Thank you Presleys Part 1

Since I last posted we took a bus to David for our Mission Conference with Elder Amado and then went on to Boquete to spend 5 nights with the Presleys. during carnaval. It was quite an adventure because we had all of this luggage for a week and we had to catch a bus from Las Tablas to Chitre, then from Chitre to Santiago then Stantiago to David. We got a taxi to a hotel in downtown David and spent the night there then the Presleys picked us up the next morning and took us to the mission conference. It was a good conference--(I think it was good, it was all in Spanish) Elder Amado spoke for 5 1/2 hours without any notes. The missionaries all around us were writing like crazy though. They have lots of notes. The Presleys took really good care of us and showed us around their mission world  which is really quite different than ours.

This was town square in David about 6 pm when all the high school kids get out of school. Everyone wears uniforms--sometimes different uniforms from different schools but they all know what they are going to wear each day. The elementary kids go to school in the early morning and get out at lunch time then the older kids go about 2 and get out at 6. It is a horrible schedule and they don't use the same schools so I have no idea why they do it. But once I can speak Spanish I am going to find out!

Here are some Ngobi Indians that are real prevalent in this area. They are not the San Blas Indians who are smaller but they are very easy to spot even if they don't have their bright dresses on because they all look a like--seriously.

I thought you would like this one. This panaderia is one and only one of places we found to have our Dare for the night.

This is Elder Carlos Amado who was so deferential to us because Dad had been his son's mission president. While he was teaching he asked Dad questions 2 or 3 times and even told a couple of stories his son had told him. about our mission.  Who knows if they were even true.

I had to add these for you crafty girls. This is the chapel you are looking at and there were 2 arrangements of these flowers on either side of the podium. They must have been some RS activity because they were made from 2 liter pop bottles. I tired to take a picture looking down into the bouquet because you can actually see the lids and the inside of the original bottles, but the picture doesn't show anything. They are kind of clever but seemed way out of place in the chapel. They reminded me a lot of something that would have been part of the set of Willy Wonka--but then they would have to be made out of chocolate I guess.

 

This is part of the open air market in Boquete. I never see any really great deals at these markets. They seem to have lots of little kids back packs, coloring books and underwear--tons of little girls panties--who knows why.

This is Dad and me in the Plaza in Boquete right next to the open air market. Can you tell we are North Americans?

Another Ngobi Indian family. in Boquete.  Even the little girls wear their native dresses out in public. I liked this picture because the father looked like a young man. So many times there will be very young girls married to very old men--yuk!

We saw these beautiful trees all over in this area. Some were pink and others were white. The weird thing about the tree is there is no other foliage on it. There is not 1 green leaf anywhere just great big blossoms. The Presleys said during the rainy season the blossoms go away and the tree is just green.

Here are some other flowering trees were thought were beautiful but the Presleys said they are noxious weeds that grow everywhere and you can't get rid of them. They have thorns all over them that are about 3xs longer than the thorns on a rose.  It's their way of saying, "Don't mess with me!"

Here are Dad and I and Sister Presley at a vegetable market in Volcan near the base of the volcano. This huge bag of vegetables costs $5 and has everything in it from potatoes and carrots to beets and cabbage. We didn't try to climb the volcano. You can drive to the base but then it takes young Elders about 6 hours to get to the top. We probably would have died on the way.

Again, Dad and I in Volcan showing off the beautiful foliage.

Villa Escondida in Volcan, Panama. We were going to have lunch here but it was too expensive so we just used the bathrooms instead.

Again, Villa Escondida and some of their beautiful gardens. It is a total tourist trap and wouldn't you love to be trapped there.

Here we are with Don and Linda Presley from California. They were wonderful to take care of us for so long.We had a great trip  thanks to them.