CASA ALLISON, CASA CUARENTA

In September, our lot was cleared.

 I am going to keep our house hunting and experiences brief in this blog (when have I ever been known to be brief, I know!), because time has passed from the time Ray and I decided to buy a house to today.  I have been keeping most everyone updated via email about our house and the building of it, but I didn't want to put it all out there on this blog until we had made our final decision and had made our landlord aware of an impending move.  Now that everyone is on the same page, and by the way, we have a fantastic landlord along with us being great renters (!), I will post pictures throughout this blog of how our house looks today!

Toasting with Marla and Champagne once we sign papers!

The short version is that Ray and I drove around with our realtor, Marla Diaz (with United Country) marla@panama1925.com looking at rental properties last September.  We wanted to see what was on the market then, at what cost, and get a feel for where we might want to live after six months of being in Chame.  We were contemplating even moving to the mountains of El Valle.  We pondered Coronado.  We thought about the house next door to our rental now that is up for sale.

We then saw the Azura Panama Development in Rodeo Viejo being built by Kevin Painter.  azurapanama.com  If you go to this link, the Anton model is the model Ray and I chose based on two bedrooms with a garage.  Prices now start at $199,000, but they were lower when we jumped in both feet first and signed the papers!

Anyone we would speak to about this development and Kevin had nothing but amazing things to say about the quality of construction and Kevin's kindness to all those that he met along the way.  Many expats had been to the open house that he had thrown a few months prior showing off the three model homes.

We did discuss things with our attorney, we had him review the contract, we went to a model home in a development nearby that he suggested we buy into (no way ever!), and for six months we have been extremely happy watching the process of our house being built and getting to know Kevin, his son, Carl, along with associates and all of the employees we run into along the way.

Slab before rainy season really gets going!  I hope to see the mountains even with rows of houses behind me.

Walls go up.

Back yard.

And there's a house taking shape!

When I have blogged in the past two or three months about running errands or going into the city, Ray and I were most likely picking out granite, tile, faucets and sinks at the large El Mec in the city, or looking at furniture, selecting light fixtures, and even choosing appliances at Tech and House.  We now have a painted house with granite installed in the kitchen, cabinets are being installed, the tile in the bathroom showers is placed, the outdoor shower looks good to go, the floor is tiled, the patio is done, the grass is placed, windows are in (we will have screens), and in a few short weeks we will have a place to call our home here in Panama.  Our daughter's visit is about a week too soon, but we will be excited to show her the place and encourage her to return to Panama quickly to put a stamp on her bedroom!  So for now, I will end this with a few more pictures.  We will be the third homeowner to move in, and the pool will be waiting for me to dive right in and swim up to that bar!  Ray will have to be the pool boy for a while in my dream world, and this thing called retirement!

Today the grass was placed.

This is the pool being cut away.

And this is the pool today.

HOME TO VIRGINIA TO SNOW, ICE AND EVEN MORE SNOW

A quick trip home to Virginia for my annual spa weekend gave Ray some alone time.  We arrived to Dulles International Airport on a Thursday afternoon with enough time to pick up the rental car and change his SIM card out on his smart phone.  Without a landline at the lake house, this would give him connection to--me, of course!  It was ten, or so, degrees and the wind was whipping cold!  We met our daughter at her apartment once she was finished with her day of teaching and the never ending paperwork she needed to catch up on, and the three of us enjoyed a fabulous Mexican meal at Mexicali Blues in Clarendon, Virginia.  I had left my winter coat at her apartment along with a bag packed full of clothing for the next five days.  Oh dear, Ray had left his winter coat at the lake house.  Once we were stuffed with queso, chips and salsa, spicy onion rings and delicious Mexican/Salvadoran food, Ray drove to the lake house, and I went into the warmth of Carly's apartment.  Due to the below zero temperatures that were forecasted for the following morning, Fairfax County (along with all of the other surrounding counties) had canceled school for the day!  Yes!  It was sleep in Friday with my baby girl!  With no where to be until the festivities of my spa weekend were to begin, she and I stayed up watching recorded TV shows.  The next morning Carol Brady over here had her coffee and breakfast watching more TV.  There was no gym that I would be running off to that morning.  Meanwhile, Ray was waiting for the Heat/AC Maintenance man to show up at the lake house to do the upkeep and maintenance on the units.  I should write here that it took him three tries to get into the driveway over the icy ten inches of snow that had just fallen two days before our return to Virginia.  Then he also had to shovel.  There was a shovel at the lake house, so that was good and in order.  And he had his winter coat.  He also had lunch plans for the day, dinner plans for Sunday and lunch plans for Monday.  He kept Saturday open, because snow and ice was in the forecast, again.

The next few days I spent with my best friends/lake house roommates suffering through delicious meals, bottles of red and white wine, cosmopolitans, home baked desserts, all the candy and chips I could eat, and spa services.  I did make it to the treadmill.  The gym was huge, it was snowing, and I could watch coed teams play volleyball.  Sunday I had arranged pick up services by my daughter.  Poor thing.  I asked for her to pick me up at around ten am.  The road and hill to the house I was staying at was a sheet of ice.  My daughter was shaking and a slight wreck when she finally arrived after being told to drive another slightly less inclined course.  Putting that behind us, we forged on through the slush and muck (I later was able to put on some snow boots that I had given her last year when there was so much snow there) to grocery shop for her week of meals, shop at Costco (naturally), get manicures (again, naturally), and be home in time for the Oscars.  My gown was ready.  Not to forget about Ray, he had a nice staycation on Saturday not driving the roads and eating Ramen noodle soup for dinner (The Barn is a nearby store with deli and the Launcher sub, but the cook didn't show up to cook!).  

