Tanning hides, Construction in Panama and the Beach!

June 9, 2014
Dear kids-  There are a few things we have seen here that I have found really interesting and I wanted to share them with you. A couple of weeks ago your Dad and I were out in the sticks visiting a new member when we came across a hide tanning operation. The smell was horrible but it was mesmerizing to watch so we asked them if we could take some pictures. One man said it was fine to take the pictures but to not ask them questions because they were grading the hides as they were being put into the truck.

Here are some of the hides hanging in a shed. Someone said some of them were even buffalo but we certainly haven't seen any buffalo in Panama.

Here are stacks of hides they are holding up for the "judges" and loading into a huge semi truck.

Here is the truck with the hides that have passed inspection.

There were just hides everywhere. Hundreds and hundreds of them. Then they packed them up and drove them away. When we went by there a week later the whole operation was gone.

Here are the vats where they are washed and scraped. The scrapings go for dog food. At least I hope it was for dog food. It looked like dog food.

Here is a house where some of the most active members of our branch live. It is basically a cement box. The windows have no glass in them. They are just cement blocks with decorative holes that allow the air in.

You can see from this cement box that sometimes they don't bother covering the cement blocks with a smooth layer of concrete so you can't tell they are just a pile of blocks.

Here is some building going on in our subdivision. As you can see there is no wood used they just stack cement blocks.

This our subdivision. Although it is upscale from a lot of the houses in this town the houses are all just cement boxes. The molding around the windows and the pillars are all cement.

This is the inside of our house, Although it looks like a normal house, it isn't. The walls are just painted concrete. There is no drywall anywhere in the house. The floors have tile on them but underneath they are concrete. The ceiling is not really a ceiling, it is a drop ceiling under a tin roof.  We live in a cement box just like everyone else in Panama. President Carmack said even the skyscrapers in Panama City start out with cement blocks.

The beach at Pedasi. It was absolutely breath taking. High tide was on May 28th with the full moon and we were there right before that so the waves were high and strong. I got a little scared when one hit me and just about knocked me over.

Some of the condos just steps away from the water. Aren't they worried about a Tsunami?

This isn't our car but our car is right behind it. The road ends and the ocean begins! Seriously the water is 15 feet from the pavement!

A restaurant right ON the water. Anyone want to take me there?

No this is Pedasi, Panama. It didn't come from the Johnny Lingo movie.

Random Stuff:

I don't know why this puppy looks so big in this picture. He is literally the smallest puppy we have ever seen. 

Dad with 2 of the kids from our English class. Well \the baby, Caleb is only 1 and he doesn't even speak Spanish but Jaddeth ,  and Neli  their mother come.

Here is Dad trying to get our car under a downed tree after a rainstorm. The work must go on! We broke a few branches back and we were able to drive safely under it.

Here is a huge roach-type bug Dad found in his shaving bag one night, We killed it and threw it outside and the ants had it for breakfast. When I said we hardly ever see bugs I must have meant during the dry season!

The smaller of the 2 mangos is a normal sized mango. The other one some of our investigators gave us the other night. It is giant! Mangos are everywhere around here right now but unfortunately neither Dad nor I like them very much. I wish I did but every time I try one I just wish it were a peach!