Holiday Adventures

Instead of going home for Christmas, Alex and I decided to take advantage of our time down here and travel a little. Our good friends, Jill & Brad, were planning a trip to Costa Rica with their girls Samantha and Libby. Our other good friends, Anna & Santiago, were planning to visit family in Ecuador. So, crashing both their trips is exactly what we did :).

Alex & Libby 

We started in Costa Rica and met the Fishers in Monteverde, which is about 3 hours northwest from San Jose.  Taking a bus was going to be a big pain in the butt, so we opted for a shared shuttle, which picked us up from our hotel and took us straight to our MV hotel. Easy peasy. We stayed at the Monteverde Cloud Forest Lodge, and it was wonderful. It was a little bit outside of town, but was quite, clean, relaxing, and in the rain forest. The staff there was super helpful and friendly as well. They even made sure to reserve the TV for us so we could watch the Hawks destroy the Cardinals. While in Monteverde, we enjoyed hiking around the Cloud Forest Natural Reserve and went zip lining with Selvatura Tours . 

We checked out the town, which has lots of shops and restaurants. It's a touristy place, but all the locals are very friendly and helpful.  Some great places we ate at included Taco Taco (Mexican Food and a nice hostel), Sabor Tico (typical Costa Rican food....delicious!), and Stella's bakery. We had some inside information from our friends Talia & Gerardo, who live in Panama, she's a teacher with me, but they used to live in Monteverde, and they told us about a hidden fig tree to check out. She gave us some vague directions, but luckily it was close by our hotel. We wandered into the rain forest off one of the main roads, and found the most amazing tree we've ever seen. This Fig tree, called the Strangler Fig, had wrapped around a tree, killed it, and what was left was a huge, hollow tree, basically just of branches strung together. You can climb all the way to the top inside the tree. It was the coolest, most natural thing I've ever seen. And it was free! Nothing is free in Costa Rica.

It was really awesome to spend time with Jill, Brad, and the girls. The girls are growing up so fast, which always makes it hard to be away. Jill & Brad were so generous to allow us to tag along with them for a few days.  We miss them, and look forward to seeing them over the summer!

We caught a shuttle back to San Jose, spent the night in a ridiculously overpriced Hampton Inn next to the airport, and flew out Christmas Eve morning to Quito, Ecuador.  While it was only about 4 hours of flying, it took allllll day, including 8 hours in the Bogota airport. So boring. We finally arrived in Quito at 10pm, and were greeted by our lovely hosts, Santiago and his dad, Eduardo. We headed straight to their family party at Santi's uncle's house in the Cumbaya neighborhood. It's a very exclusive neighborhood, gated with security guards and big houses. In Ecuador, they share their holiday dinners together at midnight, so we were lucky to arrive just in time for a nice big Christmas dinner. Santi's family was very nice and welcoming, and we were even able to practice our Spanish with some of them.

Christmas Eve is more celebrated than Christmas Day, so on the 25th, we went and explored some of the huge city of Quito. We went up the Teleferico, which takes you up to the top of the mountain via gondola, about 13,000 feet, where you have an amazing view of the whole city. Man, were we huffing and puffing! It was high up there!

We went to dinner in old town and tried some typical Ecuadorian food - empanada de viento (big ass empanada with cheese) locro de papa (soup with potato, cheese, and avocado) and currasco (grilled steak) Yummmm.

Empanada de Viento in the back, and locro de papa in the foreground

The next day, we headed back to the airport to catch a $93, 45 minute domestic flight to Cuenca. Cuenca is a cool little city with TONS of churches. We enjoyed walking around the city, exploring the fresh fruit and vegetable markets, as well as the artisan markets, and visiting the river. 

We took one of the city bus tours, which brought us up to a great look out spot.

Alex and I took off on our own one day to go to the Cajas National Park. We were going to take a bus, but when we got in the cab to have him take us to the bus stop, the driver offered to drive us instead. Sweet. We hiked around the park for a few hours and it was beautiful yet slightly eerie. 

The trail looped around and dropped us on the highway. We didn't see any animals on the trails, but we did on the street.

We caught the bus on the way back for $2 each, even though we had to stand because all the seats were full. 

The next day we all rented a van and driver and went to some surrounding towns, three to be exact: Gualaceo, Chordeleg, and Sigsig.  In addition to the basic crafts seen everywhere, each town also specializes in a particular craft.  Gualaceo is known for its leather, Chordeleg for its silver and jewelry, and Sigsig for the one and only, Panama Hat.  Sigsig was super cool.  A foundation of native women make the hats and we were able to see how they press them and the different hat molds, and understand the difference between the $20 hats and the $700 hats.

Big ass Panama Hat

We took another day trip to Ingapirca, which is covered with beautiful ruins you can walk on along trails.  Really pretty. 

