November 14 – 26, 2014 Hola amigos! We’ve spent the last couple of weeks exploring Cartagena – found the big grocery stores, marine stores, dentist, McDonalds (yes, I know), ice cream shops, coffee shops, dive shops and restaurants – most via walking. Learning new words in Spanish each day. The online ordering frenzy is continuing with delivery to my brother Kelley’s house - he has already advised that he’s not sure how we’re going to get all the stuff home!!! Bruce bought a new Panama hat (made in Colombia) – he looks like a local now (well almost). A little history of Panama hats - The hat known today as the Panama hat was produced in Ecuador as early as the seventeenth century. Straw hats woven in Ecuador, like many other 19th and early 20th century South American goods, were shipped first to the Isthmus of Panama before sailing for their destinations in Asia, the rest of the Americas and Europe, subsequently acquiring a name that reflected their point of international sale, "Panama hats", rather than their place of domestic origin. If our travels take us to Ecuador, Bruce will probably purchase a “Montecristis” (after the town of Montecristi, Ecuador, where they are produced) - these rarest and most expensive hats can have as many as 1600–2500 weaves per square inch. We viewed the second message in the Andy Stanley series “He’s Still* Got the Whole World in His Hands” – Pray Until the Peace Comes.