VIEW FROM A CHOPPER

Hey everybody. Its been a while. My bad. I've had a few things on the go that have been keeping me busy. I'll try to bring you up to speed on some of that stuff in a later post. For now, I thought I'd share with you an experience I had yesterday.

I just returned (this morning) from a trip to the Caribbean coast. The humanitarian group I am part of (Dead Wheat international Foundation) gathered in Belen - a remote town on the mouth of Rio Belen on the Caribbean - along with local & national politicians, investors and local business leaders, to meet with Mr Martinelli (likely next President of Panama) and members of his leadership team to discuss plans of development for the area. Our interests - as a humanitarian group - is to exercise our influence and offer our skills to ensure that the development occurs in a manner that respects and protects the interests of the people. We flew by (the Duran Coffee) helicopter from Panama City as Belen is only accessible by air or water. Riding in the chopper was very cool. I shot some footage of us leaving Belen. Check it out.

Later

Paul

PANAMANIAN SWIMMING POOL

So it rained a little today...well, actually a lot. Check out our new (temporary) swimming pool.

Looks like the rainy season may be making its entrance back on the scene.

Until my next post,

Linda

CELEBRATING MOMENTS

Thursday morning. The dishes are washed. Paul is at a meeting. The kids are at school. And the week is almost done. I am naturally not an early-riser, so these 6:15 mornings are a bit of a challenge for me and the kids. The kids are wiped out after being in Spanish school for 3 1/2 hours a day. So we just home school from 7-9:30am. They work really well first thing in the morning. This morning I had two wonderful moments that I just had to share with you all. One almost made me cry. The other made me belly-laugh.

Firstly, 2 girls spoke to Sydney this morning at school. We all had a 15 minute conversation in English/Spanish and Spanglish. Syd walked away from that conversation just beaming and gave me a subtle high five. For the first 3 days, she had been standing awkwardly for 30 minutes saying "Hola" to everyone while everyone walked by. Poor thing was counting the seconds until the bell only ever getting a shy smile in return . Day 4 of school - and finally some contact! This is a reason to celebrate.


The second moment happened this morning as the kids were finishing up home school and getting ready for Spanish school. I think the video speaks for itself.

"Me gusta pollo" is "I like chicken". Apparently Josh likes chicken!

Until I blog again!

Linda

INSTITUTO GUADALUPANO

Instituto Guadalupano

Yesterday was the first day of private (Spanish) school for the kids. We live approximately 5 minutes from a small private school called "Instituto Guadalupano". Great little school. Small classroom sizes and wonderful teachers. We decided to enroll Syd and Josh as “listening” students. Basically, they're auditing the classes - they don't get marked on any of the work they do. They attend for half the day and are required to take an active role in the class. We want them to have more intentional exposure to the Spanish language, Panamanian culture and to meet other kids. The school day starts at 7am and finishes at 1:30pm. But Syd and Josh only attend from 10am to 1:30pm. They fit in homeschooling before heading off to Guadalupano.

All the schools in Panama have very specific uniform requirements. When I registered the kids a few weeks back I assumed I could buy the uniforms pre-made. Not the case. That would be too easy. For Sydney’s skirt I had to buy the material at the school, the zipper and buttons at another store, then find a “costura” (seamstress) to make the skirt. After 3 fittings, at each of which the skirt was so tight Syd could hardly breath, it finally fit (kind of). I had to make some final alterations on my own. But after 3 visits, I was done. Joshua had to have pants made since the off-the-rack pants here do not fit him at all. I had to buy the material at one store, and then find someone to sew them. I approached the woman who was making Syd’s skirt, but I was informed that she never does pants. The man who lives behind her sews the pants for the boys. One great thing about the “pant-maker” was that we were able to tell him exactly how Josh wanted the pants. No pockets in back. No pleats. Deep pockets. Loose fit EVERWHERE. Josh’s pants fit fairly well, so only one trip was necessary to get those made. The skirts cost $4 each to have them made. The pants costs $7.50 to have made. They both have two sets. The process of getting the uniforms took around 2 weeks.

The kids trying on their uniforms.

Dropping them off on the first day was really tough. No muffin mixers here (as they do at Glendale)! The first day of any school is always a little nerve racking, but not speaking the language and looking so different is always a challenge. Syd is in junior high - Grade 7, and Josh is in Grade 5. Junior high students attend classes at the front of the school. Elementary student classrooms are located in the back of the school. All of Syd’s friends are in the elementary division so she only sees them after school.

I had to take this picture quickly. They were embarassed.
Sometimes simple things can be such a challenge. For example, this morning Syd wanted to order Jell-O at the cafeteria, but did not know the name for Jell-O. We asked 7 kids if they spoke English. All of them shook their head, “No” and walked away. Finally, the "lunch-lady" told us to ask the English teacher for the word we were looking for. Simple things, like ordering Jell-O, can be a little complicated when you don’t speak the language. “Gelato” was the name we were looking for. So Syd finally was able to order her cup of purple Jell-O. And it only took 7 minutes and 25 cents.

Josh’s take on his first day (yesterday) at Spanish school - “My class is so loud. They are crazy!”. This morning, he actually ran to his class and never looked back. I am very proud of them both and encouraged them that managing this anxiety was great practice for future “first days”. What I said and how I felt were very different. What I really wanted to do was pick them up in my arms and take them back to our safe little home school room. Instead, I left, leaving my sweet children to fend for themselves knowing that these experiences are good for their character development. Let's be honest, for my character too.

This is the school cafeteria that serves a variety of deep fried foods, drinks, snacks and, of course, Jell-0.

Until I blog again.
Linda

LINDA HAD A LITTLE LAMB...

Our friends, Steve and Jenni, who are building the aquaponic farm on their land, now have sheep - 37 of them, actually. Many of them are pregnant. And as of the latest count, they have 5 new babies. Here is a video of me with "Ajax" -the lamb, and their daughter, Alayna.

Sheep. So far, they are the only animal I am not severely allergic to. So holding and petting a lamb was pretty cool for me. It has been great fun for me and the kids to visit the farm, play with the sheep, play in dirt and ride horses. The place is incredibly peaceful and the kids are never bored there. The other day they were throwing rocks into a hole for an hour!

Until I blog again

Linda

TRAMPOLINE TRAUMA

This past saturday morning we woke up to the following:

What a sad morning we had. It turns out the winds must have been strong enough to lift the trampoline over the fence and 3 trees. The metal frame is busted in 3 spots. We will hopefully be able to weld it back together again. Needless to say, we were all very sad, I even shed a tear.

:(

The kids , Paul and I headed out to rescue the trampoline, armed with machetes and a tool box. It took around 45 minutes to disassemble it. In the meantime, we wait for windy season to be over, then we get the trampoline fixed and secure it into the ground with concrete.

Until I blog again.

Linda