Monday it was planned that I would volunteer in my daughter's class for the day.  School was delayed two hours due to the snow from Saturday and the icy conditions.  The sweet fifth graders showed up at 10:20 am.  We arrived, after stopping for coffee, by 8:20.  My daughter had lots to do.  She would be missing her first day of teaching ever the following day, and she wanted to get the substitute plans lined up. She had things for me to do, also.  I had a lot of laminating ready and waiting and with her personal laminator in the classroom, I could go to town working on that job, and also I could listen in on her teaching.  What a great day.  I must say I am super impressed with her classroom management (her students are wonderful, but I say this is because of her teaching style), teaching skills after not even being a teacher for two years, and her disposition with the children.  I filed, hung things up on the blackboard, sorted papers and laminated until the laminator didn't want to cooperate after our twenty minute lunch break.  She makes me a great lunch if I do say so myself, although I ate all the berries forgetting there was a banana and we were supposed to be sharing.  An "F" for me in the sharing department. But at the end of the day, while she finished up tidying up and working another two hours after school, she demonstrated the humungous laminating machine (!) upstairs, and I was on fire!  We enjoyed Thai for dinner, and then my driver, I mean my daughter, drove me to the lake house.  It was a full day of work and play.  And Ray's alone time ended.

Carly was spending the day with us on Tuesday, because HGTV was coming to the lake house.  I will leave this at that until there is more to post here.  I don't want to put the cart before the horse.  It was a super great day with Carly and Ray though!  The next two days flew by with Ray and I visiting the "tax woman"--stopping in to make sure all paperwork signed that they needed and all forms in place, and I shopped a little bit more. We also had dinner plans with our daughter, best friends and lake house roomies, along with a sister, a friend and a fiancé.  My sister I have to catch up with each other on the next trip along with seeing my in laws.   :(   (Heads up, be ready to visit us at the lake house in the summer!)

There was more snow to come the night before we caught our flight to Panama.  We had every intention of returning the rental car back the next morning and being at the airport about ninety minutes prior to boarding.  Nope.  We rush through breakfast (the snow is coming down), Ray cleans the snow off the car, and when we arrive to the rental place, there is no one there.  There isn't a shuttle waiting for us.  But then we are told by some kind lady on the phone to just leave the keys in the car, and the shuttle shows up.

Our landing in VA with snow on the ground
(lake house had ten inches two days prior)

Snows four inches while in Northern VA

Ray cleans off car on way to airport (leaving VA)

Dulles runway

Boarding our plane

De-icing our plane

Copa Airlines business class is usually so on the money!  We fly business but always with points (meaning free) so that we can take more pieces of luggage that are twenty pounds heavier.  This trip had us bringing back newly bought kitchen items, photo albums, blankets (I know, blankets?!  Okay, they are handmade quilts.), and more "stuff".  This should be the end of that, except there are a few more photo albums in a tote at the lake house.  Back to the airline, we board the plane and are told we have to taxi the plane to the de-icing station.  This is interesting to us!  Some would be a little concerned or frightened about the weather conditions, I think Ray and I were just in awe.  Then we start to take off.  Flying fast down the runway, our plane comes to a stop.  We do a complete turn around, and we drive back to the other end.  We are told that "one of the engines needs to be fixed".  All is good, we are given good information by the Pilot, but we found on this flight (out of all the Copa flights we have taken and so far there have been eleven) customer service was lacking for the seven hours we were sitting in our seats.  Unsure of why, but we both commented on this when we landed an hour late in ninety-five degree temperatures but with beautiful blowing winds and low humidity in Panama City.

Driving back to Chame was uneventful except for my driver, Ray, having to drive on the opposite side of the highway per the policeman's directions.  The orange traffic cones that are put along the dotted lines to separate the two lanes of opposing traffic aren't necessarily on the lines or even standing vertical.  Some cones have fallen into our lane with a concrete barrier on our other side.  But with it being rush hour and having three lanes of traffic moving along at a fast pace, we were back to Chame in no time at all.  Our neighbor, Gus and his wife, had just commented "the kids should be coming back soon".

The traffic cones are intermittent.

We just didn't stop at Chame though.  We decided while it was still daylight, we should check out our new house.  My next post will pick up on where I am leaving off here.  Back to 24/7 with Ray, and it's all still so good here in this thing called retirement.

FIRST ENCOUNTER OF A POLICE-KIND

It was a simple drive to Panama City today.  There were policemen and policewomen lining the highway for miles to the city.  They stood on the side of the road, mostly alone, but some had partners to chat with while they watched the cars drive by.  All Ray and I thought was how hot and boring the job today must be for them.  Hopefully staying boring without too many incidents or accidents.  One lane on the opposite side of the road was open, so we had three lanes of moving cars heading East rather than two.  The commute took the same time at about an hour to get to Bridge of the Americas.  Ray and I wanted to run a few errands prior to checking into the Riande Hotel http://riandehoteles.com/aeropuerto/, and our first stop was to a store called House and Tech.  We bought our kitchen appliances, washer and dryer from this store, and we are also looking into window treatments, or motorized blinds, being sized for our windows in our new house.

