Category Archives: Month Four

Fun weekend!

A piñata, a dishwasher, Swiss neighbors, kids playing capoeira, getting lost in a park, and a trip to the big mall.  That’s what you can expect from this post.  Along with at least one Oxford comma.

Friday afternoon we went to Brie’s son’s third birthday party.  It was the first time we had seen her and her husband since we moved down here and the first time we met her boys, so it was exciting.  Granted, I’ve only seen her one other time since high school graduation and that was during our trip down here in Jan 2014, but still.  Fun to see a familiar face.  She’s always been really sweet to me and has been really helpful whenever we’ve had questions since we moved.

The party was at the clubhouse of an area called the Embassy Club, which you will not be surprised to find out, is right next to the US Embassy.  Beautiful country club type building with a big pool with little fountains in it.  Unfortunately, it rained, so the party was moved inside.  After a while though, we moved outside for the piñata!  The venue already had a pulley set up, so I guess it really is something that people do a lot.  So odd to find that out!  I don’t know why…I guess I just assumed it was only in Mexico or that it was something people used to do or something.  Didn’t seem Panamanian to me.  Apparently it is.

So remember, these kids are 2, 3, and 4 years old, and someone is handing them a stick and telling them to hit something with that stick.  Brilliant.  Absolutely hilarious from our point of view though.  We were sure that this one bigger kid was going to be a ringer, but when he got up there, he just carefully tapped at the piñata.  Such a letdown from my preseason pick.

The birthday boy taking a few shots at his Cars piñata.
You can’t trust a 3 year old with a big stick, especially when other 3 year olds are running around near him.
Brie gave it a few final whacks and let the kids get at the candy…and whistles. Surprisingly, 2 and 3 year olds love things that make noise. Super fun.

A good portion of the rest of the day was relegated to finding dishwasher soap.  Very few people here have a lavaplatos/dishwasher because you either can’t afford it or because your maid does your dishes for you.  I insisted, however, that we find an apartment with a dishwasher b/c I was one of those spoiled kids who never lived without one…not even in college (aside from in the dorms, but that’s different).  Anyway, Finish is the only brand of dishwasher soap that exists here, and only in tablet form.  And EVERY store is ALWAYS out!  There is a little tag on the shelf that says that it’s supposed to be there and space on the shelf where it supposedly once was, but that just plain doesn’t help.

Anyway, earlier in the day on Friday, I had to run an errand near a grocery store that we don’t usually go to, so I checked it out.  No Finish.  After the birthday party, we went by our grocery store on the way home.  No finish.  After we unpacked groceries and let Addie out, we decided it was time.  We were just plain going to find this stuff, no matter how many stores it took, or we were going to spend all Friday night washing the mountain of dishes that had accumulated.

We knew of two more stores right off, but one was out and one was more of a Bi-Lo than a Harris Teeter, if you know what I mean, so they didn’t even carry the stuff.  So we expanded our search perimeter.  Two more stores, and we were really getting into a rhythm.  By then we were in a completely unexplored part of the city that seemed pretty fancy…lots of nice houses and calmer streets.  I can’t describe to you the feeling I felt when walking into that last store.  I knew it was the one.  Finally!  About 15 boxes on the shelf and I could have all of them if I wanted!  I was actually really tempted just because we had worked so hard to get them.  It just seemed like the right thing to do…to buy all of them and hoard them.  But luckily, I calmed myself down and only bought three…at a ridiculous $7.50 a box, which is standard here.  Silly as the adventure sounds, we had a good time, and we were super happy that we completed our quest!

So…earlier this week I met a nice Swiss woman on the elevator named Stella, and she loved Addie so I loved her.  We had a conversation in Spanish and discovered that she lived right above us, just on the other side of the hall.  While we were in our grocery store on Friday evening, we ran into her with her boyfriend (Elliot, maybe?) and had a great chat with them (in English).  The boyfriend apparently just got down here and it was his first time to a Panamanian grocery store.  Anyway, we exchanged numbers and hope to have them over for a drink sometime soon.  Fun!  I was especially endeared to them (or were they endeared to me?  I can’t remember how that word works.) when Stella told Elliot about Addie, saying that she was the kind of dog that you just want to put your face in her fur and snuggle her.  Elliot responded by saying maybe he could borrow her when Stella goes away for business.  Cute.

