Ordinary Life in Panama

It seems like ages since I last wrote only because life has been so crazy around here. If you thought we were moving to a Latin country to take siestas or afternoon tea you are mistaken. Life with three small niños (children)is busy no matter where you live.

Below is some pictures of our apartment... I have captions about each picture below each one. As I have mentioned we are on the second floor of the building. Good thing our walls are cement or we would have been kicked out along time ago from the kids noise :-)

(here is the entrance to our apartment building, this is what we see when we walk in)

(here I am standing at our front door. As you can see we have a sectional couch now and a nice little TV like in the olden days. We have a large patio area that looks on to the pool. We are on the second floor so it is very nice and conveinent to yell down to the pool.

(there is three pools, the right one is the kiddie pool, the middle pool a bit deeper
and the left pool is the deepest. Down under us is a large social area with bar, bbq, more patio sets... it's nice)

(to the right through the door is the kitchen which also leads to the laundry room and maids/playroom section. Down the hall you can see Emma's bedroom then past her's is the boys and ours. Across from Emma's room is another washroom)

(Our very white kitchen. sorry for the picture, a quick shot)

(Emm's room that she loves. Hey Jode look at her feet :-) they were outside and she got in before I washed her feet)

(the boys room, nice and big and usually cars all over the place. Every room has built ins so we dont need dressers)

(our room, we have a king bed, walk in closet and en suite, a good size room)

That's if for our new abode.... so now on with what we do no a day to day bases.

Since last week we ventured out on last Sunday to Playa Santa Clara (the beach). Now Sunday's here are family days and everyone spends time with family & friends either at the beach or at the mall. The beach is just over an hour from Panama City so not to bad of a drive. After a few wrong turns here and there we finally found our way out of the city & on to the highway towards Coranado (for anyone who knows anything about Panama, Coranado is full of alot of retirees)

At the beach we parked and Trent went to find us a spot while I got the kids ready.. ie... full body armor against the sun (white Canadians have to cover up) Trent came back to the truck to tell me that we are at a VERY local beach. Good thing staring does not bother us. The boys were the only ones with head to toe sun armor on and Trent & I the only adults with hats on. The kids make for a good show. The beach had about 600 Panamanians and 5 whities (us) that afternoon. I said to Trent "Oh know, where is Everett", Trent casually turned to me and said "He is not hard to spot"... It was funny at the time.

(This beach was huge. We have been spoiled over the years so we can not say it
is one of our favorite but the sand was nice for the kids. we have been told the best beaches are more north so we have to venture a bit farther)

(full sun protected boys... They must be Canadian)

(Our East... as long as he is free to explore he is happy)

(Everett loved laying on the beach and having the waves come up over him, he is a lot better at the beach this year in some ways but harder in others since he wants to go out and swim on his own)

(here a local boy that came and played with the kids as soon as we got to the beach, kids are kids no matter what language they speak)

(my cute guys)

Our drive home from the beach was eventful though, we got lost like usual, so lost that we crossed over the Panama Canal on the Americas bridge four times. The kids perked up and said why do we keep crossing over the bridge... I told Trent by June we will finally figure out how on earth to get around this place. Emma's teacher just laughs, she tells me it is impossible to get lost in Panama City. It is not that we don't know where we are we just can't find the right roads to get us home.

Our angel Mossy (our contact down here) had us over for a BBQ and swim one night. The kids loved it because we played baseball & soccer. Everett our little slugger hit that ball no problem and had a natural stance. He is 2 & 1/2 and is hitting the ball when pitched at... Now all he wants to do is play bat. Both boys love baseball!!! Our other contact Sharmilla came with her girls and it was a really fun night. We are so blessed to have wonderful people around us, we would be really struggling if it was not for them, instead we are somewhat struggling (haha)

(Easton keeps saying he is going to make it to the BIG leagues)

(You need to see Everett slug the ball, when he connects, the ball is out of here)

(Our kids with Sharmilla and her girls. Angie is the same age as Emma)

The kids had a field trip to a National Park and I joined them on it. It was recommended that the children wear jeans and runners. You know you are becoming a local when you go out in
35 degree C in jeans. :-) Everett is still trying to adjust to the temperature change, Em and Easton seem to be ok with it. Believe me it is warm but not to bad. It was 37C the other day and it was a hot day!(The entrance to the park... very beautiful and lush)

(Easton's class, do you see my proud Canadian red head?)

(Everett with Easton's teacher trying to look at the crocidles)

(Easton's friend Michael who speaks a bit of English)

(Here is Everett's class sitting down for lunch, they are all so cute & the girls are dressed like dolls)

(The kids are competing with me for camera time now, they want to take all the pictures)

The park we went to was the Summit National Park. The whole school went to see a few animals

and to play at the park. Like usual I am disturbed by any animal caged and at this park there was a pregnant Jaguar. The Jaguar did look very well kept but it was disturbing to say the least. Jaguars are rare in Panama but from what I read these is still a good population of them in Costa Rica.