 In order to exit this shop, Ray has to make a right turn out of the plaza.  But he really wants to be driving the other direction.  Traffic was light, since it is Ash Wednesday and many Panamanians were still trying to make their way back into the city. Ray gave me a warning of "I am turning after this cab" like he usually does to prepare me for sudden moves, he saw the two policemen standing at the corner, and he then he made a left turn into another shopping plaza.  He parked the car in one of many empty spaces.  And then one of the two policemen walked over to our car.  Ray could have quickly backed out of the space and bolted.  They didn't have cars or motorcycles.  But he simply got out of the car and walked up to a shop to "check the hours".  The policeman told Ray in perfect Spanish that he was not allowed to turn left over a double yellow line.  Ray apologized in his broken Spanish.  A little broken on purpose though.  He told the policeman he was looking at the store for the hours, and he didn't know that he couldn't just make a left turn.  No.  If it's a double yellow line, you have to drive to the light, turn left, and then make some sort of turn around somewhere else.  Then, the next policeman comes over.  Perhaps the boss, or jefe.  Ray explains he speaks a little Spanish.  The question is asked if I speak any Spanish.  Ray is told he will be given a ticket.  While Ray is discussing the ticket with his policeman, I am telling my policeman that I simply told my husband "look, there is a chocolate shop , and let's go there, but then I see it's closed due to Carnival".  The policeman tells me it is closed until tomorrow.  He tells me Ray is getting a ticket.  I see Ray give his license to his policeman and wait chatting for something to happen there. I ask where we pay for this ticket we don't have in hand yet (and they don't seem to have any paper with them) when we return from our trip to the US.  I ask this because they still haven't written a ticket.  They both now know we live in Chame, I also show them the Panama driving Rules and Regualations book that we keep in the car and explain that it's all in Spanish, I tell them we will pay the ticket when I learn we do this at Albrook, and I say all of this because they have both now tried to tell the two Gringos that they are going "to help us".  One tells Ray while the other one is telling me that it is "so very hot outside, and I will help you by not giving you a ticket".  He keeps pointing to the sky, and I think he is talking about help from God. Haha We ask them what they want for being hot.  We tell them we speak Spanish a little better then understand it, because they speak so fast.  And then we offer them lifesavers!  They refuse.  While we plead ignorance, we even suggested they call our Spanish teacher, so she could translate for us.  Anything to get them to move along and make a decision to give us the ticket they weren't really going to give us!  We knew what they wanted from us, and they were not getting it. We asked if we weren't getting a ticket could we then have Ray's license back and leave.  We told them we had a plane to catch (mañana).  They helped us by letting us go after spending fifteen minutes telling us we were getting a ticket.  Not.

Then we just got mad and annoyed.  Oh well!  We spent the day meeting and chatting with neighbors that live nearby in Altos del Maria (small world) while swimming and lounging at the pool, doubling our money on penny slot machines and eating party mix in bed watching reruns with Spanish subtitles.  Practice, practice, practice.  And tomorrow we fly to Virginia where my daughter reports a little more snow has fallen there.  Glad I soaked up some more warmth here today, because there, it is going to be "Siberian temperatures" according to the radio announcer. All is good though, because I
will be spending my next week of retirement at home with my daughter, family and friends.

AS CARNIVAL COMES TO AN END

After my last post, the excitement of Carnival left just as quickly as it came along.  Initially (a week ago or so), Ray and I were going to spend Sunday (one of the better days as we had been told) in the town of Chame getting soaked, dancing and partying with the town.  Greg and Thea were also going to partake in the festivities haha  We stocked up on food and drink for the day and night.  We made sure we went to the grocery store while the shelves were still full.  We filled up our gas tank.  We had been warned.  We walked to Chame and checked out the festivities on Saturday, so we would know what to be prepared for on Sunday.  After seeing the Queen, a few drunks, some families dancing, friends behind the fencing getting drenched, and then catching some souvenirs from the float, we decided Sunday would be better enjoyed poolside.  After all the excitement of Carnival, we needed lazy downtime.

First, we still had Valentines Day dinner to enjoy Saturday night.  Greg and Thea had invited us to their club restaurant at Coronado Golf and Beach Resort.  Dinner at Segundo Piso Restaurant did not disappoint (thank you friends!), even with the two year old toddler that joined his parents for a romantic dinner putting a slight kink in the ambience.  Upon entering the restaurant, we were given chocolates, a rose and a brandy with orange liqueur cocktail to start the night.  There was a set menu, and we ate in all entirety scallops and onions, tuna tartare, raspberry sorbet to cleanse our palette, steak and lobster and raspberry mousse.  Fortunately, there wasn't one shrimp to be found to ruin my meal (allergy).  It was all so good.  Absolutely outstanding.  Ray enjoyed every bite as well.  (We aren't huge seafood lovers, but when given the opportunity, we try it all.)  We walked to the pool area where we floated in hammocks for a short time listening in on the  karaoke party.  Once back to the main street of Coronado, we stopped at Picasso's to join our other friends sharing stories of the day and listening to Cell-U-Lite, an excellent reggae band.

Now we get to Sunday and the lazy days of retirement.  We spent the day at Coronado Bay with Greg and Thea lounging at the mid-level pool (there are three pools, and it was a windy day!) thinking about the wind and zero degree temperatures that my daughter and friends were experiencing in Virginia.  We brought with us all the food and drink we could manage, and I had made that red velvet cake in my crock pot!  We also made sure we had Brownie Brittle on hand with cream cheese icing.  And if that didn't satisfy, there was always ice cream in the freezer.  Delicious!  We decided to watch a movie after dinner and chose "Unbroken".  Historically disturbing, but inspiring in the end.

