Since I had a minute while Alexandra is watching Cars with Luke (she seems more interested in the English version on the little dvd player vs the Spanish version on tv) I thought I would let you know a little bit about what our daily life is like here. You know, now that we are pros since we have been here a whole week! :) Since we are south of the equator the seasons are opposite, so we are heading into winter here. They really don't have fall here, just lots of fog and humidity. Being right on the coast where Miraflores is, it stays pretty foggy all the time. In fact when the sun tried to poke out yesterday, I believe it was only the 2nd time we had seen it! (In Comas where the orphanage was, it was sunny one day. It is away from the coast so it isn't as foggy and cloudy, but it is more polluted.) It is only in the 60's but based on how everyone dresses you would think we were boardering freezing weather. I know it feels cold to the locals, because even Alexandra is asking for a jacket while we are still inside. There is no heat or a/c in most places. I believe only fancy hotels and some businesses. You don't really need it this time of year, but it would be nice to cut through the 90% humidty!
Since it isn't summer here, the kids are still in school. From what we hear, if you can send your kids to private school at all that is what you do. There are state schools, but they aren't very good. Those in school wear uniforms and we have seen many kids in the plaid skirts and knee socks with a sweater. My kids are very glad PCA didn't adopt that uniform. They start school about 8:30 and finish about 2 or 2:30. That is when the big meal occurs, after school in the afternoon. It would be similar to our dinner...sandwiches or a salad wouldn't cut it! Then in the evening they have a small meal. The kids pack bascially a snack for school...fuit, veggies, or bread...and plan on their big meal when they get home.
There are laundramats on every corner, so you can drop your laundry off in the morning and pick it up in the evening and it is clean, dry and folded. The only problem is they use a super high heat drier to dry, so you have to handwash delicates and let them hang dry which takes 3 days! It is nice though, not having to mess with lots of laundry!
Since we are in Miraflores, it is similar to a big city in the states and living downtown. There are taxis everywhere and you walk most anywhere you can. In fact we walk to the grocery ever couple of days for groceries. It is just a grocery store, probably the size of a drug store in the US. I am sure we frustrate people as we stand trying to figure out what we are buying. I will have much more patience in the comissary after this! As I have shared before there is fresh bread every day and they have a counter with prepared foods. This is how we have been eating lunch for a few days, so we don't take Alexandra to a restaurant yet. We will attempt that this week. Milk is sold in paper boxes on the shelves, so it took Drake a week to be convinced it would taste the same. Eggs are sold on the shelves, not in the refrigerator either! We are getting used to it all and Becca has even begun to be willing to eat meat again.
Ok, so I know this isn't as exciting as hearing about the kids, but I wanted to give you all a pictue of it. This is all just in Miraflores which is realtively clean and very safe. There are other areas that don't seem to be the same and aren't near as nice! Unfortunately the orphanage was in one of those places.
Well off to chase Alexandra, she is bored with the movie and is bouncing from one activity to another!
Since it isn't summer here, the kids are still in school. From what we hear, if you can send your kids to private school at all that is what you do. There are state schools, but they aren't very good. Those in school wear uniforms and we have seen many kids in the plaid skirts and knee socks with a sweater. My kids are very glad PCA didn't adopt that uniform. They start school about 8:30 and finish about 2 or 2:30. That is when the big meal occurs, after school in the afternoon. It would be similar to our dinner...sandwiches or a salad wouldn't cut it! Then in the evening they have a small meal. The kids pack bascially a snack for school...fuit, veggies, or bread...and plan on their big meal when they get home.
There are laundramats on every corner, so you can drop your laundry off in the morning and pick it up in the evening and it is clean, dry and folded. The only problem is they use a super high heat drier to dry, so you have to handwash delicates and let them hang dry which takes 3 days! It is nice though, not having to mess with lots of laundry!
Since we are in Miraflores, it is similar to a big city in the states and living downtown. There are taxis everywhere and you walk most anywhere you can. In fact we walk to the grocery ever couple of days for groceries. It is just a grocery store, probably the size of a drug store in the US. I am sure we frustrate people as we stand trying to figure out what we are buying. I will have much more patience in the comissary after this! As I have shared before there is fresh bread every day and they have a counter with prepared foods. This is how we have been eating lunch for a few days, so we don't take Alexandra to a restaurant yet. We will attempt that this week. Milk is sold in paper boxes on the shelves, so it took Drake a week to be convinced it would taste the same. Eggs are sold on the shelves, not in the refrigerator either! We are getting used to it all and Becca has even begun to be willing to eat meat again.
Ok, so I know this isn't as exciting as hearing about the kids, but I wanted to give you all a pictue of it. This is all just in Miraflores which is realtively clean and very safe. There are other areas that don't seem to be the same and aren't near as nice! Unfortunately the orphanage was in one of those places.
Well off to chase Alexandra, she is bored with the movie and is bouncing from one activity to another!
We are thrilled for your familys joy!! We love reading your blog and following you on your journey. It is wonderful to hear and see how you and your family are bonding and seeing how awesome our God is! Have a wonderful sunday and know that our family is keeping your family in our prayers:)!!! God bless. Team Gans
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