We finished up in Cuenca and all flew back to Quito for New Years.  During the day, we visited both equators (did you know there are two?!) with Santi, Anna and Francy.  The main attraction is the original equator, discovered pre-GPS technology.  The second, smaller monument is located 240 meters north of the original line.

The original equator

The equator based on GPS

After the equator, we made a point to find cuy for lunch!  Traditional Ecuadorian cuy is fried, or VERY well cooked, guinea pig.  Anna and I decided the boys could share that and we would just try it.  It wasn't that bad, actually.  It tasted like really greasy chicken.

New Year traditions in Ecuador are awesome.  Some include: boys in their 20s dressing up like women and dancing in the streets for money; stuffing paper mannequins with your sins from the year and lighting them on fire at midnight; jumping over said burning mannequin to leave the old and start anew; fireworks; running around the block with a suitcase to bring more travel to your new year.  

There are many more, and tons in Central and South America, and I really appreciate being able to experience these traditions.   

With the help of Santi and his dad, we headed to the bus station the next morning to catch a ride to Banos.  Being with Santiago’s family was so great, and they were so welcoming.  We were so sad to leave them all, but it was time to keep moving.  Thank you so much, Aguilars, for the wonderful local Ecuadorian experience!

After a four hour, pretty painless, bus ride, we arrived in Banos.  We stayed at a super awesome eco-lodge, La Casa Verde. Owned by an Aussie and a Kiwi, with two kids, both born in Ecuador, this place was comfortable, had friendly service and a beautiful view of the river, and included breakfast, all for $50 a night.  In my head, I was imagining a small, quiet town, with some tourists who have heard about this place called "bathrooms." Well, we put our bags down and headed to town, and Banos. Was. Packed. I couldn't believe how many people were in one little town.  Foreigners and local tourists. Everywhere.  Luckily, it cleared out after a day or two, but, unfortunately, the crowds deterred us from going canyoning and soaking in the thermals the first two days.  It wasn't a big deal to us, because we would just go at the end of our time there, but I ended up getting a pretty nasty cold and spent the last day and a half snuggled up in bed.  Before that, we were able to go on some hikes....and meet some friends....

Alex thought about bungee jumping for a second, then realized, it's probably not the safest thing in the world...

Thermals....seemed a little gross after seeing all those people in there throughout the weekend...

Of course we found the one and only brewhouse in town.  We chatted and met many friends.  Believe it or not, we met an Aussie Kate&Alex.  Her name's Kate, and he's Alex!  AND, she's a fourth grade international teacher too!  Small world! 

Alex, Kate, Alex, Kate! 

Our Central & South American adventure was super awesome.  The major downside, of course, was missing out on our own traditions with our family and friends. Having experienced two holiday seasons away now, it never quite feels like 'the season.'  All we can do is live it up as best as we can, while we have the chance.  

Cheers! 

A Much Needed Update

I think it's becoming a theme to start my blogs with, "I know I've been a slacker," but, let's be honest, it's true.  I have really neglected the blog lately.  I apologize.

Lots has been going on down here in Panama.  School started and it's been busy, of course.  I'm coaching soccer, which I thought, going into it, meant coaching 1 team.  It quickly turned into 3 teams...and a whole lot of work and headaches.  Alex has been building away, making bookshelves, hammock swings, wine racks, and more for teachers and other expats.  He has had to battle a lot of Panama's inefficiencies.  It's been a frustrating experience for him, but as with most things around here, we just have to laugh through it.

The biggest news to report is that we decided to sign on for one more year.  I will finish out this school year, teach one more full year, and then we'll see where we feel like going after that.  We plan to come back to that states for a long visit in June/July and look forward to seeing as many family and friends as we can, eating as much American food as possible, and hiking.

Alex has also continued volunteering for Engineers Without Borders.  Naturally, he has become pretty well-respected by the main guy in charge due to his knowledge of building things and making things work.  The program has a strong relationship with the University of Pittsburgh and brought down about 20 students for an internship.  As part of the experience, the students were able to go into the Panama Canal Expansion project for a tour.  They invited Alex along as well.

Inside the Canal lock

University of Pittsburgh students 

Heading into where the water flows in and out of the chamber

Where the new lock gates will be 

Pretty incredible experience for him.  He is one of very few in the world who can say they've walked in the Panama Canal expansion lock! 

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Another fun thing we've done includes a trip to Palenque with a bunch of teachers.  Palaenque is on the Caribbean coast, about 3 hours from the city.  We rented a house for 2 nights, which included 2 maids who cooked and cleaned for us.  We had the genius idea of having a slip'n slide flip cup tournament.  It was amazing. 

And enjoyed some relaxing in the shallow lagoon...

