Back to Panama.. again

Landed back in Panama on August 26th.  It was later than we expected but we made the most of it.

The kids like always were awesome travellers, it is so easy going anywhere with them.

We have been in Panama almost 3 yrs and wow has it changed in that short time.  The Tocumen International Airport is moving from a half fast airport to a high tech Latin hub.  Trent and I both noticed the functioning baggage screens as well now you have to pay for your luggage trolley which are organized.  Even when you pass the customs check point the porters assemble the luggage on the trolley instead of their big red carts.  Things are changing.

Now the city.  We were blown away at the Avenida Balboa overpass which was a huge improvement for the cities crazy traffic problem, it is not perfect but an improvement.  Panama city is moving forward in many areas and yet so far behind in many respects.  The new president wants to bring in a new transit system and that my friends would be unbelievable.

The "red devils" a.k.a public buses can be very dangerous.  A good percentage of the drivers are either high on marajuna or cocaine (police has done surprise check stops)  However in saying that the rojo diablos are a symbol of Panama's culture and some of these buses are beautifully decorated so to loose them would be a shame.

So Panama is changing ... for the good yes but also sad that the country that was, will not be in years to come.  It still is home for now and we intend to experience all we can while we can.

(my always funny kids with a spunk in their step ready to head to school.  They love going to school and they all have amazing teachers)

(I am not sure if I have sent a picture of where we watch the kids ride bikes while we walk and talk some evenings.  It is beautiful and peaceful)

(We are back honey... adjusting to the Panamanian ways again) 

(Sunday morning playing out at the park before the rain came)

(this is Lucky... our borrowed dog.  He belongs to our neighbor and we play with him any time we want, so the kids can have their fill of playing with a dog.  The kids get their fix and then we get to give him back... a win win all around)

HOSPITAL Again...

(Upon our arrival back to Panama Easton had a small blister on his arm.  Within 10hours it had spread to this and jumped to his armpit.  It was a staph infection that the emergency doctor at the hosptial diagnosed quickly.  The Doc prescribed antibiotics while wrapping the area with medicated bandages.  It took a while but after a few weeks no marks were left except all the residue from the tape stuck to East's body)

RAINING CATERPILLARS!

We came home to find it was raining caterpillars.  It was dark one night and Emma yelled "what is that?"   (the kids are good at spotting weird things now).  We were all intriged at this new creature we found, inspected it closely and then Trent moved him to the tree and we went in to get ready for bed.

THE NEXT MORNING.... we woke up to more of these capterpillars on our front porch.  Elia our maid was freaking out and would not go near them.  It turns out that these insects that are poisonous reproduce every 2 years with a life span of 10-12 days.  We had 18 all around our front door!  It was discussing.  In total we had at least 50 in our trees, on our house and up the driveway in 4 day period.  Then day 5 and they were gone!

(a picture before we knew they were poisonous... This creature is sized up to Trent's size 13 foot)

(a closer look at his friendly spikes... I have searched for hours to find the name of this creature to no avail.  I have found one similar, again unnamed but documented to be poisonous from Colombia)

Along with raining caterpillars we had a snake in our tree.  Trent and the kids were very excited about the snake.  Trent wanted to try to catch it so for some crazy turn of events I was the one who ended up out Emma's window (second floor) trying to reach the snake with a pole.  Trent was hanging onto my arm and there was a good amount of screaming and excitement.  Unfortunately during my nervousness I could not quite grab the snake and it got away.  I felt bad yet still relieved ... no snake in my house!

INTERNATIONAL FAIR... at school... A fantastic day to celebrate such diversity!

Each elementry class represented a country and created games for the fun day.  Emma's class was Italy, Easton's represented Switzerland and Everett was the red, white and blue... the USA.

It was a funraiser for the school and each game cost 2 tickets, so 50cents (i think)  However the best part of the day was the food.  There was homemade food from different regions like the Mediterranean, Italy, Canada/USA, India, Latin food and the very delicious desert table. It was a great day!  

This is our 3rd fair and it gets better and better each year. The teachers do such an amazing job and the time they put in to organize is wonderful, they really love their jobs and the kids!  Thank you teachers!!! 

(Everett in his red.white.blue representing USA.  Love your hat buddy, he had fun making it in class)

(Easton at the Crossroads Largest Spaghetti Bowl, fishing for a prize with his toes... it was so gross but the kids loved it.  East was at Emma's Italian booth helping to support her class)

(I loved all the Chinese lanterns.  The Grade 1 class represented China and these lanterns looked awesome)

QUICK VIDEO...

(a very quick view of the atmosphere at the fair... Love the music)

(what would a fair be without sugar high cute kids... the boys were all over getting nice and sticky)

(this was a fun idea.  One of the teachers painted this picture and charged 2 tickets for a snap shot.  A great way to raise money and East got a chance to knock his sister out of the park)

(East and his buddy JuanFra went at it for 2 minutes... A great bonding activity....hitting eachother.  Trent and I thought about going up but I had a dress on, so it was not lady like for me to get up there and possibly embarrass Trent...haha)

TATTOO PLEASE!

Sandra opened her booth of Henna tattoos and I was her first customer of the day.  I went for a big tatoo which was Arabic meaning "Peace"  I loved it!  The tattoo is to last about 2 weeks, so I guess alot of halter tops for me.  Sandra did an amazing job!

(Sandra starting small and created a beautiful Arabic piece)

(my finished tattoo.  Trent was a bit speechless, the kids didn't really say much and everyone else said it looked great.  I really liked it but not quite ready to make it permanent ... I think I will have to just stick to the henna tattoos every month until I fall in love with something to get the real ink)

(oh I love my boys.  I got called into the bathroom after we got home from the fair to find the boys in the bath looking like this.  They were in the bath cooling off from the hot afternoon and discovered that this shampoo made some great suds)

This blog was short and sweet.  

All our love to you out there.

Until next time....

Trent. Jody. Em. East * Ev.

xooxo