Why are they called cherry tomatoes when they are yellow/green? Okay, I get it – it’s the size. But still. Just seems wrong.
Eric found PBR in our grocery store! WOOHOO! But check out the price! Have you ever heard of PBR being so expensive? Crazy to think of it as an import…

Oh!  And then we ran into them on the elevator yesterday!  Doesn’t seem like anything special, I know, but we haven’t run into anyone twice in our building.

Yesterday, Saturday, turned out to be a lot of fun even though I was dreading it a little.  CDO met up with the kids’ capoeira group at some huge event that had a TON of scouts running around.  It was at a park that is basically the Central Park of Panamá.  It’s called Parque Omar.  Anyway, we met at 4pm, and it was crazy humid and super hot.  I was a little cranky and not super excited about trying to talk with the kids and trying not to kick them in the face in the roda.  I’m not controlled enough yet to trust myself slowly kicking a 5 year old.

Eric was really sweet to take me out there since I still can’t drive until next week.  He could’ve done something else with his saturday afternoon like, I don’t know, not fry outside, but instead he chose to be supportive.  Problem is…we kinda lost each other for two hours, including the whole event with the kids.

I met up with CDO near the entrance to the park and the plan was to walk up to the spot where the kids would be from there.  Eric got decided to look around a bit while we waited on people to show up.  When we started to head towards the place where the event would take place, Eric was nowhere to be found, and my WhatsApp wasn’t working.  I tried to call him, but to no avail…and I only had 20% of my battery left on my phone.  Perfect.

Anyway, we did some fun warm-ups with the kids – wheelbarrow races (my kid partner, Barbie, had to take the lead on that cause I had no idea what they were asking us to do…shockingly you don’t learn that term in Spanish class), cartwheels, one-handed cartwheels (which I pulled off!  still only on that one side, but hey, one step at a time), etc.  I totally picked the right kid too – she was stellar.  All of probably 6 years old, but she knew her stuff.

We had a roda with them after that.  For those of you who haven’t read that word here before, a roda is when capoeira players (capoeiristas) get in a circle and play drums, the berimbau (see the last post), and other instruments.  Meanwhile, people from the circle will take turns playing capoeira inside the circle in time with the music.  This roda was adorable b/c we paired up one adult with one kid each time.  So cute.  And the best part is that it was all recorded, and a friend of the group is going to edit a video of the whole thing for us.  I can’t wait to see it!  I’ll share photos as soon as I get them.

We had an adult roda afterwards just to show the kids what we (read: everyone else in the group who’s been there for more than a month) could do.  I never get tired of watching my friends play.  They’re absolutely amazing.  And they always have HUGE smiles on their faces when they do it!  I hope I can stick with it for long enough to be confident going into the roda.  I need to practice putting sequences of moves together at home so I have some material to work with.  It’s also weird to me that there’s no structure for who plays when.  You just kinda go when you can…or at least that’s how we generally do it.  I guess some groups allow the higher cords (like belts in karate) to go first and others let the lower ones go first b/c the music is slower at first, then gets faster.  I dunno.  Lots to learn.

Today we relaxed for a good part of the day, then went to one of the big malls…probably the biggest…called Albrook.  It’s the one with the circus-y/animal theme.  We had two goals in mind – 1) capoeira shoes for me b/c tennis shoes just don’t cut it, and 2) a shaver for Eric so he doesn’t have to pay $12 for haircuts.  We largely failed on both accounts…even after going through the entire mall and spending HOURS there.  However, Eric let me out on the side of the road on the way back, and I brought back treats for both of us from the Cinta Costera.  A strawberry raspado for him (slushee with condensed milk for extra sugary goodness) and a mango ceviche for me (mango with vinegar, salt, pepper, spicy sauce).  Yum!

Okay, off to do homework for Spanish class tomorrow.  I have to write some dialogue for characters from this detective story that we’re reading about a guy who has been wrongly accused of murder.  Kinda a silly story…it’s not literature, it’s just something straight out of a Spanish textbook, but whatever.

I’ve also been reading a novel in Spanish as a way to keep the language running through my head as often as possible.  Proud of myself for getting through it…I just wish it were easier to track progress with languages!  I feel like I haven’t improved at all since we got here, even though I know I have.  I just really can’t see it for myself.

Oh, and Eric did a great job of speaking Spanish today!  While we were walking through the mall, he pulled out a lot of Spanglish…and even a couple of full Spanish sentences.  I was thrilled that he was willing to play, and he did a great job.  I’m very proud of all that he’s learned.  And so grateful that he’d move to a country that speaks a language that he had no desire to learn because he knew it was my dream!  I’m a lucky girl.

Found on a box of perfume in a pharmacy.

