Celebración en El Valle

La India Dormida

Este fin de semana nos llevamos a mi Abuelo Kermit al Valle para que disfrutara de algo de tranquilidad y del canto de los pajaritos, muy diferente de lo que escucha todos los días, pero sobre todo para acompañarlo mientras soplaba sus velitas de cumpleaños (un día antes de tiempo, en realidad su cumpleaños es hoy, 23 de Abril). Si lo hubieramos puesto a soplarlas todas estaríamos todavía allá porque son nada más y nada menos que 94 años!

Happy birthday, Gramps!
Just look at all the joy and excitement lighting up his face! Actually, as we sung Happy Birthday, he kept claiming that his birthday was not Sunday, but Monday.

Pablo, Nicole (y Linda), Diego y Gustavo


Mighty Diego!


The yummiest cookies I've ever baked. So far... (Thanks Heidi!)

Easy is good

This was lunch today. I got home barely on time and managed to whip it up in under half an hour, as promised by the source (Mexican Lasagna by Rachel Ray). It's a really rich dish, yet throwing some veggies into it removes any guilt.

Impress your friends at your next dinner party! ;)

This week's Craving Report

Need I say more?

An image's worth a thousand words

Pictures taken earlier today at the park.

Thai-style welcome

All's been rather quiet on the western front lately with nothing on Gustavo's and my agenda besides work and more work for the past few weeks. I finally had some time off so I thought I'd get into the kitchen and stir things around a bit to celebrate Gustavo's return from five days at the Playa Bonita Resort. We sure missed ya babe!

Anyway, I'd seen this extra-easy, extra-delicious recipe on the food network and just had to give it a try given the very small likelihood of screwing it up. It's a thai-style halibut with coconut-curry broth (I used red snapper and regular curry powder instead of the red curry paste the recipe calls for and it turned out just fine... great in fact!). Enjoy the pics.-

This fish was melt-in-your-mouth good!


To finish off Gustavo I made it with Arroz con Guandú!!

Pic of the day

Gustavo & Diego.

Taken 03/05/07 at the park near Pablo's school on his first day as a 2nd-grader.

¿Qué hacer en Panamá?

Del 22 al 31 de marzo la embajadas de Canadá, Haití, Francia y Suiza y la Alianza Francesa celebrarán la Semana de la Francofonía 2007 y nos invitan a participar con las siguientes actividades:

Jueves, 22 de marzo - Alliance Française
7:30pm "De PANAM a PANAMA", Isabelle Lissandre. Exposición fotográfica sobre París ilustrando textos de autores famosos de la literatura francesa. Con la presencia de la fotógrafa.

Sábado, 24 de marzo - Plaza de la Catedral
6:00pm Los Beachers
8:00pm Lebeloka (grupo de mujeres percusionistas antillanas)

Lunes, 26 de marzo - Chalet Suizo
7:00pm Inauguración de la exposición fotográfica sobre Suiza francófona en presencia de la embajadora de Suiza en Costa Rica, Panamá y Nicaragua.

Martes, 27 de marzo - Alliance Française
7:oopm Película "Madame Brouette" 2002, Moussa Sene Absa. Senegal, Francia, Canadá. Comedia dramática.

Miércoles, 28 de marzo - Alliance Française
6:00pm Conferencia sobre Blaise Cendrars y su libro "Panama o las aventuras de mis siete tíos" por la Dra. Irene Delgado, profesora de Letras de la Universidad de Panamá.
7:30pm Brindis
8:30pm Película "Ve y Vive" 2005, Radu Milhaileanu. Francia. Comedia dramática.

Jueves, 29 de marzo
8:00pm Película "¿El presidente tiene sida?" 2006, Arnold Antonin. Haití, UE, Canadá. Ficción.

Sábado, 31 de marzo - La Casona
10:00pm Yomira John. Composiciones francocaribeñas.

