Fun with the Days

We had our first visitors since being back to Panama this round. The Day family arrived on Wed Oct 10th at 7:00pm. They arrived when the skies were nice and dark, rush hour traffic had trailed off, and the smell of sweet rain was in the air. Their flight left Calgary at 7:00AM so it was a very long day for the kids. One of the first things that Linda said was "Wow is it humid here", that was the very first thing my Mom said when she came in April.

(Day family with Panama City in the back ground)

We have been friends with the Days for six years since meeting at Westside Kings Church. Paul & Linda have two kids Sydney (10yrs.) & Josh (8yrs)... This family has decided to join the group of FAMILY WILL TRAVEL philosophy for a bit. They walked away from all their comforts, all that they know as normal and have decided to travel with their kids for about six months.

They stayed with us for 5 days. It was a great time. Emma gave up her room to bunk in our room. Sydney and Josh were a bit apprehensive about coming to Panama but by the time they spent five days here they did not want to leave to head up north to David ( an 45min plane ride from Panama City) The Days are going to check out the town of David and area and venture around there for a few months. Once they are settled we will make a quick trip up there to see what they are up to :- )

It was five action packed days around here when they came. We took them to our favorite hang out... the Bagel Shop on Thursday morning (Paul went everyday there after for his daily dose of coffee) I believe Josh wrote in his journal that it had yummy bagels there. After the bagel shop we did a quick tour through Casa Veigo... one of my favorite places in the city for its many colonial buildings. This area is slowly being restored and right beside these amazing buildings are some of the most raw living quarters in the city, here you see local. It is very beautiful here.

I do have to mention that it was wonderful having Sydney here... she is one great little photographer, it was nice I barely took any pictures with her and Linda around, they took lots of great pictures that you will see below...

(a drive down one of the streets)

(We were driving the streets in this local area and I said to Sydney "if you can, get this picture as we drive by" what a great shot)

( a really nice picture taken by Linda of Paul & Trent solving all the worlds issues)

Friday we let Emma & Easton skip school to hang out with Sydney and Josh (they were thrilled) We took the Day family to the Panama Canal which they were fascinated by.... who wouldn't be. I am amazed every time we pass it.... I still am amazed that in the 1800's this idea was thought of. You may have heard on the news that they are expanding the canal to accommodate the enormous ships of this day in age. Here at home we can here the explosions every once in a while... pretty neat.

After the Canal we went to dinner on the Causeway (where we ride bikes)
The kids were tossing around a special ball of Josh's that his friend gave him... they were playing right at the Marina.... IN WENT THE BALL in the water, poor Josh was devastated but it was looking like there was no way we could retrieve this ball because it was at least 15 feet or so down. It was a miracle that I saw a couple of Panamanian guys walking the plank on the opposite side of the water way from us. I yelled"Senior ayuda por favor" (help please) I was trying to push the ball over to him with the plastic pipe to no avail. This man scaled the beam... took the pipe from me and guided Josh's ball to the other side for his friend to throw back to us. It was amazing, an amazing act of kindness and how it does not matter what language you speak, what color your skin is... human nature is to help. It was pretty amazing. Needless to say Josh put that ball away and is safe guarding it.

(A team effort trying to push, blow and make waves to move Josh's ball... we looked ridiculous)

(The very nice man who came to the rescue with no hesitation... none of us were eager to attempt this walk)

Saturday morning everyone woke up nice and early to hit the road for an hour road trip to go fishing. Emma, Everett and I stayed home since Emma had dance practice for her International Festival on Oct 28th... also Trent said Everett could not go fishing unless I went... poor kid soon he can play with the big boys :- ))

(my cutie Ev... great picture Linda)

Trent arranged a pontoon boat for the day of fishing out in Aerenosa. Aeranosa is where Trent has taken the kids fishing before on Gatun Lake. The report when everyone got home exhausted was... it was really hot and they said they caught about 200 fish. Sydney caught 18 in a row. It was an awesome day and the kids loved it. For 10cents/ fish the fishing guide filleted fish to be brought back home. Elia (our helper) cooked up a delicious meal of fish, they were excellent.

(Sydney and one of her many fish)

(My boy just like his Daddy... they love being out on the water)

Saturday night I arranged to have Patricia (our babysitter) come babysit so we adults could have some peace and quite (mostly for me..haha) Paul and Trent had to have their afternoon naps before we went out on the town. Out for dinner to Benihanas, it is like Japanese Village in Calgary but alot more interactive. We had a great time and yes Jeff & Michele you were missed...

