New stuff Alex is doing lately

• Peeing as soon as his diaper comes off.  He's doing this on purpose.  He thinks it's hilarious, particularly if he's standing up.  The other day he peed in John's shoe.  He's even been able to take his own diaper off on occasion to pee all over the place.



• Saying "All Done!" when he's done eating or done taking a bath.  It's so cute, it makes up for the pissing all over thing.



• He's officially named one of his toys.  He's never named anything before, but John came home with a little Furby (a happy meal toy from McD's) the other day that Alex has dubbed "NEMO!".  I don't think it's a coincidence that the night before we watched Finding Nemo.



• If asked, he can show you his:  eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hair, fingers and toes.  We're working on belly button, but he doesn't seem to get it.  He'll just point to a random spot on his belly.  If you ask him to point to Daddy's belly button, he points to John's nipple.



• He is REALLY excited about babies.  If we see a baby outside or on television, he explodes in excitement squealing "BABY! BABY! BABY!"



• He does the same thing with dogs and kitties ("PUPPY!" and "TEE!")



• He calls pizza "Peepa"



• I'm finding he knows a lot more than I realize.  The other day he was chasing me around with a book saying "apple, apple, apple".  I didn't get why until I sat down with him to read the book and saw that the cover of the book has an apple on it.  He's able to point out many of the pictures in the few books we brought. ("where's the puppy?", "Where's the bunny", "where's the truck", "where's the yellow sun"...)



• He is a royal pain in the ass to go out to eat with.  This is a problem since we have to go out to eat every day.  He usually won't eat but two or three bites of whatever we order for him, then he flings his food all over and starts to stand up in his highchair.  When we make him sit we get the evil-ear-piercing-scream-of-death.  He also insists that all of the patrons of the restaurant play peek-a-boo with him.  Which, yea, is kinda cute.

La Isla Bonita

Well, it was Isla Grande actually.

Yesterday morning we all (Me, John, Alex, John's co-worker Jen and our driver Ricardo) got up early and headed on a cross-country trip to the Caribbean side of Panama.  Now a cross-country trip in Panama is only a three hour drive across the skinniest part of the country.  But once we got past the free zone in Colon, it was all twisty, pot-hole riddled roads that made me car sick.  It was totally worth it though because going from Panama City to the small little village on Isla Grande may as well have been going to another planet it was so different. 

Isla Grande has a population of about 300, there are no cars and when walking through town, it's just sandy paths between small cinder block houses painted in vibrant pinks, yellows and blues.  The whole island is covered with plants and trees right up to the shoreline.  The water is clear and warm and the views are stunning.  None of us could resist taking a dip in the water.

We were told that they had a swimming area netted off so that sharks and sting rays couldn't come in and attack us.  John actually swam out to the "net" to find it wasn't a net at all, just a rope.  we kept swimming anyway, but I kept an eye out for any menacing looking shapes coming toward us.  Turns out the only ocean critter we saw was one lone fish swimming around our feet.

We bought agua de pipa, which is coconut water.  We've had it before at the Canal and it came bottled and chilled, but when our agua de pipa arrived, it was just a coconut with the top hacked off and a straw stuck inside.  It was perfectly refreshing and I thought it appropriate to be sipping the water out of a fresh coconut on a tropical beach.

Around 1:30, we went to Restaurante de Pupy, a little beach side seafood hut which doesn't have an actual menu, they just tell you what they caught that morning.  They don't have anything made ahead of time, they make it once you order it so everything is fresh, and we sat around listening to Bob Marley, drinking beer and talking for the forty five minutes or so it took to make our meals.  Once they came, I had the pleasure of looking into the eyes of yet another dinner. What do these people have against cutting the heads off their fish?   I had ordered "langostino" which we thought were crayfish, but turned out to be jumbo shrimp, which was fine with me.  It was absolutely delicious and came with a mound of rice and plantains fried up with butter and garlic.  Easily the best meal I've had here to date.

