"GNO" WITH RAY GETTING SOME ALONE TIME

At the last happy hour Ray and I went to at Hotel Trypp, we bumped into a friendly and sociable woman, Kimberly, that we had met last month.  I walked over to say hello and re-introduce myself, but before I could get that far (no re-introduction necessary), she was telling me she had lost my contact information and needed it for an invite she wanted to send me.  She would be having a Girls Night Out soon, and I was on the invite list.  About a week ago, the invite came stating it would be a pool party.  No boys allowed, and no agendas.  These are the two rules.  Terry came along with me (she had an invite as well), and Ray was our driver.  The party was from 5-9, and it was BYOB along with potluck/appetizers.  Ray decided to have four hours last night as some "alone time".  We haven't been apart since I shopped with Terry last week, but then, Ray was with Clyde.  As far as Ray goes, he was going to study Spanish, but he slept for two hours instead.  Party boy that he is!

We arrived to the home in Coronado shortly after five, and Kimberly along with her good friend were there.  They had just come out of the pool.  The pool reminded me of the one we had in Stafford, VA. The same red coping with blue tiles running along the inside.  There were steps leading into the pool and seats in the pool.  This is where the likeness ends.  This pool had a waterfall, two swim up tables with benches along the side, and it also had lush gardens, bohios with more seating, an outdoor shower that looked like a rock climbing wall with the way it had been decorated (the colorful protrusions of rocks blocked the shower hardware), palm trees, stepping stones going in different directions and leading to multiple seating areas and an oversized hammock.  There was a large covered porch off of the house looking out onto the grounds and the pool.  So this wasn't exactly like my pool in Stafford, VA.  haha

The owner of the home was away on an extended vacation, but she graciously allowed Kimberly to use the home with its decorated walls painted with vibrant tropical colors and pool for our entertainment.  I haven't met the owner yet, but from what I know, she owns a company that offers relocation services, and she is a buyer's consultant.  http://panamaholidayhomes.com  Her home has a casita on the property that is also for rent.  There were about fifteen women that made it to the pool party.  Most are retirees, but there were a few that had just come to the party from work.  Some lived in houses, some lived in condos, some have been in Panama for three months, and others have been here for two, three and ten years.  There was a woman there that grew up in the Canal Zone.  She will have a wealth of information and history to share with us.  The hostess started this event in May, so there haven't been many that I have missed.  She led monthly GNO events in her home state of Michigan for nine years, and she hopes to find the same camaraderie, friendship and enjoyment among different women here who have decided to retire (for the most part) in Panama and are looking for the same thing.

While munching on many great dishes and appetizers (I had, for the first time, made turkey pinwheel sandwiches, with Ray being my sous chef), we presented ourselves to each other and shared who we were and where we came from--we kept it brief.  The beautiful pool was calling us!  The sun had set (6:15 pm), so there was a little chill to the water, but that didn't keep me out.  There were about ten of us at one time in the pool, on the benches and on the steps, drinking out of plastic ware sharing shopping stories, happy hour and restaurant stories, and mostly just getting to know each other a bit more.  Most of the ladies, along with Terry and I, left the party about thirty minutes early.  There were four women remaining in the pool with wine (in plastic glasses) when I said my goodbye to Kimberly.   I know the future GNO's will be just as entertaining.

Back of property (not really) standing by covered porch looking up to large covered porch and house

Notice the built in umbrellas and benches (waterfall is off)

Besides getting that "first invite", Ray and I have been low key here in Casa Cuarenta.  We took a drive to Westland Mall on Saturday.  No sooner had we left the house, but it did the usual and what it has been doing for about the past week.  It rained.  BUCKETS AND BUCKETS.  It was only really heavy as we approached the mall.  And there is covered parking.  But the Panamanians walk in it all.  They ride their bikes.  We saw a family of five casually walking up to the mall in the pouring rain with two umbrellas.  While in the mall, even I could hear the heavy rain and thunder.  I am getting used to these once unfamiliar noises.  Funny thing is to see the expansive roof of the mall have a little leak.  There isn't a caution cone where the puddle is, and there isn't someone addressing the puddle.  It just leaks water onto the floor, and here's hoping you don't slip.  In the woman's bathroom, as I approached a stall, there was a large puddle of water.  There, too, the drop ceiling tile had been removed and was leaking.  Again, no warning.  After we browsed the mall looking for nothing mostly, we stopped at several shops along the highway that interested us.  There is a large white building on the way home from the mall with the sign "El Palacio de la Decoracion".  Inside this building, we found outdoor furniture at reasonable prices, Asian planters and Asian furniture my dad would have loved (I for some reason don't have his same appreciation for this style), MOPEDS (of course) and along the back wall, there was underwear.  Packaged underwear.  Just in case you needed to buy some while buying an Asian piece of sculpture.  Once outside, we saw a tiny black and green frog hopping along in the rain.

