From Old Panama - School

The kids are back to school now, Emma in Grade 1 & Easton in Kindergarten. Easton loves school even though there is no other English speaking kids in his class. East has such a great attitude he said tonight " Ya I love school, but I don't have a friend yet, that's ok"... As soon as he starts speaking Spanish he is off to the races (just like the rest of us)

Now that the kids are in school all we have is our weekends and evenings to explore during this adventure of ours.

We found a bike shop we were able to buy the kids bike helmets so we could go bike riding at the Causeway (our taste of North America) (Easton you are one great kid, he has his own style)

(a nice family bike ride.... after our workout we went for a yummy dinner)

I took the kids to Casa Verjio. I am getting alot more adventurous on my own. Trent had a few things to do so I jumped in the truck and headed to the unknown of Panama City. The city is not over large but EXTREMELY confusing, we have yet to find a detailed map that shows all streets. It really does not matter if you know the name of the streets anyways the signs are so small or they are sometimes broken off :- )

I came home the other day and told Trent if he loves me at all he will get me a GPS put in the truck because I am so tired of getting lost. When traffic is bumper to bumper and I make a wrong turn it can hold me up for another 20min in traffic. Anyone who suffers from any road rage should not drive in this city during rush hour!!!

As I was saying...... I ventured out with the kids to go see Casa Verjio. They love anything that is old and where Pirates walked.

Panama Viejo ( Old Panama) a site with the ruins of the original 16th century Panama City. Founded in 1517,Panama City was the first city built on the Pacific Coast of the Americas. It was founded to facilitate the transfer of riches the Spanish plundered from the Incan Empire to Spain via the Ithmus of Panama. In 1671, it was destroyed and burnt down as a result of an attack by the English pirate Henry Morgan.

(the old Cathedral and walls of the old convent)

(my pirate tracking kiddies)

The kids are becoming history buffs and want to know everything about every hole, stone & wall. They are asking some great questions! I love history so it is exciting to have my little people come explore with me.

We climbed the Cathedral steps, all 144 of them with Everett on my back... I had to wake him up since he fell asleep in the truck... (my legs are still sore today...he's a big kid) Our trip to the Cathedral was on Monday and the ruins were closed for repair work, however these very nice police men escorted the kids and I around. They tried their best with English and I with my little Spanish... we figured it out.

( the downtown core .... the view from the top of the Cathedral)

There is another Old area of Panama I hope to get to with the kids but like I said they started school so Em goes to school from 7:50-2:00pm each day and Easton goes from 7:50 - 12:15pm. Emma is most disappointed that she is going to miss Elia's lunch each day so she might come home for a few lunches each week.

I am sure I have mentioned it before... An errand at home that would take 20min, here takes a good half day. All week I have been trying to get the kids school supplies. There is no Walmart or Zellers here where you get most things (not yet anyways). I have been searching high and low for a few books for the kids ... I survived this experience. I type these experiences for you to have a laugh and hopefully remind you not to take small things for granted.

Here is another story for you.

We were craving caesar salad and I found all the ingredients. Trent told Elia that I was going to cook lunch and show her some Canadian food. Elia was very excited! I BBQed some chicken, Emma tore up the lettuce and we put together our lunch of Chicken caesar Salad. Elia says to me "NO RICE? I don't think she has gone a day without rice...."NO RICE Elia, Canadian food". She has never tired a crouton, had bacon bits or caesar salad. Elia loved it but I think it was strange for her to not eat rice. Trent told her that at home in Canada we eat caesar salad 4 or 5 times/week... She said NO WAY maybe 2 days/week..... Next cooking class will be tacos... Elia does not know how to make them and she really wants to learn & eat what we eat back home.

Friday we told the kids to hurry up and eat breakfast we had another adventure to go on. Gamboa Rainforest Resort was our destination for the day for a boat tour on Gutan Lake. The resort is 30min outside the city. The resort is located on the Chagres River.

(Our seasoned boatman)

(Everett loves to sail the waters)

When we left the resort by boat we entered the Panama Canal along side a huge container ship. It was pretty wild to see such a large vessel carrying all kinds of goods heading to North America. To think that without this canal so many of the clothes we wear, shoes we walk on, tools we buy would not be in the malls to purchase. The world is large but so small, everything works together some how.

