Rosas

jueves, 5 de abril, 2012

Our boys are just too much.  As a way to say thank you on their last day of Spanish classes they bought their teacher a rose and almost brought her to tears.  She keeps telling me how much she is going to miss them.  She has taught for years but these boys hold a special place in her heart.  I can totally relate, they are a great bunch.  They also bought roses for their host mothers and I know I will be getting rave reviews and phone calls about that!

Caleb`s family requested a family day with him, so he was released to his family for the rest of the day instead of touring with us.  They wanted to spend time with him and he also asked to help his host mother at her beauty salon.  I had a chance to talk to his host father Fernando yesterday and he says they all feel a very deep connection to Caleb.  He reminds them all of a young cousin that passed away a couple of years ago, they think he is a wonderful kid and a gift to their family.  I will fill you in on how his day went on our next post ☺

 The boys in class with their beloved teacher.

 Ms. Vennise & Dr. Malik with their teacher Tikiko

As for the rest of us, after class we went back to El Rey Mall to grab lunch and relax.  I then organized two cabs to get our group to Casco Viejo at the Plaza Catedral.  Casco Viejo is the historic district but unfortunately it is all being renovated. Once we met up there were plenty of souvenirs to buy, the only problem was that dark clouds were moving in.  There were a lot of people at the outdoor fish market.  Tomorrow for Good Friday everyone will eat fish, not meat, as a tradition.  No one will work.  It is strictly a religious and family rest day for all.

 Plaza Cathedral in Casco Viejo

 Indigenous vendor in Casco Viejo

We took pictures of the beautiful architecture and boats that were docked at the nearby port.  Then the rain began, slowly at first.  I was able to get the first group in a taxi then the rain came DOWN.  It came down tropical rainy season style, sheets and sheets of rain.

 Very expensive Condos in Casco Viejo

 Cathedral in Casco Viejo

 

Cinta Costera.  Look at those dark clouds coming in!

 Finally I was able to hail down a second taxi. The taxi driver had a great attitude and teased us about being wet most of the ride.  We met the other group at the school and headed to our host families.  We are meeting up at 7:30 am tomorrow, we are heading for the beach, this time on the caribbean side. Woo-hoo!

Dancing with the Stars

Classes were a little different today. At 11:30 we packed up our stuff and our classes got on the move.  We walked over to the nearby mall strip and used our interaction there with store personnel and restaurants as our Spanish class.  While there we ate lunch and returned to school just in time for dance class.

El Rey Mall Food Court 

Caleb´s new favorite drink, Chicha de Piña (pineapple juice) 

 Our friends from Bermuda are gone.  We will miss them, but no worries a group from Wisconsin just arrived and they are also cool.  Since B.E.S.T. is all boys and the Wisconsin crew is mostly girls this made the perfect dance class.  Those lucky girls had a chance to dance with the stars.

Robert

Amadou

Jabir

David

Caleb

Our boys learned how to dance Merengue, Salsa, and Reggaeton.  After our dance party it was off to CoastWay.... or is it called Cinta Costera?  The taxi with me David, Jabir, and Robert arrived in CoastWay and we had a great time.  We rented  bikes and rode up the coastal strip that divided the Pacific Ocean.  But what happened to the other taxi with Ms. Vennise, Ms. Malik, Amadou and Caleb?

Jabir at CoastWay on his rental bike

While half of us were bike riding and eating ice cream at CoastWay the other half of us were at La Cinta Costera.  Although they were a little scared they made it back to the school safely and without incident.  The teachers and students put their heads together and got un-lost.  I will post pictures from their journey as soon as I can. ☺

Canta Conmigo

Monday night was a big night here in Panama.  Almost everyone, including our host families, tuned in to watch the finale of Canta Conmigo.  Canta Conmigo (Sing With Me)  is a children´s version of American Idol and the whole country is in love with the 3 semi-finalist.

Here is a link to their website http://www.tvn-2.com/cantaconmigo/default.asp

Here is a clip of the winner being announced.  Watch and see how much you understand.

Congrats to the winner Elainy!!!!

Casa Esperanza

martes 3 de abril, 2012

We started our morning with classes.  Last night was HOT!!!!  We all have the same story of not sleeping well and being stuck to our sheets.  We hope that tonight it is not so hot.  Caleb has been complaining of a head ache and I think it may be from dehydration.  I bought all the boys Gatorades and have been forcing them to drink, drink, drink.  After drinking tons of Gatorade, water, and taking an aspirin Caleb seemed to feel much better.  As classes ended it started to rain and cooled everything down just a little.

We walked over to the corner mall for lunch.  Some of us had Pizza from a pizzeria and others ate at the cheaper Panamanian spot.

 Chicken, salad, black beans, and rice

After lunch it was still drizzling and we walked over to the little mall that has a post office to send off postcards to family in the US.  We will most likely be back home before the postcards reach their destinations.

