IT'S A WRAP!

What a fun way to wrap up the past four days plus three hours with the crew and a few friends today!  I suppose fun is a good way to put it, because it did seem to be more of a lighthearted day.  The day was shorter in content (Ray and I didn't have to stay with the crew the entire day), but the hours were still the same, since we had the "reveal housewarming party" at the end of the day.  But first I have to say again, Ray and I are wiped out.  This is hard work for two retirees!

I guess when I thought I was working hard the past thirty years treating patients over and over and over again, day in and day out, I was mindlessly working or perhaps kicking back and taking it easy, because this HHI filming has been exhausting, and we are not doing a whole lot of anything!  I will say it is mentally nerve wracking, because while I feel I can find it easy to take a decent picture on camera, I seem to stutter a lot in front of Mike's video camera.  And I am usually never at a loss of what to say, but for the past five days, I have not had a whole lot of intelligent things coming out of my mouth.  And yes, I did fall into the trap of saying "looking for open spaces, so we can entertain friends".  The part about having friends over and entertaining is true though.  Ray and I want to enjoy this house with everyone.  But I don't think I ever said "I don't like the paint or the countertops".  I hope.  My point about the work involved is that once my head has hit the pillow, I am out like a light for eight hours!  I am dead asleep.  I am sure it has a lot to do with the sunshine and heat.

 Before then, This morning we all met at the chosen property (!) at 8:30 am, loaded up on coffee and within an hour we had filmed the interview about the decision Ray and I had made and our choice of homes.  We also discussed how we have fared these past few weeks, or past week, or maybe this past month (however long they decide to make it later on in editing) living here finally!  We then set up to film our day at the beach (Ray and I took the crew to Punta Barco, since it is really just ten minutes away exactly from our garage to sand), and from there, we spent time with the mostly Panamanian weekenders as well as surfers.  It was bright and hot.  It was more driving up and down the hill approaching the beach, walking up to the beach, walking on the beach, getting our feet wet, putting our umbrella up (all the while Chris held a rain umbrella to shelter him from the sun), setting up the chairs, walking and talking some more and so on!  We tried to tie in a face time chat with Carly, because this is what we had discussed during our back story with her February (how easily accessible we would be from Panama with all the wonderful technology we have now).  But Ray and I were too shaded.  So we wrapped it up at the beach after a little more filming of activity along the beach, and once the crew was finished with the B roll filming and lunch, they arrived back at our house to film the big reveal party!  But wait, first we had to cut a pineapple and get the Sangria ready (we did the preparations last night and finished it off today).  We had to discuss the party, and we managed to sneak in a chat with Carly.  Interesting day with face time today though---lack of connection several times.  Of course, the camera is rolling and nothing.  After a few tries, there was Carly!  We talked to her about our guests that were getting ready to arrive (they were in the guest bedroom signing release forms), and we cored and cut a pineapple.  Then we filmed Carly on the video chat (more angles), and the guests were allowed to come out of the bedroom!  I should write here that a few weeks ago I asked the Producer in New York City via email about the "reveal party".  Should I invite friends over?  If so, on which of the four days should they come to the house?  And what time?  How many should I invite to the party?  His response was that it was a great idea (he acted like he had never seen HHI before), and perhaps we could incorporate filming preparations for the party into the show.  HHI would provide flowers and fruit for us to display and cut up for the Sangria.  As the shoot approached, we were then told to have everyone over to the house at 5:00.  This scene would be from 5-6:30.  Then, by filming other scenes yesterday, we were told 4:00.  Then today, it was moved up to 3:00.  This is a shout out of a big thank you to those few friends that we were able to invite being super flexible with the time!  This is also a note to say I wish I could have invited everyone that I was talking to about the "reveal party", but after experiencing these past few days, I definitely understand why even more than ten people would have been a little too much for this scene.  Having more than ten friends over will have to wait until we settle into the house more and have some outdoor furniture as well.  And also, once we are back from vacation!  

Back to the show though--after our face time chat with Carly, and for the next ten minutes or so, the camera was filming whatever it was filming--I had stopped paying attention.  It will be great fun to see who shows up on the show, or perhaps all the guests make it into the scene!  All I know is it was then those beautiful words of "I think we got it all, Mike, don't you" from Elizabeth, and it was a wrap!  After another busy day of seemingly doing nothing, Ray and I are ready for that vacation from retirement!

***I don't know when the air date will be (six months?), and I also don't know when I will get a copy of the show.  I was told to pester the NYC office, because they haven't really connected with the contributors.  Unsure if I really have to see myself crying like a baby on camera or telling Ray those words "you're right", but I am thinking a party with more than six friends is in order with a little more Sangria to go around--that will make it all better!

John hangs out with the crew.

Tricia talks with Elizabeth.

Fortunately, we have bar stools and a couch!

Ray catches up with Judie.

STILL IN KEEPING HOUSE HUNTERS INTERNATIONAL SHOW VAGUE

Another day in the life of "Allison and Ray buy a retirement home in Panama" take 471.  Cut.
In keeping with the element of surprise for the House Hunters International show, like with the other properties, I won't go into too many details about the property we toured today.  What I will say is that going into this HHI experience, we did tell the casting director many months ago what we were both looking for in our retirement home in Panama.  The property we say today covered many of the things that Ray and I were both looking for in a home.  And this time it was a bit comical to me to pull up to the home and see the owners having to leave for a few hours!

We met the crew at the El Rey grocery store in Coronado at eight am, and we followed them to the property.  Stephanie was sent on a coffee run, and the crew set the car up with a Go Pro camera so we could then drive up to the house again.  First, the camera is on Ray and I, and then it is turned to film the road and neighborhood.  Just like yesterday, and the day before--drive to the property, talk about the neighborhood, repeat...we don't see the inside of the house or the rooms until we are ready to tour them, so there is a real reaction to what we think as we walk in.  In a good way, and in a bad way, we react differently at different times.  Our reactions will then be sliced and diced and edited for good television.  We do the same for the outside area.

Next, Roberto greets us at the door, and we spend the next five hours touring the home.  However, about ninety minutes of this time is getting B roll for the show.  This means that Mike and Chris are staying pretty busy with the camera getting shots of the interior and exterior while Elizabeth is taking pictures of us for the HGTV website.  During this time, we read, listen to music and, today, we watched Roberto take a nap.  Hey, get one in while you can!  Today, Elizabeth also read to us an article about Bruce Jenner's interview with Diane Sawyer last night (his transgender story).  We had current events discussion to catch up with what has happened in the world these past three days (mostly about the earthquake in Nepal).  We reviewed the day's schedule and then we made a few more changes to lighten up the load for tomorrow just a little bit more.