Once back at Casa Cuarenta, the night was quiet just as it had been Friday and Saturday night.  That is until about 12:30 am, and once again, I heard it only slightly, earplugs in as a just in case, and slept soundly.  Yesterday brought another lazy day in this thing called retirement.  We have noticed traffic picking up on the InterAmerican highway usually around noon, and our drive to Coronado and the pool yesterday took us fifteen or so minutes longer, since the police won't allow turn arounds in the usual place.  Plus, yesterday this one policeman was really directing traffic.  The day before, however, he was merely standing by his motorcycle looking at his cell phone.  And now they have these cardboard cutout policeman standing alongside the highway as well as a deterrent to drivers speeding by...artistic and an absolute deterrent, I know.

Up until noon Monday, there were 117 car accidents and nine traffic or drowning deaths. http://thepanamanews.com/wp/?p=8903  

According to article in link above, 130,000 cars traveled west from Panama City by noon Monday.

Our town of Chame yesterday afternoon had the usual crowd walking the town with teenage boys wearing the same logo t-shirts ("I'm Home, Take Me Drunk") only in different colors.  Others were wearing long pants and jeans soaking wet from being sprayed by the water truck.  I am always so hot just seeing the Panamanians in their long pants and jeans walking the highway, waiting for the bus, or just sitting on their porches.  The Chino (small grocery store owned by Chinese families, and yes, this is what the stores are called here) in town is open, but the entrance to the store has a locked gate.  To buy anything, you have to put your hands through the bars to collect food, drink and to pass money to the cashier.  Families were assembling on porches having what would appear to be BBQ's in the front yard.  In our neighborhood here, above ground pools popped up in the yards, Panamanians opened up their vacation homes, and the loud speakers are cranked up in the back of cars, in front as well as backyards.

A small convenience store that I have never seen open until Carnival time in Chame.  

And then there was today.  Eight inches of fluffy white snow fell on our lake house in Bumpass, VA where Ray will be Thursday night through the weekend, while six inches fell in Northern VA where I will be with my daughter and also my best friends for our annual "spa" weekend.  After going to the gym this morning (the owner was cleaning the pool today, since the staff is off for the holiday--I made sure the doors would be unlocked!), Ray and I decided to celebrate Fat Tuesday today soaking in the warm sun under the brilliant blue sky at our community pool.  Ray and I were the only one's there for the first two hours.  Our sleepy town of Chame was celebrating in the distance playing music for ALL to hear, and occasionally when the speakers grew silent, the band took over (I imagine those standing within the gates were getting soaked from the water trucks).

Getting ready to relax poolside.

But first I have to float (plenty of practice at the lake!).

Tonight, we will kick the night off with drinks, a wonderful Italian meal at one of our favorite restaurants nearby (one of the few open today with it being a Tuesday along with it being a National Holiday), Luna Rosa,  and then to the rooftop of Coronado Bay we go to check out fireworks (this just in---the fireworks were supposedly amazing and shot off the beach area at the whopping time of 7:30 lol--missed them, oh well).  We did have a chance to say quick goodbye to new friends that are leaving to head back to Canada on Friday and to say "see you in a week" to many others that were still having drinks on the rooftop.  A really great group of people have been vacationing here in the interior or have decided to make this their retirement home, also.   Tomorrow, we drive to the city in preparation to fly to Virginia for a snowy week.  One more pool day tomorrow at the hotel, flip flops stay behind, and although it is seventy degrees colder, Ray and I will be soaking up the warmth of our family and friend time at home in Virginia!

FIRST BIG DAY OF CARNIVAL IN OUR SLEEPY TOWN OF CHAME

I guess I should have seen this poster before last night to realize what would be happening in our town and when it would all happen...not that anything really happens on time or according to a schedule in Panama.  But this time, it did.  Last night after a delicious dinner at Los Camisones (http://www.loscamisones.com (grilled Grouper in garlic and butter) with Greg, Thea and their great friends from Florida, Ray and I did a drive by through Chame to see the crowd gathering for the Queen.  There was darkness.  There was really nothing.  It was close to ten pm, and while we saw people walking somewhere, we chose to call it a night.  As seen on this poster today, the Coronation of the Princesses was at eleven pm.  We were a tad bit too early.  Plus our friend never sent the Whatsapp message.  Maybe she went to sleep early, too!  Knowing this group, no way!

Ear plugs in, I fell asleep to no longer hearing the firecrackers popping and music heavy on the bass playing in the background.  On and off when I woke up, I would take out an ear plug, hear the bass and the same noises, but then I was able to drift right back to sleep. This morning, after I tried my hand successfully at making a red velvet cake in my crockpot (since I do not trust my oven to bake anything!), I slathered some sunscreen on, and we walked to the town.  I had my hat.  I was ready for the water.  Even the guard at the gate of our community told us to get ready for the water.  We found where the Queen had been Coronated last night, and we noticed the speakers were aimed in the direction of our house.  I asked a family that

was standing on the stage with a large cooler what time the festivities were to begin.  They told me that at one pm the water trucks would start spraying water on the crowd.  Ray and I picked up a Coca Cola Light, found a tree to sit under, people watched and waited for one pm.  We were about thirty minutes early for the afternoon fun.  The town seemed to be sleeping at first, but then people started walking toward the gated area.  It seems there is a charge to get into the area where the water trucks and stage are (although we had just walked through this area thirty minutes prior).  And there were two policeman standing nearby.  And now, the water was being sprayed at one family.  This was the family that had been standing on the stage earlier with their cooler.  

Here we are waiting under the tree.

Here is the gated area with one family getting hosed down.

Our friend then Whatsapp'd Ray and said her group would let us know when they would be in Chame (around two).  We made the decision not to pay to get into that wild scene just yet (!), and we would take a lunch break.  So much activity causes hunger!  We stopped by our neighbor's house to tell him and another neighbor about our venture into the unknown beyond our gates to Chame.  He wanted to know what the charge was to get to the stage.  I told him it would be my mission to go back to town (this time we will drive) and find out for him.  Looking for a little more Carnival adventures might really have to wait until midnight tonight (or we drive west to Penonome!).  

