Tag Archives: Adventures in Spanish

Frozen Eric, my party and capoeira videos!

Eric left for Raleigh and then for Myrtle Beach with all of his guy friends last Wednesday.  He told me that on their first day at the beach, all the guys were wearing shorts and tshirts…but my Panamanian husband was more comfortable in jeans and a fleece jacket!  What have I done to him?!  Cracked me up.  It sounds like they had a great time together, and I am so thrilled that Eric had that time with his best friends.

He also stayed with his parents for a couple of nights and had the chance to see our nephew, Tyler, and our niece, Rylee.  Unfortunately, they weren’t too excited to see him:

 

UNCLE ERIC!!!!

UNCLE ERIC!!!!

Actually, they were super excited, as you can see.  Tyler, who has tended to be a little shy with us at times, threw all caution to the wind upon seeing Eric and gave him a huge hug.  Rylee, always my girl, first asked where I was before bothering to give her poor sweet uncle a hug.  Forever tactful, that one.  Gosh, I love them both!  My heart was so happy when I saw this picture.

So what was I to do while Eric was off visiting our friends and family, going to the beach, driving our truck, seeing so many people that I’ve been missing for months?  Sit around the house working as usual and spend the evenings watching Netflix and feeling sorry for myself?

Nope.  I threw a big party.  🙂

On Saturday, I invited the capoeira group over to our pool at 2 pm.  The first folks eventually arrived around 4, right as it started to sprinkle a little.  We decided to wait it out by the pool though, and luckily the rain passed quickly.

Árabe (Antonio) y Mono (David)

Árabe (Antonio) y Mono (David)

My sweet and beautiful Swiss neighbor Stella came down to join us for a while, which was great because we’ve been hoping to get together for a long time.  She fit right in…as much as a tall blonde can, anyways…and chatted with us for a few hours.

When it got dark, it started to get cold.  Yes, of course Panamá cold isn’t NC cold, but still.  That’s when people decided it was time to get in the pool.  And it wasn’t just a few people that wanted to swim.  These folks, though no longer 15 years old, decided that EVERYONE was going to get into the freezing cold pool whether they liked it or not.  I chose to get in on my own rather than to be thrown in, but I couldn’t last more than a few minutes.  I ended up wrapped up in a towel with someone’s scarf around my neck, shivering and occasionally standing under a nearby light to keep warm.

One of the highlights of the evening was playing a game where we did imitations of each other and guessed who we were.  It’s so funny how distinct some of the personalities in this group are…a lot of them are very easy to imitate.

Around 1 am some of the guys came back with wings for everyone and I threw a frozen pizza in the oven.  Around 3, one of the guys started demonstrating his self-defense techniques, first with the poor tiny 18 year old guy as his victim, then later with some of the bigger guys.  That was about the time when I was ready for things to end.  I wanted sleep.

At 4, I called it.  I told them they were welcome to come up to the apartment and hang out but that I was going to bed!  Two of the girls stayed the night in the guest room and the guys went out to grab one more drink.  Apparently they stayed out until 6 or so!  And these are not college aged guys!  We’re talking 30-40 year olds!  It’s amazing.

The next morning, one of the girls left before I woke up.  She sent me a sweet text thanking me for everything and saying that she didn’t want to disturb me and she’d talk to me later.  The other girl…I should say woman b/c we’re not that young anymore, but it sounds weird to me…like I had some older lady in my house…she’s 40, but sadly that’s not so far off from my age anymore!  Anyway, she stayed.  And stayed.  I offered her breakfast and she accepted.  Her sister called and she talked to her until her phone died.  Then she plugged her phone in and called her sister back.

I, meanwhile, fell back asleep on the couch, kinda hoping she’d get the idea that the party was over.  When I woke up, I quietly snuck around the apartment trying to see if she was gone.  When I looked in the guest room…all I saw was her butt sticking out of the covers!  She had gone back to bed!  I texted Eric and asked him to google “how to get a Venezuelan out of the house.”