We played Beersbee and put our chairs in the water. 

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Santiago has been working on a project in Bocas del Toro, and has been able to fit in a quick stop the last two times he's been down!  Was great to see him!  We will get to see him, Anna, and meet baby Francesca in December when we go to Ecuador! 

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In other news, the Panamanian President and the whole Varela family met the Pope.  Two of the three kids go to my school. Exciting stuff.    

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I still need to update about our visit with Doug and Brittany, and our quick trip to Peru.  Both will come in time.  Until then, Go Hawks! :)

Largest Urban Zipline....at the White Tower!

There are a lot of crazy things that happen in Panama, mostly related to driving and parties.  There aren't very many rules that are enforced, although it seems the policia is trying to crack down on some things lately.  The amount of things people can get away with here compared to in the US is shocking, including this awesomeness:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcwrRA2BIlw&sns=fb

It was a normal Wednesday.  My carpool was heading home from school and we all thought it was a good day to meet at the pool for some pool beers (5 of us live in the same building).  We invited a couple other people over who live in the neighborhood and had a little party.  When we arrived at the pool, we noticed big cables running from the roof out to the helicopter pad in front of our building.  We saw another group of people at the pool having some pizza and sodas and they were speaking English.  "Hey, do you guys know what's going on with the cables?" I asked innocently.  "Oh, we're filming a YouTube clip. Our buddy, Devin Supertramp, does extreme sports videos and is ziplining off this building for Speedstick," the camera man replied.  WHAT?!  We conintued talking with the guy and he informed us that in about 30 minutes, they would be jumping off the building and landing in the middle of the road on the Speedstick sign.  That's freaking awesome!! We waited eagerly for them to start.  They had a small drone flying around the top of the building, and some camera men down across the street filming upward.  We were all looking over the edge from the pool deck and noticed a few groups of policia scattered in the area.  The policia walked out in the middle of the road and held their hand out for traffic to stop. Remember, this is a work day, and by this point, it's prime commuting time, 5:30pm. Traffic stopped and it was eerily silent for a couple minutes.  

The camera men, walking out to the Speedstick circle 

All of a sudden people started jumping off the roof of our 62-floor building.  They ziplined for about 10 seconds, then let go.  They pulled their chute and navigated their way to the small circle in the middle of Avenida Balboa.  It. Was. Insane.  There were five people that we saw jump, but apparently they had been jumping all day.  Twelve times to be exact.  

Once they were done, they all came back to the pool area and we were able to give them some high-fives.  The camera man had us re-create our reactions and filmed us watching from the pool.  If you watch the video closely, you can see us standing at the pool, a big group of us with a baby.  Pretty awesome.  

Not only would that NEVER happen in the USA, jumping off a building into commuting traffic, but we also would never get to say, "Yep, we live in that building.  And yes, we watched it all happen.  In person."

Good ol' Panama :) 

30th Birthday

We went to the Riu at Playa Blanca for my 30^th birthday in May.  We also had the pleasure of having Tyler visit us for a few days too!  Ty arrived on Wednesday and I had to work on Thursday, so Alex took him around to all the sight-seeing spots in the city.  On Friday, we headed out to Playa Blanca to start the birthday weekend.  It is only about 1.5 hours down the PanaAmerican Highway.  Very easy to get to.  The Riu is a new all-inclusive resort that just opened in April.  We were able to find an awesome deal through http://www.sunwing.ca/, which our Canadian friends told us about.  They have great deals all the time for top destinations.  We were able to stay at the Riu for 2 nights, all-inclusive, for $120 a person!  That's a deal! 

The place is so new that the palm trees were just barely starting to grow.

When we arrived, we were greeted with great customer service and beverages.  The people who work at the Riu were extremely friendly and helpful, not a normal occurrence in Panama.  When we got to our room, we discovered this amazing set up….

The storm clouds were rolling in, but that didn't matter to us.  The swim up bar was refreshing and had a covered area for us to enjoy the rain with a cocktail!

There were about 20 other friends coming for the weekend as well, some later that night, and the rest on Saturday morning.  Once people started showing up, it became quite the party.  

The resort has a 'Riu Fun' group, which is a group of young, probably early 20s, Panamanians who's sole job is to have fun with the customers.  They form water polo games, volleyball games, work out classes, yoga, excursions in the ocean, whatever you want.  Since we had such a big group, we were able to form all of our own games with one of the 'Fun' members, Alvaro.  He became our friend by the end of the weekend :)

It was Ryan's birthday that weekend too, so we had some birthday buddy glasses and mugs.

I feel lucky to have so many great friends here in Panama to help me celebrate my bday!  And, OF COURSE, that Ty came down to hang with us too!  Always great to see that guy! :)