Today was one of our busier days. We walked down to the language school at 10am for a brief orientation and interviews to check our language level. Then we went to get our 10 bags we had sent from Panama City at a cost of $5 per bag. Our friends The Smiths came and got us and with the help of one other taxi we managed to get everything back to our rental apartment.
The girls immediately unpacked their stuffed animals and blankets and made a pretty big mess of their room. We didn’t have much time so we headed into town again to get lunch before Spanish lessons. We got a cab because it was raining and we met Daniel the Cabbie who spoke excellent English. He might be our regular driver while we are here.
Spanish class was very good for all of us. The girls are in a class together, Dan is in a class with an Israeli, a German and another American. I have a class with another American and three Germans. We met up at break and compared notes on our teachers. I have the same teacher for the whole time but Haley and Zoe’s teacher moves to Dan’s class for the second half and they get a new one. It’s a little confusing but it seems to work. We had a nice walk home before it started raining and we were able to review the things we had learned. We did a little more Spanish after dinner tonight. Haley seems to have a mind like a steel trap. Zoe has motivational issues but sugar seemed to be a good motivator.
We did more unpacking tonight although it’s hard to unpack this many suitcases in a small apartment. I was a little shocked at some of the things the girls managed to pack (a candle, Haley??). The luggage is a bit of a burden at this point. It was just so hard to know what not to bring and in the end we just threw stuff in. We really hope to buy a car that will hold it all. That will make our roaming easier.
We managed to have dinner in the apartment but no vegetables yet and the rice was undercooked because there was no measuring cups. I will probably go to town tomorrow for the mercado and a few more essentials. Tomorrow we start home schooling – just math. I’ll be working with the girls in the morning for an hour to keep up with their math. At this point that’s all we will do until we are done with language school.
Dan’s still having Major Electronical Difficulties with his phone which makes him a very unhappy man. Our wifi goes in and out but it’s mostly in and we had a super-brief power outage tonight. It was a good reminder to get out the flashlights and put them somewhere handy.
Still haven’t perfected my coffee but tomorrow is another day. As we were walking home from language school on the side of the road with uneven sidewalks and most of the time no sidewalks, it occurred to me how different it is here. We never wanted the girls to walk or ride bikes on the street in our Arizona neighborhood with no sidewalks but here it’s just what you do and you hope for the best. When in Rome….or Panama!
