkeys outside the windows of our jungle home. The car alarm is... well... alarming, disturbing, unnatural, invasive, and LOUD. Okay, howlers are LOUD, too, but they are natural, Poppa Monkey announcing to his family that all is safe to start a day of foraging in the canopy, just happy jungle sounds. Howlers in this world are still exotic while car alarms seem to proliferate the city streets and make me want to go home.

Carl has just had surgery to remove the cataract from his right eye. All
quite successful and we are only waiting for final check up before we
can go back home next Thursday. We've been here 6 days already, long
enough for the dozen bagels we bought at New York Bagel on Sunday
to start molding. We read, watch a little tv, shop, play on the Internet,
give ourselves over to this time of decadence. I've already learned to
prepare a full meal using the little microwave with only 2 saucers and
2 bowls in the tiny galley: rotisserie chicken, baked sweet potatoes,
steamed broccoli. Not bad! And there are advantages here: no mud
between my toes, no need to look for scorpions on a midnight ramble
to the bathroom, somebody else to mop the floor and make the beds.
I could get used to living like this. All but for the car alarms.

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