Road Trip! (Chapter 1: Sombrero Quest)

On May 1st, we drove to Penonome with Arturo, his son David, and Arturo's wife's father Saturnino. Arturo's wife, Marizin, could not join us because she had to work.

Among our goals on this adventure were to see Marizin's sister and a few other family members, to find a sombrero for Marco, to get a bunch of bunches of bananas, to buy some plants for the yard, and just to take a road trip. (We had planned to do this last month, but car troubles delayed things.)

We picked up Arturo and David at 6:00 AM and then scooped up Saturnino about 6:30. A not-so-quick stop (it's a very popular place, even at 7:30 on a Saturday morning) at Quesos Chela (on the west side of Capira) for coffees, colas, Pringles and scrumptious cheese empanadas saw us through to Penonome. Saturnino directed us through the traffic- and pedestrian-choked streets of the village to the mercado. We're not sure if it's typical only of Saturdays, but the joint was totally jumpin'. Everything from pig tails still attached to the rear end of the pig, to local woven crafts, to 50# sacks of red beans, to rooty vegetables that we still don't know the names of - all this and more were available in the bustling mercado. Saturnino walked purposefully through the lower level and upstairs to a hat vendor. Marco tried on several "Panama" hats at the first stall, most of which perched high on his large head. One of the hats fit, but it was scratchy and didn't feel good to him. Arturo bought a new hat at this stall. Then Arturo and Saturnino wandered to another stall, and I noticed that there were more hats there. Marco found the hat of his dreams at this stall, one that fit and was not scratchy. First goal accomplished.

The rest of our day was spent going to several fincas and accomplishing the other goals of the trip. To be continued . . . . .