Here is the traffic on the InterAmerican Highway at two pm today (heading to Coronado beach town):

We went back to the sleepy town, and wow!  This time we drove the car to a shaded spot and parked close to the gated area.  We caught up with the Queen on her float.  The wind was shaking her around and her oversized headdress.  I caught some prizes off the truck and gave them to the children that were standing behind a gated porch.  I kept a bracelet as a souvenir.  Firecrackers popping on the street.  The float gets hooked onto an electrical line.  Ray steers me clear of any mishap.  And now Carnival seems to be picking up.  Our friend Whatsapp'd us and went into the gated area.  We did not.  She has family in Chame.  Per day, per person it costs three dollars to get a wristband.  Once within the gate, you can get wet, dance in front of the truck and buy food and drink.  We saw a drunk man try to saunter through the gate without a wristband or paying, but he was caught and turned away.  We saw plenty of young drunk men wearing t-shirts saying "I'm drunk".  We saw policemen (they were talking to their girlfriends), babies sleeping, and perhaps two other gringos.  We walked the town of Chame, came back to the house for some iced coffee (me), and soon we will meet our friends for a Valentines Day dinner.  Perhaps tonight we will find our friend again and see what's happening within those gates.  And we were told Sunday would be a bigger day, since many people may have worked half a day today or were simply making their way to the interior, so tomorrow's another day...

Dancing and getting soaked

The Queen

I love the little girls that pass out candy and the men helping hold the headdress in the wind.

Interesting crowd

Hot dog/Chorizo on a stick

EL CARNAVAL DE PANAMÁ

Let's get this party started, I think!  I am going to start this post today with just a generalization about Carnival in Panama and then I will post what transpired during the five days of Carnival here in Chame.  My neighbor, Gus, informed us it will get noisy in our sleepy little gated community here.  Noise has never been an issue here.  We see and hear fireworks, and for just as quickly as we notice them, they are gone.  But today, after running to the gym and then to the store for some last minute grocery items, and of course to our house that's being built (!), we came home to music.  Lots of music.  Once inside though, we could hear nothing.  This will change, I'm sure.  I am attributing Carnival to what it is like in Virginia when there is a snow event coming....stock up on bread, milk and toilet paper along with making sure the car is full of gas.  Here the shelves will empty quickly of beer though.

***I will add here that for the past few weeks whenever I may have written that Ray and I were running errands, those errands usually involved the beautiful new home Kevin Painter, his son, Carl, and their team of employees are building for us.  We hope to be in this home early April.  

Back to Carnival week!

Last night, once we returned from Thursday night happy hour at Bahia and eating sausage sandwiches at El Pampero (we wanted to have our friends try this local Panamanian restuarant  before returning to Canada, but FYI, there is no beer or wine served here!), Ray checked his "whatsapp messages".  We have been in contact with a woman that works with Kevin at Azura to connect with her for the Carnival festivities here in Chame.  Her cousin lives right down the road from us.  She told us she would be in our neck of the woods tonight (Friday night) for the selection of the Queen.  So tonight, after dinner at Los Camisones with Greg and Thea with their dear friends from Florida, Ray and I hope to park our car at Casa Cuarenta and meet up with this girl, her boyfriend and a swarm of other Carnival goers.

***And here is information about Whatsapp http://www.whatsapp.com in case this is an app unknown to blog readers out there.  It is an app that allows us to exchange messages without having to pay for SMS (short message service).  It's available on smartphones, and most everyone who has a smartphone here uses this app.  

Here is what I have read and heard about Carnival in the past week or so.   Every town has a Carnival Celebration.  It happens yearly forty days before the Christian Holy Week.  Las Tablas in Panama is the most famous of all towns to celebrate Carnival.  Las Tablas is in the Azuero Peninsula.  We have friends that live with their children in this area, so kudos to them for getting out and partying with the thousands of visitors that will keep their town alive for the next five days!  It is like Mardi Gras in New Orleans and celebrated on the same dates.  It has been celebrated here since 1900, and it always starts four days before Ash Wednesday.  Work stops.  Employees will not return to work until next Wednesday at one pm, if then.  Most will just show up on Thursday.  Floats, queens, masks, costumes, confetti, water canons, dancing and drinking are expected daily.  In Las Tablas, there is a competition, or rivalry, between high (Calle Arriba) and low street (Calle Abajo) for the best costumes and most creative floats.  My friends, the Shermans (The Panama Pause--https://www.facebook.com/panamapause), are on Calle Abajo (low street).  

The schedule of Carnivale is like this:  tonight will be the selection of the Carnival Queen and her attendants.  She will reign over the daily parades and official activities.  She will change her outfits at least ten times.  

Saturday (tomorrow), there will be a Queen Coronation (she will be crowned).  Dancing and partying will go until dawn on the streets and inside bars and hotels.  The tradition is "mojadera" or getting drenched in water will start, and in the tropics, getting sprayed by a hose might be a welcome respite. "Cuelcos" is the event where the large water trucks come and blast music and surround people dancing in the street spraying water, and this is where we should expect to get sprayed with tons of water.  People in town might also dump koolaid, beer, soapy water or anything else they find nearby on the those walking by and partying.  (Mardi Gras with beads being thrown seems a little tame, and is now on our bucket list!)

Sunday, midday, there is a large "pollera" parade.  This is Panama's national costume, and thousands of women and girls will be dressed to the nines in their polleras marching in parades.

