Christmas Travels

This year we spent Christmas in the United States. We visited family in Oregon and Arizona. It was a quick 10 day trip, but it was one of the most memorable/special Christmases that we've had in a while.

Our trip to Oregon was cold. Luckily, it was only in the 30s and 40s and not in the teens like it had been the week prior to us visiting and the days following our visit. Robert and I had to find any warm clothes that we brought down during our move. You don't need jackets, hats, and scarves in 85 degree weather. We made it work though, and most of our plans involved staying inside anyway, which helped.

The first thing we did after landing in Oregon was going to Claim Jumper. It has always been one of my favorite places to eat. Good food, HUGE portions (even by US standards), reasonable prices, and over all a nice atmosphere. Is it just us, or are there places that you have to eat at when going back to where you grew up?

A tradition at PDX

The next day Robert and my dad attempted to go golfing, although that was short lived due to the frost on the course. Meanwhile, my mom and I got our hair done. I crossed off a bucket list item by chopping off over 8 inches of hair and donating it. My cause was for free wigs for women with cancer. 

Robert found out the hair salon was close to an Arby's. He requested it for lunch. He had a cheddar roast beef sandwich while I snacked on Jalapeño poppers with bronco sauce. Lunch was not healthy, but awesomely indulgent. 

The next day we were off to Roseburg. We saw one of my best friends and also got pie from Kruse Farms. If you are ever in the area, I recommend stopping by for pie. You won't regret it. 

We celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve with my brother at my parents' house. Gifts from Oregon included suitcase/carry on friendly items including gift cards, books, and clothes. Our Christmas day was very uneventful, but still very nice and relaxing. 

Our second Christmas was spent in Arizona. We landed and requested In N Out for lunch. Robert got his cheese burger and fries while I tried out a grilled cheese and got my fries and shake I used to get prior to being a vegetarian. A grilled cheese has all the fixings of a cheese burger, minus the patty. It is nothing but pure happiness. Yum!

We got to Robert's parent's house, wrapped our presents that we shipped to their house and had our second Christmas. Robert's sister had a son a few days before we arrived. I have the special privilege of being asked to be his god mother! Robert is his older sister's god father. The trip to Arizona was quick and we left 2.5 days later. 

In addition to In N Out, our other big indulgence was going to get Mexican food in Chandler. Si Señor has the best New Mexican style food I've tried outside of New Mexico. It is also our favorite Mexican restaurant. Everything there is super tasty, but their chili relleños are the best. We get the spicy option which topped with spicy Hatch Chilies. Jealous yet? You should be.

A red-eye flight home and we are back just in time for New Years in Panama. We picked the dogs up from the dog kennel and took a much needed nap. It was fantastic to sleep on our own bed next to the dogs. They were missed. 

Our plans for tonight are pretty relaxed. We are going to the roof of our building to watch the fireworks. People go crazy with them, and some are rumored to spend $15-20 thousand just for tonight. It should be a great show with no traveling. 

Have a safe and happy New Year. May 2017 bring health, happiness, knowledge, and peace. 

New Outings

*I thought I posted this earlier in December (around 10 December). Ooops! Here is the version I was going to post. Enjoy! *


Things from Otto now seem like a distant, hazy memory. Winter (aka dry season) is slowly settling in and the rain is becoming a weekly occurrence rather than a daily occurrence. This week three things happened: We went to The City to see a play, we tried a new fruit, and I got a job.

Last week we saw a play in Panama City. The  play, "Stopping Christmas," is about a psychiatrist's attempt to stop Christmas. His goal is to write a book about how Christmas is so commercialized and the fact that it seems to come earlier each year, encouraging people to stop Christmas all together.

Carolers during intermission  

The first half of the play was decent, but neither Robert or I felt we would recommend the play. Despite this, we still enjoyed having an excuse to get out for the house. After dinner we went to a sushi restaurant and had a nice dinner.  

Have you ever heard of a tomate de arbol, (a tree tomato), or a tarmarillo?   Neither had I until my Spanish teacher talked about some of his favorite fruits. Tarmarillos are called tomate de arbol in Latin America s due to the fact that they grow on a shrub and resemble a roma tomato. In most English speaking regions they are called tarmarillos.

Photo taken by Leonardo E

Not being one to shy down from trying new foods, especially fruits, I was eager to try this one. I read online that the flavor is often compared to a tomato, a kiwi, a passion fruit, or a guava. How can something be compared to fruits that seem so different?

