It’s a hot afternoon so I’m sitting on the terrace with a fan, sipping passionade (like lemonade but with passion fruit juice) and listening to a multitude of bird songs in every direction while I sort photos. Mi vida dificil (my difficult life)
I have just started a series of watercolor classes in Boquete which I think are going to be very interesting and helpful. The first class was held in a beautiful spot with this view of the mountains.
There are a few blooms here at my house. Thankfully I am upwind of the carrion flower while I sit on the terrace, but I still get a whiff of it now and then. I’m facing my neighbor’s orchids so I think I get to enjoy them more than they do. Everyone is enjoying guanabanas (soursop) though! My tree has gone nuts this year, producing so many fruits I can hardly give them all away. Most of them are too high up so we don’t get them until they splat to the ground, but I have managed to pick a few of the lower ones before they fall. We have been getting 4-8 fruits a day for a couple weeks now! The Panamanians think guanabana is an expensive wonderful treat so with fruit either whole or squashed, they are all happy to see me coming.
Who wanted to see chickens? I saw this hen and her chicks when I stopped for a water break. What is exciting about street signs? This is Panama. There are no street signs and there are no addresses. Thankfully this is starting to change and more street signs are showing up. These are in a residential neighborhood where I wouldn’t think signs are a priority but hey, we’ll take them and appreciate them. The ALTO is a stop sign, often treated as only a suggestion, and the other sign is for the neighborhood watch. Be careful! We are observing you. Thanks to the signs, I now know that we live above Urbanizacion (neighborhood) Anayansi.
Just a few more flowers –
We went to Boquete on Thursday. Joel’s band had a gig in a new place and it was a very fun evening. On the way though we ran into rain, and then as we got further up it was an interesting sight with wisps of clouds on the ground and tucked between hills.
Last but not least, we had rain last night! It wasn’t a huge rain, but enough to drip off the roof and get everything wet. When I came out to relax before bed, the air was heavy and damp with humidity. I hadn’t felt that in a while. There is hope. Things will be cooler and greener soon.
The Panama Adventure 
Hi Kris
Thanks for that wonderful post. I haven’t been warm since I returned to Canada, and I miss everything including the mango trees, the chickens, the heat, the views…well you get the idea.
Looking at your pictures makes me home sick.
I miss the roosters waking me up in the morning.
I miss my daily walk amid the tropical splendor.
I miss the heat.
And the general peacefulness and cheerfulness.
I will be back as soon as I can.
Nick
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Aww, I’m sorry. <~~~~~~ sending some hot Panamanian sun your way
We didn't see much of each other being on opposite sides of town, but I miss knowing you are over there and I will look forward to your return. Hang in there. Summer and warmer weather are coming and Panama will be here when you get back.
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Hi Kris,
I don’t comment often but I do read and enjoy all of your blogs. You paint a wonderful picture with your words.
Thank you.
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Thank you for your comment! I’m very glad to hear you enjoy the blogs 🙂
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Can’t wait to see your new creations, Kris. Since we moved to Medellin I’ve considered taking up a brush and water colors myself, since this city is so filled with color in every direction. Maybe I’ll hit you up for tips?
Keep ’em coming. Hola to Joel. (BTW, MEBEinPanama will soon vanish, and Byallmeanstravel.com will launch)
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I went to the Pazera house for the first time after the watercolor class, but it was confusing because there was this different gray car parked out front! 😀
Be sure and post on your old blog where to find your new blog so I don’t lose track of you!
Watercolor is cool. Sure, I’ll share anything I know. The teacher stressed over and over that it’s important to get good paint, paper, and brushes. We experimented with painting on dry paper, and then on wet paper, blending paint, holding up the paper to let the paint run this way and that. Then we cut out shapes to make an abstract creation. I notice the colors are different, more bright and lively than acrylic. Your colorful scenery would probably be a wonderful thing to paint!
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HI Kris – another wonderful post! It’s me – I wanted to see chickens! Thank you. Love all the photos of flowers and flowering trees and fruit. Good luck with your new watercolor classes – looking forward to photographs of your new creations. Best – Wendy
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I thought it was you! I got more photos this morning of a hen and her tiny chicks. They couldn’t have been more than a few days old.
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Oh yes, me! We’ve had chickens as far back as I can remember. They’re such peaceful creatures to have around – free range. Nothing quite listening to the variety of clucking and cooing sounds they make on a warm (or hot) summer day as they scratch around in the dust looking for delicacies to eat. And did you know a rooster will starve himself if he cannot find enough for his harem of hens to eat? True. Also, roosters make good watchdogs. I had one named Henry who would accompany a stranger up the driveway all the way to the house, clucking his special warning cluck. He wouldn’t attack, but if you paid attention to his clucks, you’d know there was someone new walking up the driveway.
And the hens at my grandparents house would walk alongside the chicken mesh fence following a snake on the outside, clucking their special snake warning. Then of course there’s the freshly laid egg announcement.
If you keep chickens long enough, and pay attention, you learn their language.
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I’ve heard the new egg announcements, and the – come children! There’s a crazy gringa with a camera looking at us! clucking. I wasn’t as crazy about the rooster who liked to announce his presence outside our bedroom window at crack of dawn, but he’s moved now. I didn’t realize a rooster would starve though rather than put his family at risk.
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Those fruits and flowers are so neat! I wish we had stuff like that here…. strawberry’s are about as fancy as we get!
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Apples? Blueberries? Cherries? I’ll bet you have good fruit, just different. It is interesting though to be in a place with so many new things to learn about.
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There are two huge lies perpetrated in travel guides about Panama…
The number 1 lie is “English is widely spoken.”
Number 2 is that the Harpy eagle is the national bird of Panama. Perhaps, but the REAL national bird of the republic is THE CHICKEN!!!!
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Ut oh, Joel is eating the national bird for lunch as we speak
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