Friday, November 14, 2008

I Love Panama

Here's a view of the yucca trees in the field behind our house. The other day we helped the neighbors cut weeds and they gave us several huge pieces of yucca, which is excellent in soup or fried with ketchup and eggs. When you want to harvest this crop, you look for trees with a bit of broken earth at the base, indicating the root is big enough. Then you dig it up with a machete. The tree can then be stuck back in the ground to grow new yucca.

Christina, a second-grader, is seen here drawing a pumpkin during one of the English classes we held just before Halloween. All the kids learned Halloween vocabulary like candy, costume, and ghost. And everyone drew their own Jack-o-lanterns to hang up in school.

Like Christina, the kid in the middle used a cup to make a perfectly circular pumpkin. All the Jack-o-lanterns were bien pretty. Whenever we have an activity, like drawing or playing a game, teaching is a lot more fun. For second grade and up, we try to have the students take a few notes, practice speaking a bit of English, and then do a related project.

This is Paulita, a neighbor who invited us over to celebrate her birthday November 13. Before the cake, we had rice and shrimp (arroz con camarones) made by one of her daughters. It was a real treat. While we were hanging out on the porch after supper, a relative called to wish Paulita a happy birthday and find out what was going on. We heard her say, "The Gringos are here!"

Reina, Lisa, and Boli made the popular corn drink chicheme the day before Matt's birthday. It's a soupy drink made of boiled corn. Evaporated milk and sugar are added after the cooking. It's especially good served really cold after walking around in the heat. But it's also good warm with a dinner of eggs and bread. The neighbors like it with hotdogs and fried dough.

Before they made chicheme, Reina served guacho, a beef stew made with rice, yucca, tomatoes, and other vegetables. The green leaves floating in this bowl are culantro, which grows all around our house and goes into just about every dish. Even though it's hot out all the time, Panamanian soups are delicious.

On Matt's birthday, November 11, we taught birthday vocabulary and played pin the tail on the donkey. While Lisa got the blindfold ready, our friend Socrates clowned around for the camera. The game was a big hit, but the kids were almost more excited to look at the pictures Matt took.

Matt posed for this photo with his birthday mug. He picked it out himself at the dollar store. It was a really nice birthday. After school, Reina made chicken and pasta for Matt, Lisa, Matt's boss Tim, and Tim's parents, who were in Panama for a visit. In the evening, we went to a barbecue with several volunteers at our friend Laura's house. Thanks for all the cards and e-mails!

And here's Elyer. His dad and uncles work the little farm behind our house. And his little brother Edwar is one of our best English students. In this photo Elyer is wearing Lisa's glasses. He and cousins Arturito and Boli wanted to test them out. The shirt is from the presidential campaign of Ricardo Martinelli.

5 comments:

Tim said...

Happy Birthday Sheehey!
Sorry for the late wishes, I blew it. I celebrated your birthday by raking the lawn. 30 bags of oak leaves! Ugg.

Lisa and Matt said...

Thanks, Buddy!

callaghanse said...

I blew it too... Happy birthday, Matt! Glad to hear it was a good birthday!!

We did remember, but I never made it to the computer to actually relay the message. I can't even use the excuse that we were raking leaves. Just chasing Seamus as he ran through them!!

We miss you guys!
Love,
Susan, Josh and Seamie

Em & Tim said...

Happy Belated Birthday Matt! Hope it was fabulous...

Unknown said...

Happy birthday Matt and thanks for the email! Hi Lisa!

Love the updates.

I'll send you an email soon.

The kids say hello!
-Dan and Stephanie