GETTING CAUGHT UP

Sorry for the delay in getting this posted. We’ve had a few challenges with our internet connection at our place. It appears as though the issues have been resolved for the most part. And…let’s be honest…OK, let me be honest…I’ve been a little lazy with the blog. Its not you, its me. I promise I'll try harder. Forgive me. So finally, here’s a quick update on some of what’s been happening over the last couple weeks. Pics will follow.

WE'RE IN...STILL
Well, the fact that we re still in Panama means that we successfully acquired our visa extensions. Here’s how it works here. You enter the country, pay $5 per person for 30 day tourist cards/visas, then prior to the 30 day mark you apply for an extension of up to 60 days (which we did), and at the end of the 60 extension period, you’re required to leave the country for 72 hours and then rinse and repeat, and so on and so on.

So at this point, we’re planning our “required” 3 night-4 day trip to Costa Rica on Jan 4-7 as our 60 visa cards expire on Jan 9. Then it’s off to the Immigration Office again to apply for another 60 day extension, probably on or around Feb 1 and then we’ll be off to Bocas Del Toro, Panama on Feb 2 for 32 days.

THE GIFT OF NEW FRIENDS
We’ve been so excited to make some great connections over the last month. How they’ve come about is actually kind of cool as well. One morning, about 3 weeks ago, I drove down to our favorite coffee shop, Café Ruiz, to get a $.50 coffee before I went out hunting for a local travel agent to help us plan our “required” trip to Costa Rica. At the coffee shop I met a retired pastor and his wife from Arizona. I had actually emailed them about a week earlier in my hunt to find a church to attend. It took a few minutes before we realized who each other were. Long story short (LSS), they told me about the English church they are part of and two new families who just started attending and how they thought it might be a place to make some good connections for ourselves and the kids. We finished our coffees and conversation and I headed to a business area in Boquete looking for a travel agent. I parked my car, and with no idea where I was going I started walking, right past the front of an open office where I overheard a woman and older gentleman asking for directions to the airport in David. I could see there was a little confusion about how to get there, so I jumped in and drew them a map. LLS, the young woman, Sharon, was the wife/mother of one of the young families the retired pastor told me about. What are the odds? Boquete is small, but not that small. She was with her father-in-law, who was also a semi-retired pastor from the States. What are the odds of meeting two pastors back to back? We talked about our families, our kids, a bit about our journeys to Panama, and thought it would be great to get together. We exchanged telephone numbers and I continued my hunt to find a travel agent. LSS, a few days later we found ourselves at a potluck with four or five families, including Sharon (and her husband, Bruce), at the house of some new great friends, Steve and Jenni (the other family the retired pastor told me about). It was so great to connect with some fantastic people. They’ve all been a God-send for us. Since then we’ve been hanging out every once in a while. The kids all get along really well. And…it turns out a few of the guys are actually musician-songwriters and have been talking about putting some music together, and maybe a band, and they need a bass player. Uhhm, again, what are the odds?

SPANISH CHOIR
The Spanish church we’ve been attending has a Spanish children’s choir. Syd and Josh were invited to participate. So a couple weeks ago they just jumped in and did great. You should have seen Josh, arms at his side, chest out, shoulders back, chin up, mouth in the proper oval singing position with cheeks puckered, pounding out doh-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-doh and holding the final “doh” with authority and conviction. It was priceless.

HOME SCHOOLING “OLD SCHOOL”
The home schooling is going well, mostly due to my incredible wife, Linda. The kids usually take their time getting up and getting breakfast, then it’s into the school work for the day. Linda has the school day laid out, with a task list, assignments to be completed, etc. And we both help them along (I know what you’re thinking, let’s be honest, its mostly Linda isn’t it? OK, it’s mostly Linda. Like I said, she’s amazing). We decided to add a little literature component into the curriculum, the Bible. So I’ve been introducing them to the Bible. 66 books, Old and New Testaments….I began introducing them to the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible). So we talked about Moses, who is credited by most with being the author of the Torah. In the second session I introduced and explained the 10 commandments. Then we did a quick review. They recalled the first seven commandments, then I asked, “And the 8th commandment is (pause)? Do not…” And without missing a beat, Josh says, “go in there” (a classic Ace Ventura line). I was on the floor.