After filming the outside of the property, we drove to lunch to a restaurant Ray and I have been to several times for a quick meal.  Stephanie placed the crews order ahead of time, and then it was up to Ray and I to order our meal on camera.  Oh, but first we have to walk into the restaurant a few different ways.  The restaurant was quite crowded, but for the most part everyone kept to themselves.  There was one woman sitting nearby that made sure she greeted us--she seemed to be enjoying "the show".  We all filled up on Panamanian food, hydrated ourselves with water and passionfruit juice, and then dashed off to Coronado Beach Club!  This is where we would film the big reveal! What house will Ray and I decide to buy in Panama!

Although it was more overcast then sunny by now, the humidity was high.  The fortunate thing was that we were walking on the beach, and there was a breeze.  The unfortunate thing was then we went to sit down for more discussion, as in what to do, what to do, there were no breezes.  Boy, where was my assistant now when I needed someone?  I must not have looked too raggedy, because they kept filming the scenes.  Or I did, since this is reality television, I am supposed to look "real".  I am sure I will look like a "hot mess" when this show airs, but I am trying to make light of this whole experience.  Even with a possible surfing lesson put into tomorrow's schedule or whatever the Producer throws our way, Ray and I have thoroughly enjoyed the camaraderie among the crew and with our realtor, Roberto.  Sure, it's time consuming and an invasion of our privacy (!).  We knew this when deciding to be a part of the show many months ago.  But with this experience of being on the television show, House Hunters International,  we like that we are able to show Panama and this area (the interior of Panama) along with the communities surrounding our new home.  We will be introducing our realtor and his company along with the development of the other properties we have toured in the past three days.  There is a lot of satisfaction in realizing as well as accomplishing the goals Ray and I set for ourselves many months ago and then attaining them in this thing called retirement.  The show just makes it all that much more real, if that can even be said about a "reality" television show!

We try to stay out of the way and awake during B roll.

Hanging out waiting for all the rooms to be filmed in many different angles.

Elizabeth reads to us the current events.

Scouting out the beach club for our decision reveal!

A VAGUE DAY TWO

A much easier day of filming today, since we were filming a property close to home.  And basically, the filming was the same--driving up in the car, talking about the property with Roberto, walking into the property with a big "WOW", and showing our hands in 18,329 shots!  Opening drawers, looking in pantry closets, admiring the dishwasher and modern amenities, repeat...it has been very interesting to watch the process of filming a thirty minute television show.  And when we walked into the home this morning, the builder of this property had coffee and pastries for the crew.  He allowed filming even though it meant shutting down his office for a few hours this morning.  We spent a very short time touring the home, and then Ray, Roberto and I were told we could leave for fifteen or so minutes while filming of the home without us was done (this is so that the lighting is the same).  That fifteen minutes was an hour plus!  Time didn't really fly by though.  We were then called back to film a few other areas of the house (I am being vague on purpose so as not to spoil the surprise or ruin the ending here haha), took a break for lunch and filmed a bit of the reveal.  For lunch, we enjoyed Don Chacho's rotisserie chicken and greek salad.  This is a restaurant in Coronado that used to have excellent chicken dishes apparently, but it is now trying to be billed as a "steakhouse".  Ray and I have not dined here.   I thought the chicken was deliciously moist and seasoned very well.  In my opinion.  I had a few cookies and brownies to offer for dessert, and there was more coffee.  The 'beach scene" was then discussed, and Roberto was able to leave for the day with his wife, Marla. Ray and I were told to take another break.  Once the front, back, ins and outs of this property were filmed, we were off to film a few Panamanian experiences and adventures we have participated in since arriving here.

The day finished a little earlier than yesterday, so Ray and I were able to enjoy several hours at Sukha Bar and Restaurant.  We sat at a table with ten others (we arrived and turned a table for six into a table for twelve) enjoying dinner.  There is now a fuller dinner menu with steak (we were told it is excellent beef), fish, chicken and salads.  Of course, true to Panamanian fashion, the first thing Ray ordered was not available, but then we split a delicious meal of chicken with peach sauce, potatoes and salad (always have a backup).  Sangria and red wine were right there with it!  And as usual, this day of touring just one home in Panama was a very tiring activity.  Tomorrow, we have one more property to look out and another activity to enjoy, and then, we make the big decision.  Stay tuned!  For now, this retiree needs some rest from retirement.

Ray gets miked up.

Roberto takes a break to work.

HOUSE HUNTERS TAKE ONE

This past Tuesday at two o'clock, our house was complete!  The microwave was perfectly installed, gas was connected to the oven, another hole was dug in the front yard for a palm tree while two were dug in the back on Monday for two other trees.  Shrubs that were transferred over the weekend do not look happy (shock), so they will eventually be replaced, and internet was set up along with TV!  We will use this service for about six months and hopefully within that time frame, Cable Onda will have run cables throughout the subdivision.  I have washed and dried clothes, washed a load of dishes (new), and run the coffeemaker.  I have to yet to use the stove, oven or microwave, but hot dog, Ray and I have a home in Panama!  Such a huge accomplishment!

While at our friend's house for dinner the other night, there was discussion about moving to Panama and building a life here.   We have lived here nine months along with one other couple, while the other two couples have lived here five years.  It was interesting to hear about their accomplishments along with their frustrations in the house building process, and even more interesting to hear what their final straw would have been when moving into their house.  The point at which you just cannot explain anything further, try to change anything (why?), or have something corrected or done in a timely fashion.  Was it with the actual design and construction of the house, the installation of materials, the delivery of furniture, the challenge of speaking the language to get everything done or all of the above?  We also learned that the one couple is very good friends with our landlords (a small world/country!), so before we left, we made plans for the six of us to have dinner one night when our landlords arrive to Panama.

On our way to dinner, we stopped by our furniture maker's shop to inquire about our dresser.  We cannot have Cruze bring it here until May simply because there isn't a time in the next week or so that we will be here during the day to accept delivery of it.  What we gathered from Cruze is that the stain was not the right color, and there was another color, but it was the wrong color, and so on and so forth.  So we will wait for the dresser.  The future restauranteur that also builds furniture came out from the back room and gave Ray and I a styrofoam cup filled with some kind of frozen mango yummy goodness.  He wanted us to try it, because he would be having it in his restaurant.  Such a nice guy!  Everyone in that shop is super sweet and patient with us trying to learn the language.  Let's just hope I have a dresser soon!

But while I am lacking a dresser,  I have three beautiful, unexpected drawers that were built into a shelving unit in my closet.  Ray was leaving them empty, so I snatched them up for the time being and pushed the suitcase aside.  We are also without patio furniture, but I remembered that I have these awesome beach chairs, so I sat outside in the breeze (we had a slight breeze!) reading a book and watching the cows run in front of the mountain.  We do not have a dining room table, but the six bar stools will suffice, and we have yet to cook a meal here, so why do we need a space to dine right now?  In good time.  House Hunters International filming started late yesterday afternoon and, perhaps, they will "stage" a dining area?