Not being a fan of tomatoes, I was really apprehensive to try it. In general, I do not eat tomatoes unless they are sun dried or in salsa; the texture and taste of a tomato are very unappealing. Trying the fruit did not help my perception that cutting one open some what resembles a tomato.

Robert and I tried the tomate de arbol. He immediately put it down and said the fruit was not for him. According to him, all he tasted was a more acidic version of a tomato.

I am still not sure what to think of this fruit. While I see how the texture can resemble a tomato based off the wateryness (is that a word?), I felt like the taste was a mix between a passion fruit and a kiwi. The fruit is sour and acidic like a passion fruit, or a sour lemon, and the sweetness of a kiwi. I didn't like it, but I didn't dislike it.

I also got a job working a few hours a week doing social media marketing for a local company here. I will be writing blogs and posting ongoing news about the company on various social media outlets. While it does not take up many hours of the week, it is exciting in the fact that I get to write more.

December may be a little slow for blog writing due to the holidays. As most people know, the holidays are a busy time of year. I will try to do at least one more post over the next two weeks before it gets too crazy.  

An Otto be Grateful Thanksgiving

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, a day to be grateful. Robert and I have a lot to be grateful for, and we celebrated our way, just the two of us. Our Thanksgiving plans included over-eating, watching movies, and eating more food...all without being affected by Hurricane Otto. To a wonderful surprise, it happened.

This past week was very reminiscent of Fall for me as we had a lot of drizzly rain, steady winds, and a lot of cloudy weather. Egrets could be seen from our balcony cruising the wind. I loved it! Come Tuesday I realized the weather was due to the tropical storm/possible hurricane, Otto. Panama is below the hurricane belt and there has not been a hurricane on record, to my knowledge. It was expected to hit Nicaragua and Costa Rica Thursday. Despite this, I was keeping a watchful eye on it, making sure history was not in the making.

While we were enjoying the cool weather, other parts of Panama got hit pretty hard with flooding and landslides. It was expected that areas near Costa Rica would see heavy flooding and upwards of 12 inches of rain. Areas of Panama City were flooded and there were three deaths in the country. The last news reports I read stated that Panama was the only country that had deaths and that hit made landfall in Nicaragua as a category 2 hurricane.

The most interesting thing about this experience, for me at least, is that it seemed like the news in North America had not mentioned anything about Otto. Robert and I both called our parents Tuesday in order to reassure them we were okay in the event they heard about it. Neither of them had and we were bringing the news to them. The after thought was that if they heard about it, our emails and phones would have been exploding.

Thanksgiving came and we had calm weather. It was the first day the weather was not windy, rainy, or cloudy. We were making phone calls/Skype calls to our parents and siblings while food was in the oven. Robert made turkey for himself and a great tasting pumpkin pie to share. I had a black bean lentil loaf that purposed as my main dish.

Black Bean Lentil Loaf

Cranberry Stuffing

Robert's awesome pumpkin pie!

Late lunch was awesome and the dogs seemed to agree. Both kept trying to dig in the garbage for drippings.

Turkey coma!

Our little dog was not fond of being told no and started a growling match with Robert.

It was hard not to laugh

Movies we watched included Die Hard (it is a holiday movie, right?) and It's a Wonderful Life. The power went out during the second half of It's a Wonderful Life. We decided to walk down the stairs and walk the beach. The sunset was inspiring offering an array of pinks, oranges, and blues. We tried to wait out the power outage, but it was starting to get dark and we thought it would be best to climb the stairs while we still could. Have you ever climbed 11 flights of stairs on a full stomach? It is not something I recommend. The power eventually came back on and we were able to finish the movie.

Christmas is coming up in a month and today marks the official kickoff of that. Did you go shopping on Black Friday? Thanksgiving was a nice, relaxing day. We could not have asked for anything more.

As a side note, since I have been asked, Panama does not celebrate Thanksgiving. However, Canada does in October. 

Laptop Down and The Election.

A lot is going on lately. Not just in my life personally, but from a global perspective as well. I have been absent from the blog for about a month (despite not wanting to be) due to the fact that my laptop is currently down and I have to share a laptop. The election also just happened. I have to be honest, I am glad it is over. Because of the election, I am going to talk some politics, despite being raised otherwise. Sorry Mom.