Found on a box of perfume in a pharmacy.

You know how I was trying to keep from being a complete idiot? Well…

Welp, I officially completed the hardest workout of my life on Thursday night.  Or at least in recent memory.  Maybe just since the first day of capoeira.  But whatever, it sucked or was great, depending if you’re a normal person or one of those crazy folks who thrives on pain and that pukey feeling you get when it’s a bazillion degrees outside and you’re doing sit-ups for your “cool down” because a big guy named Monkey told you to.  What have I gotten myself into?

I’ll get to that in a minute though.  First, let’s talk about something happy.  Wednesday was nice.  We had music practice for capoeira, and I had my second lesson playing the berimbau, a Brazilian instrument that looks like an overgrown bow (as in, bow and arrow, but no arrow) with a goard attached to the bottom.  You balance this huge crazy thing on your pinky finger, stabilize it with a couple of other fingers. You then use your thumb and pointer finger to hold a flat round stone and press it against the wire-type thing on the bow-like part.  There are Portuguese names for all of these things, but I’ll be durned if I know them.  So then, using your other hand, you hit the wire with a stick, and you also hold a little basket filled with seeds that you shake to make another sound.  It’s all quite complicated.  It takes a lot of coordination just to hold all the parts, and then you have to try to make it sound good.  Or right at least.  I haven’t decided whether I think they sounds good.

Practicing my berimbau skills...or rather, developing them slowly...

Practicing my berimbau skills…or rather, developing them slowly…

So my friend George is a great berimbau player and a great teacher, so he taught me two different rhythms last night.  Moisés showed up after a bit and played and sang with us.  It was really nice to be in a low pressure environment with just the two of them.  They are two of my favorites, truth be told, so I had a lot of fun.

Moisés y George

Moisés y George

Moisés is always upbeat and has a wonderful smile.  He was also the one who I played capoeira with in my first roda during my first practice, so he’ll always be special to me.  Just a genuinely super nice guy.  He always asks me about Eric and asks me to tell him hello.  He’s also the fastest speaking person in the whole group.  I can hardly ever understand him – at least not the first time around and not if he’s not speaking directly to me and slowing down for me.  At least he knows he’s like this, so he doesn’t get frustrated with me – at least outwardly – when I can’t understand him.  I want to!  I try!

George’s nickname is Presidente.  Come to think of it, I don’t know the story behind that, so I’ll have to ask.  He’s Colombian, and most Colombians will tell you that they speak the clearest Spanish of anyone.  I tend to agree for the most part.  He makes funny faces when he plays berimbau, so he’s fun to be around.  He was also nice to me on Day 1 of capoeira, so that has stuck with me.

So yes, that part was happy.  Then Thursday, I was supposed to meet up with a Venezuelan fashion designer.  What?!  I know.  Strange.  I found out through this online expat group that I’m a part of that this woman named Ruth Leal is having a fashion show at this super hip hotel/bar in Casco Viejo in a couple of weeks:

Ruth Leal fashion show

I’ve always wanted to go to a fashion show, and I need to meet some more people here, so I decided to reach out to her and see if I could help out in some way.  That would be cool, right?  Turns out she’s all of 20ish years old…or at least that’s how she looks…but she was very nice and offered to meet up with me to talk about how I could help.

So on Tuesday of this week, I got all dressed up, put on makeup for probably the third time in as many months here, used my hair straightener for the first or second time b/c jeez, it’s too hot to put more heat in your hair, and picked up my pink heels.  I psyched myself up a little b/c I just had this feeling that a beautiful 20 year old in the fashion world who started her conversation with me by saying “you have to learn Spanish, you live in Panama,” was bound to just hurt my feelings.  Right?  I don’t even feel the need to explain myself there.  So as I was about to walk out the door to meet her at, of course, a juice bar, she texted saying her meeting had run long and she couldn’t meet with me that day.  Arg.  Really late in telling me, but what are you gonna do, right?  And of course I got makeup on my dress when changing back into my everyday uniform (running shorts and a tshirt) b/c I’m not accustomed to all the getup.

So fine.  We’ll meet on Thursday.  No problem.  I got ready again.  Same dress, straightener, makeup, heels, todo.  Eric gave me a ride because I can’t legally drive here until we do our run to Costa Rica.  I found the juice bar, ordered some fancy overpriced lemonade with mint, and waited.  30 minutes later, I decided I was over it.  I pulled my rainbows out of my purse, traded them out for my heels, and walked home.