(My funny girl... she took my sunglasses and did a few poses for me)

(Emma has made a friend in class... This young girl is trying to learn English so Emma is trying to teach her)

(Everett is taking a break from all his soccer playing and running around. The kids drink so much water and gatorade. The teachers were so concerned because Everett was so red... he is just very hot)

(the kids having a great time playing around and being kids)

I had a great time with the kids and interacting with all the teachers. I have to say a HUGE thank you to Senorita Kiss, Emma's Spanish helps us somehow each and every day. She many not speak a sentence but she know the name of things and can get us through trying to communicate somethings. The kids really want to learn Spanish and we are trying to find a way to expose them as much as possible to the language.

So for all you shoppers out there. Bonnie mentioned I need to take pictures of the mall next time I go because she can not in vision what the mall could be like. It is not different than Chinook mall really, just different stores and a bit smaller. It has a full food court complete with McDonalds, Wendys, Pizza Hut, Burger King and many other US food chains. It even has a Merry-go-round.

Anyways I had to get the kids jeans and Emma runners. I bought each kid jeans and Emma's runner all for under $40.00. The clothes for kids are so cute and so cheap. The Panamanian kids all dress to the nines. One day I would love to walk the mall by myself for hours just to look &

compare. I found the Keen sailor sandals here for $75.00 at home last time I looked they were around $125.00, I think. They have so many Converse shoes for kids, all the Little Tyke outdoor playsets, pretty much anything you get at home you can eventually find here.

After we drop the kids off at school each day Trent and I go to New York Bagel relax for a bit, have a coffee and bagel. It is so nice to have a few hours to numb out, then go out and do all our running around. I read a few months ago about a place called KIDZONE and I saw it as we were driving by. It is like a play gym and they can host birthday parties there (in Spanish).. so that was a great find.

(Here Emma & Everett are leaving our building to walk to school)

Also we found a play based playschool for Everett that he is going to start on Monday, I am very excited about that. The director of the school is a Panamanian named Donna. Donna worked with the Americans when they were here until 2000 and saw how vital play is in a child's development. She told us that the Panamanians still do not understand how this could be beneficial, they are used to a more regimented way of learning. Obviously anyone who knows our boys especially Everett knows the regimented way does not work for him. In Calgary at Westside it was play based and Everett loved it, so Monday will be a great day, a new school for Everett. Now the kids are in two different schools and I will be doing the usual Mom thing... being a taxi driver.

We bought a 4Runner here. To rent a vehicle is outrageous. We rented a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado ( which we loved) but it cost $80.00us/day. It would of been $1,700us/month to keep renting it, so that was out of the question. (here is the Prado)

We really lucked out and found this 4runner driven by an American (very important) and it is in excellent condition. It is an older one which is good because now we don't stick out so much on the road. (our 4 runner)

You get really hassled at a traffic light by all the guys on the road selling things from ... phone cards, phone chargers, sunglasses, purses, beans, oranges, movies (which we seem to buy all the time) garbage bags, hammock chairs.. you name it they will sell it. Mossy says they will sell you a house at a red light. It is pretty funny, but there is a lot of dodging people at times.

So now that we have a truck I finally was able to get Everett a car seat. Can you believe it Mr. Jim Drew almost two weeks and no car seat for Everett... haha. We say a man driving the other day with his baby on his lap. Now don't get me wrong Panama quite strict on their laws. You will get a ticket for violations, it is against the law to drive and talk on your cell phone... that is a big ticket.... We passed a cop with a laser gun clocking speeders. Policemen ride around on there motorbikes with their machine guns on their laps. We don't feel intimidated but cops are a round.

Today is Saturday and we headed out of the city to a waterpark I had read about. It was called Jungle Falls and it was a lot of fun. The toddler section was worth the whole day. The kids had a great time on the waterslides and in the toddler section the kids did their own thing while Trent & I watched them interact with other kids. We again were the only foreigners at this place. They say there is alot of Americans & Canadians around here but we sure do not see very many at all. If we do we are quite surprised and happy at the same time. It is funny there is no hesitation to ask "where are you from".

(fun pictures and our surroundings at the Waterpark... fun day!)

Smiles all around here :-)

I have not made it to the Canal yet, this week one morning when the the kids are in school. Trent said they will be really bored or I will take Emma & Easton but leave Everett home with Trent.

We are planning a road trip next weekend to Isla Grande so that should be intersting.

Trent showed me where he would like to live, it is 30min from the city more in the Jungle where monkeys and sloths roam by a lake that has fresh water aligators. It is beautiful and snake country...

Next blog I will have more Panama information or trivia, I have to run the kids are going a bit crazy along with my husband, we need to get out. For whatever reason I worked all night last night on this blog and this moring all the pictures were gone.... ahhh some days.

Email me if you have questions answered or if I am missing somethings. I over look alot because things become normal after a while. Oh I did want to clarify. Yes we are coming back to Calgary at the end of June for a few weeks and then heading out to the lake in BC for the summer. At the end of August we will have our decision as to where we are going to live for the next five years. We are giving Panama a 6 month trial run, because we all know that a place is alot different when you live somewhere than just visit for a few weeks.

I want to say Happy Birthday to Ms. Avery Drew who is 7 yrs. old today... Oh how time is flying.
Here is a picture of Avery & Emma before we left for Panama.


On Wednesday it is our precious, amazing, beautiful niece's Harlow's second birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I hope you are all staying warm and healthy.

It is time to sign off. Thank you again! We send all our love!

Love Trent, Jody, Emma, Easton, & Everett