He was happily hopping until Ray cornered him for this picture.  

Sunday we went for lunch to Paraiso's.

Ray after eating lunch (far left of table) with Clyde in the green chatting.

The LARGE bohio!

 This restuarant is on the way to El Valle in Las Uvas.  It is not even 2 miles off the main highway.  There was to be an expat singing for two hours.  He wanted to get a feel for the turnout for when he has a fundraiser in the weeks to come.  The breezes were a welcome, and while it was bright and sunny, the large bohio sheltered us from the sun, and the temperatures remained cool (for an afternoon in Panama).  We spent two hours chatting with Clyde and Terry (Ray was the driver for the day) and many other expats.  I learned about Spay the Strays, and I am hopeful to be volunteering with this organization (Ray, as well) monthly.

We spent our mornings this past week getting to know another man that showed at the gym.  We were exercising by eight am (ludicrous).   We won't see him too often, since he works away from Panama more than here.  His girlfriend lives across the street from the gym.  He gave us good information about other shipping companies (in case we want to add our remaining belongings  to a shipping container instead of loading on the plane), and we talked about Panama, in general.  After the gym, we stopped by the bank and then we made our way (it was tough!) to Cafe Viana.  This is a bakery on the road to Coronado.  Ray and I shared a butter cream cookie and a slice of quiche.  Delicious!  Good thing we had been to the gym, right?

And right now an employee from the company, Truly Nolan, is here spraying the inside and outside for pests.  The appointment time was at one pm, and he was right on Panamanian time arriving at 1:30.  Later, we are picking Clyde and Terry up and taking them to Westland Mall.  I asked Terry if she wanted to "Cash In" her birthday gift coupon which was valued at movie tickets, popcorn and drinks for two today.  We are seeing the movie "100 Foot Journey" with Helen Mirren.  It will have Spanish subtitles, but it will be in English.  Should be a good day with the movie and then great tv tonight ("Modern Family" starts)--this is life in retirement.

BUT WAIT...TIP afterall.  We picked up Clyde and Terry and drove about 45 minutes to Westland Mall.  We arrived to the theater to buy the tickets with the sign only showing a showtime of 9:45 pm. Where is the 4:10 listing?  I asked the girl if it was playing only at nine.  I tried to say that it was listed at four online (but I didn't know the word for computer---should have said machine, but I didn't think of it fast enough).  What to do?  Ray went back to the counter, and he did manage to get the girl to look up all of the nearby theaters to see if the movie was playing nearby at a decent time.  And it was.  Sort of.  We continued to the city to the Multiplaza Mall which is where Ray and I have stayed at the Marriott Courtyard umpteen times.  Since we had driven that far already to the first theater, we figured we might as well keep going--what else did we have to do?  We walked quickly to the theater knowing we would just catch the end of the previews, and to our surprise (happy this time that the information was wrong again online), the movie wasn't to start for another thirty minutes.  Plenty of time.  The four of us thought the movie was very good.  A "feel good" movie.  And we were such big spenders for Terry's birthday--$11 for four to see the movie in the VIP section (we didn't ask for it, the movie was just playing there), and $12 for popcorn and sodas.  But I did offer to buy them something else such as a wonderful hot dog!  We ended the night having dinner at Jimmy's in the San Francisco district (within minutes of the mall), and returning home from our "afternoon outing" at ten pm.  Now time to crack the books and crash study for Spanish a little more! Wonder what tomorrow night will bring?  (Computer in Spanish is equipo, silly me.)