After lunch we caught another water taxi to the mainland and drove out to Portobello to check out the ruins of Fort Santiago.  We were all tired so we didn't stay there nearly as long as I'd have liked to.  But we did walk around the old fort and admired the views.

On the drive back to the hotel, everyone but me and Ricardo fell asleep.  It's a shame too, because I got to watch the sunset over the ocean and saw scenery that took my breath away.  I've never been awestruck by a cow pasture before, but even that was gorgeous. 

Back at the hotel, I was dismayed that not a one of us escaped a sunburn.  John's face and legs got burned, I was burned from head to toe and Alex, despite the fact that I smeared sunblock on him on the hour every hour, got burned on his arms.  Despite us looking like a family of lobsters, it was one of the most amazing days I've ever had. 

BEANS!

Alex has been on a partial hunger strike since we've been here.  He's hard to feed at home and here, it's been next to impossible to find something he'll eat.  At home, if he doesn't eat, I just give him a meal shake, but apparently Panamanians like to eat their meals rather than drink them because I can't find so much as a Slim Fast around here.  It makes it doubly hard when I can't read the packages to find out if what I've been buying is what I really need.  John's of very little help.  I hand him a package and he'll say "It's made of corn", or "that means vanilla".  The first time I came home with powdered milk.  The second time I came home with oatmeal.  When I actually tried to buy baby oatmeal, I came home with this powdered stuff that when mixed with water looks and tastes like mushy rotten bananas.  All I want is a stupid Carnation Vanilla Breakfast Shake!  Could it really be that hard to find??  Apparently so.

Today, I gave up.  Today I decided to just go with what I know.  Today, I bought Alex an old stand by.  Canned green beans.  The second I took the can out of the grocery bag Alex started to shake with excitement.  I showed him the can and he squealed " BEANS!!!  BEANS BEANS BEANS!!!!"  He followed me to the bathroom and the entire time I was opening and draining the can he was groaning "Beeeeeens, Beeeeeens, Beeeeeens..."  He immediately began to shovel them into his mouth occasionally stopping to gasp for air and say "BEANS!!!"  and then back to snarfing them down.  He ate his beans until he couldn't eat any more and right now is resting in a bean induced coma.

So much for Fat Tuesday

Today may go down in history as one of the most boring days of my life.  Unfortunately, however, I can't blame John for it.  Damn.  I put us in a self-imposed quarantine today due to Alex's skin condition.  I had high hopes that while we were here in Panama, Alex's skin would miraculously clear up and he wouldn't have to suffer the itchies for a whole month.  Everyone told me that the heat and humidity would cause the eczema to "poof" go away.  Well, turns out, not so much.

His eczema may very well have gone away, were it not for the necessity of slathering copious amounts of sunscreen on him several times per day.  It could be a number of things really; the chemicals in the pool, the bug spray, the 97 degree heat, stiff hotel sheets, detergent the laundromat is using to wash our clothes, the diapers that have a funny smell, the sausages he ate for breakfast the other day... 

Point is, he's not clearing up.  In fact, yesterday he had what appeared to be an allergic reaction to some unknown substance or food that caused him to break out in a red itchy rash from his nose to his nipples.  Hence the quarantine.  I wanted to keep him in a controlled environment to try to get his skin to calm down.  Poor Alex.  Kid doesn't even know what life is like to NOT be itchy all over.

The good news is that his skin did indeed calm down and he only has his "normal" patches of eczema and a little residual allergy rash on his chest that appears to be going away.  The bad news is that the three of us were stuck in this tiny hotel room with nothing but the Sudoku and Jumble puzzles in the newspaper and Spanish language television to keep us occupied.  John was in heaven.  Spending the day lounging around in his underwear, ordering room service and reading the paper is his idea of a good time.  For me, it was a very, very boring day. 

