When we lived in Argentina, books in English were like gold. Brent and I both love to read, but it doesn't take much traveling to realize how unhandy they are to carry around the world (yes, we have since acquired an e-reader).
Therefore, when we left, we carefully packed a few of our favorites, a few we were wanting to read, and a big lot of hope that we would have no trouble finding books when we needed them.
Not so easy in Argentina. There is a limited selection of English-language books in the bookstores, and they tended to be pretty pricey. We still managed to acquire a small collection, most of which had to be left behind when we left the country.
Fast forward to Panama and the most lovely book-related thing of all: a community library at Picasso.
This room in the back of the restaurant is full of books that pass through travelers' hands. The library operates on a take one, leave one (or take one, leave $1) policy, and judging by the number of books in there, everyone does okay with this honor system.
There are countless books organized alphabetically by last name. Since we arrived, I've read everything from Chuck Palahniuk to Tom Robbins, Deepak Chopra to Joseph Murphy, how to analyze handwriting to how to use ordinary products for just about everything. It's a beautiful room with a beautiful purpose, and I can't wait to finish the book I'm reading so I can go uncover another treasure there.
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