Proof that I actually did my hair and wore makeup at least once since we've been here.

Proof that I actually did my hair and wore makeup at least once since we’ve been here.

I’m not sure quite what happened or whether I’m willing to try again, but for Thursday, I was done.  That was it.  When she finally got back to me, so told me she was in the area and could meet up.  I was back at home with my shorts on by that time.  NOPE!

So, that brings us to CDO practice (capoeira practice) on Thursday night.  The rainy season has begun, so there’s starting to be more humidity.  We’re still keeping our windows open so far, but things are starting to feel a little sticky.  Like the key fob for the car.  When I picked it up to go to practice, it was sticky and a little damp.  Gross.  Exactly what you want when you’re about to go get your butt handed to you by Mono.

When I got there, there were two people that I didn’t recognize, but who had apparently been there long before I joined the group.  They both had perfectly sculpted bodies and each had an immediately recognizable annoying trait.  I greeted the guy upon coming up to the group, and when we did the cheek kiss thing, he was SOAKED with sweat already.  At 6pm.  Before practice started.  It was nasty.  Then whenever we were paired up, he kept wanting to give me high-tens, which meant I had to touch him again.  Lots of sweat.  Gross.  The girl was gorgeous and tall and skinny and obviously had done this before, which is all fine and well.  But while I was dying, she kept jumping around between exercises like a tennis player about to receive a serve.  She must not be 30 yet.  I found both of them on facebook later on and realized that she actually is some kind of model and – shocker – even more beautiful in those photos.  Wow.  Incredible photos.

So, back to my humiliation.  At last week’s practice, we started doing a bit of running, some grapevines, and other bball type warmups at the beginning.  Fine by me…it was slow last week, not much of it, just enough to get your heart going.  This week, however, Mono picked up the pace, and I had one of the faster guys behind me, right at my heels.  I’m not in great shape, but my pride won’t listen to my body when it says that.  This has been a problem in this heat.

Next, we lined up like we usually do when we’re going to do some slower, more controlled movements across the pavilion (have I ever said that this is all in an outdoor, open-air pavilion?  No a/c, folks.  Say a prayer that we find a new place to practice soon.  Hard, slippery concrete.  It’s super fun.).  I like this part of training most of all.  I’m not good at it, but it is the part where I get to watch the others, to practice, to learn, to slow down and concentrate.  Mono, however, started doing suicides instead.  Racing against another person.  Pride on the line.  Awesome.

I was paired up with Paola, a rather competitive woman who helped to start this group. I really wanted to beat her because there’s no way I can out-capoeira her.  So we’re off!  First line, no trouble.  Second line, she’s a little ahead, but I’m still moving.  Third line, I feel myself lose control, and suddenly, there’s nothing I can do.  I’m going to hit the ground hard.  My feet went completely out from under me.  My body was going a heck of a lot faster than my feet, and I crashed to the floor with a huge “OOH!” from the whole group.  I got up and finished out the run with a smile on my face, trying to shrug off the total 7th grade gym class embarrassment of it all, and joined the rest of the group who each asked me about three times, “estas bien?”  Si, si, estoy bien.  It’s just my pride that’s crushed.  Oh, and that hip that you can see bleeding all over my clothes.

This whole post came off as one big complaint…I meant for it to be funny.  Hmm…that didn’t work out so well.  Sorry!  I actually think that the whole thing was hilarious, and I’m proud of my battle wounds.  I just wish I had the vocabulary to be able to explain myself and expose my personality more to these new friends!  I’m sure I’m such a flat personality to most of them…just as I’ve realized some people I haven’t been able to communicate with in the past have been to me.  If you never see or understand what’s inside them, it’s hard to imagine what might be there.  Does that make sense?

Next Tuesday we’re leaving to go to Boquete (a cooler part of the country towards the Costa Rican border), then to do our first border run.  You get a 180 day tourist visa in Panamá, but you can only drive legally with a foreign driver’s license for 90 days.  We’ve been here about 100 days now, so it’s time to go to Costa Rica for a minute.  We’re hoping to just go over and back as quickly as possible, but we’ve heard all kinds of stories about people being told they had to stay out of Panamá for 24-72 hours.  We’re semi-prepared for all different kinds of things, so I just need to make sure my expectations are sufficiently low before we leave.

After we get that done, we’ll hopefully head down to Santa Catalina and spend some time at the beach.  My friend from high school who has lived here since she graduated from college, Brie, and her husband John own a little hotel there, so we’ve been anxious to check it out.  John used to be a professional surfer, and Santa Catalina is apparently the place to go to surf.  Who knows?  Maybe we’ll try it out.