 With the start of HHI yesterday, our back story was filmed and our interview took place in our Chame rental home.  It was the shortest day with the crew.  Thankfully, the Producer, Elizabeth, and the Cameraman, Mike, are two of the four crew members filming our story in Panama.  They were with us at the lake house filming with Carly in February.  Along with Elizabeth and Mike, Chris, is the Sound man, and Stephanie is the "fixer".  She is the Production Assistant and has been all over the world, along with the others, filming different television shows as well as being part of the crew on movie sets.  Today through Saturday we started touring three possible properties that we are considering buying along with visiting our Spanish teacher for a lesson, El Pampero for the Spanish speaking restaurant experience, and taking time out to sit on the beach.  There will be a reveal decision filmed at Coronado Golf Resort.  Along the way, Ray and I will visit every Happy Hour in town!  haha

First, I am assuming House Hunters International is understood by all.  Let me explain what I know of it, or what I learned so long ago when I simply googled the ins and outs of buying a house on national television in a foreign country.  HHI is an American reality television show that airs on HGTV channel.  I have yet to find this channel with our cable package in Panama.  The premise is that a family, couple or individual searches for a new home in a foreign country with a realtor.  There are three properties featured in the show.  More often than not, the buyers of the home have already decided on which of the three properties they want to put an offer in for, and they have purchased the home.  The final minutes of the thirty minute show reveals what home the buyer purchased and how they made it their home.  It is a reality television show.  People are sought out by being far along in the process of buying a home.  Viewers are privy to the contributors (me and Ray in this case) setting a budget, touring properties, and then discussing the pros and cons of the properties.

Yesterday was, I hope, the only grueling day we would experience over the next four days of filming the show.  The crew arrived at our rental house at two pm.  They wanted to interview Ray and I, and then we were asked to talk about life in Panama.  How have we fared in Panama so far, how have we enjoyed the Chame area where we chose to rent our first home, and and how have we found our rental home to fit our needs of living in Panama these past few months.  To keep noise to a minimum, the air conditioning unit and the ceiling fans had to be turned off completely.  It was so hot.  And let's throw in there extremely humid.  During a quick change of camera lenses, I put my head in the freezer (after ducking into the bedroom for a cold blast of air).  I also encouraged Elizabeth to hold onto a freezer pack.  There were, as usual, no cross breezes coming through any windows so opening them was not an option.  Plus, wind makes noise.  But in one scene, Ray and I are discussing our appointment with Roberto, our realtor.  We "hesitantly" cracked open two beers during this scene!  It's all we had left in the house.  We had left beers in the refrigerator on purpose for our landlord. And then Ray is shown watching television, and I am reading my book on the hammock outside--in my pretty sundress.  You know, it's my usual attire when lying in a hammock.  And then the sky opened up, and the rain came pouring down sideways.  The thunder was intense with loud crackling and booming--for all of fifteen minutes.  Once the rain and mostly the noise subsided, the exterior shots of the house could then be filmed, and we were done with the day.  With that part, at least.

Ray and I then went to Picasso's to meet our friends for dinner.  An expat was singing, so we were determined to stay and enjoy his live music.  We had never seen him play before, so while we ate burgers and chicken stir fry, we met up with more friends, and also chatted with the HHI crew that had arrived for dinner.  We had had such a leisurely morning forgetting to do laundry while we hung out waiting to get the day started with HHI, so once home, we knew we were faced with chores.  We also had a wonderful face time chat with Carly.  She wanted to hear all about our first day back with the HHI crew, and we, of course, wanted to hear about her week.  She went on to bake cookies for Administrative Assistant Appreciation week, and we crashed.

This morning we had to be in Coronado at eight am.  We have three properties we are looking at in the coming days.  We had our "back story" interview in our rental, but Roberto is then showing us homes in Gorgona and Coronado.  We are also going to look at the model homes in the Azura community of Rodeo Viejo.  Today, we stayed in Coronado with Roberto.  He is such a pleasure to work with, and he really made the day go by quickly!  He and his wife, Marla, were on HHI in 2013 as contributors so he understands the format.  They have both been fantastic to work with these past seven months, and this experience, even just based on today, was a joy.  It was a long day, with a lunch break at Coronado Cafe, but the seven of us made the most of it and filled it with a lot of laughs.  At the end of the day, the sunset was filmed (B roll as they call it which to me mostly means Ray and I are not part of the scene), we drank wine, and ate chicken wings that our friends had brought over to us.  Twelve hours later, Ray and I settled into our big comfy couch preparing ourselves for our second full day of HHI in this time that is seeming not so much like retirement right now.

Roberto from United Country Realty Panama discussing our wish list.

FROM SETTLEMENT TO SETTLING IN SOON

WOO HOO!  Seven months of watching our house be built, and it came to completion last Tuesday.  Ray and I could start unloading five car loads of our stuff into the house!  And he said we didn't have a lot to move!  Actually, it was pretty easy.  Each day last week we would take a little bit more of our things over to the new house.  We had to wait for the mattresses to be delivered on Friday, so we knew we would not be completely in the house until this weekend.  As each day passed, another task could be checked off the list.  We had things sorted in our minds (or Ray did for the most part and kudos to him for taking the brunt of the stress of organizing things in his mind more than I did--I was having the Panamanian perspective of letting things happen when they happen), but we had to wait for things to come to us.  And that can be a hard thing for us.  Everyone knows how we are by now.  But here, things get done when they get done.  This house is an exception though.  Seven months to build is fantastic!

But before we moved in, we had to meet the lawyer on Monday to settle on the house.  This lawyer comes to Coronado from Panama City two, sometimes three, times a week.  She is extremely busy, but she is also very friendly and professional.  While we waited outside for our appointment, we met three other expats and chatted about Panama, of course.  We did not want to sit inside and wait, because the office is small and we would feel like we were intruding on the appointment ahead of us.  Wow, the humidity has found its way to Panama!  It is a tropical country with the start of rainy season.  The winds have died down.  The rain, along with thunder and lightning, has arrived finally.  It is exactly like what we are used to experiencing in Virginia in the lazy, hot and humid days of late summer.  I have never felt the humidity here in Panama on any of our previous trips here, or in the past nine months living here.  I told my daughter "we don't feel the humidity here like we have it in Virginia".  When we spoke this past week, I told her she and her friend vacationed here and left the country in the nick of time.  Forget what I said...it is sweltering. Not stifling, can't catch my breath, my chest feels heavy hot, but definitely, hot and humid.  Ninety-five degrees, but with the humidity, it feels like it is one hundred seventeen!  The highest Ray and I have ever experienced is  when it has been in the nineties but it "feels like one hundred eight" in the summer months in Virginia.  I was told by a nine year veteran expat here that April is the hottest month of the year here.  She told me that from April 8-12th, the sun is directly over the country and the most intense.  I believe it!  The beauty of our new home is it doesn't hold the sweltering heat!  And although the breezes died down and the rain came in over the past week, the past few days the breezes have returned and with the ceiling fans on, the house stays cool.  It's a good thing!  Unloading and unpacking has not been one bit unbearable for me with the doors and windows open (oh, the beauty of it all being screened in)!