Luckily, my plan to bang around in the kitchen until she woke up worked.  Or at least it woke her up.  She took her time getting a shower, then finally left…at 1 pm.  23 hours after I had invited people to my house.

I knew that it was important to give an end time for a party here if you wanted people to leave at a certain time, but I didn’t realize just how far some folks would push it!  Amazing.  Cultural lesson learned.

Anyway, I wanted to share with y’all the video from the day we did the capoeira class and roda with all the kids last month.  I’m the gringa, in case you have trouble finding me.  🙂  Click here for the video, or if I’m doing this wrong, you can copy and paste https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9ZNW4VFyGo

I also discovered that the presentation from months ago that I took photos of is on youtube, in case anyone is interested in seeing how amazing some of my new friends are.  You can see that video here.

Last notes:  My Aunt Angela and cousin Ashley are coming in from Georgia on Saturday!!!  Can’t wait!

Also, Eric’s birthday is May 22…just a few more days!

Eric learns to salsa…sorta.

I’m having storage issues with my computer, so I haven’t been able to pull all of our trip pictures off my camera yet.  I’ll get to it.  In the meantime, I’ll catch you up on other things.

Last Thursday, we at CDO (Cordao de Ouro) had our monthly roda.  This is a new thing that we’re doing to make sure we have enough practice actually being in a roda before we host capoeira groups from all over in December.  The event in December is called a Batizado, literally, a baptism.  I’ll give you my understanding of what it is, and you can correct me if you know more about this stuff than I do.  Basically it’s the cord ceremony where each capoerista can try to graduate to the next level.  We wear cords instead of belts in karate or whatever else.  Same idea.  Or at least, THEY wear cords.  I don’t have anything yet.

Anyway, I was really nervous about this roda.  It was big and public – out on the Cinta Costera where a lot of people would be walking by – plus it involved other capoeira groups other than just CDO.  I didn’t know that was going to happen until people just showed up and joined us at the last minute.  So I spent the better part of the day on Thursday practicing the moves I knew, watching youtube videos of those movements and trying to get them right, listening to music trying to learn portuguese lyrics, and basically trying to stay calm while getting as prepared as I could.  I practiced three basic kicks and a couple of other movements that would allow me to move around the floor a bit and started to feel a little better about the whole thing.  However….

Other groups train in different styles of capoeira, so it was intimidating to think about going into the roda against one of them when they do a bit more combat and a little less cooperation.  We started out with Angola style capoeira which is played lower to the ground and closer to your opponent.  I have hardly had any training in this style, so I had no idea what I was doing.  I was prepared to be up on my feet using the kicks that I had practiced all day, but we weren’t allowed to do that in the first couple of rounds!  I also can’t do a lot of the movements that others were doing, like crazy backbends and stuff like that, so I just made it my goal to keep moving.

I came out of those jogas (games) feeling okay.  I hadn’t just blanked and sat there, so mission accomplished.  We then moved on to more of the Regional style of capoeira which is more of what I’m used to.  I made one obvious (well, obvious to the other capoeiristas) mistake, but other than that, I felt okay about it.  It got intense pretty quickly since we had so many good players out there, but one woman (who is pretty good herself…at least with the acrobatic aspect of the sport) was really thoughtful and pointed at me to ask if I wanted to play against her.  We jumped out and broke up the boys’ club that had started to form, and that felt pretty good.  I can’t say that I kept up with her particularly well, but we did simultaneous cartwheels at one point.  I think that counts for something, though I’m not sure what.  🙂

I went to a fashion show with my friend George after that in Casco Viejo.  Unfortunately, it was set up in a restaurant that wasn’t well suited for that kind of event.  We ended up getting the last available table in the far back corner where we couldn’t see much of the show.  It was also a lot less professional than I expected it to be, but I guess that’s what you get when you watch too much “America’s Next Top Model.”

