Bates Family Travels: Some thoughts on Panama

So it has been really crazy the last few weeks. We have been trying to get used to our new lives here in Panama. There is so much that is foreign to us and challenging.

So many things I never realized I took for granted. For instance, not having hot water (which we experienced in Guyana also) but, even having water AT ALL! We have been in our new house we are renting for going on 3 weeks. In that time there have been two separate occasions when we have no water at all. Which means for hours if not the entire day we can’t wash our hands, flush the toilet, do any kind of laundry etc. It’s remarkable how often you run to the sink just to rinse quickly (especially with changing diapers) and don’t realize it until you can’t anymore. I did feel better about going to the meeting without showering when I got to the hall and realized NO ONE had showered lol! By the time we got home it was back on but, had very little pressure so we still couldn’t shower, only had a small trickle in the sinks, but at least we had that!! On a daily basis we only have enough pressure to shower from 3-9pm each day. The water won’t come out of the shower heads at all so we just wait to shower til between those hours. The rest of the day we don’t really have a good supply of water but, it’s sufficient to wash hands etc.

If we were going to describe Panama with one word it would be…..

HOT!!!

It is unbelievably hot here. Because we officially are in the rainy season (though I really don’t think it rains very often) the humidity is very high. It can make accomplishing daily tasks hard. Brandon seems to be suffering the most out of us all. He can be cool all day and as soon as he puts on service clothes and walks or rides a bike, he is DRENCHED! I feel so bad for him. Check out this picture of us in service….
He had just said to me “go ahead, I dare you to touch my back!” When my arm grazed his back and it was soaked I made that face just in time for the pic! Hahaha

One benefit of it being so hot is being able to go to the beach! The kids and Brandon had all been a couple of weeks ago but, Rayah had a fever so I stayed home with her. Until Wednesday night I had never been to the beach. We went with Ken and Rita Ward to watch the sun set. It was breathtaking! Below are some pics I took….

The Panamanian people are very friendly and quite accommodating. It is pretty tough not speaking Spanish though. We are all learning rapidly, although there are times it feels as if we will never know enough to function efficiently. The kids are all slowly starting to speak Spanish daily. Kaden is the most zealous, asking how to say in Spanish everything he sees! Although Rayah shocked us the other day when we were walking to meet for service and she saw someone passing by and said “Buenas” (which is like good day) and then looked up at her Daddy and said “I speak Spanish!” Sooo cute!

Brandon and I are learning the best we can. Every little bit we learn makes such a difference. We both now can say right, left, straight to taxi drivers. It may not sound like much but, it made a big difference! Here are some random pics....