Singin' in the rain...forest

Saturday afternoon we went out to the Parque Natural Metropolitano. It is the only rain forest within the city limits of a modern metropolis. I really wanted to see the rainforest. This place is so jungly. But it seemed that just wandering out into some random woodsy area wouldn't be a very good idea. Besides, I left my machete at home. The Park had very nice hiking trails to follow and it was suitably jungly for my purposes.

I was especially hopeful to see some wild rainforest critters, and the park did not disappoint. We immediately saw several lizards and turtles and several scary looking bugs. About halfway into our hike, once we got far enough from the road, we began to hear rustling above our heads. We looked up to see a little monkey. He chattered at us as we took some pictures of him. A couple more monkeys joined him and for some reason that sparked fear in me. "They're going to attack us!" I yelled at John, which made him laugh (I mean, these things weighed maybe 2 or 3 pounds). Although I think I was right because I was soon pelted with something from above. probably a nut or a berry of some type. I was just glad it wasn't poop.

The hike was amazing, lots of vines and palms. The sounds of insects buzzing and exotic bird calls, and monkeys chattering at us from the trees made me feel like I was in another world.

The only downside was Alex fell asleep only halfway into our hike. He missed out on the monkeys entirely. John had him up on his shoulders and Alex started to slump over his head. It was actually quite funny, but I didn't think to take a picture because I was worried he'd passed out from the heat or something. Turns out he was just tired and the motion of John walking just lulled him to sleep.

Toward the end of our hike we met another little monkey and I stopped to take a picture of him when John said to me "You know, monkeys view standing still as a sign of weakness". I immediately turned on my heel and walked briskly away to the sound of John laughing at me. God, I am so gullible.

Welcome Miss Lily Mei

Lily_0092
Originally uploaded by mrsjwd9.

Our brand new neice was born today. From the looks of it, she's as beautiful as her mommy. Today marks the only time during this trip that I wish we were home. I can't wait to snuggle that cute little thing!

Congratulations Nate and Jen! Nice work!

More fireworks

Fireworks again tonight.  Oh MAN, I'm dying to get out there and party like a Catholic four days before Lent!  I have these brief moments where I look at my sleeping baby boy and think "Oh, he'll never notice I'm gone, I'll just go down there and check things out.  I'll only be gone for twenty minutes."  Of course I won't so much as go down the hall to the ice machine and leave him alone in the room.  So, I'm stuck watching the party from afar.

Tonight I grabbed my camera and tried to take some photos of the fireworks from the window in our room.  It's hard to take pictures of fireworks!  Particularly while trying to look sideways out the window.

They're really close and I can feel the windows shake when they go off.  I LOVE fireworks, so I'm really glad I can see them from our room.  I'd be hating it if I could hear them but couldn't see them.

So, now I know what "Pargo frito entero" is

We decided to go to lunch at a different place than we usually do today.  Usually we go to a cafeteria style place called Niko's.  It's nice not only because the food is cheap and yummy, since it's cafeteria style, I can see everything and just point to what I want.  At a sit down restaurant, I have basically no chance of figuring out what I want.  But, we've been walking past a restaurant called Costa Azul every day and it looks nice, so we went in. 

John wasn't much help in translating the menu for me, so I decided to just point to a random item on the menu, hoping it would be good.  I've had great luck so far.  After the waiter took our order and walked away, John said "You know you just ordered a whole fish don't you?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, a whole fish, head, tail, eyeballs... everything"
"I DID!?!  Why didn't you stop me?  How was I supposed to know I ordered a whole fish?"

So, my lunch came, and yep, it was a fish that had basically been thrown into a deep fryer right off the hook.  I didn't even know how to eat it.

Alex, who has begun an earnest love affair with the fried potato, immediately began stealing all of my french fries.  I was left with my slice of plantain and the fish.  So, I turned him around (so he wasn't looking at me) and dug in.  It was actually quite tasty, but difficult to pick around the bones.  I don't know why people cook fish like this.

"Help me!"
 

Do as the Panamanians do

Last night at midnight I was awakened by the sound of explosions.  Terrified, I ran to the window to see what was blowing up.  Turns out it was fireworks, at or near the casino down the street.  Apparently last night was the crowning of the Carnival Queen. 