WORKING OUT THE KINKS
A couple weeks ago, after nearly 6 weeks of little to no working out, I decided to go in search of a gym here in Boquete. I found two. First, imagine an oversized garage, in modest “garage” state, free weight equipment that was probably made in the late 60's, including some of the classic light green powder filled plastic cylinders, and three cardio machines that look like “McDonald’s hamburgers” (e.g. a combination of leftovers from at least 100 other machines). The second, a modest but well kept renovated house with Bowflex machines (no free weights), with 5 or 6 decent cardio machines, a nice stretching area with mats and workout balls. LSS, I’m now a member there at a grand total price of $35 per month. They provide me with a certified trainer who prepares my workout schedules, prepares every machine before I use it, and wipes the machines down after I sweat all over it. Not bad for $35, eh?

THE CREEPS
So you may be wondering, are there any interesting critters in Panama? The short answer, yes. The longer answer, we’ve seen some, and heard about lots of others. Like the other night, Linda and I were in bed and felt like we we’re being watched. We turn on the light and Linda immediately said, “kill that thing”. It was a black spider, probably 4.5 inches from toe to toe, locked in the “freeze” position (like it was trying to trick us and subtly blend into the off white walls) about 18 inches above Linda’s pillow. I said a quick prayer and quickly ushered it into spider heaven. We’re still looking for the scorpions, tarantulas (some as big as a 8-12 inches wide), coral snakes, and little monkeys that we are told are on our property, all of which we “definitely will see” in January and February along with the occasional earthquake. Fun! We’ll keep you posted and hopefully get a few good pics for you to view.

AN EARLY CHRISTMAS GIFT
We just returned from five days at the Playa Blanca Resort on the Pacific coast with our good friends, the Schmulands. They’re heading to Canada for a white Christmas in a couple weeks, so we thought we’d get together with them to have an early Christmas, Panama style. It was great. We spent hours talking, eating, swimming, eating, sunbathing, eating, more talking, and of course more eating, playing in the rain, and well, more eating. Josh was in his glory at meal time. He would pace himself through his 3 and 4 courses each meal. It was awesome to behold. To mix things up a bit, we rented quads on a couple days and some sea-doos another day. We all had a blast. Well, actually, everyone else had a blast quading and seadooing while I stood and watched doing the “wise thing” by not aggravating my back any more than it was already. I know, boohoo. But it was fun watching Linda and Trent wipe out on the seadoo, and very cool witnessing Josh find a new love, quads.

Josh loving quading on his own, he only flipped twice!

Linda, Jody, Syd, Eatson and Emma waiting their turn to sea-doo on the Pacific

The Schmulands and the Days at Playa Blanca- Good times.

Sydney at Playa Blanca with a resident Tucan-so beautiful

THE POWER OF LAUNDRY
So after a couple months, how are things going? Good question. Things have changed a fair bit for us. When we left Canada in search of rest, we hoped for a slower pace and fewer things to worry about. I think we’ve found it. In fact, there are times when it probably gets a little too slow and laid back for our liking. This was crystallized for us the other day when we had to admit to ourselves that the linchpin of our schedule is….laundry. Yes, laundry. Each day finds its order only after we ask that critical question, is today a laundry day? First we ask, do we have enough laundry in the basket to do laundry? Second, is it sunny and windy enough to dry the clothes if we wash them (as there is no clothes dryer here at the house)? Third, do we have any other plans already in place? Actually that’s kind of a throw away question. We just felt we needed at least three questions to feel good about the decision making process. So after careful consideration of these questions, which we don’t even pretend to approach until after we’ve enjoyed our morning coffee, we pray, ask God for guidance (and the occasional fleece), then make a decision and hope we’ve chosen correctly. Yah, laundry, uhmm. Who would have thought laundry would play such a pivotal role in our lives?

