Programming - Caleb

I've been watching tutorials for programming for the last few months, and I used what I learned to make a game that you can play here: Matching Game 

picture of the game

When I finished my k12 math last year, my dad said that I might like programming, so he found a tutorial that I could watch (on lynda.com). I watched it, and learned how to do a little bit of programming. I watched 2 other tutorials and started programming a few little things. After I practiced a lot, I decided to make a game, so I made this matching game. 

Programming is really fun; after I finished the matching game I started making another game, but I haven't finished it yet.

Fun in Panama - Hannah

We arrived Saturday evening in Panama, and our first order of business, after the kids touched the Atlantic Ocean for the first time, was getting something to eat. We got some local food, very similar to Costa Rican food, but flavored a little differently. We avoided the pig tail and pig feet options, and went with chicken or beef. The service was almost comical in that the man working there seemed quite annoyed at having us there. But the food was good, and relatively inexpensive at four dollars a plate. Unfortunately it was probably our only good food in Panama--the couple of other places we tried were more expensive and not very tasty.

Sunday was a relaxing day. We slept in, then had "church" where we all paired up and chose and taught a short lesson. Dylan and Jonah taught the story of Moses, Julia and Caleb taught about keeping the Sabbath Day holy, and Michael and I taught about the story of Adam and Eve, in response to a previous question from Julia about why God gave contradictory commandments in the Garden of Eden.

We then spent most of the day in the condo swimming pool. It was nice to not feel the self-imposed pressure that we needed to take advantage of the beach. We knew we'd visit the beach again, so since everyone wanted to be at the pool, that's what we did.

We met a nice lady in the pool that we talked to for quite a while. She commented that she used to work at a beer brewery, and I told her I had never tasted beer. After she got over her amazement and shock, she asked a lot of questions about Mormons and their beliefs. She was fairly anti-established religion, and anti-missionaries-bothering-people by going door to door, but she had a lot of questions, was very respectful and at least learned that we no longer practice polygamy. Julia commented afterwards how interesting it was to talk to someone with such a different perspective than so many of the people we interacted with in Utah.

The next day was incredible. We did a snorkeling tour with Bocas Water Sports. For $20 a person, we spent the whole day boating around to various locations. We were joined by our tour guide and a couple--the woman from Argentina and the man from Quebec.

First we went to Dolphin Bay, a warm still-water bay where dolphins often come with their babies. It's surrounded by mangroves and is not a good snorkeling spot because of the many jellyfish, but we were able to see quite a few dolphins in the water.

The next spot was Crawl Cayu, a definite highlight. It was a relatively shallow spot for snorkeling, and we were able to hop out of the boat and snorkel around for an hour or so. We saw all different colors and shapes of coral. We saw sea urchins, sponges, anemones, and all kinds, colors, and sizes of tropical fish. It was like watching an underwater nature show. Caleb said he couldn't think of a word to describe how awesome it was.

The only downside was that Jonah couldn't be persuaded to get in. He had fins and snorkel gear, but he had cut his foot the day before, and was concerned about his band-aid coming off in the water. Granted, he also had a cold and wasn't feeling real well, so things were a bigger deal than they would have otherwise been. But the tour guide kindly kept him entertained on the boat looking at pictures of fish.

We then stopped at this postcard-worthy location for lunch. We only ordered rice and salad to go along with our granola bars, Pringles, and bananas--it was a little pricey. But we did enjoy the beautiful surroundings. It was like having a restaurant on top of a tropical fish tank.

After lunch, we went to a private beach called Red Frog Beach. On the way there, we saw some sloths in the nearby trees slowly scratching themselves.

As we pulled up to the dock, we could see many translucent jellyfish just below the surface. We also saw a caiman peeking his eyes out of the swampy water on the pathway to the beach. The waves at the beach were a little bigger than what we were comfortable with, but the kids did have fun playing in shallower end and then in the sand. Except for Jonah, that is, who by this time was at his breaking point.

 

Our last stop was Hospital Point, another snorkeling spot. It wasn't as impressive as the first spot, but it did give Jonah a chance to nap in the boat while we got in some more exploring.

All in all, it was a very memorable trip. On our way home, we stopped briefly at a cocoa farm to taste cocoa beans, got a tasty Costa Rican lunch, got stuck in an hour-long traffic jam due to an accident, went through the mountain pass in foggy darkness, had milkshakes from Pops for dinner, and arrived safely home. Jonah summed up his experience by saying that his favorite part was buying his new Spiderman toothbrush. I remember when Caleb, at about the same age, had said that his favorite part of California Sea World was the chicken nuggets. These kids crack me up :).