(a great night out with Paul, Linda Trent & I)

I took Linda to the shopping mall to get Sydney some flip flops... I think Linda was in shock at how inexpensive everything was. She found shoes for Sydney for $1.60, very cute ones at that. Linda said "we shouldn't of brought any clothes, we should have just bought everything here". Trent told me the same thing the first time we came down but I did not believe him. Also I think Linda was amazed at how modern and nice the mall was...

Sunday the kids had a birthday party to go to and of course Panama style is you bring everybody with you. It was Jesse Hall's birthday, friends from the states. The party was held at SpaceWorld... basically a big arcade with rides. Oh, did the kids have fun, even the big boys... Trent & Paul, they were like little kids racing against eachother.

(time to sing Happy Birthday in English and Spanish)

(The Hall Family from Houston Texas)

(the big boys... off to the races)

Monday the Day's left for David and they are checking places out to see if it will be home for the next six months. It was alot of fun having them here, the kids had a blast swimming, playing lego and just hanging out.

(the boys all huddled watching Josh play on his Nintendo machine)

(the two red heads of the house... Syd and East...)

(Everett taking the kids for a spin... anything is possible in Panama :- )

Halloween is fast approaching and they do celebrate here which will be interesting. Our kids already have their costumes and are ready to go trick or treating ... winter jacketless : -)) I will report after Halloween what we do and what we see. I do not even know what the kids would say at the door, should be interesting. Easton today got invited to a costume party on the 27th so that will be really cute.

I did want to mention how we have found a way to keep our boys up on our Canadian national sport even if it is not on ice. We found hockey stick, pucks & nets at this one store here in the city that has some very cool toys. The boys spend hours playing hockey and taking shots on the net. Everett is the one who has a love for the slap shot. After they play hockey into the pool we go. A bit of Canada can now follow us where ever we go :- )

( he has the temper to be a great player..haha)

I think I said in the last blog that we were painting the kids rooms. They are painted, beds are up and are feeling more and more homey. It has been a challenge though trying to hang pictures... cement walls are a bit more tricky than dry wall. Cement also really soaks up the paint, you need many coats of it on the walls. When we were painting Elia was shocked to find out that we do not have cement walls in Canada... she never really thought about how cold they would be and that we would need insulation to stay warm.

(the boys room BEFORE)

(boys room almost done... little big of CARS & SPIDERMAN.... just need somethings on the walls and a desk, but getting more cozy than before)

(Emma's room looking more girly as the days go by. She loves her bunk beds)

(Em loves to sit and read in her new chair)

(a cute mask Emma found at the mall for $1.99 - great for playing around the house... we found lots of different mask)

(I wanted to just show the local lunch truck... No matter what country, you find men gathered around the gut wagon having a coffee)

Rainy season if upon us here and it has been alot better than we anticipated... Summer starts in December. The kids are almost done school for the Panamanain school year, Dec 19th is their graduation and then it is summer break for local kids. We have tossed the idea of coming back to Calgary for Christmas but the kids had a vote and said they wanted to stay here to decorate our apartment with tons of decorations (I am not sure how I feel about that yet)... I was however out voted tonight at dinner concerning decorating our apartment. I was told that I get a small corner to decorate the way I want then Trent and the kids get to decorate the rest... Pray for me I can only imagine what this place will look like come December. Christmas stuff is everywhere in the stores already here and they say the Panamainans celebrate and really get into the Christmas season.

The boys have started baseball..... very local baseball. Trent found a phone number and after talking to various people on the telephone he got someone who spoke some english to find out about baseball. The boys have been going for about three weeks and love it. Trent said it is LOCAL no other kids look like our kids (if you know what I mean) he also said that these Panamaian boys are serious and ready to play... this is their ticket out. It is great exercise for the boys and great experience for them! I will send pictures when I have them. Last week they got rained out and Friday night we left town.... next blog.

Thanks again for exploring with us and taking some interest in our journey. All the best to you and your families and like usual we love to hear from you either leaving a message on the blog here or at schmulandj@gmail.com. There are a few people out there I have not got back to you, I promise in the next couple of days I will. We have been gone and just got back into town last night.

Until next time. Take care and chat soon.
xoxoxoxox

Jody. Trent. Emma. Easton & Everett