Enough about the weather though!  Back to the check list.  Monday morning, before settlement, our furniture maker, Cruze, called Ray on the phone.  We can understand Cruze in person.  With hand gestures, we can figure out what everyone is talking about, but on the phone, it was very difficult.  Ray ran next door to find Gus for some translation.  Where was Gus?  Since Gus was MIA, they disconnected.  Ray decides he will figure that out later.  It's hard, because Ray understands the car serviceman on the phone, he naturally thinks he will understand all Panamanians on the phone.  Not so, obviously.  After settlement, it was back to the rental house to have Truly Nolan (per the rental contract) fumigate the house.  Gus was back, he spoke with Cruze on the phone for us, and he told Ray that Cruze wanted to see us at the shop.  We drove to his shop only to be told we would not get the dresser for a few days ("next week"), because it was not stained. And the stain was in the city.  And let's not forget the Summit.  Here we go again...he could not get to the city last weekend to get the stain.  Okay, no problem.  I understand he wouldn't dare drive into the city at that time.  And shops were closed.  But I ordered the furniture two plus months ago.  Wouldn't it be stained by now?  Yes, this is Panama.  And then I have to remember he does have an outdoor shop (soon to move to a store in a plaza at the entrance to El Valle), and with the winds and dust, he was probably (maybe?) waiting for the dust to blow over (no pun intended) to stain the pieces.  Off to Gourmet Pizza for a perfect late lunch and early dinner.  It is the one indoor restaurant open on Mondays.  And with the humidity, we were eating inside!  As usual, a great meal there.

Bright and early Tuesday morning we loaded up the car to start moving into our new house!  When we arrived to the house, we were unsure of what to do.  There were workmen in the house finishing up a few projects.  We expected this because we had the window removed in the kitchen and needed the wall to be repaired.   We needed the cabinet maker to then make and install new cabinets in the area of the window.  We were missing our washing machine.  We were waiting to have landscaping done until the rainy season took off.   Carl came to greet us, cleared up our confusion, we chatted about things on our walk through needing tweaking (a very short and easy to take care of list), landscaping, House Hunters International coming in a week (!), and yes, the walk through happened after settlement.  We had already paid for the house, we had already walked through the house umpteen times with Carl and his dad, Kevin, and everyone has been on the same page pretty much since day one.    I told Carl that I always talk about his dad, Kevin, and his being the builder of our home.  Carl explained to us how Azura came to fruition in his mind.  He then went to his dad for his forty years of experience, since it was to be a large planned community of fifty one homes.  He had not delved into such an extensive project as Azura.  Now that we have that straightened out, back to the moving process.  We lost electricity at the new house for eight hours.  Seems familiar.  When we moved into the rental house, we lost water and power the next day, and Gus told us "this never happens".  And Carl told us "we never lose power over here--it has blipped on and off, but for it to be out for eight hours..."  This is because we have arrived here!  It was out in many areas from Coronado west, and it had been out at the rental house earlier in the day.  So while waiting for the sofa, we just continued to unpack.  There was a slight breeze, and in that house, it was tolerable.

Our sofa was delivered later Tuesday, and what a great place that is going to be settle into soon!  The deliverymen from Ashley Furniture arrived late in the day but were prompt (they called ahead to tell us their whereabouts and ensure they knew where they were delivering to) and professional.  We just knew that morning it would be delivered "later in the day", so we liked getting a heads up with a phone call when they were closing in on our house from the city.  Ray and I were supposed to have an early dinner with friends that night, but without knowing when things were arriving to the house, we had to cancel and reschedule for next week.  Perfect.  We will need an outing before the chaos, excitement and exhaustion, too, of filming for House Hunters starts up!  I brought it on myself, I know.  I can't complain about it, but I can write about it all!

The only thing we had on the agenda on Wednesday was dance lessons.  But first, more unloading and unpacking.  And then we took a break to laugh at, and with, each other while we learned a new dance.  Maureen, our dance instructor, is on vacation.  Jon (from El Valle and the Butterfly Haven) gave us lessons for the Hustled Up version of The Merengue.

We spent close to an hour learning and practicing the dance, chatting and some dancers taking longer beer and wine breaks than others.  I see how it goes there.  We stopped by Picasso's for more catching up with other expats, we saw future neighbors, and we visited with a current neighbor.  He has lived in his home in Azura with his wife for three weeks.

The next two days were "repeat the previous days" of loading, unloading and unpacking.  They also included our Spanish lesson, our blinds being installed (wonderful!), having lunch with good friends,  at LunaRossa, and face timing with our daughter.  We tried this using our phones from the new house, but using 3G wasn't cutting it.  We continued our chat once back at Casa Cuarenta.  We get excited for her when she has changes in her life, and she showed just the same excitement for us that night.  As I unpack something she made me or something she gave me as a gift, I take pictures of where I am placing them in the new house and send the pictures to her.  There seems to be a place for everything.  And if there isn't, I will make the space and find a place.  The washing machine was delivered on Friday along with the mattresses (hallalujah!), and the cabinet maker came later in the day.  We were invited to our realtors home that night for dinner.  But they realized we were in limbo waiting around for several deliveries that day.  Not to worry.  This is Panama.  If we could only do a drive by to stop in, that would be great, too.  Ray and I left the new house once the cabinet maker showed up, and Carl was there.  I took one dress with me back to the rental house.  We showered once we were back at the house, and I realized this dress had taken a nice shrinkage up.  I never dry my dresses, but perhaps the cold wash didn't help it retain its length.  It was made in Colombia after all.  It was the only thing I had with me to wear, so we went back to the new house, caught a glimpse of the beautiful cabinets being installed (!), and I was able to change into a little longer dress.  Some would have worn that dress without a blink, but if I am walking and can feel it creeping up, up, up....it becomes a bathing suit cover up then!

