ANOTHER LESSON LEARNED

Feb 1-5th is Carnival time in Panama. Its a huge deal for the locals. They save up all year to splurge on 5 days of heavy partying and drinking. Translation...thousands of people crammed into the streets, dancing till they drop. Some of the little girls get candy braided into their hair. Vendors sell lots of trinkets on the road, and the fire fighters spray the crowds with water (e.g. water dancing). We were in Bocas to pick up some bottled water and look for blankets. One of the vendors was selling snow cones. It was so hot, so when the kids asked for one, and I said "sure". For 25 cents, that's a great deal, not remembering we were in Bocas. The snow cones were made from shavings off a huge block of ice plus the artificial flavoring of your choice, topped of with a little condensed milk. Not 5 minutes after eating their “treat” both kids started complaining of sore stomachs and nausea. Oops! They probably used tap water to make the ice which is not drinkable here in Bocas. (Such a great Mom!) We water taxied back to the resort and loaded them both up on fresh coconut juice and Coke. Believe it or not, Coke kills the bugs. I know, scarey!. And coconut milk helps your body get used to digesting "different" water. Despite these efforts, Syd was up vomiting all night, and Josh was fine, of course. That boy could eat a 5 day old hotdog and not feel a thing. Yet another lesson learned! Drink bottled water when living on an island. Today (two days later) everyone is doing well. We all slept well last night (first time since we arrived) and no one is sick!

Until I blog again!