We also checked out a bar in the same part of the old city that was sort of in a courtyard, then a discoteca in a similar type building.  The lawyer in me was worried about the rocks and cinderblock pieces that lead up to a sidestage, and the germophobe didn’t love the bathroom set-up, but the rest of the experience was great!  George was worried he was showing me places I wouldn’t like since I had invited him to a fancy restaurant for the fashion show.  It took a minute to convince him that I was far more comfortable in the bar that he picked out than in the fancy restaurant.

Yesterday, Sunday, we invited the CDO folks over to hang out.  The original idea was to just hang out in the apartment, but one of the girls suggested we turn it into a pool party down in our “Área Social.”  It was definitely a good call.  We were down by the pool from 2 until 10:30 eating, drinking, talking, listening to music, and eventually dancing!  Eric and I both had a great time and enjoyed our conversations with everyone.  Eric used a lot of Spanish and everyone really helps him out when he can’t come up with the words.  It’s really been fun to see how a group of people can make communication work when they want to.

I think last night was one of the first times…maybe since we got here…when I’ve felt like my Spanish is improving.  George doesn’t speak English, so Thursday was an all-Spanish night, and then I felt warmed up to speak up a lot more yesterday.  I’ve gotten a lot of compliments from everyone saying that I’m catching on to things quickly and that they’re impressed with me.  It’s really encouraging.

The group already started planning Eric’s bday party, which I think we will be encouraged to host at the pool again.  🙂  I’m not upset about that at all.

Here are a few pictures of our friends:

With Lourdes pretending we’re fancy.
Kike again. He tried Cheerwine for the first time yesterday!
Jessie (from DC originally) and Moisés dancing a little salsa
Eric y Lourdes
Eric and Lourdes discussing the US invasion of Panamá in 1989. Lourdes was 4 and has vivid memories of it.
Moisés
The dance floor!
Lourdes and Jessie call each other “hermana” or sister. Very sweet.
Lourdes striking a pose.
Kike (pronounced Key-Kay and meaning Robocop. it’s his capoeira name and until yesterday I had never heard his real name.)
Los prometidos – Mono y Lourdes. They’re getting married in November!
Still dancin’!
Mahalia, Árabe y Jessie
Todo el mundo
George, Eric and Antonio (his CDO name is Árabe, or Arab). George is Presidente.
Mahalia. She’s usually my partner at practice because she started capoeira about 6 months ago. Poor thing has to get paired up with the new kid all the time.
George and Mahalia
George again
George
Moisés in action.
Yep, I managed to get into a picture too!
George, Antonio y Moisés

 

 

Visit from my parents

My folks got to Panama on Sunday night around 9:30.  It’s been pretty exciting to have them here after telling them about our lives here for so long.  They are also our first visitors in this apartment.

On Monday, my Mom joined me for a field trip with my Spanish teacher, Marianela, to a street called Avenida Central which is the closest thing I’ve seen to a market since we’ve been here.  It is closed to traffic, and people sell fruits and vegetables in the street, along with – at this time of year – a fruit cake type bread called pan bon.

Mom buying pan bon.

Mom buying pan bon.

 

Fruits and veggies

Fruits and veggies

It was fun to have an outing and to have Mom along instead of Marianela and I just staring at each other for 4 hours straight.  Here’s what Marianela looks like:

Marianela and I on Avenida Central

Marianela and I on Avenida Central

There are also…I guess department stores?…along the street too.  Old stores with clothes that TJ Maxx probably wouldn’t take, but Marianela tells me that occasionally you can find name brand stuff for $10 or so.  Then there were the furniture stores own by the Spanish folks, and apparently people of each nationality owns a particular kind of store.  Interesting.  She spends so much time telling me that Panamanians aren’t racist, but then she also tells me not to eat in restaurants in that area run by Chinese people because they are dirty (the restaurants, not the people).  Race is a very funny thing down here.  I would be interested to read an American student’s thesis on the subject of race and racism in Panamá.  Okay, I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t want to read it.  I might want a brief summary of it though, and perhaps a 45 minute conversation about it.