BEST Boys at the Post Office

It cost .25 cent to send a post card 

Street vendors on our way to Casa Esperanza 

We then headed over to Casa Esperanza for our last day of volunteering.  We are so grateful to Melody, who served as our escort (and teacher) each day to make sure we were safe to and from Casa Esperanza.

   David- Casa Esperanza student

 Daniela- Casa Esperanza student

 Melody (our fabulous tour guide) & Sra. Pereira (me)

Once we got back to our side of town it was time to get back to our host families for dinner and time to relax.

Love Fest

I cannot go on enough about how proud I am of these 5 boys.  The school owner told me today that all of their host mothers have called her to tell her how wonderful the boys are.  They help their moms clean up, they ALWAYS greet them with the customary kiss on the cheek, and most importantly they spend time with their host families.  She says that she wishes all her students would be such great host students.  These boys know they are all that too,  they all stopped by the bakery on their way home from volunteering and bought sweets for their families.  I also want to personally thank them and let everyone know how much they have helped with Grant and Eric, my two children.  My sons now have 5 big brothers that they didn't have a week ago.  Muchas gracias chicos ♥♥♥♥♥!

OK, so back to our day.  We started off with our Spanish classes and chill time with the Bermudans before lunch.  We walked over to the main street and had lunch at a Pio Pio restaurant.  I can best describe Pio Pio as a Panamanian version of Wendy`s.  It rained pretty hard today but that was OK because it help make the temperature feel cooler.

lunch at Pio Pio

After lunch we took the new buses over to Casa Esperanza. 

men playing dominos in the street 

At Casa Esperanza the boys made themselves right at home.  Robert, Caleb, and David went in the room with the younger kids 3-6 yrs old and had a blast singing and dancing.  Amadou and jabir went with the  older kids 9-12 and had real Spanish conversations with some of the kids.


Ms. Malik and Ms. Vennise played  a customized Panamanian Monopoly with 3 very sassy and cute little girls.

Our boys listening to instructions on 

how to play a new game with the little kids. 

 Ms. Vennise and Dr. Malik playing Monopoly with
Daniela, Diana, y Rosana

Specialized Panamanian Monopoly 

Jabir and Amadou chilling with new friends

The best part of today was our return back to our side of town.  Since it was a little cooler than usual our tour guide Melody and I decided to be a little extra adventurous and take the Diablo Rojo back to Ileri.

El Diablo Rojo (Red Devil) is the nickname for the pimped out school bus public transportation.  People pack in there is no A/C and the music ((((BLASTS)))).  You can say a lot about these buses but you will never forget your first ride and you can never say they lack character.   Let the pictures speak for themselves.

We will have the same schedule tomorrow.

¡Todos a la playa! -- We all go to the beach!

Last night Ms. Malik, Ms. Vennise, and Mr. Muhhamad arrived in Panama.  We all met at the school at 9 am and then met them at the Panama Canal.  The Canal was awesome.  There were ships passing through the canal that were so big they looked like buildings.  I swear one ship was the size of B.E.S.T. Academy High School.  At the canal we read the history in the museum dedicated to its construction.  We then headed for the beach.

Jabir, Amadou, David, Caleb, and Robert

The beach was about a 2 hour drive to the Pacific coast beach area called Gorgona.  Once again Ricardo made sure we got there and back safely.  The waves were big and rough and we laughed non-stop watching each other getting knocked over by the waves, especially the teachers!!!

 Ms. Vennise, Dr. Malik, Mr. Muhammad, Amadou

They are standing infront of beach rental tents

There are two things that my traveling crew can definitely say they`ve experienced.

#1. Swimming in the Pacific Ocean

#2. Going to a black sand beach

Some of us even tried new foods!

Once again we were tired.  Mostly everyone fell asleep on the ride back home.  All host moms were alerted and have dinner waiting for their beloved new sons.  Tomorrow is another busy day so they better get a good night´s sleep!

Vamos al cine

After class today we went to El Centro Comercial Albrook.  Our driver, Ricardo, dropped us off.  The mall was huge and modern.  Amadou was able to get a sim card for his phone. He now has a Panamanian phone number and can call home (or anywhere) from his cell phone.  Robert and David were happy to see all of the American brand stores and video game centers.  Jabir  and Caleb enjoyed American food for lunch and overall.  I can say that everyone liked being in the cool mall with REAL A/C!!!!

We also discovered that you have to pay $.25 cent to go to the bathroom.

After walking around, eating, and just soaking in the whole experience of being in the mall in Panama we went for a movie.  The movie experience is slightly different in Panama than in America.  You buy your ticket at the box office on the first floor, they assign you a seat, then you go upstairs to buy your snack.  The snack bar is open to everyone in the mall, not just movie goers.  The movie ticket cost $3.50 and the combo meal about $4.75.  We then saw John Carter in Spanish (no subtitles)!  The boys actually said they understood what was going on and they liked the movie.  Now they can return home in the US and watch it in English to make a comparison.

After the movie we hopped into cabs and went home, once again TIRED!