WHAT DO YOU DO ALL DAY?

I remember asking expats before retiring to Panama along with people asking me before I packed up and moved here, what it is that most retired people do all day.  And this past Wednesday I was asked again this question by someone vacationing here and thinking of retirement destinations in a few years.  Time just goes, but everyday is pretty full and fulfilling.  I can attest to that.  And if it is a quiet day now and then, I have to learn to embrace that as well.  Mostly plans are made day to day (not normal for me) unless traveling to another part of the country or to a completely different country for that matter!

Along with adopting a room at House of Hope this past week, Ray and I have stayed pretty busy running around Panama.  First thing we tried to do last week was enjoy a beach day at Punta Barco with Greg and Thea.  Instead of packing a cooler and taking it to Santa Clara for the afternoon, we met them for lunch at Machetazo Cafe and loaded our bellies up with a three dollar/person meal.  We decided to stay more local and drove less than fifteen minutes to Punta Barco beach.  We wanted to try out our new beach umbrellas and chairs.  We set ourselves up really close to the water. Greg remembered to ask about the tide.  I, looking at the tide calendar on my Iphone 4S without my reading glasses, told the group that high tide was happening then.  1:30 or so.  Perfect.  We, in the course of two hours, moved our chairs back away from the water at least five times, if not ten.  High tide was at 4:30, not 1:30.  It was the glare on the phone, I'm sure.

New beach chairs and umbrella

The man standing far away on the beach is where we were sitting, until high tide rolled in.

Foregoing that evening's happy hour (shocker), Ray and I studied for Spanish.  We are just that good of students.  Thursday was a busy day starting off with Spanish (by the way, our teacher is wonderful and patient, she has a very friendly and kind husband, a National police officer, and a new beautiful puppy), and the day ended with us realizing that Bluwater Bistro not only has fabulous pork chops and entrees inside the building, but the best ever burgers that can be ordered and eaten up on the deck outside (according to those that eat hamburgers).  We enjoyed a lot of conversation with a great many people that night, and Friday came along with car ownership responsibilities that Ray took care of while I slept in...until seven.  Ray had made this appointment in Spanish on the phone earlier in the week,  When he arrived at the Nissan dealership, they weren't aware of his appointment.  He was third in line for a seven am appointment that they did find scheduled after all.  He was told the car would be ready by noon.  They tell him this often, and it is better to tell us we will be somewhere for many hours and then surprise us by finishing earlier, then the other way around, I think.  Since I was without a car, and I knew I would be too lazy at one pm to then drive to the gym, I decided to walk around my neighborhood.  Because I was too lazy to get out of bed and lock the gate at the front entrance behind me and keep the keys, there wasn't a way to lock the door when I left the house.  So I did the next best thing and simply propped a broom against the inside of the door (this way I would know there had been an intruder) and let's not forget the great idea of propping the trash can just so up against the front door on the outside, so I could tell if that had been disturbed by an intruder.  First, the trash hasn't been picked up in about three weeks (oh well, we just us a big trash can and sturdy bags and more bags--this is Panama), what intruders walk around at eight am (they would wait until nine here in Panama), and I do have Gus next door.  He was not awake though.  Okay, back to my walk and my secured house.  I saw a lot of cars in the neighborhood that morning.  And roofers working on the roof.  I walked circles, and more circles listening to the radio on my Iphone.  I was listening to a radio station from the DC area.  First, I listened to and caught up on the music I had been missing, and then I listened to the "one two punch of a snowstorm" that was going to arrive in the northeast over the weekend and into Monday.  Love that TuneIn app!  And IHeart Radio is just as fantastic!  

***This just in...trash was picked up today!***

Once back safe in the house, Ray messaged me that the car was done.  Before leaving, he had had a chance to walk around the new Super 99 grocery store that recently opened next to the dealership.  He found the large size tub of Jif peanut butter.  And it wasn't a bad price either at a little under six dollars for one tub.  (We buy two large containers for eight dollars at Costco in VA.  And we brought four of these back with us when we returned from VA this past month.)  Hooked on a book now, the rest of the day was spent reading and before we knew it, it was Happy Hour at Trypp Hotel.  The band that had played the week before was playing again (so good but loud if you stand too close!), and once again, Ray and I were introduced to new visitors/vacationers and possibly Panama retirees.  We had decided in advance to have dinner at a new "restaurant and dive bar" in Coronado.  Very friendly service, and two out of four meals were very good.  I will leave that as my review.