 

Stash of miscellaneous thoughts/info

I have a bunch of random tidbits that I’ve been saving up, so I think I’m just going to dump them all out here for your enjoyment…or at least for your consumption.

  • When my dear friend Katie visited, she took the same tour that my parents took with Eric to Lake Gatún which is the lake in the middle of the Canal.  I just found out that both Katie and Eric wrestled the same ginormous crocodile and both lived to tell the tale.  I’m very proud of both of them for their incredible courage.  Look at the size of this thing!  And it’s only 2 years old!
Steady, Katie!

Steady, Katie!

Conquered!

Conquered!

Apparently someone asked if they could put their finger in the croc's mouth. The tour guide said sure! Eric said he knew the lawyer in me would be dying had I been there...

Apparently someone asked if they could put their finger in the croc’s mouth. The tour guide said sure! Eric said he knew the lawyer in me would be dying had I been there…

  • Next up, I have a few more photos from my parents’ visit that my mom didn’t share in her post:
This is a common thing on the Cinta Costera. Mango with vinegar, salt, pepper, hot sauce if you want it. Sounds gross, but it’s actually really good and refreshing.
Mom never stops, but I insisted on a daily siesta. It’s too hot to go go go all day long.
Beautiful (Carolina blue!) dress from Carolina Herrera. Only $1370.
This is me. I’m at the Canal. I’m smiling.
This is a really popular treat down here. It’s a snow cone, but with condensed milk added! Even MORE sugar!
What Dad and Eric did while Mom and I went to Gucci, Dolce, Carolina Herrera, etc.
At the top of a hill at the Parque Nacional Metropolitano…after seeing sloths, before seeing monkeys.
Watching a chemical ship go through the Canal with only 2 feet leeway on either side of it.
Mom and her raspado
  • This one is completely out of nowhere.  Have y’all heard that the BRONTOSAURUS IS BACK!?!?!?!  I remember being (semi-) crushed when scientists decided that the brontosaurus wasn’t a thing but that there was something sorta like it and it was a brachiosaurus.  I hated, and still hate, the brachiosaurus.  But now, and I don’t know the details, nor am I going to take the time to Google it now b/c no one’s going to click on a link to any article that I may link to, there’s something that they’re going to call a brontosaurus!  And I feel like 1) an old friend is back, and 2) there’s hope that Pluto is a planet after all.  8 year old Julie is super happy.
  • Eric told me the other day that public restroom cleaning ladies just hang out in the men’s rooms regardless of whether men are in there.  He said it was odd.  I can understand that.
  • LOTS of people rollerblade here.  Like, they still sell them in seemingly normal stores, and you’ll see multiple people rollerblading on any given walk down the Cinta Costera.  I feel like they should be wearing scrunched down socks with them, but sadly, they’re not.  Ooh, and maybe Hypercolor shirts.  Isn’t that what they were called?  Anyone?
  • Last Tuesday, April 7, a couple of things happened at capoeira training.  First of all, I got a round of applause for doing something well!  It’s not common for us to do this for each other during training, so I was really excited.  The funny thing (to me at least) was that I was doing cartwheels.  They’re supposed to be really controlled and slow, so there is a bit more skill than you’d think would be involved, but still, it made me giggle that that was what they complimented me on.  When I finished up, a girl whose nickname is Ninja (the girl from DC who’s amazing) asked me “so you’ve really never done capoeira before?”  I told her no, but in my head I was thinking…”but I was 9 once…I mean, it’s cartwheels!”  Then we switched to the other side and I showed them that, like everyone else in the non-capoeira/gymnastics world, I can only cartwheel to one side.  🙂  Whomp-whomp.
  • Later in that same practice, I was learning a new type of kick called a media lua.  The guy who teaches the classes, nicknamed Mono (monkey), came over to demonstrate how to do them one after another with a partner.  I went first, but I messed up and made the mistake of standing up in hopes of trying again.  Wrong move.  Mono kicked me square in the eye with his heel…hard.  You may remember him from earlier posts…he’s not a small guy:
He has hard heels. He's not small.

He has hard heels. He’s not small.

The next day my eyelid was bruised a bit – which I didn’t know was a thing – but no real blackeye.  Definitely disappointing after being knocked upside the head.  You want battle scars after that.  At least my Spanish teacher noticed something and didn’t let me read anything the next day b/c she didn’t want me to hurt myself.  🙂  Love her.