Carnival here is supposed to be one of the biggest holidays / festivals of the year.  It's the Panamanian equivalent of Mardi Gras.  From what I gather, it begins with the selection of the queen and her attendants (apparently happening last night), then  they commence with the partying until Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.  From what I'm hearing, it's all about parades, music, dancing, booze and for some reason getting sprayed by fire hoses. 

John is not too keen on the idea of going out to celebrate Carnival this weekend.  Ugh.  He has no sense of adventure!  He has a point though.  I mean, it doesn't sound like the most child-friendly of activities.  But I say, "When in Panama..."  I think it would be a real shame if we don't at least go out to Via Espana (the main street, which is only a block from our hotel) this weekend to see what's going on and maybe get hit with a water balloon or two.

They're Grrrreat!

Ordering room service

I heart Panama (so far anyway)

I find it interesting that of the two of us, I'm the one who feels more comfortable in our new environment.  After all, John lived in Costa Rica for two years.  He's familiar with the culture, he speaks the language fluently.  You'd think I would be the one with culture shock.

Nope.

I love it here.  The weather hasn't bothered me one bit.  When we go out, John is complaining that the sun is too hot, the air is too humid.  Alex is slumped in his stroller sweating sucking down bottle after bottle of apple juice and water.  Me?  I'm happily walking around town checking out shops barely noticing the heat.  I'm not normally a fan of heat, particularly humidity, but I find the weather to be not just tolerable, but downright enjoyable.

I also love the food.  I find myself ordering things that I don't even know what they are (probably because I can't read the menus).  Rice with bits of mystery fish?  Bring it on!  Is that an oyster? octopus? I don't know.  I'm eying the street vendors, trying to figure out what they're selling, tempted to try whatever they've got to offer.  I'm normally a picky eater, but not here.  I'd bet I'll be eating pickles and tomatoes before we leave.

I have to give John credit though, he's probably the main reason I'm so comfortable.  I completely rely on him to communicate with the natives.  Aside from an occasional "gracias", "si" and "No habla espanol" I haven't even tried to talk to anyone outside the hotel.  I did venture to the grocery store the other afternoon by myself and found that smiling, pointing and nodding are surprisingly effective. I'm going to make more of an effort to make use of my High School Spanish from now on though.  Most people here speak English but seem to appreciate it when people at least try to speak Spanish.

I'm excited that we get to be here for another 3 1/2 weeks!  John's already itching to come home to his comfort zone and routine, but I'm finding that I am craving more of this place.  We've walked around the same block every day this week, and every time we go out I want to venture further away from the hotel.  I want to explore more of the city.  It's just different enough here to be exciting and I want to experience more of it. 

The only complaint I have is getting around town with a stroller is difficult.  Coming from Utah, quite possibly the most baby / kid friendly place on earth, there are wheelchair/stroller ramps on the flat sidewalks.  There's almost always a baby changing station in the bathroom everywhere you go.  Here,it appears the sidewalk is just an extention of the business you happen to be walking by, and many are in bad repair.  Some sidewalks are cement, some are tiled, some asphalt, some are dirt, most have stairs of some sort.  The only ramps are driveways which aren't as common as you'd think they'd be.  I have seen exactly two traffic lights during the week we've been here (including all the driving around we did on Saturday), and the traffic is terrible.  Lots of horn honking and little cars wizzing around on the narrow streets.  Crossing the street is an exercise in faith.  You just go hoping you don't get hit.