Monday, it all continues, and Tuesday, the National Holiday, is the biggest celebration day.  There will be large parades in the largest of towns, and the party will finish in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Throughout the days, there will be street vendors selling food and alcohol to keep everyone fed and watered, and although this is a family affair, I am told I will see amazing sights.  Oh dear.

And just before sunrise on Ash Wednesday, the Queen will lead the last parade.  It is a funeral procession known as the Burial of the Sardine.  This tradition started in Spain.  A symbolic sardine is carried in a coffin by costumed mourners.  The sardine will be buried, and this act signifies the end of the partying.  It's now the beginning of Lent.  The fasting and sacrifice begins in preparation for Easter.  This usually concludes on the beach, and crowds will stay up all night to see Carnival to its close.

I have a baseball hat ready, since there will not be any good hair days here!  I have my Tervis ready to fill with Seco and juice or Ron Abuelo and Sangria (might as well party and be happy with the best of them).  I know to wear things that are bound to get soaked and, for nighttime, I have ear plugs, sleep aid medicaments, and a open mind about this huge party that I am happy to have in my backyard, but I think I am crazy for wanting it to be there, also!  

Water Canons (sometimes Kool Aid is sprayed out as well)

One example of the elaborate costumes

The "pollera"

REWARDS FROM THE BLOG!

Not only did Ray and I have the opportunity to have breakfast with our friends Nancy and Paul, Owners of Sunrise Sunset Bed and Breakfast in Sora, this morning, but we also had the chance to meet Brenda and Dave and enjoy conversation with them before they set off for the day to El Valle. 

Go here to read and learn more about Sunrise Sunset Guest House Bed and Breakfast >>>>     http://www.sunrisesunsetgh.com)

Brenda has been following my blog, and we have been email pen pals, for several months.  She is now here for ten days touring Panama as a possible retirement destination.  Not only did we have a lovely morning enjoying Nancy and Paul's delectable breakfast (I need recipes!) and staring at the amazing views they have looking out onto the Pacific Ocean along with up at the Machu Picchu Mountain in Altos Del Maria, but we had good conversation trading ins and outs of Panama.  After reading my post about Woody's House of Hope, Brenda wanted to contribute to the young women living in the house in some way.  She gave me two large tote bags full of school supplies for Woody's House of Hope, and she also gave Nancy and I gifts from Canada of Ice Wine.  Ice Wine, as explained to me today by Brenda, is a dessert wine that is produced from the grapes being frozen while they are still on the vine.  I echoed Nancy's comment of "the sweeter, the better".  The production of it is difficult in that the grapes must be picked at a moment's notice when it's cold enough.  There is a limited supply of this wine, and Canada and Germany produce the most of it.  It truly was a lovely way to spend a Wednesday morning.  Go to the link below to read more about Ice Wine.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_wine  

Before getting on with the rest of the day, I also have to give a huge shout out to Nancy and Paul for the wonderful meal they served us.  This is much needed information for all those that are looking for a clean, fresh, homey, and beautiful place to stay when visiting Panama.  First there was a bottomless cup of coffee for Carol Rockefeller over here (I guess soon I will have to explain that nickname given to me--have I explained it already?), all I could eat food such as sour cream coffee cake, biscuits and sausage gravy (which I have always declined when at Ray's mom's house, sorry now, but I did have the gravy on the side so as not to destroy my love for biscuits, if I didn't share the love for the gravy), and Nancy's to die for breakfast cheesecake.  Eggs were offered, but who wants eggs when we can have all of that and more!  Oh, I forgot to add that Paul made us "fresh off our trees" fruit smoothies!

  I hope Brenda and Dave have an inspiring ten days here in Panama.  I have been totally inspired and delighted by the friendliness of everyone that I have met here in Panama these past five months and also those I have met through this blog and the blogging world.  Besides the friendships, blogging has provided me with valuable information about Panama, I have been taught many new things and learned important lessons, and to top it off (the best part), I am able to give back even if just a little bit here and there  to Woody's House of Hope!

Coronado and Pacific Ocean

Me, Dave and Brenda

After our visit in Sora (this is very close to Altos del Maria community, another large expat community about thirty minutes from our house), Ray and I had a few errands to run and then I made a bee line to the gym.  Can you blame me!  Once again, I had the place to myself even though it was noon.  There were quite a few men floating on noodles in the pool with women reading books on their tablets.  With Carnivale approaching on Friday, many towns are getting the gear up and ready.  Capira yesterday had the large statues lining the street ready for the parade.  On the way to the gym, there were men uprighting a large overhead metal frame advertising Panamanian beer, Balboa Ice.  This is the road to Punta Chame beach and Nitro City.  There is another one up inside Gorgona near the entrance to Bahia Condominiums.
Back to valuable information (even though writing about food is always a great thing) about Panama City, and things that have to be done when living in Panama (required or just to make life easy).  Ray and I ran into the city to accomplish a few more errands with one of them to get a Panapass for our car.  Here in  Panama there are two different toll cards.  There is one for the Corredor Sur and one for the Corredor Norte, and now these two systems are going to merge into one with the Panapass.  The Panapass is an electronic toll collection system.   Every car needs to have this installed by July, 2015 (the month keeps changing, of course).  It's a sticker that goes onto the car (in our case, it was stuck onto our sunroof window), and this will allow us to drive right through the toll booths (like the E-Z Pass along the East Coast of the US).  There are two installation centers (one near Albrook Mall, and the other is near the Atlapa Convention Center), and the installation is free.  We no longer will need to recharge the toll cards at the toll booths, and we gave authorization to have the charges billed to our credit card.  There is a another option if you don't have a credit card or don't want to automatically have your credit card charged which is a pay as you go system.  This is supposedly going to ease traffic during rush hour in Panama City.  We chose Atlapa Convention Center as our destination for having the sticker applied, since this center was close to the other areas we had to stop at throughout the day.  The good is that it is very orderly at this station.  And there was the usual person there selling water, soda and Gatorade in case you get thirsty while you wait in your car in line.  The bad is that no matter what...practice patience.  No one is in any hurry.  We arrived to the station at 10:30 and left at 11:15.  First thing is being placed into a line by a man wearing a security vest, and then, once in this line, it's anyone's guess what line of the next three will be the first to move.  Just pick a line.  It's a lot like being at the airport and trying to decide if you should go to the left or right through security (or standing on line at an amusement park and having to que up--the rewards of this are more fun though).  Once you are pulled up to the blue booth (like a drive through window at a fast food restaurant), the nice man then took our Cedula card (or have a copy of your passport and title to car with you) and put information into his computer.  A girl (this is the slowest walk ever from the booth to the passenger side door) comes out of the booth like a turtle (our girl did, but maybe the others had more spring in their step) and places the sticker on the window.  Forms are filled out, and there are four places to sign your name on these forms.  This part takes all of ten minutes.  Once you drive away from the booth, there is a stoplight.  This light picks up the sticker, and if all is in good working condition, you get a green light to go (this is the test portion).

