The Federal Mall is a big deal here. They have been working on it for years, and it’s supposed to have over 300 stores,  bigger than the famous Albrook Mall in Panama City.

Stevens opened in December, and Felix opened shortly after that, so last week we decided to visit and check things out. What follows is a bunch of photos in no particular order, but you can get a general idea. Both stores, and what we saw of the mall are new, bright, attractive, and as good as anything one would find in the USA, IMO.

Here’s a 2 1/2 minute video which looks like an overview and then the opening of Stevens.

https://binged.it/30fdNaV

We started with Felix….

Then, we visited the mall itself, where some Christmas displays were still standing.

The movie theater wasn’t open but we could peek under the partially raised door, and we found a sweets shop nearby too.

Then, we visited Stevens. I tend to get an overview as I go to the top floor, and then take photos as I make my way back down.

So, there you go. We do not suffer here in David! We even have every kind of playdoh and slime and related things to play with. Ha!

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Other than that, it is SUMMER here now, no question about it! This is the 5th day of strong winds, blue skies, and hot afternoon sun. The water has been off every day for maybe a week? The few people without water tanks are making plans to get one. One day the water was on most of the day and I got all the laundry done, but today it was off when we woke up. My neighbor was doing laundry last night at 1AM. She is a beautician so she needs to wash towels and work related stuff, and she said today she is also planning to get a tank. She is having to hand rinse her last load of laundry because the water went out part way through washing the load.

I am very thankful to have a tank, and I’m getting in the routine of turning it on when the water goes out, and then checking for water at night so we can refill the tank. I don’t want to leave the tap open for automatic refilling because once in a while the water comes back muddy, and then you have muddy water in your tank which then needs emptying and cleaning.

But, this sure makes you think of all the people in the world who never had running water in the house, and many who never have any clean water at all. I always say a thank you for a refreshing shower and clean drinking water. I’ll never take that for granted again.

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It’s January 9th now. The time continues to fly by. We are at the beginning of summer here while you all are freezing up north, and Australia is burning.

We (the band) played in Boquete on Sunday evening. We left here – hot, sunny, windy – but we have learned that it can be very different in the mountains, just 45 minutes away. It was still windy but wet, misty, rainy, and cold! Since I’m on the outside side of the outdoor terrace, I was happy for my t-shirt, blouse, sweater, and sweat shirt. A lot of expats prefer the cooler mountains, but I’m happy down here where you never need more than shorts and flip flops.