I haven't seen a single baby changing station, not that I'm surprised, I didn't really expect to see them outside of the US anyway.  In public restrooms I've just been trying to change Alex on the counter by the sinks, something he doesn't appear to appreciate.  When we were at the shops at the Amador Causeway on Saturday, Alex had soaked through his diaper and shorts and I had no choice but to change him.  The second I removed his diaper, he began peeing all over the counter.  I put him on the floor, naked from the waist down and attempted to clean up the mess.  Of course, even though the restroom had been empty up until this point, when Alex was running wild in nothing but a t-shirt and shoes, and I'm sopping up toddler pee off the counters, several women came in.  Alex immediately began to jabber excitedly at them and started doing his hip-swinging dance for them.  Naked.  Luckily, the women thought he was cute and laughed.  But I'm sure they weren't expecting a strip show on a saturday afternoon in the ladies restroom.

Tourists

We hired the guy that drives John to and from work, Ricardo, to take us on a tour yesterday.  I thought maybe he'd take us to the canal, maybe Panama Viejo.  We ended up going to six different sights:

• Panama Viejo and the Panama History museum



• The Baha'i Temple



• Panama Canal



• The Golden Altar at the San Jose Church



• Casco Viejo



• Amador Causeway

By the end of the evening, we were practically begging Ricardo to take us back to the hotel.  All three of us were hungry and tired.  I saw more of Panama yesterday than I thought I'd see the entire month we're here!

Ricardo clearly loves his country and was very excited to show us all of the sights that were beautiful or meaningful to him.  The highlights of the tour for me were Panama Viejo and the Baha'i temple. 

Panama Viejo is what I really wanted to see.  Panama Viejo was the first city founded on the Pacific Coast of the Americas.  It was the gateway for the Spanish conquest of Latin America.  Ricardo told us that it was destroyed by pirates three times, the final time by English pirate Henry Morgan in 1671.  The ruins are spectacular, and I could have spent the entire day taking pictures of old bricks.

From there we went to the Baha'i temple.  The House of Worship is situated on Cerro Sonsonate (a tall hill, elevation 730 feet) and I understand the location is known as Ojo de Agua.  Of course John thought it looked like a big white boob and made reference to the boobie shape many, many times while we were there.  The building is actually in the shape of a nine pointed star crowned by a white parabolic dome covered with Japanese tiles.  The interior is simple and elegant.  Rows of benches face a small podium.  There are nine entrances (the number nine is the highest digit that includes all the others, it is used as a symbol of unity and the culmination of an era) that allow a nice breeze to flow through the entire structure.  It was quiet and serene, the only sound was the breeze blowing through the palms.  I could have stayed there all day long. I've never felt so peaceful.

We were soon on to the Panama Canal and we got there just in time to see two ships go through the Miraflores locks.  I felt like I'd walked right into a history video I saw in Junior High School.  I walked out onto the terrace and suddenly remembered the entire history and workings of the canal.  We bought some agua de pipa (coconut water) and watched one of the big cargo ships go through the locks. 

After we got bored with the canal (there's really only so much entertainment a big cargo ship can offer), we drove through one of the poorest looking slum areas I've ever seen.  The buildings were horribly run down.  In fact for a while I thought that they must have been abandoned they were in such poor shape, until I realized that people were indeed living in these apartments and shops.  We drove through the more "modern" slums (big square apartment buildings) into what looked more like French slums.  In only got to snap one photo from the cab we were in and it really isn't a good representation of what it looked like.  Despite it's dilapidated appearance, the architecture was beautiful and I felt like all this place needed was a good cleaning and some exterior paint and it would have been just lovely. 

What I found particularly interesting was that even though the buildings and shops these people lived in were rather shabby the people themselves were not what I expected.  They were all dressed nicely.  So nicely in fact, that is why I thought the buildings must have been abandoned because I couldn't imagine these well dressed people living in these places.

Eventually we stopped at "El Altar de Oro de la Iglesia de San Jose", The Golden Altar of the San Jose Church.  It was heavily guarded by police and the entrances were covered in bullet proof glass.  We went in and sat down in a pew in the back.  The church was very dark, lit mostly by candles so the pictures I got were terrible quality.  (I was afraid to use my flash.)  The altar was breathtaking.  The booklet we were given is mostly in Spanish, so from what I could gather, the altar itself has been in Panama since 1612 and in 1671 Fray Juan succeeded in saving the golden altar from the pirate Henry Morgan by painting the gold to look like wood so it wouldn't be stolen.  There were many effigies and altars along the walls of the church of various saints etc.  We paid our respects and gave a donation to the church and left. 