My laptop died last week. I called Mac support to see if they could do anything. The only thing that can be done is to send it in for repair. Buying a Mac is awesome in the fact that it is still under warranty, which means that any time something goes wrong, I can send it in and get it fixed, no charge; however, it has to be with an authorized Mac repair store. My warranty does not extend to Latin America, so I would have to do it in the US. Friends of ours graciously took my laptop back to the US, since I would not be able to do it. We are sharing a laptop for the next six weeks. 

Now, with the election. The reaction within the US and worldwide is pretty intense. People kept asking me my opinion. There is one person I have openly spoken about the election with outside of Robert. I needed time to process my feelings about the election. So my fellow inquisitor(s), here is my opinion about the whole thing. 

Disclaimer: These are my opinions that I feel strongly about. I try to be as objective as I can about a subjective topic, in the respect that I try my best to back up my reasons when I deem appropriate. I welcome free speech. Any hateful rhetoric will not be tolerated, if I see any in the comments.

People I know had mixed emotions about the election. Some people were enthused about the news, while others are planning on moving out of the country. People that are not from the US also had mixed emotions. Some were excited about the results; however, many seemed distraught. 

Why do I bring up non Americans? Because a lot of countries are affected by our politics. Panama for example, has it's own currency, but their economy is 1:1 with the US Dollar and we use Balboas (Panamanian currency) interchangeably with US currency. One expat I know said the following quote:

I am slowly starting to see and understand this.

Personally, I did not find either candidate to be without flaws. My reaction to Trump winning, I imagine, would have been similar to if Clinton won: unsure of what the future holds for the US and the world. This election, for many, was not about the best candidate, rather the lesser evil of the candidates.

Protesters are going crazy, especially in Portland. People on both sides are upset on social media. Opposition against the protesters are calling these protesters babies. To those people who say that, please keep in mind that Trump supporters were already preparing for protests, including the Milwaukee sheriff that said it is "pitchforks and torches time" if Clinton were elected. While I do not agree with the riots, protests were bound to happen regardless of who got elected. 

It astounds me how people hope that Trump fails. If he fails, we fail. Regardless of whether we like it, Trump is going to be our next president. If he gets impeached (based off various news articles stating this could happen) then Pence will be president. Those who are anti-Trump will be dealing with somebody with a very conservative tract record. 

I have some hopes over the next four years. I hope that Trump is a successful president; his success is our success. I hope that Trump is able to bring the US together. I hope now that the Republicans control the three major governments things will get done without blaming the Democrats. You guys have no excuse, so get it together and walk the talk you've been talking.

I hope that people realize how important voting is. I read that this year was a "good" voter turn out with 57% of  people voting. The US may not be perfect, but we are able to have an opinion and put our opinions into action by voting. Not everyone gets that right.  Regardless of which candidate you vote for, VOTE!

So, that is my take on the whole election. That is what is going on in my life right now. I will try to do another post in about two weeks, around Thanksgiving. On that note, I hope everyone has a safe and festive holiday and that nobody has to work.

A month of completing Challenges.

There was a tradition I started back in college that was inspired by friends. Starting in November they would post something each day that they were grateful for until Thanksgiving. I loved this idea and after my first year of doing it, would go the whole month. Last September I remember thinking about how grateful I was for something and how I wish November would come around so I "could write it down." Then I thought, why I can't it be today and why just a month? Challenge accepted and this month completed my "365 Days of Gratefulness" challenge.

What was my challenge? It was to write down something I was thankful for that day and meditate/think about it and what it meant for me. Popular themes included Robert, the dogs, friends, family, and yoga. Other more random days included scotch tape for killing ticks (I never said it had to be zenful), being able to donate blood, and getting better at making biscuits. 

It serves as a reminder to be grateful for the small things in life, even on hard days. 

My other challenge for the month was a 21 day challenge to avoid the following:
-soda
-chocolate
-pastries
-ice cream
-pretty much any dessert/sweet related item

If you know me well enough, then you know I cannot turn down desserts, especially decadent chocolatey ones, cheesecake, cake-... you get the idea. I have a pretty big sweet tooth and I was going to go three weeks without satisfying it.

Did you know you can get sugar withdrawals? True story. I was very lethargic the first couple of days. Robert and I like to keep Snickers bars on hand. I decided to start this when we had four of them stocked in the refrigerator. If I ate one, I would not be lethargic and I would get energy, like they do in the Snickers' commercials. Talk about temptation!

Once I got over that, there was another big temptation: a volunteer where we teach English bakes whenever she is there. She was there a week before my challenge ended with banana bread. I declined and Robert took my slice. Everyone was talking about how good the treat was.