(the container ship... sorry so dark I can not lighten it any more)

It was pretty amazing being on the canal along side these ships. The extra large ships are escorted if you will by tug boats though the canal. It was an over cast day so my pictures are a bit dark.

(the little tug giving a push)

On our tour of the canal we passed a cruise ship and the kids waved at all the people, they thought that was neat.

(wave everybody)

The driver took us to a few islands that had monkeys hanging in the trees. Emma & Easton put watermelon on their hands and the monkey came to snatched it out of their hands, they of course loved that. If you followed our trip to Asia last year the monkey encounter here in Panama is nothing compared to what Trent & I saw at Monkey Island in Thailand.

(the spider monkey is in the trees... look by Easton)

As we ventured along the canal I sat in amazement at how the canal was planned and completed in the early 1900's and how it changed the course of the goods in the world. It has been fascinating to witness one of the amazing wonders of the world.

(here is a picture of a machine that has been used from the beginning... It sucks the silt off the bottom of the canal floor that builds up from the all the vessel transit).

A bit of information about the Canal for those interested....

The lake is situated in the valley of the Chagres River. It was formed, and the river widened and deepened, by the construction of the Gutan Dam about 10 km (6 miles) from the river's mouth in the Caribbean Sea in 1907–1913. The geography of the area was ideal for the creation of a large lake here; the hills bordering the valley of the Chagres open up widely around the area of the lake, but come together to form a gap just over 2 km (1.4 miles) wide at the location of the dam. The damming of the river flooded the originally wooded valley; almost a century later, the stumps of old mahogany trees can still be seen rising from the water, and submerged snags form a hazard for any small vessels that wander off the marked channels.

Gatun Lake has an area of 425 km² (164 square miles) at its normal level of 26 m (85 ft) above sea level; it stores 5.2 cubic kilometres (183,000,000,000 ft³) of water, which is about as much as the Chagres River brings down in an average year.

With the creation of the lake many hilltops became islands. The biggest and best known of them is Barro Colorado Island, home of the world famous Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI)

Gatun Lake forms a major component of the Panama Canal; the lake, including the flooded arm extending up the Chagres River, makes up 32.7 km (20.3 miles) of the raised part of the waterway, the other part being the 12.6 km (7.8 mile) Gaillard Cut.

The lake is also important as a reservoir of water for the operation of the canal locks. Each time a ship transits the canal, 202,000 m³ (53 million U.S. gallons) of water is passed from the lake into the sea; with over 14,000 vessel transits per year, this represents a very large demand for water. Since rainfall is seasonal in Panama, the lake acts as a water store, allowing the canal to continue operation through the dry season.

After our Gutan Lake tour we ate at the Rainforest Restaurant for lunch. We all enjoyed the beautiful jungle that surrounded and watching ships pass through the canal. A great lunch and we met another family from the US who just moved here. They have a 3yr. old little boy (smaller than Everett) It was a very nice day.

(this looks like this croc was real at one time but it's just a great replica)

(boys will be boys... I sure do love them)

(it was pretty humid in the rainforest so Emma took it upon herself to
cool Easton down)

(love you munchkins.... they are growing up so much)

(my cool dude who LOVES the camera)

On our way home from Gamboa we passed this cemetery. The significance to this site is hundreds of Frenchman are buried here who died in the late 1800's trying to take on the vision of the Panama Canal. As you know the French came first to build the canal but gave up the project after hundreds of deaths and lack of financial resources.

This reminded me of Flanders Fields that Trent and I visited when we lived in Germany.

(The graveyard we stumbled across coming home from Gamboa)

On Sunday after our regular stop at the Bagel Shop for delicious bagels & coffee (I am really enjoying the great Panamanian coffee) we went for a drive. Our new adopted family member Nick (Trent's buddy who is great with the kids) came with the Schmuland clan for a drive around the country side.