Well, its getting late. Talk to you soon.

Paul

OHHHH, I LOVE TURTLES!!

November 22 2007

What do you do on a cool, rainy Wednesday evening in Panama? Glad you asked! You release endangered baby turtles into the Pacific Ocean. Cool or what????

There is a program here that takes vulnerable turtle eggs and keeps them safe until they hatch and are ready to be released. Unfortunately, the turtle population is dwindling. And humans are the main reason for this, second to dogs. Tortoise shell glasses, purses, shoes, some soaps and human consumption have caused environmentalists to take action. Naturally, only 8% of the turtles make it back to the ocean. Either the eggs are eaten or the turtles just don’t live after they are hatched. This hatch and release program allows for up to 99% of the turtles to return to the ocean. After that, their on their own. I think the other 1 % don't make it to the Ocean because the turtles blend into the sand and are tough to see. “Crunch” and “oops” are words that come to mind. Don’t worry, I don’t think that happened on this release.

My family along with 3 other families crammed into our vehicles and made our bumpy way south of Boquete and David to Los Olas beach where the release occurred. We arrived to find that a large crowd had already gathered. After a brief education on the plight of these creatures, and a request for a donation, we were asked to line up on the beach, facing the ocean, and wait for our baby turtle. We all received a little baby turtle and together we released them to make their way into the ocean. They seemed quite helpless hobbling towards the loud, dark Pacific. Many of them needed a little help as they were going in the wrong direction. Amazing to think these little creatures can grow to be as big as 900 lbs!

Syd and little "Crush"

After they all made it safe into the big blue, we had a picnic and got eaten alive by mosquitoes. It was an incredible experience, and such great fun shared with a group of terrific people. Jenni, thanks for the invite. Alayna, thanks for the story of Zion’s birth. You had me in stitches the entire drive!!!

Josh and "Little Jerry"

Linda

MACHETE MAMMA

November 16, 2007

Well, life here in Panama has settled into a nice little routine. I’ve received a few emails saying how adventurous we are. At times we have little “adrenaline rushes” and “unique” moments, but overall its pretty quiet, and even a little boring at times. Then there are those times when you get to do/experience/see something really unique, like the other day.

We have many fruit trees in our yard, including banana trees. I have learned that when there is no longer a purple flower on a banana tree, the tree must be cut down. Banana trees take around 9 months to grow and produce fruit. We were told when this fruit is ready, take the fruit and cut down the tree. We did that the other day. The kids watched as Mama took a machete and chopped down a tree. We were all surprised to get splattered with a thick, sticky, milky fluid that oozed and sprayed out of the tree trunk. I got the fliud all over my favorite white tee. Needless to say, my favorite white tee is now wrecked. We also were very surprised to see the different layers in the trunk of the tree. Every three layers down there was a mesh-like cloth that goes around the circumference.

FYI: We have 3 types of bananas here. There are the ones we eat in Calgary. There are plantains which are large thick bananas that people fry in oil and dip in k-up, just like round French fries. And there are very small and sweet bananas that are so very good. Plantains and mini bananas down, like a bowl, while regular bananas hang up.

No messing with Mama.

Sucessful tree cutting complete!!!

After our successful “surgery”, we hung the green bananas in our kitchen window. After a few days, they turn yellow and are ready to be blended with our freshly squeezed orange juice and ice for our morning vitamin boost. Syd and Josh love eating off the land.

Syd making our morning vitamin boost drink

We had a beautiful day, today. Summer is on its way. The sign is gale force winds and beautiful morning sunshine. Its great for drying our clothes on the clothes line. The unique thing about summer in Boquete is that we get these light rains, more like a mist known here as “bajareque”. One thing about where our house is located (on the crest of hill between two valleys), is that we can have rain on one side of the house, and sun on the other. Or rain on one side, and none on the other. This allows for many opportunities for rainbows to develop. They are pretty spectacular. We saw two today, one on top of the other. I have never quite seen a rainbow that bright in my whole life. This picture doesn't do it justice, but it gives you a little idea of the beauty we see daily.