The plus side to this is the fact that I began eating more whole foods and drinking more water. I actually lasted about 25 days for my challenge before getting a brownie milkshake. I usually get the small, 10oz size. The awesome part? I got a stomach ache after about 7oz of it, so the rest went to Robert.

Life can be a lot of things: challenging, rewarding, scary, and beautiful. I have learned a lot about myself in the last year. I not only feel healthier physically, but mentally as well. What are you grateful for today?

Limited Use of Internet and Moving

I know I have been bad about blogging lately. Honestly, a part of me felt like nobody was reading the blogs, and so I gave up posting anything. I take enough photos that I have the memories to show for it, and writing is just an added benefit. But now I am back and I must say that I missed writing.

We recently moved to a condo about 20 minutes away from our old house San Carlos. Because of our move, we have been without internet until recently. I had internet access using my phone as a hotspot, but I tried to limit my usage. It was quite liberating in ways. I finally finished my book, I am Malala. I also found few excuses to not unpack, despite it not being something I particularly enjoy doing.

Uhaul trucks does not exist here, so we hired a truck
and moved in typical Panamanian fashion!

We still have some unpacking to do, but mostly for miscellaneous boxes that we put in a spare room and pictures. Our condo is slowly starting to feel at home, despite some of the quirks it has. Not all of the bathrooms and sinks get hot water yet. I think part of that is due to the fact that this particular unit was unoccupied for a while.

The other quirk that will take time is that my oven is in degrees Celsius. I learned earlier this week that 400º F is about 204º C and 350ºF is about 175ºC.  Google will be my friend for a while until I memorize the differences. The bonus? I have a large kitchen! I do not like sharing my kitchen when cooking, but now, just maybe, I can manage. I did earlier with Robert and we both survived.

The dogs seem to be adjusting also. At first neither seemed too fond of the condo.After putting a barrier around our balcony our bigger dog spends the whole day outside. Both dogs enjoy going on two walks a day rather than the one.

We have also started trying to get in better physical shape. Robert and I try to use the stairs over the elevator except for when we have groceries. I even took our little dog up and down 11 flights of stairs one time!

The views of the sunrises and sunsets are amazing and always seem to greet us with beautiful hues of pink, orange, and blue. While we are both grateful for our house in San Carlos, we have found our new home. Now if only a magic genie can appear so we can finish unpacking ;) 

Harley Quinn and Domestic Violence

It has been a while since I have posted anything about what is going on in Panama. There are a couple of reasons for this, but that is for another post. Today I thought I would put my two cents on something that has some people up in arms: The Suicide Squad, Harley Quinn and how she is treated in the movie. This blog may contain spoilers.

Suicide Squad has many people upset about how Harley is treated, especially by the Joker.  Articles state frustration over why Harley is treated and how she continues to go back to her abuser (or finds other abusive relationships) and further more, how the movie glorifies this with Harley.

A quick Google search with the terms "Harley Quinn Joker" has search suggestions of "Harley Quinn  Joker abusive relationship".

This is Harley Quinn. If you came to watch this movie thinking that she was going to some how change from being a dependent, psychologically tortured person, that is fine; but don't complain that she is instead portrayed as she is in the comics/cartoons.

Side note: If the movie gets people fired up, where is the outrage in this as the cartoons are aimed at children?

It it does not take very much searching either on Google or Youtube to discover that domestic violence between Harley and the Joker are reoccurring themes. Joker can be seen kicking Harley out of buildings, pushing her in pools of acid, or otherwise berating and blaming her for his frustrations and missed opportunities of assassinating Batman. One specific event in the comic book involves Harley foiling Joker's plans to kill her. Harley, given the chance to kill the Joker, instead shoots him in the shoulder for all of the abuse she has endured. Throughout their history, Harley leaves Joker but them comes back to him after he apologizes (spoiler alert, this also happens after she shoots him).

This is the character's history, and while it might be unsettling, it is a reality that will be experienced by over 30% of the US population in some point in their lifetime (Wihbey, 2015; Devries, Mak, Garcia-Moreno, Petzold, Child, Falder, Lim, Bacchus, Engell, Rosenfeld, Pallitto, Vos, Abrahams & Watts, 2013).  One research article indicates that worldwide numbers in some regions were up to 70 percent (Alejo, 2014). The annual cost of domestic violence relationships in the United States with 2008 statistics were close $5.8 billion (Payne & Wermeling, 2009).