As I understand it, the golden altar is actually in Casco Viejo.  If we have another opportunity to go out there, I'd like to take a proper tour and learn more about the history of Panama.  There is much more to see than just the altar and the views from the boardwalk.  We basically just took in the sights and had snow cones.

From Casco Viejo we went out to the Amador Causeway which is mostly just shops, restaurants and views.  By the time we got there, Alex had blown out a diaper and soaked through his shorts.  We were all hungry and tired, so we just looked around and then went back to the hotel. 

All in all it was an amazing day.  There were many places I could have easily spent the entire evening exploring. 

Gotta work out a better schedule

   

John's working the night shift, 3pm to 2am, so he sleeps until about 10 or until I can't get Alex to stop jumping on him in bed.  John's a slow morning person, so it takes him maybe an hour and a half to two hours to read the paper, check ESPN online, go to the bathroom and eat a muffin.  This means we're not leaving our hotel room until after noon. 

Alex and I are generally getting up at 8am and go down to the pool first thing to give John an opportunity to sleep a little longer in peace.  We get back, take a shower, I brew some coffee, Alex drinks a bottle and we watch one of his readinig DVD's or play with his toys.  By noon, Alex and I are REALLY ready to get out of the room.

Here's the problem.  By 1:00 Alex is ready for his nap which means he's either falling asleep in his stroller or throwing an "I'm tired" fit the entire time we're out.  We've got to be back to the room by 2 so John can get ready for work.  As you can tell, we're not really getting much sight seeing in during the week. 

I'm hopeful I can get John to do some touristy things this weekend.  I'd settle for one touristy thing really.  John is probably the least fun traveling companion one can have on any given trip.  No matter where you are or what you're doing there, all he wants to do is lay around in the hotel room and watch TV.  Even more so on this trip because he's here to work, so the weekend means he wants to relax.  But with Alex and I basically trapped in the hotel room all week, I'm aching to get out and do something. 

Local cuisine

We're still trying to figure out Panamanian cuisine.  We ordered something described to us as "Bread with meat in the oven".  The waitress said "Like pizza".  It wasn't like pizza at all.  It was like, well, a tortilla with smushed up meat on it baked in an oven.  Neither John nor I could identify what type of meat it was and we decided that not knowing was probably for the best.  It wasn't bad, but certainly not my favorite food so far.

Yesterday for lunch we went to the local mall the "Plaza Concordia" and had lunch in the food court.  It was like any other food court in the states except you get better food and they give you real plates and silverware, not plastic or paper.  John got steak and fried plantains and I got chicken with rice and coleslaw. Alex got a fruit bowl and nectar de Manzana (apple nectar).  It was good and cheap and I predict we will be enjoying many meals there.

There are lots of street vendors selling all kinds of yummy looking foods.  Maybe it's because I watch too much Anthony Bourdain (No Reservations on the travel channel), I've decided I won't leave Panama without trying some of these.  I'll make sure I've got some Pepto Bismol on hand just in case.  John likely wouldn't touch that food with a 10 foot stick.  He's just no fun.

We've seen lots of little cafe's and restaurants that we want to try.  Little family run places that are likely to serve "la comida tipica" (traditional food). I want to steer clear of the many KFC's and McD's if at all possible.  I mean, I've had McD's in Salt Lake City, New York City, Mexico City and Copenhagen and a McChicken is always the same.  However, we do plan on dining at the Hard Rock Cafe Panama City, if only to add a Panama City Pilsner to our collection.

Good morning Panama!

Alex woke up at 7:00 sharp this morning despite the fact that we didn't get him to bed until well past 11:00 pm, and despite the fact that we're in a different timezone.  How does he do that?