We headed over the America's bridge in search of learning something new. Along our travels we had many looks as we passed through small towns that I am sure have not seen to many foreigners. Trent took a few side roads and we ended up very close to the Howard Airport. When the USA was here they controlled this airport and alot of military personal had homes near by. Trent turned down this one road and we ended up at the base of the mountian with these large doors that lead into the mountian. This was very interesting, we saw about 5 of these doors around this mountian, our imaginations were running wild as to why they where here. As we drove back to the main road we saw a sign that said NO ENTRY! It was very interesting here.

(the interesting door leading to who knows where!)

(a glimse of the road Trent ventured out on big enough for tanker... who knows)

Before I sign off I want to say we are loving our experience here and the kids are doing great. Some days are challenging for me due to the language barrier but I am very excited to say I start my own private tutoring on Thursday... Please pray for me I will need all the help I can get to grasp this language :-)

Daily we are reminded that we are in a Latin American country and people do not function on cafine highs and rush all day long. People here take their time and chose to live a life quite a bit slower than we are used to. Trent needs reminders that we came to their country and our North American ideas do not interest the Panamaians.

I was invited to an Internationals Womans Group. It was very interesting to meet other Canadian, American, German, & Columbian woman. My favorite part of meeting up with other expats is finding out what their story is and why they ended up in Panama... some amazing stories out there.

Well its time for me to sign off... I most likely will be blogging every couple of weeks now since our activites are limited to weekends due to school.

Thank you again for following our story and I hope you are able to take a little something from each Schmuland story.

All our love to you xoxoxox . We love hearing from you so if you get a chance write a post on the blog or you can send a personal message to schmulandj@gmail.com

Until Next time... love Trent, Jody, Emma, Easton & Everett

(Here is the kids all dressed up in their school uniforms... I love the whole uniform idea in schools... very stress free in the morning....The kids love thier uniforms and are excited to get dressed each morning... they look so cute. Easton looks like a little English boy... he sure looks like my dad)

Easton was amazed by his new daily uniform. He likes his tie he wears. Only on Mondays do the boys where a long sleeve shirt and tie. The rest of the week they wear a white golf shirt with their shorts & jacket.

This picture to the right was taken at a large meeting for the kindergarten and preschool children.

To all of who knew my dad, if you get a chance have a beer on him today as it would have been his 50th birthday... Happy birthday DAD, you are very missed and will never be forgotten. xoxoxoxox

Playa Blanca & a dose of Carnival

Hello there... Amigos

Time is flying by and it is already Feb 23rd, does time ever slip through our fingers. We have been here over a month now and I am already planning our trip back to Canada for the summer and even Christmas plans.

Before you know it it will be April spring will be on its way... no more snow. I almost feel guilty for wearing shorts everyday... some days I wear jeans though, so I sweat alot for all of us... hahha...

So last Thursday night Trent headed out to the Casino... yes they have Casinos here! He was on a role on the Blackjack table.... & came home with a whopping $1,400.00... we eat this week, ya! Just kidding about the eating part.... we can now eat for a 3 weeks. haha

Anyways Trent got home quite late that night and all of a sudden at 3:30am the music started. Down the street Carnival was being set up and they were testing the speakers for the concert stage... the music was so loud it felt like it was on our radio in our room playing. Needless to say we left town for three nights to escape the noise for a bit.

Carnival here lasts for five days which started Friday night. After the kids were done school on Friday we packed up the truck and headed out of town. We checked into Playa Blanca an all- inclusive resort on the Pacific side. This place was crawling with Canadians... french Canadians mostly. Oh how Trent spent the four days telling people that not all Canadians spoke French and that we were from the ENGLISH speaking part of Canada.... on and on...

Playa Blanca was nice. The problem is we have been very spoiled over the years in our travels staying at some incredible places that we compare to all the time. Don't get me wrong Playa Blanca is nice but it is not Phi Phi Island Resort in Thailand.

(here is the one pool area that we overlooked from our balcony)

(the second pool area by the beach with great music playing)

(the beach view from the pool area)

(crazy Canadians playing around)

The kids had a great time. Mosy and Gabby came out for the day to play in the pool and relax. Gabby will be two in May and it seems so long ago we were at that stage of pampers, worrying around the water, naps (I guess where you are Bonnie...haha) It is nice that Everett is moving out of the very tiring stages. I want to freeze the kids at their ages they are at now, they are so much fun.