Dinner Friday night with Marla and Roberto, along with two other couples we have previously met, was a blast!  We were served delicious Panamanian appetizers and a four course dinner starting with pumpkin soup.  We enjoyed traditional chicken and rice, fair salad (beet and potato salad), and an oh so good plantain dessert with gooey caramel crunch and ice cream!  They have a Panamanian woman come into the house to make them weekly meals.  She lives in Chame, so, after dinner, Ray and I drove her home.  I would love for her to not only cook meals for me, but perhaps show me some of her recipes!  Roberto is going to be with us for the filming of  House Hunters.  He gave me the best laugh so far when he suggested he give me a surfing lesson as an "activity".  Oh, sure.  Put me in a bathing suit on television!  Oh, I can wear a rash guard?  Do you have one from my throat to my ankles in the darkest black of colors, please?  And can I be fully made up with my hair done perfectly?  Really good laughs by all with this idea.

This will be me taking on the waves!  

And then finally, Saturday comes along, and our kitchen is almost complete!  Monday the electrician will come back to install the microwave.   Shrubbery from the model home next door is being transferred to my yard, because the new owners of that house (they will move in in a month and are from Maryland) want a wall built at the back of their house.  Three palm trees will be delivered Monday or Tuesday along with other shrubs for the back of our yard.  And on Tuesday, we should have internet at the house.  This blog is being written at the rental tonight while we watch the American Country Music Awards.  We have been using our phones for the most part when we are in our "other" home.  After cleaning the rental up yesterday, celebrating our move at Bluwater Bistro with our soon-to-be neighbor (thank you so much to George for the appetizer sampler sent to our table! Everything is always so good!) and ending the night at Sukha Bar listening to a local band play, we realized we had finished another successful day!  Things were settling down and getting into place.

Today, I was eager to rise and shine in my new house.  I was ready to go shopping, but first I wanted to see the sunrise.  Was I right in thinking it would rise in the back yard near the mountains?  I turned around from making my coffee, and there it was--good morning!  The blinds were open, the screen doors were allowing morning breezes to pass through the house, and what another great day in this thing called retirement for us!  It had been a long week waiting for things, but that sunrise being right there in my face made it all worth the wait.

Ray and I spent the day shopping for household items.  We sold a lot of our belongings, and our daughter has all of the rest.  We were looking for a dining room table and a coffee table.  No luck.  We are in desperate need of a mop.  Found it.  Interesting that this was the most difficult thing to find.  Either the store has plenty of handles, but are there refills? Why buy the mop if the replacement heads aren't going to be available.  We looked at hammer drills.  Yawn.  We bought a lamp for the entranceway.  A bigger coffeemaker for Carol over here was found and purchased along with a toaster.  I was also looking for clothing.  What a good time that always is in a mall in Panama, and no, I was not successful.  Did I expect to be?  I even tried to go to a store billed out to be like a "Macy's".  I had never shopped in this store before, but Ray was successful.  But I will note here that we were both super successful in picking the right place to build and buy a house. With the right builders, Carl and Kevin Painter at Azura.  I will be thrilled about this and perhaps tomorrow I can shop somewhere else and try again.  And eventually, I will be in my house for longer than two hours.  Like my realtor said the other night, "you are always on the move".  But now with the house complete, I am hoping to enjoy a little more settlement there, floating in the pool (once we return from "vacation") and relaxing with Ray in this thing called retirement!  I will definitely post pictures once it is all said and done.

POCO A POCO, TODO EN UNA SEMANA

Oh my!  Little by little, and all in a week, I am now able to post about my week's adventures with Ray (and others along the way).  There are times when I think that what I write is just stuff, having really no substance, that has gone on with Ray and I here in Panama.  I think that there is not really anything I need to tell all about, but then a week goes by, and I start realizing that fun, not so much fun, and even craziness has happened that I should share with those reading my blog.  Whether my blog is read by my family and friends so they can keep up with our daily shenanigans, or anonymous readers wanting to come to Panama and possibly make it their home, I think I will just keep on posting along!  And again, it is mostly a journal for me, and I guess I could just write it and not share it, but that would hardly be enjoyable!

First, let me say thank goodness that the Summit of the Americas is over.  I am sure it was meaningful to all thirty four Heads of States.  I tried watching it on the Spanish news here where I did see coverage, but when I tried catching up on US World News television stations, not too much was televised.  Even friends in the States did not really have a clue about what was transpiring here. History in the making.  Cuba was invited, and that is the little I will write about politics and the like in this post.  I know those people in the city over the weekend loved having the peace and quiet.  But there were those people that were somewhat confined to their buildings/homes due to tight security, and they were most likely a bit unhappy and uncaring about history.  Here in the interior, it is once again quiet.  Until May 1st, this is, and yes, this is just another holiday here in Panama.  It is Panama's Labor Day.  It falls on a Friday, so another three day holiday weekend.  I will be off traveling yet again (did I not tell Ray this is what I wanted to do in retirement?), and the next holidays are not until November--whew!  We have to gear up for ALL of those or travel some more!  The reason I was glad the country was getting back to normal (if there is such a thing) is that this past Sunday Ray and I needed (we really did NEED) to go to the Discovery Center store to buy more paint for the garage floor of our house.  We had just enough, but not quite, so it was my idea to hop in the car and just get. it. done.  Remembering Easter Sunday though when we tried going to PriceSmart with our friend that was staying in the Bahia Complex in Gorgona, I suggested we just jump in the car and go when we were dressed and ready.  We had no idea if the store was open, but we had other stores to go to, so we knew we would accomplish something.  This is Panama, and that was some kind of thinking on our part, but we try to stay positive living here in this sometimes crazy country.  What country isn't a little crazy at times!  Backing up a bit (which I tend to do a lot), the Saturday before Easter there was quite a bit of congestion heading east to the city, so we thought we could get to PriceSmart on Easter Sunday, and while it was closed on Good Friday, I did know it was open on Easter.  Odd, but I had read the sign the week prior and really felt good about it being open.  We just could not get out of our town.  We tried to turn left, to head west first to pick up our friend, at ten am.  The policeman was already out directing (?) three lanes of traffic east bound, and he wanted us to turn right.  The question mark is because this guy was really directing traffic and not just reading his cell phone  Uh.  No thanks.  We made a nice little turn around right then and there, since the cars were bumper to bumper, and we battened down the hatches and just stayed in for the day.  Having only email to communicate with my friend (she did not have a Panamanian phone number), I waited thirty minutes for her to get my message on her tablet.  The message saying "we simply refuse to go out in that, sorry!" message.  We can go another day in our retirement world.

