Day to Day living in Boquete, Panama

Our Little Garden has grown and producing beans and zucchini. Isodoro and I are picking beans for the 4th time. We have carrots that are growing, zucchini waiting to be picked, and we just got corn seed so we can plant that next. We give the beans to Isodoro and his family. You can see Albert, his brother, in the background.

We were traveling on some backroads, and noticed this huge vulture like bird above us on the light pole. He seemed to be posing for us, or maybe judging us as his next meal. He was huge! Wingspan was about 5 feet.

Also, while on the backroads, we saw a sign that said there was a waterfall, so we decided to stop and check it out. First we had to go down some steep and moss covered stairs...No problem for Sister Presley!

We felt like we had walked into a movie set of a tropical jungle. Water dripped from the vines and trees, the river rushed below, and the waterfall cascaded beautifully down the rocks.

Not a bad place to be as missionary companions!

We have a baptism coming up next week, but our little pool that we use for the font is full from all the rain that leaks through the roof, so it has to be drained......by hand. Thanks to Isodoro and his brother, Moises, their strong backs and arms started the task of bailing water and dumping it. No pump to help us.

Within a few hours, the water was down to inches left. They bailed water that stood about 5 feet deep.So glad they are helping care for the house. We love these young men.

I teach missionary preparation class on Sunday afternoons. These are my students...Ramil is the tallest, then Isodoro, then Moises. Isodoro and Ramil are both 19 and getting their papers ready. Moises is 16 and curious. 

Around here are lots of Coconuts, and they are like you see in the Survivor TV show. You have to cut away a leathery and fiberous outer shell, then open the inside hard shell (that we get in stores), then carve out the meat and drink the liquid. This is what was left after I got most of the white coconut meat out. Hard work, but yummy!

Our garden has attracted friends! This is a baby Iguana. They love to rest on the Zucchini leaves in the sun. There have been some larger ones as well. We also get some frogs as well.

No, this is not a fountain, this is a leak in the water pipe, a 3/4 inch pvc tube that carrys water from the mountains in Boquete to the houses all over. The tubes lie on top of the ground, exposed to everything, and many times the pipes break or a hole lets out small to big leaks. We saw this one, and went to the city office to report it. You can never be sure if they will fix it quickly, as there are several of these every day. But luckily, this one was fixed after a day and a half. Not the best system, but we have to live with it.

This is the pipe in front of our house. Same size, with leaks. I have asked the city to come to us to fix this, but after asking and asking, I finally decided to do something about it, since no one comes, and I can't stand to see the water constantly watering the already wet and rained on ground. So, thanks to some electrical tape, I wrapped the two leaks and at least most of the water is staying in the pipes. That's life in Boquete!