Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside

Posted on September 15, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside

The instructions are: This week, share what you see on the inside. It could be something literally inside, like these birds in the rebar or the inside of your home or favorite hideaway. If you’d like, go in a personal direction — share a photo of your best friend laughing, showing how she feels on the inside, or an arresting shot of your son’s blue eyes (windows to the soul, dontcha know).

inside1

I found some gecko eggs inside a window and put them in this plastic dish. Yesterday morning I discovered that a baby was inside the dish, but no longer inside the egg! When I went to touch him he jumped out of the dish, off the table, and ran across the patio. He’s certainly full of life and I wish him well in his journeys.

There is a house under construction in the neighborhood, so today I went inside to look around and take some photos.

There is a house under construction in the neighborhood, so today I went inside to look around and take some photos. This is typical Panamanian block construction. It looks like it will be a very nice house when it’s finished.

A bud on a dieffenbachia emerging from inside the covering.

A bud on a dieffenbachia emerging from inside the covering.

The inside of a new leaf on my coconut palm.

The inside of a new leaf on my coconut palm.

The featured image above is the inside of a new, unfurling banana leaf.

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Border Run 101

Posted on September 14, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

Another experience making the border run to get the passports stamped.

tombseekers's avatarChapter 3: Loving Retirement in Panama and now, Colombia

People who come to Panama arrive with a Tourist Visa. It allows you to stay for 180 days. Sounds easy but what a lot of people do not know is that your driver’s license is only good for 90 days. that means that these visitors must cross the border in order to continue to use their home-country driver’s license.

We tried to do this quick trip across the border into Costa Rica a few weeks ago. We were told we could not do it because we would have to be gone 24 hours for them to check us back into Panama. We went to Rio Serreno, near Volcan, and there are no places to stay in this very tiny town. So we returned home and planned to return shortly.

Then our calendar began to fill and we didn’t have 24 hours until yesterday. Our Florida licenses were not valid after…

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Volcan, Cerro Punta, Guadalupe, a great Sunday trip!

Posted on September 14, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

Last Sunday we went for a drive with our friends and neighbors across the street. She works hard, takes care of her family, and doesn’t get out as much as you would think. She hasn’t been to Volcan for three years, and to Cerro Punta since she was a child even though these places are only 1 – 1/2 hours away. So, we decided we needed to have a field trip! Of course as soon as we made plans her husband had work come in, but on Sunday he was free and everything worked out. It was even a perfect day, sunny, blue sky with some fluffy clouds, and no rain until we were on our way home.

Of course we have a ton of photos. The area is very beautiful, and it’s so interesting to see all the vegetables growing up the sides of the mountains. We also ended up in some places we hadn’t seen before. I’ve tried to organize our photos in some sort of order so you can see some of the places we visited.

We had such a good time! And, talk about Spanish immersion. Neither of them speak English so it was an entire day of Spanish.

CERRO PUNTA – the area of mountains covered with vegetable farms

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GUADALUPE – we took a left turn instead of a right turn (as we had on our previous trip here) and happened into the little town of Guadalupe. The downtown is only one block full of plant shops, produce shops, handicraft shops and little restaurants. We had a fun time walking around a bit.

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FINCA DRACULA – I’d heard of this place so we decided to stop and take a look. They have a website if you want to know more. According to the site the place is named for a rare orchid, one of thousands of varieties of orchids on the farm. We didn’t want to pay the $10 admission and couldn’t find anyone to talk to, so we only walked up the road to the office in the beautiful grounds and took some photos.

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On the way back we stopped at the Bambito Hotel because it’s a beautiful spot.

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We returned to Volcan intending to visit Raquel’s Ark, but they weren’t home. So, we headed on down the road to Sitio Barriles. This is a very interesting archaeological site and I like it not only for that, but because the grounds are gorgeous and full of beautiful and interesting plants and flowers.

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Last, we stopped at the Janson Coffee Farm. We’d been here before and remembered how beautiful it was. They also have excellent coffee. It’s interesting because you have to drive down the airstrips to get there, and we discovered that there is a gate now to get on the airstrip. There was an attendant on hand to open it for us though. Lucio says he knows some of the Janson family, and told us they have a helicopter to get to the farm, and also have some serious racing cars that they race in the US.

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It was a wonderful day and we all had a great time. I’m sure there will be more field trips in the future! Haydeé hasn’t been to Boca Chica so I think this will be our next field trip. That’s another beautiful place not to be missed.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: An Unusual POV

Posted on September 12, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

Weekly Photo Challenge: An Unusual POV

The instructions are: Go out and take photos and share a shot that reveals a new and different POV. You can take a picture of a familiar subject in a fresh way.  You can consider other approaches, too:  Use something natural (window, tree, wall of a building, etc.) to frame your shot.  Get low on the ground to take a picture from a very different angle.  Focus on a specific part of a person, object, or structure (instead of all of it) — or intentionally cut off a part of your subject or scene.  Place something in between you and your subject/scene to offer a distinct perspective.