So getting back to driving to the Discovery Center, Ray and I hit the road at nine am.  And we flew down the highway until just past Bejuco.  This is a town not even five minutes from our community.  As we approached mile marker 70,  at one of the first uphill curves, the traffic was coming to a standstill.  It was only two lanes headed east at this time.  We could see up and around the corner that the cars were not allowed to continue, and we could see people walking on the highway.  We sat for a mere fifteen minutes while the firemen used their strong, powerful water hoses to wash beer bottle glass that had come crashing off a truck and onto the road.  In Virginia, I-95 would be shut down for hours for clean up!  And to explain how the glass bottles fell off the truck a little more is that here, in Panama, the eighteen wheeler tractor trailer trucks do not have doors necessarily locking the contents inside of them.  They have these big tarp-like coverings pulled down the sides.  And as we passed the mess, we noticed that the crates carrying all of these green beer bottles (or not carrying many of them now!) were not even bungee corded or tied down into the truck.  I guess going around the curves and up and down the mountains, the drivers just hope for the best!  And while some drivers tried to drive up the shoulder (I will not mention who we saw doing this, but it was comical when I could send a message to the passenger outing this person), they could not possibly turn the road into three lanes that way.  Once through the mess, we made it to the Discovery Center, spent an awful lot of time and money there (we needed everything for the house from mops and brooms to trash cans to the paint that we were there for to sponges, and I do not know what else...), and the city was empty!

On the way back to the house, we stopped at Lumicentro in Costa Verde to buy more light bulbs.  It seems we need dimmable light bulbs for some pendant lights.  Oh, those are in the store in the city. We were told to get them at the Lumicentro by Albrook Mall.  Well, I have to go there at some point anyways just to shop, so we will throw the minor lightbulb task in on that day, too.  We had lunch at a new restaurant in Costa Verde called La Taberna.  It is touted as the healthy club restaurant, because many items on the menu are healthier than most.  Wraps, salads, nachos, burgers, you know those healthier foods.  I hate to say it, but I had the most boring but delicious meal including grilled chicken, steamed vegetables (broccoli, carrots, zucchini, onions and peppers) and a tasty cole slaw.  Ray had a hamburger.  He said it was fine.  Nothing beats Bluwater Bistro's hamburger, and he even enjoyed the hamburger at Sukha Bar last Friday, but this one was just okay to him.  It was "Red Hot", and had a spicy kick to it.  And then he had french fries with cheese sauce--super healthy restaurant, but only if you order the items with HC next to it (meaning, healthy club).  I hate to post this part though, but once we returned home, I was sick.  I will leave it at that, and now I do not know if I can return to this restaurant.  Ray was not sick, so maybe it was something in those healthy vegetables or maybe the dressing on the cole slaw was not quite right.  I did have a bite of his burger, and so I am going to blame it on the red meat!  There you go.  Hamburgers are trying to kill me here in Panama!  First I choke on one and need the Heimlich Maneuver performed (thank you, Ray) and then I get really sick!

We did, in fact, manage a trip to PriceSmart last week after we had appliances delivered to our new house.  First amazing thing was that the delivery was on time!  And the second was what a sight it was when our five appliances are piled into a pickup truck along with another person's water heater.  But there was the utmost professionalism with the two men unloading and unwrapping the appliances.  The washing machine did have to go back to the store.  It looked like it had been (or the box at least) sitting outside near the burning fires (pretty much all over the place these days) collecting black soot.  And once the machine was out of the box, the dirt and smudges would not wipe clean.  So we wait for another one to be delivered...this week.  This just in though!  Our mattresses will be delivered this Friday!  Woo hoo!  And once we shopped at PriceSmart and ate dinner at Pollo Tropical, we took our friend and introduced her Westland Mall.  This was to look for a new charger for her tablet but mostly to pick up some sweet treats at a bakery called Honey.

Like Beverly Hillbillies.  Here it comes!

Arriving at gate.

Getting ready to unload.

 Ray and I also made a trip to El Valle with the same friend mentioned above to visit our sweet friend, Tonette.  Once there, we fed the horses on Tonette's landlord's property some carrots and one decided to get a little too close to me.  I tried hugging the horse for a picture, and I supposed he thought I was the one getting "fresh"!  We walked the market and ate lunch again at Casa de Lourdes.  We also shared (four spoons) the fudgy chocolatey brownie sundae.  Just so good!

Tonetter with Hermanico, her favorite.

Mac after feeding him.

Me, just walking away.

Along with those trips, I drove two friends to Woody's House of Hope in Penonome to get two rooms painted before the Open House.  One woman and her husband have also been helping with the plumbing and electrical issues and anything else MC shows them might need some TLC.  They finished painting the room with a wonderfully tranquil green color on Friday, and a third woman bought the linens for this room.  The other woman has adopted a room, and once it was painted, she put bunk beds together and hung pictures to get it looking much better for the Open House!  For more about the Open House, and to see more pictures, read the previous post.

The old storage room.  The "catch all".  

Finishing primer on Marta's adopted room.

With all of the driving we have been doing lately, I have to write here that I am still amazed to see the men just pull off to the side of the road to do their business.  But this past week, what a treat!  A family of six stepped out of the van.  The four men staggered themselves along the road while the women hung out perhaps stretching their legs.  And for the first time I saw a policeman step out in front of a fast moving car to flag the car in the next lane down directing that female driver to pull over for speeding.  The oncoming traffic warned us with flashing lights that there was a policeman with radar coming up.  She was too busy on her phone, I suppose, to notice the warning.  She pulled over, and he made her back up all the way to his spot under the overpass in the shade.  It is something to see him just walk out into traffic.

And finally, Ray and I finished up the weekdays by going to Bluwater Bistro for Happy Hour and dinner along with Sukha Bar for some appetizers and drinks.  Not in the same night!  Again, I love the band that plays at Sukha Bar on Fridays.  They play my kind of music.  No country music for Ray, but some music he really enjoys, too.  This group also plays fifties and sixties music. Ray actually got up and danced!  We spent both nights with a great group of people.  It is a great feeling  when we now can sit at one table, and everyone just mixes and mingles.  We cannot believe we have lived here nine months.  This is a small country and a small expat town.  Whether someone has met you once or never, it is easy to make friends with all.  Cheers!

A lovely white wine cocktail in the grocery store El Rey.

COME ONE, COME ALL TO WOODY'S OPEN HOUSE SHOW AND TELL

Sorry if you missed the big day this past Saturday, April 11th, but here is hoping that those that did come out to attend the open house at Woody's House of Hope will spread the word about this mission of Marie Claire's!  Skye, the President of the Jesus Loves Me Christian foundation held a fundraiser last year at this time.  The first annual "It Takes a Village" Panama raised $3500 in a Coronado held run to support Woody's House of Hope.  This is a transitional home for girls needing a place to live and assistance while attending the University in Penonome, Panama.  This year Skye held a Money Bomb competition which many were confused and unsure about--the name and what the heck is a MoneyBomb competition.  Once the ball got rolling and the message got out, fourteen teams competed raising almost $8,000 for the house!  Like Skye herself said on Saturday "it always takes a few weeks to get this going", and boy did it take off!

