We've
had some wood canoes coming to our boat each day at our recent island to sell
us whatever they have pulled up from the sea - oysters, lobsters, fish, octopi,
crabs, etc. They have also had
pearls, irregular and all natural.
Courage bought some bananas and a papaya from one guy, who came daily
back with things to share. This
morning he bought 3 lobsters for $10; the guy had his 9-year-old son in the canoe
also. Said he was a good paddler. We gave them a nice pair of swim trunks
that were a little too big for our boys. His shorts were polyester and
ripped. Didn't look great for a
life on the water. But a nice
matching set with his shirt, so maybe they work great for him. Who knows? Courage also bought a sierra for 2 men's shirts. We went to shore and played with a
bunch of plastic jugs that had washed up.
We collected 2 quite nice plastic cups to bring back to the boat, clean
up and use as the kid's special cups to drink from. Cheaper than any thrift store I've been to!!
This
afternoon we took the boat to their village, Esmeralda. Very friendly group of people. We were greeted immediately by 2 small
dug out boats trying to sell us tiny fish, bait fish at best, 3 kids in one
canoe, 2 kids in the other. Then a
large square raft made of Styrofoam with 3 kids on it and a paddle. So funny. We gave each kid a candy, and as Courage predicted, the
wrappers went right into the water.
We
gathered into our kayaks and headed to shore with our whole family. Probably 20-30 kids from the village
met us at the beach, climbed into the kayaks, took our hands, and were talking
to us in Spanish. They paraded us up, then down their village, showing us a
medical building and a school. The
group grew as we walked. The kids
asked for us many things in Spanish that I don't understand. One of them was to take a picture with
my camera, so a couple of boys used my camera to take pictures. Most of them didn't wear shoes. Some boys were only in their
underwear. One boy had a pair of
red underwear filled with holes as his only outfit. I'm hoping that this is his favorite pair, not his only
pair. Their antennas on their houses were way up high on sticks for
elevation. A guy was selling us 10
limes, so we bought a few. He
didn't have a bag; so I went to the local store to buy something, then have a
bag. They didn't have any fresh fruit
or veggies there, so I bought some canned tuna and ring pops for the kids. Vitality had a bag of candy with her to
share with the local kids. Since
they parted with all their candy, I figured I could get them a few more for themselves.
Turns out I got ring pops which are rings, suckers, and they light up, all for
20 cents a piece. Kids are still
playing with the lights as I write this.
I read our evening story using Innocence's ring pop light. We loaded up one kayak with half of
us. It took a couple of waves on
departure, and then Courage pushed it through a wave and jumped in. The kids on shore all clapped as he made
it through the break zone. Just a
guess, but I'm guessing those antennas aren't for TV, these guys were hurting
for entertainment!! We stayed and
shared a couple of bags of Cassidy's outgrown clothing, then went to load
ourselves up. The kids had already
pushed out the kayak, and the kayak Courage took out to the boat was being
returned by some local kids that had gone out to the boat in their dug out
canoe. Cassidy loaded in one
kayak, I in the other. As we departed,
I had a passenger, one of the local kids. I waited to be sure he would have a
ride back and that I wouldn't be sending a kayak back. His buddies loaded up in a dug out and
escorted us to the boat. At the
boat we dropped our passenger off and prepared our boat to go to the next, more
remote anchorage.
Was
interesting and fun, but very over-stimulating to have people swarming you and
speaking Spanish while being paraded around a town and trying to keep track of
6 kids. Cassidy was easy, Valiant
being carried, so only 4 wanderers to get lost. Innocence raced some boy in his skivvies and held her
own. Integrity apparently had some
"altercation" with a retarded boy who got a little physical. Nothing serious, but I'm sure he was
confused. Happened while the group
got split up, so I didn't see it, only heard about it. Got some nice pictures
of Innocence surrounded by the local kids, etc. The town has recently grown from 500 to 1000 people.
Beautiful
quiet anchorage we found, single house on the shore. Went just up the tributary
river and on the first bend scared a crocodile off the bank, maybe a 4 footer. Will do more exploring over there
tomorrow when the tide is coming in, was too much against the current so we
didn't go far today. Had a great
dinner of sierra, planning lobster tomorrow. Getting rain every day, but only for a short while, just
enough to refill our bathing water almost daily. Also got our front tarp hung up yesterday, so keeping our
front hatch open in the rain - allows so much more air flow and less stuffy
when humid and hot!! Also great for
sitting under when we were under way to be up front on the trampolines, but shaded.
Just
an update from Panama. Was a fun,
interesting day. From the Styrofoam
raft (loved it!!) to the boys asking to try using the camera. Reminded me of bits of Nepal, random
things we take for granted. The
kids were also asking for chocolate, but I didn't give that. Didn't want to encourage
"begging," but wanted to share.
It all works out.
Homeschooling
is going well. Boys read and wrote
this morning, then the kids all checked out sea life, watched an oyster get
cracked open to look for a pearl, held an octopus, bought 3 lobster and a sierra,
learned about negotiating with/without money, watched the rain and thunder come
in, learned about life in a small Panamanian town (many Jamaican descent it
appeared), including how to make a raft out of anything that floats, how to
make friends even if you don't speak the language, why people dress differently
than you do, etc., recycling vs. littering, saw a crocodile, went to land there
to check out the tracks, ate their fresh fish and veggies for dinner, then
finalized with how to catch rain water to drink. Good life skills all the way
around, and they didn't even know they were learning except the first part
where they had to read. The first part
is the only one they give resistance on too.
Going
to get everyone to bed. Goodnight.