I’ve been thinking about this all week without coming up with anything. Then I thought, why does it have to be my POV? This little praying mantis has been hanging out on one of my guandu plants. He’s especially fun to photograph because he watches me very carefully, turning to face me as I move around the plant. And, he has a very interesting little face! What is his POV as some big person keep pointing a shiny black thing at him?

This little green praying mantis is only a couple inches long.

This little green praying mantis is only a couple inches long.

Even upside down he continues looking at me wherever I go.

Even upside down he continues looking at me wherever I go.

What a face!

What a face!

A praying mantis is good for a garden because they eat bugs. I have some leaf cutter ant damage on a couple of my guandu plants. If he wants to eat ants he’s very welcome to stay, and bring all his relatives too!

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Negligent Bloggers (aka Retirement is not Boring!)

Posted on September 12, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

That’s me, negligent. I’m not sure why. I think someone has sped up time. I’ve been busy and doing too many things to write about them, and now I see days have passed since I’ve been here.

  • We had a fantastic Sunday with our friends and neighbors (which I still have to post about).
  • The water has been out for a week now. It comes on at night, hopefully before we go to bed but it’s off again in the morning. There are various theories – construction is going on somewhere. There is too much rain so dirt gets in the system and clogs it. There is too much rain which washes out lines. It seems like someone is working on something or wouldn’t it just be off until its fixed, but what do I know? We’re doing fine with stored water, and I remind myself of the millions of people in the world who never have running water, but it does slow down various household tasks.
  • We did some major food shopping – fish market, Canasta Basica for chicken, produce market, etc. But, this also involves packaging food for the freezer, making soups out of extra parts, chopping and storing produce, etc. But, I have a lot of good stuff on hand now and cooking should be relatively easy for the next couple weeks.
  • I have actually studied some Spanish, not every day, but some days!
  • I’ve also spent some time in the yard, not as much as I would like since I’d happily live out there, but that is where some of my time has gone.

So, these seem like good excuses, don’t you think? People wondered what we would do when we retired here.  That has definitely not been a problem. And, the above list doesn’t include time spent chatting with friends and neighbors, email time, bike riding, a little reading, photographing bugs, and some relaxing in the evenings. We definitely are not bored in Panama! 🙂

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Our first healthcare experience

Posted on September 8, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

Many people want to know how the health care is here. So, here’ s a great post by my friend about her husband’s experience with surgery here.

hollycarter184's avatarLet The Adventure "Continue"!

Several months before we made our move to Panama Scott was diagnoses with a hernia. We debated back and forth about weather it would be best to get this taken care of before our move or to have it fixed after we moved to Panama. The hernia wasn’t bothering him at the time, and the doctor said it was not something that needed immediate attention. At first we both had the knee-jerk opinion that it would be best to have surgery in the U.S. Scott made an appointment to have a consultation with a surgeon ($400.00) after a 5 minute consultation where the surgeon confirmed, “yep, you have a hernia” (a 5 min consult and that was that), Scott then began the long and painful process of trying to get someone on the phone who could tell him exactly how much the surgery was going to cost. Gasp! about $8000,00!…

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A Sad Day in David

Posted on September 8, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

http://www.prensa.com/uhora/locales/accidente-tres-muertos-herido-investigan-policia-david/204329

Traffic here looks crazy to most of us until we get used to it, but generally it works surprisingly well. We have seen very few accidents and those only fender benders.

But, last night, there was a serious accident on the PanAmerican Highway near us. Three young people were killed and a forth injured. It was the first thing my neighbors talked about today, and it is on the front page of the national newspaper’s website. It’s such a tragedy. They are also children of well known people in the country.

Today we went to Volcan and Cerro Punta. On the way home we passed the home of one of the families, a home in our neighborhood that we have passed many times on our bicycles. Cars lined the street and people spilled out from the front porch. I can barely imagine the grief of these families.

It was a good day for us and posts will be coming later. Now though I wanted to take a moment for this sad news, and remind us all that we never know what tomorrow may bring. Send a good thought and some healing energy to these grieving people.

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Change of Plans

Posted on September 6, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

We were going to Volcan today with our friends and neighbors but when a guy has to work, he’s got to work. Our neighbor is a welder and makes the metal door and window security covers that are common here. Someone wanted window covers and wanted them now, so he’s been banging around over there (he assembles and welds them in his driveway) and today he went off to install them.

But, not wanting to waste a free day, his wife said she’d go to the supermarket with me. Oh, and if we’re out, can we go to Conway? And, we could also visit my friend who isn’t that far, and if we’re out there we should drive a bit since it’s really pretty there. And, if you like that, you would like to go down this other road too where it’s also very pretty….

By the time we were done we’d spent over an hour driving down back roads through beautiful  green hills and lush scenery, through small towns, laughing and talking all the way and having a great time. Most of the photos were taken through the windshield so they aren’t great, but hopefully you can get an idea of what things look like around here right now.