Harley and the Joker's relationship follows the typical patterns and phases of domestic violence. In 1979, Lenore Walker developed the theory that domestic violence occurs in cycles (Micah Projects Inc).

Domestic Violence Solutions for Santa Barbara County (2016). 

This cycle has three phases. The frequency and number of cycles can vary from multiple times in a day, to weeks or months (Domestic Violence Roundtable, 2008). The relationship between Harley and Joker appears to easily fall in this cycle throughout the comic books and animated series.

The Joker is portrayed in a movie scene as about to give Harley electric shocks. She asks if he is going to kill her. He states he does not want to kill her, only to hurt her "really, really bad." Harley responds she can take the pain and the scene ends. In another scene, he asks Harley to prove he loves her by jumping in a pool of acid and "living for him". She does and he then jumps in the pool and saves her. Apparently the cartoon/comic version is that Harley was pushed into the pool.

I do not personally share the outrage of domestic violence being shown in Suicide Squad among the two characters, especially compared to what I have read and remember about the cartoon and comic books. Instead, I am glad that it is bringing attention to the issue. Abusive relationships are not fiction.

The characters from the movie all come with their own baggage, which reflected in their violent acts. Harley is no exception as she is accused by her other squad members in the movie of being "pretty on the outside but being ugly on the inside".

Harley is clearly affected psychologically from her treatment by the Joker. She acts characteristicly of somebody who is experiencing psychological trauma. This is the same reality for the millions of people affected by domestic violence. It is not uncommon for the abused to leave their abusers only to return over and over again and have sense of dependance on the abuser (Payne et. al. 2009).

Whether you love or hate the movie, we are talking about characters in world that are obviously fictitious. I love the passion that the movie is creating. Although I do not agree with what is being said per say, it is about time we start talking about the issue and what it looks like. If this movie gets awareness out, then at the end of the day, maybe the disturbing interactions between Harley and the Joker can be construed as beneficial in raising awareness.

Sources: 

Alejo, K. (2014). Long-Term Physical and Mental Health Effects of Domestic Violence. Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science. 2 (1)
Available at: http://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/themis/vol2/iss1/5 

Devries, K.M., Mak, J.Y.T., Garcia-Moreno, C., Petzold, M., Child, J.C., Falder, G., Lim,  S., Bacchus, L.J., Engell, R.E., Rosenfeld, L., Pallitto, C.,  Vos, T., Abrahams, N. & Watts, C.H. (2013). The global prevalence of intimate partner violence against women. Science 28 (6140) 1527-1528. DOI: 10.1126/science.1240937

Domestic Violence Roundtable (2008). The Cycle of Domestic Violence. Available at: http://www.domesticviolenceroundtable.org/domestic-violence-cycle.html

Domestic Violence Solutions for Santa Barbara County. (2008). The cycle of violence. Available at: http://www.dvsolutions.org/info/cycle.aspx

Micah Projects Inc. The Cycle of Violence. Brisbane Domestic Violence Service. Available at: http://www.bdvs.org.au/resource_files/bdvas/IR_5_Cycle-of-violence-factsheet.pdf

Payne, D. & Wermeling, L. (2009). Domestic violence and the female victim: The real reason why women stay!  Journal of Multicultural, Gender, and Minority Studies 3 (1). Available at: http://www.scientificjournals.org/journals2009/articles/1420.pdf

Wihbey, J. (2015). "Domestic violence and abusive relationships: Research review," Journalists Resource. Available at: http://journalistsresource.org/studies/society/gender-society/domestic-violence-abusive-relationships-research-review. August 17, 2015

A Trip to Parque Arqueológico de El Caño

...or if you are an English speaker, Caño Archeological Park.  We met a group of about 40 people and drove for over an hour on a bus to get to the park. This was a great way to learn more about Panama's history, and a little about archeology. Some of the things we saw dated back to 800 BC, including bones, pottery, and sacrificial stones. 

The burial sites/tombs were interesting. In this particular culture, a man could have up to 10 wives, depending on his wealth. Once he died, everyone else in his family, including slaves, were sacrificed, which enabled them to spend eternity with their loved one. One son was typically spared in order to pass on the family name. This sacrifice was seen as a great honor and those who refused this honor lived in disgrace. 

 It was also not uncommon for a prisoner of war to also be sacrificed.

The sacrificing stones from afar

We got to see a site being excavated. This location had several tombs. The wall of sandbags (right of the picture) shows an area they already excavated. 

Pottery and statues were also viewable to us. 