(Mosy & Gabby out for the day)

(can you guess who is under there? The water wings give it away... Ev swam around like this)

(daughter like Daddy, their favorite spot... the pool bar... Emma loved to sit here sipping on her orange juice)

(footballs go everywhere we do... almost had it buddy)

(East taking a shower before he goes to relax)

(Do you know who is under here... hint... only Easton loves to lay in the sun relaxing... he loves this spot)

The resort was located right on the beach but we never went to the beach to play, we only went to the kids quad track. Trent found this place on the beach that rented kids sized quads. The kids LOVED IT!!! Easton loved the speed, he was determined to catch up to Emma that when he turned one corner he went flying off. (good thing he landed on something soft) Trent kept adjusting the throttle once the kids could handle the machines.

(Everett in a hurry to catch up to Emma & Easton on the hot sand)

(helmets on & ready to go)

(Emma took Everett nice and slow but he wanted his own quad)

(Easton asked "where do we go to buy one of these quads"... sorry pal it won't fit in the apartment... funny kid)

Poor Everett he was so upset that Trent finally put him on the little machine Easton was driving and off he went. After a few laps Trent again gave Everett a bit more speed and he was off to the races. Ev completed a few laps on his own...little stinker. We asked the kids their favorite part of our few days away and they said QUADING.

(he completed the whole track all on his own.. no crashing)

(yes I am here with my family... Emma took my camera and was snapping many pictures again)

Every night at the resort there was a kids show and an adult show to follow. The kids begged everynight to go but they were always to tired. The last night we let them stay up and they had a blast. The activity directors called all the kids and taught them a dance routine on stage. Easton was all over that as well as our little girl who is slowly breaking out of her shell. (Em is fine as long as Easton is with her) It was so much fun to watch the kids. Easton had a solo dance but he was not in the mood to show some of his famous moves. The one little girl the same age of Emma (latin American) got on stage.... this girl could shake her boody. No wonder these Latin woman can stake it up on the dance floor, they have been at it since they were wee babies.

(this was great to watch... I think the kids picked up some new moves)

(our baby boy... crashed as soon as we walked in the room)

It was a great four days away from the city and Monday afternoon we headed back home. The PanAmerican Highway is the road we drove home from the resort which is a great road to travel on. We decided to take a quick side trip up to El Valle a town 35min off the highway inland. There was about a 10 degree change in weather as we climbed up the windy road. This town was very quaint, lush, and had a small town feel. We are going to go back for a weekend probably when my mom & sister get down here, so in April I can report more.

Monday night we made it home and it was so peaceful driving on the roads... no one was around, it was Carnival time! During Carnival in the daytime hundreds if not thousands of people gather together in their bathing suits and wait for large water tank trucks to come by and spray them. It is like a huge water fight for days. We were not very interested in this tradition :-)

As I explained before the Carnival in Panama City was held on the road down from our apartment. The main stage was right below us. I took this picture from Emma's room but it did not show up very well and does not give justice to how many people were down there. Trent & I figure anywhere from 5-7 thousand people, it was so loud. I do have to say though that I was completely surprised at how sophisticated the sound stage and equipment was. I watched some of the concert on TV and one would of thought he was in North America watching a concert... very high tech.

(the view from Emma's room to the stage)

I loved the music and would have loved to been down there but not by myself. Trent went out with Nick so to get the kids to bed I pulled Easton's mattress into our room on the floor, Everett finally fell alseep and Emma I had to put cotton balls full of vaseline in her ears, then hold her ears to try to drown out the music. The music went all night.

