A wall paper in my Casco Viejo's apartment, Panama City, November 2019

So, I bought an old and a small car in Panama… I was resisting, as I wanted to challenge myself and move around using public transportation. I gave in due to lack of straight-forward and fast connection to commute to and from my office… While I feel a bit defeated (I really wanted not to have a car here), there are some wonderful advantages of having one. It will be much easier for me to explore the country, outside of its capital! Panama is supposedly a very pretty country, but the transport constraints have made it difficult to appreciate it… Now, as an owner of Toyota Yaris (however old), I should be able to catch-up!

On top of purchasing the car, I have finalised decorating my flat. I have now fixed some last decorations and rearranged the furniture a bit. It feels cosy and homely! I really like my new place and I have a feeling that I will be able to spend good time here. Consider visiting me here to check the place out on your own!

Things are relatively quiet at work (as quiet as they can be in my organisation). This being written, we are concerned with what happens in Bolivia. The political crisis does not seem to be easing, and we are worried that the humanitarian consequences may be dire. We therefore are getting reviewing our contingencies to make sure that we can respond fast, should there be a need to do so.

Next week, here in Panama City, I will be presenting in front of representatives of the EU institutions present in South and Central America, as well as UN agencies, NGOs and the Government of Panama on use of satellite technology (especially mapping) as a tool for early warning systems for disasters, and a planning tool for actual responses to humanitarian crises, when they already occur. While the presentation will be quite technical, I am planning to present a case study of our recent intervention in Bolivia (a crisis caused by the Amazon fires), which I hope will be interesting and will allow understanding some advantages of technology in humanitarian interventions.