What do these have to do with each other? Nothing at all. They just happen to be my latest batch of pictures.

My good friend took me to the movies yesterday for my birthday. TIP (this is Panama). The website said Wonder Woman was showing with subtitles at 3:15, so off we go. When we arrive we see that it started at 3, and it was dubbed. Another friend suggested to keep an eye on the theater’s Facebook page where it said the afternoon times were 1:55 and 4:30, and there were two evening showings with subtitles. The staff told us there was only one at 9PM (not 9:30 as it said on Facebook).

Short version, do not believe everything you see on line. It’s probably best to call the theater. We ended up seeing the Mummy which was entertaining (but stupid). But, it was subtitled which is preferable because unless you are good at understanding full speed Spanish, it would be hard to follow a movie that is dubbed. We also knew to bundle up. I don’t know why they want to run the AC at such frigid temperatures. Even with long pants and my heaviest sweatshirt I was cold. But other than that, the theater was comfortable, we almost had the place to ourselves, and it cost $2.10 each with the retired people discounts.

Joel bundled appropriately for the movie

After the movie we got a bite to eat, and headed home just in time for one of the famous Panamanian downpours. It comes down so hard and fast that the streets quickly become flooded and it’s challenging to drive. I was very happy for my friend’s driving skills as she navigated us safely home! We joked about the Panamanian car washes on the downtown streets.

If you park under a downspout in a rainstorm, your car will get very clean!

These were taken through a wet windshield with the wipers at full speed, but you can still see all the water on the road. Any low spots become very flooded because there is no way the water can run off fast enough to keep up with the water coming from the sky.

more downspouts pouring water

The crazy downpours never last long though. By the time we got home the rain has stopped and in spite of the confusion about movie times, we had a wonderful afternoon.

I was driving home on another morning when the view of the mountains was so beautiful I had to pull over and get a photo. This is what we see every time we come and go from our neighborhood, sometimes covered with clouds, sometimes clear, or often partly covered with clouds and mountains peaking out between them.

We have Jesus lizards here, so called because they can walk on water. They have feet with long toes and a bit of webbing, and if they run fast enough they can run across the surface of the water for a fair distance. I’ve seen some spectacular green ones in other parts of the country but here I’ve only seen the brown ones, not as colorful but still very cool. I usually see them by the river but in the last few weeks I spotted a large one in the yard, and then later a medium size one. When I was gardening the other day, I spotted this fellow who appears to be a tiny baby Jesus lizard. The photo doesn’t show it as well as it could but it had the right markings, the odd shaped head, and the very long toes, none of which are typical of any of the other lizards that usually hang out in my yard.

We seem to be getting more rain than usual this year. Some folks in Boquete say it is breaking records, and some areas up there had more rain in the month of May than Seattle gets in an entire year. I see someone on line occasionally who wants to move to the mountains for the less humid climate. Oh my are they in for a rude surprise. Even in summer, the not rainy season, the mountains get some rain and the fog and mist rolls through frequently. Thankfully I like the rain, my skin loves the humidity, and my eyes love looking at everything when it is lush and green.

It’s 4:30, I’m sitting on my terrace enjoying the gentle rain, and it’s 80F degrees. Mi vida dificil en Panama.