Tuesday we were invited to friends for dinner but it was the last day of Carnival and I read the big parade was this day. Emma, Easton and I really wanted to go but Trent was not so keen. We insisted.... found parking, went through the security check point while being padded down. A line for men, a line for woman and everyone was searched by armed security. It's nothing to see the police walking around with machine guns... makes us feel safe (maybe we have been here to long already...haha)

As soon as we walked on to the street we had confetti thrown at us. I was told that is a tradition here, kids get bags of confetti and throw it in eachothers face. Trent bought 2 bags for $0.25 for all the kids and himself. They had a hay day with this tradition and were throwing it at everyone especially the scary masked men on the street. Again the kids loved these guys and chased them to throw confetti at them and to take pictures with them.

(some very interesting costumes)

(It did not take long for Easton to embrace this tradition)

(Emma went to town with the confetti with these boys)

(these boys followed Trent and the kids until their stash of confetti was all gone)

(the boys were all over checking out these stange masks)

(Easton was not sure what to think of this guy)

The parade started and Emma's eyes lit up when she saw the Carnival Queen. Trent and I laughed because in a civilized society that we are used to so many things are against what we call normal. People walking in front of the floats, people walking through the parade, beer sold on the street at a family event, the floats almost running over people because there was not enough room to get by, the floats almost touching the power lines. All normal things here :-)

(the parade has begun)

(the Carnival Queen.... like the Calgary Stampede there is a Queen & two Princesses)

(one of the Princesses)

The energy of the people was amazing, the music was AWESOME. Emma & I loved it. The parade consisted of many floats all lavishly decorated way more than I expected. I was expecting some basic parade but I was very wrong. Following the floats there were bands & dancers preforming, representing each of their region in Panama. Each region had its own unique sound and dance. It was pretty amazing to have a chance to join in a celebration that is so dear to these people. I love Latin music and to see people so passionate to preform was simply amazing. We had to leave the parade early some friends asked us to dinner so we were not able to see the whole show. Emma & I were pretty sad to leave.

(here is a little girl all dressed up for Carnival... )

(A traditionally dressed woman)

(a very interesting dance, the music was great)

(again the music was fabulous.. the Panamanians take Carnival very seriously)

(this little guy was following with one of the bands... he was sooo cute)

Where did the word “carnival” come from?

Hundred and hundreds of years ago, the followers of the Catholic religion in Italy started the tradition of holding a wild costume festival right before the first day of Lent. Because Catholics are not supposed to eat meat during Lent, they called their festival, carnevale — which means “to put away the meat.” As time passed, carnivals in Italy became quite famous; and in fact the practice spread to France, Spain, and all the Catholic countries in Europe. Then as the French, Spanish, and Portuguese began to take control of the Americas and other parts of the world, they brought with them their tradition of celebrating carnival.... (My Panama tibit for this week)

Why the scary masks?

The masks are made in scary devilish shapes with horns and brilliant colours. The main idea is to have the good devils get rid of the evil devils through their colourful native dance known as bomba y plena. Folk tunes 'estribillos' follow the rhythms of the colourful dance. The "vejigante' masks are made with two sets of horns, a large fiery mouth and two large hollow eyes. They are made in such a way to depict a dragon that is on the verge to attack. In reality, the dragon is friendly, a character inspired by the typical vejigantes roaming the crowds during the Lenten Carnivals. The 'vejigante' masks are a classical example of the fusion of African, Spanish and Caribbean cultures. These carnivals themes can be magical, satirical, political or just purely entertaining. The important thing is that everyone is there to enjoy and have a fun time.

The kids start school March 5th so we have uniform shopping and school supplies to still get. It is the kids last week of intense Spanish classes before school starts so I think we are staying relatively close to home.

Thanks again for emailing us and letting me know you are taking some value from our blogs. We love to hear from you! Great to hear from you Avery... send me an email so I have your email address on file.

I want to say to Mom, Jack, Auntie Penny, George & Lori I am sure you are having a great time and be safe and have fun (they are in the Dominican Republic right now)

Welcome home Linda Day... so HAPPY to hear you are home safe and sound with Paul & the kids. (Linda just arrived home from a month of mission work in Africa)

So that is all for now take care and give your loved ones a hug and tell them you love them. Life is precious and lets live each day to the fullest the best we can. I thank my very missed dad and Auntie Wendy for that daily reminder.

Until next time. Adiós
love Trent, Jody, Emma, Easton & Everett