Jonah standing by a cocoa tree

Visa Renewal Trip to Panama - Hannah

It's been three months since our trip to Nicaragua, so we needed to leave the country again in order to renew our tourist visas. This time we chose Bocas del Toro, Panama, an island among a group of islands off the northern Caribbean coast of Panama. It is a popular tourist destination for Costa Ricans renewing their visas.

Look at all the stamps :). Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and now Panama!

Michael did a bit of research before our trip to figure out all the nuts and bolts of how to go about the process.

The first thing we needed to do was pay an exit fee at a bank called Bancredito. This is a new law, apparently, and the process is not very streamlined. The problem, we had read, is that for a while there was no Bancredito near the border, so people had to backtrack to pay the fee before they could leave. Then we read that there was a Bancredito near the border, but it wasn't open on Saturday, when we would be there. Of course Costa Rica contracted with a bank with relatively few branches scattered throughout Costa Rica, rather than one of the larger banks with branches in every town.

So a couple days before our trip, Michael and I went to San Jose to pay the fee--$7 per person. It wasn't all bad, though. We made a date out of it and also went out for Costa Rica's sub-par version of Chinese food.

As it turned out, though, when we got to the border, they never even asked to see the receipts for our payment, so it may not have even been necessary. Also, there was a Bancredito ATM in the Immigration office at the border, but it didn't look like it was working (we didn't try). Oh well.

When we arrived at the border, we parked our car in a locked parking lot for $8 a day. It was a good thing too--based on the rough-looking neighborhood, I'm not sure if our car would have still been there when we returned.

We then needed to fill out some forms, cross over a rickety old bridge on foot to Panama, and then fill out more forms and pay an additional $3 per person to enter Panama.

Some local boys climbing and jumping off parts of the bridge.

After arriving in Panama, we got a minibus to Alimirante, about an hour away. We were able to negotiate the price from $60 down to $40. The trip to Almirante gave us a view of the Panamanian countryside, which looked similar to Costa Rica, though with more poverty and more trash. Many of the homes were open air wooden shacks or pieced-together shacks with tin roof siding. 

Once we arrived in Almirante, we took a half hour water taxi to Bocas del Toro, which cost our family a total of $27. The  boat ride gave us a nice view of the homes built near the shore.   

Finally, after an 8 or 9 hour travel day, we arrived at our condo for a couple days of fun.

A Bird in the House - Hannah

Today a bird flew into the house through our open door, and when attempting to fly back out flew into the glass doors. He was stunned but okay, so the kids picked him up and took turns holding and petting him.

But when the bird felt better, he took off flying in the house. He perched way up high in our living room and we were worried we wouldn't be able to get him down before we headed off on our trip to Panama tomorrow. Amazingly enough, the kids were able to startle him so he got flying again (though not through use of the rubberband guns, which I vetoed), and Jacob was able to catch him again and take him outside.

Bye bye birdie!

Beach Photo Shoot - Hannah

My talented sister did a photo shoot with us last month when she and her husband visited. We had such a great time with them--relaxing on the beach, playing in the water, enjoying good food, and loving the company. 

Here are some of my favorite pictures from that day.

Meat - Hannah

I feel better about the meat quality here than I do back home. Several years ago I read Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser and I didn't buy or eat ground beef for at least three yeas. Among other things, the book talks all about the unsanitary meat handling practices of the beef industry in the United States--sadly much of the lower quality beef ends up in public schools. I couldn't stomach beef until a JCWs hamburger converted me back. Still, though, even after JCWs, we didn't eat a lot of beef.

But here, I feel a lot better about buying meat, especially beef. I got a recommendation for a butcher from our landlord, and haven't gone anywhere else since. Our landlord told us that the butcher often slaughters the cows that morning or the day before, so it's super fresh. Also, the cows here feed on grassy hills, and since they get plenty of exercise climbing up and down the hills they're super lean. We call them mountain cows, because they walk around the hills like mountain goats. Look how the skin just seems to hang off the cow's body. 

Jonah always likes going to the carniceria. The nice lady behind the counter always talks with him and often gives him a piece or two of chicharon. I like that I can specify how much meat I want, and how I want it cut, and they'll put it in a little bag for me. I just do one bag per meal, and then I can just dump the bag in the pan and not even have to touch it. It's much better than buying the bulk meat at Walmart or Costco and then having to divvy up the meat into individual freezer bags. I know, I'm a baby, but I just don't like touching raw meat.  

I still stick to pretty safe, known meats though. I'm much more adventurous when it comes to trying new fruits than I am in trying new meats. This cow tongue and other mystery meats never make it onto the menu.

The market where I buy my meat is across from the main supermarket. At one location, I get beef, at another I can get fish, and at another I can get chicken. Because I make multiple transactions on my shopping trips, I'm much more confident in my ability to use Costa Rican currency than when I first got here. 

Now if only JCWs would open up a restaurant here in Puriscal, and I could go buy a jalepeno burger, I would be completely satisfied :).