Traveling yesterday went surprisingly well.  Even after checking in and going through security, we had an hour and a half to kill before our first flight of the day so I took Alex walking up and down the terminal.  stopping to investigate all the store windows, coke machines and plants along the way. 

(Alex watching our plane at SLC)

Since he'd gotten up at 5:30 in the morning, by the time our flight took off he fell asleep.  He woke up about an hour in and just played with toys and bounced on our laps.  I did have to do the dreaded diaper change in the airplane bathroom.  I had put it off for so long the diaper didn't hold and he was completely soaked.  But he didn't mind.  The bathroom was mirrored on one side, and Alex fell in love with his reflection.  I let him stay in there playing with the mirror for so long a flight attendant knocked on the door to make sure we were OK.

Once we started our decent Alex finally discovered the window.  He glued his little nose to the window and watched the entire landing.  We had to pry him away from it to leave because he was watching them unload the baggage.

When we got to Atlanta, we both took turns taking Alex for walks along the concourse.  It was a four hour layover, so much walking was done.  I found a place where Alex could watch the cars driving around and see planes flying low (landing and taking off from other side of airport) and we had a ball watching them.  It was also a good place to people watch.  Whenever passengers walked by Alex would wave and yell "BYE BYE!" at them.

The flight to Panama City brought us a couple of wonderful surprises.  First, the check-in attendant worked it out so we had a separate seat for Alex, which made all the difference.  Second, I befriended one of the flight attendants and she gave me extra alcoholic beverages during the flight, which is always a good thing!

Since we wore him out with all the walking in the ATL airport, he fell asleep for half the flight to Panama City.  Once he woke up, he busied himself with a mini Magnadoodle and an Incredibles toy mobile phone.  Again, he was an absolute angel, and we couldn't have possibly asked for him to be any better.

Arriving in Panama City, I basically just followed John's lead.  He seemed to remember all of his Spanish, and talked to everyone with apparent ease.  Everything was so easy.  Immigration?  No problem.  All of our baggage made it just fine.  There was someone waiting at the airport to take us to our hotel.  I was beginning to feel like nothing could go wrong.  Then we checked in.

The hotel is really much nicer than we need.  Even when I worked for a hotel company and could get discounts, I still stayed in the cheapest hotels they had.  This place is a luxury hotel booked for us by John's work.  We had planned to use our Discover card to pay for the hotel (will be reimbursed by John's company) and I even called ahead of time to make sure they accepted that type of card.  But when we checked in we were informed that they did not in fact take Discover card.  John and I just looked at each other, both with "Oh Shit" looks on our faces.  We gave them a different card (with enough money to pay for maybe two nights) and went up to our room to figure out what the hell we were going to do.  I think we've got it figured out now, we'll have much less "playing around" money, but it'll work out fine.

So now we're here.  To be honest, during all of the planning for this trip, I hadn't given any thought at all to actually being in Panama for a month.  All of my energy was focused on getting here.  Passports, packing, surviving the flights...  Now we're here. What to do?

Maybe it'll be ok???

Lady at the mall:  "Wow, he's the busiest little boy I've ever seen!"
Me:  "I know, he's a wild one"
LATM:  "Really, I've got twin boys and I think your one child may be harder to keep up with than both of mine together!"

He's wilder than TWIN BOYS.  And we're taking this child on an international flight in three days.  Oh, and the kicker?  Since he's under 2, we didn't have to get him a seat. "He'll just sit in our laps" we thought.  If you see a news story titled:  "Toddler brings down plane over Central America"  Yea, that'll be us.

Well, I guess I can stop bitching about it now

Alex's passport has arrived!

It was pretty anti-climactic.  I stopped at the mailbox on the way home from the mall, opened it up and there it was.  Just lying there in the mailbox as if it were just another piece of mail.  There was no celebration, no fireworks or confetti, no angelic chorus singing Hallelujah.  Just me in the snow doing the happy dance in front of my sister-in-law.

So, I guess that's it.  We're really going to Panama for a month.  YAY!