Since I blogged about House of Hope separately, I will just write here that Saturday was a very good day spent with Thea and MC.  Ray had the day to himself.  We spent time on the phone (face time) with our daughter and decided to forego night time events to stay in and watch the movie "Selma".  A quiet end to an eventful Saturday.  Friday night while at the Trypp Happy Hour, Thea had heard about an art class that was being held on Sunday.  Painting with wine and brunch.  I saw nothing wrong with that, so on Sunday I gave Ray a little bit more alone time and off I went to find this beautiful house in the Coronado Equestrian Center.  What was to be a two hour art event of eight women I knew only a little, with painting roof tiles to look like molas, turned into an entertaining three hours with wonderful ladies.  I was very concerned that my anal retentiveness and lack of any artistic bone in my body would set me back here, but I was quite surprised that once I copied a fish (sort of looks like a fish on my tile) off of the picture on the Ipad being held, I could draw anything or color anything.  Brunch and wine were very good, but the conversation and chatter among the women was much better.  Another good time out with women that also live in Panama permanently.  

Almost finished.  Needs holes drilled and varnished.

With "Downton Abbey" being stored on our Amazon Fires, Thea and I made the executive decision after painting to catch up on television Sunday night.  Ray and I picked up some pizzas and gelato and made our way to Coronado Bay to watch a few episodes at Greg and Thea's condo (Greg had sports he could watch, but Ray would be right there with us catching up on the show!).  But even better than that show, we had an idea instead to watch "Romancing the Stone", since we are leaving for Cartagena, Colombia in a few days!  Greg lost $4.99 that "I will never get back" while Ray lost "two hours of my time I will never get back".  It was a fun movie to watch to prepare us for seeing the Old City.

Not having enough of House of Hope, Thea drove us to Penonome on Monday morning.  It was our goal to rummage through and possibly organize the back bedroom that is being used as a "deposito" of sorts.  We stopped by Five Star Academy to pick up the keys to the house from MC, since the two girls that live in the house would be in school while we were rummaging and organizing.  We wanted to see what we would be able to use for our room we had adopted, or what things the house could also use.  For five hours, we sorted, cleaned, cleared and rummaged.  We were ready to go.  We tried to straighten out a few things here and there, and we pulled our ideas for our room together.  We left full of hope for MC, Skye, and all those involved with Woody's House of Hope!  

This is the back bedroom being used to store donations.  

This is once Thea and I found the futon under all of the donated bedding (on the right), and we tried to make sense of some piles.  Donations are greatly appreciated, we just wanted to see what it all was in those totes and boxes!

This is the main dining area of the house.

Kitchen sink area and pantry.  (I hope they get a new faucet someday).  

Cooking area and storage area.

With Monday behind us and plans made for future visits to Woody's, it only seemed obvious that we take a road trip of some sort, since we haven't been away from our neighborhood enough this past month.  On Tuesday, we hit the road, and Driver Marvin took Greg, Thea and I to Gatun Locks. Years ago, Greg and Thea went through the Panama Canal on a cruise ship.  They had not been to the locks as a visitor.  They were just as amazed as we were with the expansive locks in all its glory.  We caught the last ship riding through from the Atlantic to the Pacific, but there were many more on the other side heading to the Atlantic.  The ships are so close and for $5, this is a fantastic option rather than being with the crowds at Miraflores.  We hit the road just as the four bus loads of cruisers arrived to see a whole lot of nothing at that moment.  So great that we timed it just right!  

Newest locks to be installed someday soon.  Huge.

Come on through!

Opening up to allow the ship to enter to the next set of locks.

The little locomotive on the right helps guide it along. 

An idea to eat at the Expansion Locks went by the wayside, because the cook for the restaurant had been in an accident and wasn't going to be at work for the day.  And the snack bar area was closed, too.  Also, this center is $15 if not a resident or having Jubilado discount (FYI).  Instead we drove over to Shelter Bay Marina and watched the men clean, paint and repair the catamarans and yachts.  We had a very good lunch and, for it being the only real place to eat in the area, the prices were very reasonable with an extensive menu.  It is also a hotel.  The only downfall was that service is slow.  Oh that's right, we are in Panama.  

