I’m amazingly surprised about how easy this is turning out to be.  Ritu sat in front of me and ate some finger-food, and then spaghetti with a nice-looking chicken sauce, and I wasn’t really even tempted.  I just sat there drinking my glass of water, watching her eat.

It’s not that I’m not hungry.  Today my stomach is signalling that food would be a decent option.  But it’s just that I feel like this is all manageable.  I don’t have to eat, because I am actually getting enough from the lemonade.

Of course, tomorrow is going to be the real test.  I am going with Ritu to an Indian wedding (hand-painting day), and after the ceremony there will be a cocktail party.  I’m worried that it’s not going to be the hunger that betrays me, but just my usual forgetfulness, and I’ll remember I’m not supposed to be putting anything in my mouth that’s not lemonade at about the stage that I’ve finished the second glass of wine and the third helping of food.

Today I tried the lemonade recipe with “miel de caña” – sugar cane juice.  Living in Panama is wonderful.  There are so many alternative options which are natural. I don’t just have to use natural maple syrup, because I can use sugar cane.  And then with the lemons, I’ve found 3 different sorts so far, and that’s without really even looking.  So each day, the lemonade has been freshly squeezed, but just a slightly different flavour from the day before.  So, I’m not bored with it yet.