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.
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| Like Beverly Hillbillies. Here it comes! |
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| Arriving at gate. |
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| 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!
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| Tonetter with Hermanico, her favorite. |
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| Mac after feeding him. |
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| 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.
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| The old storage room. The "catch all". |
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| 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!
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| A lovely white wine cocktail in the grocery store El Rey. |
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