Boats at the Marina.

We continued the day and drove Greg and Thea through the town of Colón.  It was agreed that a drive through of the city is good to do so as to see the other areas in Panama.

Reminds me of Bocas del Toro, Panama

Good laughs.  Picture looks like a painting.

Pretty decent looking apartment building

Church with Christmas decorations.
Green space all through the center of the highway up the strip.

One of my ideas for this road trip about a week or two ago was to stay at the Bala Beach Resort in Portobelo, Panama.  It is actually in Maria Chiquita, seven kms from Portobelo.  But I wanted to be spontaneous and not really knowing what the day would be like, while we packed a bag and threw in our beach chairs, we decided to "wing it" when it came to reserving a room at a hotel.  Spontaneity didn't really work in our favor, because while the resort is open (it is a resort that has condominiums rather than hotel rooms), Ray managed to understand the guard when he told Ray that the person that would give us a room works from 8-4.  It was 4:45, so we wouldn't be able to go to the resort.  Much less stay there.  The orange cone and the guard stood in our way.  There goes spontaneity.  

The cone, the gate, and the resort up ahead.

So we drove to Portobelo (Greg and Thea had not been to this city), and I had told them when researching Portobelo, I knew there was a hotel that we could check out along the way.  I knew the name of the hotel and location (Octopus Garden Hotel and Dive Resort) and that it was #2 rated, just behind Bala Beach Resort, on TripAdvisor.  I also had read the reviews, and most of the reviews were not good.  There are eight hotels in Portobelo, and there are seven hotels I would not stay in with this being one of them.  Again, I do not need to stay at a $300/night resort, but I also do not want to sped $55/night for what we saw when we looked at the room we would be occupying.  We walked up to the empty bar and restaurant, looked out onto the water, saw rocks without a beach (good for taking a boat out on a snorkeling excursion, I imagine, or for divers), and the man behind the bar gave us a tour of the room.  It was unclean, unkempt and had an odor in the bathroom. No thanks.  There are many reasons people choose to stay here (it has a great reef, so snorkeling and diving is supposedly good), but the four of us decided to move along and figure something else out for the night.  Perhaps we will start packing hammocks in the car instead of beach chairs.  We drove to Fort San Lorenzo and walked around, and we showed Greg and Thea the El Cristo Negro (Black Christ) in the Black Christ Church. I have blogged about this in the past (one year ago), so I will leave details out.  It looked the same.

Portobelo, Panama

 Fort San Lorenzo (looked like styrofoam)

Our driver takes a break.

The Black Christ

Inside the church with the Black Christ on the left

Black Church Christ

The town of Portobelo

Policeman helping move a sloth along the branch.

The sloth.

Four Points Sheraton 

 Not wanting to drive back to Chame, not wanting to spend close to $300 for the night at Gamboa Rainforest Resort (even I have my limits), and not being able to stay at Bala Beach Resort, I had one more idea.  An Oferta Simple coupon (like Groupon in the US) had popped up a few weeks ago for the Four Points Sheraton in Colon.  The four of us in the group had all seen the Oferta (it was all inclusive but only for Friday and Saturday nights), but while it wasn't anything that interested us for a night away with all meals and swimming in Colón, Panama, we all had seen the hotel and thought it might not be a bad third option to put our heads on a pillow there for the night.  Driver Marvin then drove us back to the Sheraton after securing two rooms for $90 at the hotel (Jubilado discount).  I still can't believe that I live in Panama, and we stayed in a hotel next to the Free Trade Zone in Colón, Panama.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colón_Free_Trade_Zone  This is considered the "trading showcase" in Central America.  There are more than 1,700 companies with over 250,000 annual visitors buying goods and products.  There isn't any tax.  Once products are bought, they cannot leave the complex.  They get packed up and sent to the airport, or put on the ships to be exported out.  The everyday lay person (me) that wants to shop here cannot buy products here.  They search cars and taxis apparently ensuring that people aren't leaving the premises with goods.  This is a free port here on the Atlantic Side, and it is the second largest port in the world.  The Free Trade Zone also re-exports merchandise to the Caribbean and Latin America.