Everything is so beautiful and green now with all the rain we’ve been having.
One of those interesting living fences.
This guy was riding his horse along the road and leading another one.
Most of the cows took off as soon as I opened the car door, but this one stuck around long enough for me to snap a photo.
Beautiful hills.
They were driving the cattle down the road, so we decided to turn around at this point.
A horse in front of someone’s house.
Another pretty spot.

We also made it to the supermarket and Conway on the way home. The Volcan trip has been rescheduled for Sunday. Our friend has had free time until we planned this trip, so maybe if he ever gets low on work all we need to do is plan an outing, Murphy’s Law will surface, and he’ll be good and busy!

PS There seems to be a new auto detect feature for your location. Apparently I am currently south of Nigeria and west of the Congo. I guess I’ll go fix that.

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Gringo Meeting

Posted on September 5, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

On a good note (after my previous rant 😀 )

First, the water is back on. It’s really muddy so they must have been fixing something, but it should clear in a while. As much as it’s been raining it can’t be a water shortage!

Second, we went to a gringo meeting this afternoon. The Gringos in David group has a monthly meeting and today it was at the Bambu Hostel. This place is special for us because it was the first place we stayed in David, and we continue to be friends with the owner and Jose, who was the manager at that time. I think they need to post new photos on their website because the gardens look even more lush and beautiful every time we stop by.

I also knew a couple fellow bloggers were going –  Richard and Robert so I thought it would be fun to see them. It was, and I also talked with a lot of other people and generally had a fun time. This one of the good on line forums to join if you want to know more about living in Panama, or if you are here and have questions or things you want to talk about. It’s listed on the Useful Links page of this blog. If you are in the area and want to socialize with some other expats, here you go.

It was an afternoon meeting so there is always a chance of rain, but we got lucky and it didn’t start until we were just leaving.
They have continued to paint and decorate the hostel since we were there, and it’s really interesting and beautiful! Check their website for more photos and some of the great murals.
The pool and gardens out back are great!
We all hung out at the picnic tables at the backyard bar.

Tomorrow we’re going to Volcan and Cerro Punta. It should be a fun day and I’m  taking the cameras.

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The Price of Living in Panama

Posted on September 5, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

My friends are writing a lot of posts that interest me lately! Today was The Price of Living in Boquete. My friend who lives in Boquete has seen two relocation tours come through town, and overheard what the people were being told in one restaurant. All of us bloggers in Panama have talked about this before – the sales hype, the half truths, the people who fall for the spiels.

Come live in paradise! This is not paradise. This is not eternal vacation at the resort. This is real life with floors to mop and electric bills to pay. We are happy here and think the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages but that’s us. That doesn’t mean others will feel the same.

We all know the sites and the lines. Live well on $1200/month. OK yes, this is possible for us. But, not everyone would agree that we are living well. Maybe you don’t want to live in David, or eat like a Panamanian, or find your main entertainment is photographing bugs in the yard. (kidding here, a bit, but we are easier to entertain than many) Even with our relatively inexpensive lifestyle by expat standards, we are barely keeping under $1200/mo. If you think you are living in Panama City for that, forget it.

Panama is a good place to do business. The most unhappy expats I know tried to do business here. It’s hard enough in the US but here the customs, the laws, the requirements, the mentality, and the language are all different. I’m not so sure real estate is the great investment they say it is either, especially the preconstruction high rise gringo traps they often sell. You have to buy smart (again – laws, language, customs, etc) and wait and hope the prices go up like real estate anywhere. A lot of people have been badly burned with real estate.

Fund your life overseas by travel writing, photography, whatever. Uh huh, easy. Just sell your stuff, work part time, and the money will roll in enough to cover your expenses. How many people actually DO this, and how much expertise and time have they put into building their careers?

Anyway, the reality, where I meant to go with this before I got on that soap box again. The reality here is we do have hot water in the shower and the kitchen sink (I said HOT, not warm, and it’s so tricky to adjust it to warm I don’t bother and just use the cold water) But, no matter because we have had no water all day. This is not an uncommon thing, even in the rainy season. No one knows for sure what is going on. Maybe they are working on something? Maybe something broke? We’re better off than many who have had serious water problems and no water for days on end.

Here in David people do NOT speak English. You will find someone here and there, and others who know a few words but you can’t count on it. If you don’t speak some Spanish you are going to have a hard time. I studied very hard and I’ve been here almost a year, and I’m just now starting to feel like I can function more often than not in this new language. It’s easier in Boquete and I think Panama City without any Spanish but still, this is a Spanish speaking country.

I could go on, yes even more than I have already gone on. I’ve posted similar rants in the past and I’m not sure if I should even post this. But it’s my blog, so what the heck. Maybe someone will see it and think twice and start doing some proper homework before they decide to move here.

Just for fun….. compliments of Zemanta 😀

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