To read about the teams, go to this link:

 http://jlmchristianfoundation.org/money-bomb-competition--upcoming-events.html

In the past month, bulletins were put out on face book and other social media that there would be an Open House-Show n' Tell at Woody's House of Hope.  There would be tours given of the house, food (and boy was there ever), music, speeches and a lot of tears (Skye wins the prize on this one!  Where was her certificate!).  It would be a celebration of the existence of the house, visitors could meet the resident girls and their families, and the house would be on display with projects complete and those that appear never ending shown to one and all!

My really sweet friend, Thea (who sadly was not in town for the event), commented on my face book page about the ongoing project of Hope.  She hits it home when she writes that "this is an ongoing project of Hope for the many young Panamanian women, providing them a home, a college education and the Love of Christ through all that take part in Woody's House of Hope!"  She also states that the JLM Christian Foundation. org is the vision and mission of MC Beauville, and the work of many!

But the day was not to start without a hiccup.  In my previous post, I wrote about the shortage of water.  I will knock on wood and try not to jinx myself when I say that this rental house for the last eight months seems to have a never ending supply of water and electricity.  Sure, the water pressure has been low during the day (after morning showers) and also at night (while I am tucked in bed) just recently, and, yes, we did lose electricity once before (while we were out of the house running errands and were not in need of it that day), but lo and behold, did we really have to lose power at three am on the Saturday morning of the Open House?  Ray and I have wonderful friends, and we knew that we could go to their house to power up our electronics (I had forgotten to do this the night before and wanted to use my tablet for a camera) and cool off if we were without power for the day.  But all I really needed electricity for was maybe thirty minutes.  Ray had just remarked the day before that the electricity cutting off has not bothered him here, "because it always comes right back on".  Not on Saturday.  Eight hours later, when we were both out and about, it fortunately popped right back on.  I woke bright and early--no longer could I sleep or stay in bed after seven am (I kept listening and waiting for the fan to turn back on in the middle of the night), and I thought I would shower at the last minute before leaving for Penonome.  Then I thought about the water pressure that was looking good at that moment, so it made sense to jump into the shower right then.  For three hours that morning, until my friend, Nancy, came to pick me up, I gradually grew a little warm.  I opened up all the windows in my bedroom (which we never do mostly because we are never in it, but also because there are few cross breezes), and I laid on my bed with my head by the window and a cold, wet towel on my face.  And I read Thea's inspirational message.  She sent a message out on What's App to the volunteers of House of Hope.  The message (broken up and to the best of my memory) was about complaining, and not to do it!  It was about being given just twenty four hours in the day, because this is what we can all handle, and tomorrow will be another day.  It was about  not worrying about tomorrow or getting stuck in the past.  She sent hugs, prayers and encouragement for the day.  I wrote back to her that it was a perfect message, and I was not complaining (Ray thinks otherwise, but he left the house to run to the bank which is what I should have done to cool off!).  I told her I have been given too much good in life to complain,  that there was a hot, sunny and blue sky out my window, and I was going to get dressed just as soon as the air conditioning popped on--thinking and knowing all along that Woody's House has no air conditioning.  It has heavenly cross breezes, but no man made cool air.  Boy, I was trying my hardest to see the good in all!  So enough about me!  Nancy was early (thank you, Nancy!), and off we went to Penonome chatting all the way.  It was so good to catch up with her!

We arrived to the house pretty much before anyone else, chatted with MC, tried to stay out of her way, and we toured the house!  I had just been there on Tuesday helping a friend paint the back bedroom, and the transition in three days was amazing!  This room that I had helped put just one coat of primer on last week, and was also the room Thea and I tried to make sense of because there was so much stuff (!), is now a beautiful bedroom for MC when she is living in the house on the weekends.  It will also be the bedroom for local volunteers and visitors.

This is how I left the room four days prior to Open House.  We covered the oranges and blues with a primer.

Voila!  Many volunteers the day before Open House transform it to this serene room!

The day before the Open House desks, shelves and bunk beds were built, walls were painted and decorated, floors were swept, all of the items that have been donated to the house that are not needed right now by the girls (meaning those things that might be for children at the orphanage nearby or for boys) were put in storage, and the library was absolutely orderly.  I was glad to have MC tell me that there is still work for me in that room.  I did not want to leave this burden to those volunteers that were in the house merely to get it ready for the big day!  

The party bus arrived a little while after Nancy and I had arrived, and the Money Bomb competitors ran through the backyard and to MC and the girls.  Fruit was being chopped, coolers were being filled, and the Pastor at MC's church was busy prepping the chicken paella, salads, tamales and much more for our lunch.  Tours were given, and the house was shown off to those that had never been before with explanations along the way being given of what had been done in the past and what was still needing to be done now and in the future.  We all gathered outside under the mango tree in the spacious backyard eating lunch and catching up with one another.  The Pastor spoke and said a prayer, Skye spoke and gave out certificates to all of the competitors, Marla Diaz from United Realty (this is the company that sponsors the competitions) handed out the winning check to the team Someday Came, the resident girls spoke and thanked everyone, and MC gave an inspirational message to all.  

marla@panama1925.com

http://myagent.uc.agentachieve.com/home/?ID=50465

It was a warm, sunny day with a lot of smiles and tears.  It is the hope of MC's mission that it spirals and takes off as it has done since that first competition last year!  I must say the community came together for this day, and with a dentist on board now along with expats and local Panamanians alike, it looks to be shaping up and coming together for the future!

JLMChristianfoundation.com is the website to find information about House of Hope.  EMail at houseofhopepanama@gmail.com for information or to volunteer!  Visit and like the facebook page JLM House of Hope Panama, also!

Judie helping Marta finish priming her room last week.

Getting the fruit chopped for the salad.

Cake and candy always at a party!  There were three cakes!

Paella, tamales, fruit salad and more

MC and Skye inspires us all!

Sign at entrance of house.

The house before the party.  It was decked out with orange banners, the fence at the entrance had streamers, and the walls had posters welcoming one and all.  