The real pain from that workout, however, was from the move we practiced which involved a sorta almost roll/cartwheel thing on your head.  I don’t know about you, but I do not believe that heads were made to have weight put on them.  Especially not all of my body weight on concrete.  No, sir.  Not this gringa.  I did it though.  Or rather, I tried it.  I did not succeed in any sense of the word, but I tried.

  • On Wednesday, the following day, we had our capoeira music practice.  I don’t know if I’ve explained that since capoeira has Brazilian roots, all of the songs played while it is played are in Brazilian Portuguese.  Also, the teachers often speak Portuguese during training and classes.  Really pretty difficult when you’re just trying to understand and follow the Spanish and learn the moves and all.  I feel like an idiot ALL the time.  Anyway, we learned two new songs on Wednesday, and to my horror, Lourdes, who leads the music practices and is engaged to Mono, started going around the circle asking each of us to sing each song solo to make sure we had it down.

In case you’re wondering, I did not have it down.  I do not know how to pronounce Portuguese words.  I do not have a strong singing voice or any desire to sing solos in public for newly discovered friends who I think are super cool and want to like me.  Yes, I’m a 7th grader down here…I just want friends.  Anyway, Lourdes helped me out a bit, but the seconds one was easier to follow and I was able to make it through the long chorus on my own.  I even did the “call,” the part where you call the rest of the group to join you, on my own, and maybe not in a beautiful voice, but it was strong.  A couple of the guys complimented me and seemed satisfied.  I was happy with that.  Just trying to keep from being a complete idiot…that’s the goal.  🙂

  • We finally sorted out our electricity bill and somehow managed to have the bill from our first month and a half in this apartment kicked back to the former renter who has disappeared and has been avoiding my calls.  The electric company would not let us put the bill in our name until she paid her bill, so that’s been a problem.  Finally…and I won’t bore you with the whole story…the owner of our apartment bribed the security guys in our building to keep out the electric company guys so they couldn’t get to the meter to read it and send us a bill, then we went to the company with us and she somehow worked it out.  In the process, the company insisted on knowing how many lights we had in the house (have you ever heard of such a thing?!), whether we had an iron (um, no…it’s called a dryer), and everything else that uses electricity.  Oh, and how many watts each thing uses.  Really?!  Who knows that stuff, and didn’t you just have this info from keeping up with the apartment 2 seconds ago with the last tenant?!

Anyway, here’s a photo of Isabel, our landlady, who is so sweet and wonderful, but ruthless and sneaky when she needs to be.  We love her, even when she’s a little ridiculous.  Doesn’t she look like she could be straight out of…I can’t decide between Florida and Savannah.  Probably Florida.

Our landlady

Our landlady

  • During the Summit of the Americas, we had a great time watching out for motorcades from our apartment.  It overlooks a big road, so whenever we saw that it was being blocked off, we knew that some world leader was coming through soon.  The best part?  We saw Obama’s motorcade twice!  The first time it was about 11:30 pm and we were taking Addie out for a walk.  Lo and behold, the President of the United States just goes driving by with two limos, lots of black SUVs, cops, and an ambulance.  Amazing!  The second time, we saw him from above, from our balcony.

It was interesting to compare the motorcades to one another.  Smaller countries (think Trinidad and Tobago) probably just rented 4Runners when they got here.  Not everyone can fly over tons of cars, at least one if not two helicopters, etc.  All the folks in my capoeira group commented on it.  The funny thing is, Obama didn’t do that to show off.  It’s what he uses for everyday stuff in the US too.  It’s just amazing the differences among all the countries in this continent (or these continents, depending on what your 5th grade teacher told you about North and South America v. the American continent).

One of these days I’ll have to get into Lourdes’s reaction to hearing the Apache helicopters this past weekend.  It reminded her of when the US invaded Panamá in 1989, when she was 5 years old.  She got really scared remembering it and told us all about it via WhatsApp.  I was ashamed that I knew absolutely nothing about us invading, and yet this was a hugely impactful event in my friend’s life.  Amazing how little we learn in the States about these things sometimes…

  • Coming up:  planning our first border run!  Although Eric took a trip to Boston a few weeks ago, I’ve been here for more than 90 days, meaning that I can no longer drive legally.  I’m not the type for taking chances with this kind of thing, so we’re leaving next Tuesday for Costa Rica.  We’re hoping to stop through Boquete (a major Expat retirement site b/c it’s cooler and beautiful) and Santa Catalina (a great surfing area where a friend owns a hotel) on our way back.  Exciting!