Approaching the blue booths

Pick a line, any line

The red light ahead is the light that will test the sticker.

Many blue booths and many cars 

This girl puts our sticker on our window

Having checked this off our list of things to do, we then stopped and shopped at Discovery Center, PriceSmart, and then once back in our area, we decided to stop in at La Teca for Happy Hour.  At first I had no real desire to go last night, but Greta Sherman was signing her book, The Humpty Dumptys.  As she told me last night, it is going to be a disturbing read since it is based on her life about child abuse, but the outcome is good obviously, since she was there signing books!  She resides in Kentucky and also here in Coronado, and I recognized her as being part of the TV show, House Hunters International.  I thought I would go to support her and her newest book along with Ray and I meeting other people at happy hour.  And it didn't disappoint.  The last few times Ray and I had been to La Teca for happy hour, it had grown quiet in the rainy season.  Summer season has this place hopping, and we spoke with many people that frequent the restaurant not once, but twice a week.  We will have to go and enjoy dinner there sometime soon. 

Carnivale is approaching this Friday which means heavy traffic, crowded beaches and grocery stores, parties, loud music and fireworks.  Ray and I have been frequenting restaurants this past week visiting with old and new friends catching up with Greg and Thea at Gourmet Pizza and meeting their dearest friends from the US along with dining with our newest friends from   Canada (and winter neighbors here in Panama!) at Bluwater Bistro.  This is all as a just in case we decide to stay locked in and be shut ins this coming weekend! 

Tomorrow Ray and I are driving to Penonome (to beat the Carnivale crowd on the road) to Woody's House of Hope.  I picked up the donation box tonight from Picasso's that was stuffed to the rim with bags and bags of donated supplies.  I have the school supplies donated by Brenda to drop off as well!  And I want to add a final coat of paint onto the one wall that was shortchanged some paint a week ago.  I am so excited for MC to see the donated supplies!  And then we may batten down the hatches and camp out here in our home in Chame for the holidays.  Our town is having parties, and our hope is to walk the town and see the Queen crowned, or to see something festive at some point.  We merely have to leave the house and walk a few blocks.  It is our first Carnivale in Panama, and our only Carnivale in this town of Chame.  In another post, I will eventually blog about our move to a town called Rodeo Viejo.  I will blog about our mixing it up a bit and deciding to buy a new house in a community called Azura rather than "living here for six months and perhaps El Valle for six months and then maybe Boquete for six months".  Words spoken a year ago by the both of us.  But also said was "who knows what we might end up doing" in this thing called retirement. 

Go to this link for a preview of our house--the Anton model--and the community we are moving into within the next two months >>>   http://www.azurapanama.com

RETIREMENT CONTINUES

After our day at House of Hope last Saturday, Ray and I met up with Greg and Thea along with two other couples at Pantay restaurant.  None of us had been to this restaurant before, and with a jazz band playing, we thought it would be a great place to enjoy a good meal and conversation with our new friends the day before leaving for Cartagena.  The band was wonderful, but the venue was a little too small.  It's nice to have music as "background music", so you can still hear each other talk.  The band should have had a little bit more space, in my opinion.  But I enjoyed my meal of fresh grilled snapper, while Ray had a good dish of Panamanian wings and french fries that I could enjoy, too.  And again, it was fun getting to know everyone a little bit more.

The next morning we took a quick forty-five minute flight to Colombia (on Copa Airline, we were given food and drink for that short of a flight!), and for four days, we enjoyed the Super Bowl in our condominium along with watching half time and almost to the finish of the exciting game at an excellent Mexican restaurant around the corner (yes, Ray won the pool), Colombian food and Colombian super thin crusted and fabulous  pizza (thank you, Greg, for my coffee), walking and shopping in Boca Grande and inside the Walled City, drinking rum on the Chiva party bus and a little dancing in a club, a tour on the Hop On Hop Off Bus (the only way to go to get your bearings straight), and I can't forget spa services for $30,000-140,000 Colombian Pesos (this equals $15-70).  The money exchange was humorous, since we were told things cost "cien mil dolares" or one hundred thousand Colombian dollars (or $42).  Lunch one day cost $8000 CP, or $3.50.  It was hot and sunny, but a lot of the time, there were wonderful breezes.  The people were very friendly, although there were a few too many friendly vendors hassling us along the way.

