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.
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.
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| 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.
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