A view from our living room, little piece if heaven

I send my love to you all. Thanks for the e mails. Thanks to all who have emailed Josh and Syd. It helps them to hear from family and friends. Until I blog again.

by Linda

FRIENDLY CHURCH IN BOQUETE

We just returned from attending a great little Baptist church here in Boquete. The pastor is a Korean missionary pastor who speaks great Korean and Spanish, and a little English. The service was in Spanish, but the pastor was so kind to ask that someone translate for each us. Syd and Josh were both got invited, separately, to sit with kids their age who spoke English. They loved it. They each had their own translators. It was so cute to Syd and Josh sitting on their own listening to their new friends translate the sermon. The congregation of about 60 was very warm and welcoming of us. We made some great connections with several families. It will be a great place for us to learn Spanish. It seems we may have found our church home in Boquete.

SNAIL MAIL ADDRESS

After a few choppy conversations with some gracious locals, we finally figured out what our snail mail address is. As I mentioned in an earlier entry, the absence of street names and house numbers in and around Boquete has made the process of finding any address a bit challenging. You usually are given instruction in reference to land marks (e.g. big rock, broken red fence, etc). Given we live up in the hills above Boquete (Jaramillo Centro) along a "country road" we were wondering how in the world we'd actually get mail. (We are so urbanized, aka ignorant)

Turns out the street name and house number don't really matter because snail mail doesn't actually get dropped of at your house. It goes to the nearest post office where you have to visit every couple days to check and see if anything new has arrived. Duh! That makes absolute sense.

Since there is only one post office in all of Boquete (identified by the code, 0413), we actually have a pretty simple mailing address:

Paul, Linda, Sydney, Joshua Day
Boquete 0413
Chiriqui
Panama Republica Panama

BTW, Sydney and Josh love getting emails. If you get a second, drop them a line.

sydney.t.day@gmail.com
josh.d.day@gmail.com

HOME SWEET HOME

By Linda.

It’s Nov 6th, and we’re finally in our “home”. Yesterday we packed up our suitcases and headed to our home in the hills of Boquete (Jamarillo Centro). Joy and Jerry (Dutch couple), the home owners were there waiting for us. Inside, freshly cut flowers and a basket of treats were waiting for us and every bed had a chocolate treat on the pillow. What a wonderful welcome!

The house is a fully furnished 2 bedroom (plus loft bedroom) home. Sydney has claimed the upstairs loft as her “apartment”. It is so nice to hang up and put away all our clothes. Josh and Syd are enjoying having their own space and lots of space to run around outside. There’s also a tire swing and trampoline for the kids to play on. We have goats keep the lawn manicured. We have fun feeding our compost to them.

Our home in the hills of Boquete

Syd’s “apartment”

Josh enjoying “alone” time in his room

The views are incredible. We are literally on a hill with a valley on either side. We have lime, orange, bananas and lemon trees right in our yard.

Even simple things can take a while here. I had quite a time figuring out how to work the washing machine. Everything is in Spanish, so this morning Paul and I were outside, where the washer is, looking up every word. Talk about cross cultural laundry!! I was also wielding a very long knife to cut the lawn. Right near the clothes line are lots of bushes, and we are in the jungle, so I thought I better chop them down. I don't want to see a snake first thing in the morning! Mmmm snake soup!

Cross cultural laundry!!!!

Thanks to everyone who is e mailing and commenting on the blog. Makes us feel connected. Until I blog again.