While at the pool, I received an email from my dental office here in Coronado. They scheduled me for an appointment to get my brand new crown on Friday (the receptionist had written down that I would be out of town for a few days).   I added that to my busy list of things to do (humor there).
On Thursday, we shopped quickly and unsuccessfully for emerald jewelry before hopping on the plane.  By the way, the airport in Cartagena is small and easy to navigate.  Once in Panama City, we stopped at our insurance broker's office, and then we found a new Italian restaurant for dinner.  This was the first place we encountered difficulty with our Jubilado discount.  The waiter laughed when we told him we had the Pensionado Visa.  He called the manager/owner over to review the law with us.  We discussed the law with him.  He told us that I had to be 55 years and older and Ray had to be 60 years or older to receive this benefit.  We looked way too young to him haha No worries though.  We had a smartphone with us, Greg pulled up the law, and we received the discount.  While the young waiter was very apologetic and explained to the owner their misunderstanding of the law, the owner didn't show his face again.  This will be go into my TripAdvisor Review naturally.  Kudos to the waiter, and what an excellent restaurant we found called Stizzoli.  http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g294480-Panama_City_Panama_Province.html
After dinner, we tried to see a movie at MultiCentro Plaza.  The movie we wanted to see "Unbroken", was listed online but it had just left the theater the day before, and they hadn't updated the website.  Imagine that.  Being used to this by now, we enjoyed ice cream instead, and once back to Casa Cuarenta, the four of us watched "Scandal".  We facetimed with our daughter that night for an hour, and then we decided we should go through the shipped boxes to ensure no broken items.  All was secure and whole.  Shout out to Hilldrup International Movers and Canal Movers for a wonderful job of packing and shipping my precious belongings.  And yes, I will be needing, or maybe just wanting, everything we had shipped here.

Back to the real world of retirement, I went to my dental appointment Friday morning at nine am sharp.  Okay, honestly, I was ten minutes early (horrors!).  The door opens at nine and only when you realize you should ring the bell (the assistant was in the back).  The receptionist walks in a little after nine ready for the day, and I am seated at around 9:15.  I feel like I am back in the States.  My crown sat ready and waiting for me on my model on the tray in front of me.

#24 in the States, #31 here

 With the stone being blue, my crown really looked yellow (yellow stone is used in the States).  Dr. Wong came right into the operatory as soon as I was seated, he tried the crown in and made adjustments.  I told him which tooth (#9) was hitting where on my crown.  He told me about the numbering system used in Central America and Mexico (our tooth numbers are #1-32, while here they are #11-18, #21-28, #31-38 and so on, and children's teeth are numbered as well.  In the US, children's teeth are lettered "a-t", so there you go!).  He knew what I meant, because he has to know  all the numbering systems with the many foreigners being treated in his office everyday.  Back to my tooth and crown though---he sat me up to look at my crown, and I noticed it was still "long in the tooth".  He said "oh, I mean the color".  Well, the color was perfect.  Great shade!  Not quite so yellow in my mouth.  Then, he reclined the chair and told me that he first adjusts the crown and bite, next is the color check, and then it is all about the height and shape of the crown.  He didn't like the shape.  He asked me how I felt about the crown, and I told him I was comparing it to forty five year old teeth next to it, and while it stood out a bit, I also know how difficult it is to match one crown to one natural tooth in the front.  He told me he didn't like the shape, it was too bulky, and he was sending it back to the lab.  Perfect!  I am liking Dr. Wong more and more!  He will be in New York City while I am enjoying Carnivale here, but maybe I will get my crown before he leaves...or not.  This temporary crown, knock on wood, is doing just fine so far.

Walks on the beach, back to the gym, Happy Hour at Trypp (which might be no more, since there have been some change in ownership, service was poor, confusion of NON-happy hour prices--a glass of white wine was either $4 or $6 depending on the waiter--and lack of band or music), dinner with good friends at Bluwater Bistro (no pork chops to be found at the El Rey grocery store where the owner shops, but the best beef ever for Ray, and a huge piece of Coconut Crusted Corvina fish for me!)

and another dinner at Luna Rossa the next night (more fish for me, and more beef for Ray) followed by listening to  "Santana" music at Picasso's and drinking Sangria.  Ray and I were near Farallon on Friday (about twenty minutes or so west of Coronado area), and rather than going back to Beirut restaurant for lunch, we tried a new place called Woody's Beach Bar and Grill (where House of Hope gets the name Woody's from).  This is one of the few restaurants on the beach.  It pulls a lot of vacationers from the Decameron Resort and Sheraton, since these visitors can walk right up the beach to the restaurant.  I ordered grilled red snapper and asked for the head to be removed ("sin cabeza"), and Ray had nachos.  I think I have had my fill of fish this past weekend!

View of the beach from Woody's Beach Bar and Grill

View of the beach to the left towards Decameron Resort

Walking up to Woody's from the beach.

View to the right

Lots of seating here and large bar

Also, while out at Carlitos with our friends for lunch yesterday (yummy empanadas), we drove them to the Rio Hato fish market.  They are in Panama for just two more weeks, and since they are without a car until they rent one for a day or two here and there, we wanted to show them a few areas west of Coronado.  At they fish market, they purchased fresh red snapper and corvina filleted right there, fruit and vegetables (beautiful eggplant and green beans!) for under $25.

Prepping the red snapper

As seen in the ladies room  

Another walk on the beach today and just a lazy day today with more lazy days to come in this thing called retirement!