Looking out at the port from our 15th floor window

Many warehouses one after the other.

 The Sheraton has a very good restaurant with fair prices (for it being in a hotel, I was surprised), so we ate our dinner there, and Greg secured our Cinnabon crave.  (This hotel is near many comfort fast food restaurants, bake shops and ice cream places).  We then ventured away from the hotel to enjoy our Cinnabon cinnamon buns with some Dairy Queen ice cream.  Whoever wrote or said that they speak English in Panama, or you don't really need to know in Spanish was not telling the truth.  We muddled our way through getting Ray his usual Peanut Buster Parfait, no hot fudge or nuts simply all peanut butter, sundae.  They do not have peanut butter sauce here, but they laid on the thick with creamy Jif peanut butter just as he would have made in his own kitchen.

Another big day followed this past Tuesday with Driver Ray showing Greg and Thea Gamboa Rainforest.  An Oferta Simple Coupon just popped up that morning.  The discounted rate, though, was $179/night to include three meals, alcohol, swimming and bikes wasn't to start for a few days. (remember this was $300 the day before with only breakfast).  But it was an idea to, at some point, buy this Oferta to use at a later date.  But we had other ideas.  While walking the grounds of this very nice resort (there are some areas that need a little touching up here and there and maintenance), we decided to see a room for our future stay.  But when we were told the hotel was 30% full that night, we asked the manager if she would honor the Oferta four days sooner than the start date.  No.  We discussed the hotel being 70% empty.  No.  So off we went to the final destination of seeing monkeys!  Along a path, some birdwatchers had seen howler monkeys "20 meters ahead on the left".  They were gone.  We did see a pretty bird through a telescopic lens (we borrowed the camera for a quick peek), and a dead blue butterfly on the tour guides palm.  We also saw many live fluttering blue butterflies.   Again, I wrote about this one year ago also and posted pictures in that post.

The bridge to cross over to get to Gamboa Resort

Looking out at the pool grounds in the hotel lobby.

The hotel rooms all overlook the pool and the Chagres River.

Ray and Greg walking in search of...

The pretty, but no longer living, blue butterfly.

The one way bridge we drove over to get to the resort.

So here we are back in Chame.  We stopped at Westland Mall to shop for our room at Woody's House of Hope.  Thea and I found bedding for the room, and all that was needed was a can of paint.  That night at Picasso's, Ray and I met new vacationers that were a wealth of information for Cartagena and more!  We also met up with another couple that leaves in a week, and eight of us then enjoyed dinner at Gourmet Pizza.  Four more joined us later.  Thursday came along with the gym, paint buying, shopping more for "the room at Woody's" and before you know it, it's time to head to Bahia for Happy Hour.  Our recently met friends along with Greg and Thea then traveled to Cholo's for dinner.  THE Mexican restaurant in the area.  Ray was willing to give it another try.  He had been disappointed in his meal the first and only time we had been there.  Last night all meals were fantastic.  Service was very good.  Except for when we were told by the waiter "this sauce is chipotle/mild, and this one is habanero/hot".  He had it backwards, and I didn't realize that until I dumped a bunch of the super hot sauce on my fajitas!  I was on fire!  Other than that, the margaritas are outstanding as are the fish tacos!  We will definitely go back to Cholo's!  After face timing with our daughter and catching up, it was to bed for me!  An early day today had Thea and I painting for three hours at House of Hope. And chatting with MC when she returned from work.  We are 80% done with painting.  We ran out of paint.  Figures.  Off we go, back tomorrow to finish up the room.  Inspired.

ONE MORE THING THOUGH--The BEST part of the day happened for Ray today!  Our shipment came from Virginia!  WOW!  We now have our margarita machine haha and our Dyson Vacuum Cleaner.  And spices!  I don't know what else is in the boxes.  I am too tired to look at them.  I will unpack them much later!  I did see the box of some board games!  And Ray put together the ox cart, which my dad purchased in Costa Rica. He set out his grandmother's butter churner.  It's all just so good here in Panama today.  Excited.  Tired.  All in a great way!

Dad would be so happy!

More STUFF!

And for Ray!