Bocas del Toro 2007

Gustavo & Diego

As you can see I've been very busy lately and haven't been able to sit down and update this thing. Apologies.

We came back a few days ago from Bocas del Toro where we were paying a visit to our good friends Juan Pablo and Kelly. It was Diego's first time on a plane and on a boat and I must say it was a gradual transition for him -from panic to pleasure. As usual, our friends pampered us and took us to all sorts of wonderful places all (except one) just a short boat ride away.

I've always had a thing for the Caribbean. Standing in front of the ocean every morning, soaking all the colors in and just relaxing (while chasing Diego away from the nearby dock) was more than I could ask for. Once you're in Bocas it truly seems as if paradise were at arms length. Although it was a great experience for the kids (and grown-ups alike!) nostalgia started to hit once I realized the threats Bocas is being subject to. I actually got there thinking that we better take advantage of our time spent there and take lots of pictures because from what we hear, mega-projects, the mega-greedy and the mega-retards that have surfaced there are managing to destroy the structure and balance that makes the natural resources of this area thrive. (See post on Red Frog Beach).

I was shocked to realize that it's really starting to hit the fan, the wait is over. In Bocas town (Isla Colon) there is often not enough drinking water because of the poor water supply system and the amount of people that are moving there. I don't recall Bocas ever being famous for it's great infrastructure, but that was ok when it was just a handful of local families and the occasional backpacker or "regular tourist". Now there are waste disposal problems, elevated crime rates and cement and chemiclas washing onto the coral. And what's alarming is that all these projects are being developed, but not the town. If progress means that the landscape will now consist of condos and golf courses then great, but as long as the infrastructure of the area does not develop at the same rate everyone will be in for a very rough ride.

Visiting all these fascinating places was a real treat, our heartfelt thanks to Juanpa and Kelly for all the fun activities and tours! Hopefully on our next visit, we'll still be able to enjoy them. For now, I'll leave you with some pictures of the wonderful things we shared with our wonderful friends, and that are still there if you go now.

Our first boat ride with Captain Juanpi


A stop at Coral Key for drinks


Dolphins mating (yup, there were millions and they were gettin' it on EVERYWHERE)

Isla Pajaros (Kelly and I deserve a prize for not puking on anyone on our way there)

The Crew and Loika

Zapatilla Key

Programa Cultural de Verano de la ACP

El viernes fue el cierre del programa de verano que desde hace algunos años ha estado organizando la Autoridad del Canal de Panamá anualmente. Es la actividad familiar por excelencia, por la música en vivo y al aire libre (nada como la brisa de una noche de verano), las sodas y los chorizos a la parrilla (cierra los ojos y cómprale uno a tu hijo que nadie se ha muerto hasta ahora) y la bajada en cartón por la colina a un costado de las escalinatas del edificio de la Adminstración: clásico panameño.

La última actividad de este verano fue un concierto de la Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil del Ministerio de Educación. Según escuché está compuesta por estudiantes sobresalientes musicalmente provenientes de escuelas de Panamá y otras provincias. Nos sorprendieron con piezas de Beethoven (Quinta Sinfonía), Carl Off (fragmento de Carmina Burana), una que otra canción de antaño para la nutrida representación de la tercera edad y piezas algo más festivas en vista de que a la vuelta de la esquina ya se asoman los Carnavales. A continuación, las respectivas fotos:

Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil de MEDUCA


Pantallas para poder ver bien desde casi cualquier punto


Mi parte favorita de la noche: habernos encontrado con Mich and the girls poco después de llegar


Pablo y Stella. Interesante lo que revela el flash...



Despedida con Fuegos Artificiales

Coge'ombe!

May 2004 (2 months pregnant by the way)

Ok, so this was 2 seconds before I wiped out, but close enough no? Gustavo so selflessly took me and Pablo surfing to Serena (Coronado) when at a beach 15 minutes away there were much bigger, badder waves he could have surfed. (Thank you baby!!)