The trip was worth playing hooky with Spanish class. Not only did we get the opportunity to learn more about Panama's history, we also got to have a fun day to do something unique. I am not entirely sure what this upcoming week will be like, other than more running, which is not such a bad thing anymore (yes, I actually said that). 

Beach Running, Rain, and Applesauce

Sunday made for day seven of regularly running since we have been in Panama. We are slowly on our way to a more active lifestyle and I have been trying to figure out easy foods to eat before a run. Thanks to social media, there were a few new recipes I plan to try in the upcoming weeks. Robert also decided to join in on the Friday Paint club!

This past week we ran a total of 12km (about 7.5 miles). During my last post I talked about how we were walking around like penguins. I am happy to report that our calfs are getting a little bit stronger, except for Sunday's run.

We had an idea of a landmark we wanted to run to in order to our extend our run. Google said it would have added another kilometer to our run. We disagreed with Google and decided to do it. We made it to our point and realized Google was right. We ended up running 4km on Sunday's run. Despite the push, it was a great feeling to push further than what I thought I was ready for. Can you remind me of this on my next run?

Link

Dry season here seems like it is slowly starting to fade away. This is a good thing since many people in surrounding areas are using wells and water tanks to get water for a few hours throughout the day. The smell of rain is amazing, despite the humidity that comes along with it. The rain is such a big thing that many people here talk about it on Facebook. This one post generated 14 comments within a few hours of the post. 

My latest homemade recipe is homemade applesauce. Honestly, had I known it would have been this easy to do, I would have made homemade apple sauce a long time ago. No sugar was added since I did not feel like it was needed. Yum! 

As some of you know, I have been on a painting streak lately. This week was a good week to try a new painting. Friday was a fun day, resulting in three masterpieces. 

This week was a very good one. The upcoming week will involve us going to an archeological site, more running, and hopefully more rain. 

A Long Time Coming

Life continues to go on in Panama and some weeks there are few things worth blogging about. We've also officially parted from the car rental business, which has been in motion for some time.

The other exciting things that have occurred? We have started running on the beach. Our calfs are sore and we are currently walking like penguins. Did running always hurt this much?

I also did another painting with a friend. 

Friend to the left, mine to the right

We continue to take Spanish classes. Although listening to people speak at a normal pace is still very difficult at times, our responses are becoming more natural seaming. 

Although we are no longer doing the rental cars, we still plan on staying in Panama. We are not sure what our next venture will be, but it makes life that much more interesting. The great thing about Panama is that you do not have to reinvent the wheel, you just have to have an idea that might not be here already. Now is our time to figure that out.

A Trip to Oregon

Sweaters and hot chocolate, surrounded by endless greenery and hipsters: welcome to Oregon. This is where our latest adventure takes us this week. We spent our time visiting friends, family, and reminiscing at our restaurant favorites, including a restaurant which has a massive six layer cake.

Our last trip to Oregon was about 15 months ago, just before we moved to Panama. Was Oregon always this cold? 

The week was filled with seeing family and friends.  Robert and I saw a friend and went bowling with her six year old son. The last time we saw him was about four years ago. I also made a trip to Robert's home town to visit another friend who has a 15 month old son. I have not seen him since he was two weeks old.

Robert and I surprised my parents by arranging a family photo shoot session, which was supposed to include my brother, sister-in-law, and niece. Unfortunately, something came up last minute and my sister-in-law was unable to make it. While we haven't seen the pictures yet, I know my niece was the highlight in the photos. It is amazing to see how much she has grown.

We also did some shopping. Robert got some shorts, I got some pants, and both of us wanted to stock up on Tillamook Cheese. Friends of ours also put in shopping requests. Some of their wish list items included jelly beans and Cadbury Eggs. By the end of the trip my suitcase was filled with goodies to bring back to Panama.

The most indulgent part of the trip was eating at Claim Jumper. Claim Jumper is the epitome of large portions and American food. Potatoes are the size of footballs. Chicken pot pies are served in a ramekin nine inches in diameter. The desserts get even crazier with  an option of a six layer fudge cake and cookies that are roughly six inches in diameter.

Robert got to eat Chinese food from Safeway, which is where he frequented back in college. It was probably some of the better Chinese food in the town. I enjoyed wearing a scarf. One thing I miss about living in Oregon is coordinating scarves and knitted hats.

We took an overnight flight from Los Angeles to Panama. Sleeping horizontally in a bed has never felt so good! Visiting Oregon was a special trip. We quickly jumped back into life in Panama and are eager for our next adventure.