28 WEEKS, AND IT IS SETTLEMENT TIME!

Tomorrow Ray and I go to settlement.  We sign the papers, and we slowly start moving belongings into it this week.  Okay, we sort of already have had some things moved in, such as furniture we had made by the furniture maker down the road.  With rainy season, November holidays, December holidays (let's not forget Mother's Day is in December),  another January holiday besides New Years, Carnivale in February, and Semana Santa last week, it is amazing our house was built in seven months.  KUDOS to our builders, Kevin and Carl Painter, and their wonderful staff and crew!  AND, it would have been one less month had it not been for the woodwork.  We chose teak wood for the cabinetry, doors, baseboards, shelves and so on.  The workmanship is outstanding!  But the actual employee on that job was a little slow to the punch.  He just did not show up when the house was ready and waiting for him.  Oh well, moving past that, he displayed excellent workmanship, and for this, I will leave it at that!  

http://www.azurapanama.com

This is Panama though, and, although the furniture company that is delivering our couch actually called today to confirm delivery for Tuesday (amazing and impressive, I know!), it could be anytime Tuesday.  No problem.  We will hang out at the house and find things to do!  It is the delivery of a mattress or two that concerns me.  That delivery was to have occurred this past Saturday along with the beautiful beds Cruz de la Cruze (the furniture maker) made for us.  He made many pieces of furniture, by the way.  And he is opening up a storefront soon.  I have posted in the past pictures of the store where he currently owns and builds furniture.  He says it is too dusty and noisy being on the road in an open facility.  I enjoy seeing the pigs in the back of his store though.

But alas, here is how the mattress story goes....

Last Friday, Ray and I went to MultiBank. We decided to wait for the manager to speak with her in person about some new banking news we had recently heard about at the CASA meeting (she was on the phone).  CASA is the Coronado Area Social Activities group, and there are usually monthly social meetings.  We wanted to ask the nice manager lady about the $250/annual fee for keeping an account there.  She says 80% of her customers are foreigners.  We gave her our Cedula numbers to put into our account.  She is thinking that perhaps we will not have to pay the fee if we show we have resident and ID card and that we are permanent residents here.  Meanwhile, next door I noticed, and I commented to Ray, that finally, the new Sleep Center store has opened.  But that is not where we bought our mattresses.  We bought them from the Sleep Center store near the Novey store in another plaza.  We were told in November by a nice young lady employee “we are moving at end of year”.  We were told in February by the same nice young lady “we aren’t moving, we aren’t even going to be the same store, that store is different than us”.  We were then told on March 20th when we ordered and paid for our beds, we could (and would) have beds delivered on Saturday, April 11th--important to note this day is part of the weekend of the Summit of the Americas. The delivery date is written on our receipt.  

After speaking with the manager at the bank, we then drive to the Novey shopping center where our mattress store is to confirm delivery of our mattresses tomorrow.  First though, we have to shop at Novey.  Then, we see the mattress store is gone!  There is a padlock and chained door!  But wait, there is a note “we have moved to Machetazo plaza”!!!  We decide to leave our car in this shopping center and walk back (too much of pain to drive back, because the interior is now crowded with people and cars that have a four day weekend---due to this Summit thing going on in the city).  We get to the mattress store with a sign on that door that says “return at one”  It is now 12:15, and so we head to Machetazo Cafe for lunch.  PACKED.  We head to KFC.  PACKED.  We go to Leonardo’s for yummy, hot,  garlicky and gooey ham and cheese bread and drinks.  Hot in there. Did I say there were throngs of people shopping everywhere?  We walk back to the store.  It is now open.  We are asked and told the following:

“Do you have your receipt?  OH! Obama is in city (along with 33 other Heads of States). We can’t deliver your mattresses tomorrow!”  And this is being said in mostly Spanish and a little English thrown in there.  We were stupid and left the receipt at the house.  Thank goodness Ray had the foresight to confirm our delivery!

We now walk back to the Novey shopping center, get the car, and then we head back to the house to get the receipt where it shows 11 de Abril Sabado (delivery on April 11th, Saturday). We get stuck in bumper to bumper traffic when driving back to the store.  We get to mattress store where there is note on door “return at 2:30”  wow.  Is  all I can think?  We were really gone maybe twenty minutes, if that, from our first encounter with the man.  We call the phone number on the note!  A little agitated, but we are keeping it together, because what else can we do?  He answers something in Spanish.  He is then coming around the corner from Machetazo. Now, he just opened store at 10:30, took lunch at noon, and left again?!!!  So we show him our receipt.  He takes a picture of it.  His copier is broken.  He calls the company.  He will call us “probably tomorrow”.  I doubt it.  We can maybe get our mattresses NEXT Saturday since this is when they deliver things here in the interior. WOW!

Saturday Ray drives to the mattress store (since he has not received that call) and is told by an English speaking woman (we were doing "pretty well" with the Spanish speaking man) that "because of the Summit, the store is backed up on the deliveries and those who bought mattresses from our store....."  I do not want to write the rest, because I do not care.  I just hope to have mattresses before House Hunters International comes to Panama and films!  Woo hoo!  Oh yeah, that is happening soon!  Four and a half days of that is happening really soon!  Oh my!  Okay, this I touched on just a little in my post in February.  We spent an eight hour day when at the lake house with our daughter filming our "back story" of how we decided to move to Panama.  In two or so weeks, the crew will return and film us "searching for our dream home" in Panama.  More on that much later.  I am tired thinking about what thirty two hours plus will be like to film, and I am nervous they will make me cry again.   (Again, more later...maybe).   The cameraman, Mike, told me in February "you think eight hours is a long day.....wait until Panama".  I hope Mike can return though.  The crew was fabulous.

So perhaps I would like mattresses to sleep on in my new house soon?  We are fortunate we will have Casa Cuarenta for the entire month, so no worries there.  We have been offered mattresses, and we have been offered the use of friend's homes, if we did not have this house to continue living in  But if you know us, we like all of our ducks in a row, and we like to have all things in place and orderly.  Oh yeah, this is Panama.  Being on time, following along with what has been written down or what has been told, and even doing right by the customer sometimes does not always go according to plan.  

And after not having electricity yesterday for most of the morning hours (which has happened only one other time in this house, and we were not even home for the day while the power was out), I realized again (and again) that complaining is more tiresome and draining.  It is easy to do though, especially when  I was trying to get showered, dressed and ready to participate in the Open House MC and Skye had tirelessly organized for Woody's House of Hope.  Many areas in Panama are without water due to the lack of a rainy season last year.  There are shortages and cutbacks in power, because of the dry rivers.  There are bigger things out there going on in this country and the world (apparently like that Summit of the Americas!).  These two undelivered  mattresses will not make or break my world, and I do realize this Friday frustration pales in comparison to the bigger things in life.  I am grateful and so fortunate to spend everyday here and with Ray in this thing we call retirement.

A sneak peak at furniture and wood work.  More house pictures to follow...soon.

Here are our appliances being delivered in a pickup truck!

Checking in at the gate.

Unloading.  All was good except the washing machine had to be returned to the store.  Dirty.

One bed.  

Can be your bed, if you want to come visit
(we will have a mattress and boxspring, I promise!)

My closet (I don't know where Ray's closet will be (Just kidding)