We went down this street called SalSiPuedes (Sal Si Puedes, meaning Leave if you Can) where kids apparently can get everything they need for school.  The way Marianela described it for me, I was expecting Diagon Alley.  If you don’t get that reference, please call me immediately because your life is not yet complete.  I was a little concerned at first because of the name since it sounds kinda shady.  Should I be worried that I won’t be able to leave?  No, no.  It’s just a really really skinny street, and that’s why they call it that.  A few pictures of it:

We capped off the afternoon with a visit to Café Coca-Cola for pineapple batidos (smoothies/milkshakes).  It’s said to be the oldest café in Panamá (the city), established in 1875, and has had famous visitors like Che Guevara.  Back in the day, only men were allowed, as it was a place where they discussed politics and sports.  As we sat and talked, I kept catching Marianela eyeing a group of old men in the corner.  She told us that they were doing just that – talking sports and politics, just like in the old days.  She surprised us, however, by saying that the sport they were discussing was not futbol, but rather baseball!  Apparently Panamanians are really good at baseball.

In Café Coca-Cola with my Mom.

In Café Coca-Cola with my Mom.

Cafe Coca-cola

 

Anything having to do with Coca-Cola down here is special for me and for my family because my Great Uncle Bill Solms, my favorite for several reasons, one of which was because he reminded me so much of his brother, my grandfather, who passed away when I was 7, was the President of Coke for Latin America (family – correct me if I’m getting this wrong) for several years several decades ago.  He and his family lived in Mexico City, and I enjoyed speaking Spanish with him when I visited with him and his wife.

Yesterday, Mom, Dad, and I went to Casco Viejo (the old city – was run down, but now everyone is investing a lot in it and it’s become really cool and beautiful and hip – if the kids use that word anymore).

Mom in Casco Viejo

Mom in Casco Viejo

 

Ruins in Casco Viejo. I love the stairs and how they look like they're floating. Mom said they looked like they were out of Harry Potter and were going to move at any moment.

Ruins in Casco Viejo. I love the stairs and how they look like they’re floating. Mom said they looked like they were out of Harry Potter and were going to move at any moment.

See the description in the next photo. Basically, this arch is one of the reasons they decided to build the Canal in Panama instead of in Nicaragua.

See the description in the next photo. Basically, this arch is one of the reasons they decided to build the Canal in Panama instead of in Nicaragua.

IMG_4714

 

The highlight was when my folks discovered an artist who said he had been painting watercolors out there for 40 years.  They liked his work and we talked to him for a while about it, about his life, and about which paintings were his favorites.  He was super cute and we had a great time talking to him.  I translated a bit, but my mom also speaks some Spanish, so she enjoyed talking to him as well.  The guy played all the games, proclaimed that it was his birthday and he had to go home soon to have his traditional chicken and rice, said he’d give us a special price, told us that our favorite was his favorite too…he’s done this before.  But he was good at it.  At the end of it, he went from $45 + $35 +$35 for three paintings to a total of $50 for all three.  In hindsight, I’m sure we could’ve done better, but I was just playing translator.  My folks were happy, the guy was happy…no harm done.

The best part was when Mom asked him to write his name on the back of one of them for her.  He wrote it and then wrote the date…but had to verify the date with us.  It was then that we began to question whether it really was his birthday…

Dad wanted a photo with him:

My parents with the artist who painted the watercolors that they bought in Casco Viejo.

My parents with the artist who painted the watercolors that they bought in Casco Viejo.

My parents with the artist who painted the watercolors that they bought in Casco Viejo.

My parents with the artist who painted the watercolors that they bought in Casco Viejo.

Today, Eric went with them on a tour of Lake Gatún – a lake in the middle of the Canal.  They kayaked and fed grapes to monkeys and saw big ships.  Same tour that Katie did – mostly due to Katie’s recommendation and because she was kind enough to show my parents her photos when Katie watched Addie for a weekend last month.  A guest blog posting from my parents might be forthcoming with some of those photos.  At the very least, I’ll have a photo of Eric holding a very very tiny crocodile.  It’s hilarious.