Linda

BOCAS DEL TORO- SYDNEY'S JOURNAL

Nov 7th 2007

We just got back from Bocas Del Toro (northeastern part of Panama on the Caribbean Sea) where we were for 3 sleeps and 4 days. On our second day, we went for a boat tour and saw dolphins, fish, coral, a sting ray, sea urchins, trees, water of all shades of blue and green, red frogs, crabs and mud. We started our tour at Dolphin Bay where we saw a baby dolphin swimming with a mother dolphin. And one of the dolphins that we saw had a partly bitten off fin. One of the other dolphins would slap its tail on the water. We aren’t sure why it was doing this, but he did it over and over again. We noticed that the dolphins would do 3 shallow dives, and then, put their tail way up in the air and deep dive.

We then went to Crawls Cay and went snorkeling. Josh said that he saw characters from “Sponge Bob” like Patrick, Sponge Bob, Mr. Crabbs and Plankton. The coral was cool. The water was salty and warm. Mom and I saw a big neon turquoise and purple fish. It was beautiful. I saw a large crab, but I was the only one that saw it. We saw green-neon, purple, orange, blue, black and gray coral.

Family snorkeling in Bocas Del Toro

After snorkeling, we went for lunch at a restaurant in the middle of Crawl Cay. At the restaurant, we saw a shark in captivity. The waiter threw our leftover lunch food off the dock and gave it to the fish. There were hundreds of fish fighting for some carbonara, spaghetti and chicken. Josh tried to catch a minnow with his hands to feed to the shark. But no such luck.

After lunch, we went to Red Frog Beach. We had to 5 minute walk from the dock on a secret path through some jungle to get to the beach. Tarzan could have lived here! The beach was amazing. At the beach we rented boogie boards. The waves were perfect for boogie boarding. When I was boogie boarding a wave caught me by surprise and I flipped over. Mom said she saw my legs go flying. I got salt water in my eyes. It sure hurt. I also swallowed some salt water and didn’t feel very good for a while. Don’t worry, I didn’t blow chunks! That flip made me a little afraid of going back in so I played in the sand for a bit by myself. The sand was velvety soft. Every time a wave would come, the sand under my feet would get sucked away back into the sea.

Sydney and Josh at Red Frog Beach

Then we went to Hospital Point where mom and dad did some more snorkeling while Josh and I played on the beach.

We had quite a day. We celebrated Dad’s birthday that night by eating a lobster dinner. Yummy!

The next day we went to see some friends of ours, Emma, Easton, and Everett and their parents, Jody and Trent, that were staying across the bay from our hotel. Together we went to Starfish Beach for the day. We got to see and hold starfish of all shapes and sizes. We saw a starfish eating a slimy jellyfish. It was gross. Emma and I found around 100 sea shells on the beach. On the walk back from Starfish beach, Emma and I tried to catch a crab, but he was too fast for us! At the end of the day, we all went back to the Schmuland’s hotel for a swim in the pool. And all the kids played “Survivor” in a little lagoon tucked away behind a palm tree. We also had a sand ball fight. No one won, but boy we got dirty and gritty. We also played on the hammocks and tried to catch frogs. Josh is the only one that caught one.

Syd, Josh and Emma swimming

Hanging out at Dragoon Beach- Bocas Del Toro

Starfish Beach

Taxi ride, Bocas style

Survivor

We then had a great dinner in a cabana on the water at the end of the dock. I ate pasta, veggies, coleslaw, chicken, toast and spaghetti. I was hungry from all that playing.

The next morning, we took a water taxi back to the mainland and headed back to Boquete. Of course, when we returned, it was raining, again. We were able to go to one of the gardens in Boquete. It was surprisingly huge and beautiful. There were little paths to take everywhere. There were little bridges, fish ponds, water falls, streams, lots of people from all over the world, flowers, plants, pools, flower tunnels, playgrounds, houses, hotels and a look out.

Sydney and Josh at the Boquete garden -Oma you would love this place!

After the garden, we went to a coffee shop. I got an iced cappuccino. It was caffeine good!! My family thought I would go crazy, but I didn’t until that night, during a Dutch Blitz competition. Then I crashed hard.

“Oh, can I can feel the buzz!!”

And that was our little 4 day vacation.