Friday! We have been so excited for Friday to get here since Fernando's oldest brother Atilio and his wife Nancy are flying in from Chicago. Fernando's dad has been asking us several times a day when they will arrive. He is so ready to have all 5 of his children under one roof.
Their flight was scheduled to arrive in the afternoon around 2 PM, so we decided to take the boys to Fernando's sister Karina's apartment to go swimming. Their apartment complex has a nice pool in the "area social". Of course as soon as we got there, it started to rain! But the boys still had a good time and we enjoyed talking to Carlos and Karina. I finally got a text from Nancy saying they had gotten their rental car and were on their way to Fernando's dad's house! So we loaded back in the car and headed over there to meet them. The boys were hungry so we stopped for a quick bite at a 2-story Popeye's. It wasn't quite the same as the US Popeye's that the boys are used to, but they said it was pretty good. We finally made it to Fernando's dad's house and it was so good to see Atilio and Nancy. We haven't seen them since 2018 when we went to visit them in Chicago. We sat around and talked for awhile, then made plans to meet up for dinner with more family at a restaurant called El Republicano. We went back to our AirBNB to drop off Nancy's luggage and freshen up for dinner.
El Republicano is a cool burger restaurant we had not been to before on our previous visits. Fernando's niece Karla had reserved the family a table on the upstairs patio, and it felt cool and comfortable with a nice breeze. I knew it was going to be good if Karla recommended it! She knows all the best spots! We definitely wouldn't have been able to sit there during the day! The patio lights made it such an inviting place. Carlos, Karina, Karla, Atilio, Nancy, Memito, Cata, Lucas, Mateo, Gerald, Memo, Antonia, Fernando, Enzo, Gabriel, and I enjoyed sitting around the table and catching up. It always amazes me the way restaurants here will set up more and more tables to accommodate everyone. Fernando's family is so large that sometime it's hard to calculate how many family members will show up.
The boys were determined to try something "different" from the menu, and I was so proud of them for branching out. Gabriel (who normally doesn't eat cheeseburgers) order a cheeseburger with just lettuce and cheese and a side of fries. Enzo ordered the All American Cheeseburger just the way it came with lettuce, tomato, onion and their house burger sauce, and an order of fries. He also wanted to try an appetizer called Bao Sliders, which was basically like a small burger with a soft bun and pork patty. Everyone who tried it said it was good. I ordered a garlic parmesan chicken sandwich with fries, and it was really good. Fernando ordered Poutine Panameno, which was a bowl of yucca fries with ropa vieja and cheese chunks. Several other family members ordered it too and said it was very good. We all had a great time together, but we were all tired and ready to get back to the AirBnB to sleep. With plans to meet for brunch tomorrow, we all said good night. Another great day with family in Panama!
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