The Panama Adventure

76 million U.S. baby boomers Prepare for Retirement, David’s Airport Readies for International Flights

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

via 76 million U.S. baby boomers Prepare for Retirement, David’s Airport Readies for International Flights.

Posted in expatriate, Panama, travel | Tagged Boquete, Central America, Chiriqui, Chiriqui Province, David, expat, expatriate, International Living, Moving, Panama | Comments Off

What is this tree?

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

Or, is it even a tree?

When we were out on our bicycles yesterday, we saw the strangest thing! At first I thought it was a dead tree with a vine climbing up it, but on a closer look I think what I thought was a vine is actually the tree. There were quite a few leaves low down, and very few up above so the tree looked dead.

This is what it looked like closer to the ground. It’s sort of mess of branches and sticks.

This is what it looks like higher up, hardly any leaves, some flowers, and some big brown balls.

When I looked closely I realized it was not a vine, but a lot of small branches actually coming from the trunk of this tree. I know the photo looks like such a confusing mess of branches it’s hard to see.

These are the flowers. They did not have a scent that we could tell.

Flower parts were almost raining down on the ground.

These are the leaves

All that vegetation to the left of my husband is the tree, so you can see it is a fairly large thing.

Here is a view looking up the tree.

I don’t know what to make of this. I don’t even know where to start looking to identify it. Google “crazy tree with white and rose flowers and big brown balls that might be a vine or a parasite”? Maybe next time we’re out I’ll have to bring home some flowers and see if any of my neighbors know what it is.

You just never know what you are going to see around here!

Posted in Exploring the Area, Flowers, Panama, photography | Tagged Agriculture and Forestry, Central America, Chiriqui, Chiriqui Province, David, expat, expatriate, Flower, forest, International Living, nature, Panama, Tree, Vine | 4 Comments

this is only a test

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

I was just wondering, if you add a picture to a post, and then you delete it from your media files, does it disappear from your post? I feel like I have all these photos, and I’d rather just see the ones I’m using at the moment. Can I delete them when I’m finished with them?

So OK, here are two photos. The first one is a bunch of baby spiders I found on a post on the back patio. I will leave this one alone. (aren’t you glad that if any of these photos survive, it will be the one with spiders!)

This one is a photo of a beautiful variegated plant in the woods just behind our house (it is now in our yard!) I will delete this one after I publish this post.

The last one is a photo we took at the marina in Pedregal. I will put it in the post, save the draft of the post, and then delete the photo.

which ones will survive on the live blog??! We shall see….

UPDATE: well that answered that. You cannot delete photos from the media files or you won’t see them in your blog. This is very strange because as I am editing/updating this post, I can see the photos here but when I look at the post on line, there are only empty boxes.

Posted in Miscellaneous | Tagged Central America, Chiriqui, Chiriqui Province, David, expat, expatriate, International Living, Panama, Pedregal | 8 Comments

a Trip up the Road

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

It was a beautiful day so we decided to go to the flea market in Dolega, a town up the road. When we left this chicken was in front of the car and looked annoyed that I was looking at her with my camera.

We were driving along and started to notice horses in trucks. We hadn’t gone much farther when we realized they must be having some sort of event in the area.

There was a big field with all sorts of trucks and horses with their people!

There were a bunch of riders with blue shirts, and there was another bunch of riders with orange shirts

I really enjoyed seeing so many beautiful animals and their riders.

It was such a clear, sunny day I couldn’t resist stopping to take a photo of the mountains. The colors looked so interesting in the distance.

It just have been quite an event because we saw a lot trucks with horses on the highway, and even back in town!

Since it was such a nice day, we went out on our bikes later.

Usually the tops of the mountains are covered in clouds, and often you can barely see them at all. Today, however, it was so clear that there were some really beautiful views!

So, there is nothing major in this post. I just wanted to share a little bit of our day.

PS Apologies for the previous blank, and now missing post. I was barely started and hit the publish button by mistake, so rather than have you all come to a post in progress I just started over. I hate it when that happens.

Posted in culture, Exploring Panama, Exploring the Area, Panama, photography | Tagged Central America, Chiriqui, Chiriqui Province, David, expat, expatriate, International Living, Panama, photography | 7 Comments

More Success Found Running “TO” rather than “From” (repost)

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

More Success Found Running “TO” rather than “From”

Another interesting article about why people move to another country, and specifically to Mexico and Panama.

Posted in culture, expatriate, Panama | Tagged Central America, expat, expatriate, International Living, Latin America, Mexico, Moving, Panama, retirement, United States | Comments Off

New Year’s Effigies in San Clemente, Ecuador (repost)

Posted on January 6, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

New Year’s Effigies in San Clemente, Ecuador. reposted from http://johnandmarylivingitupinecuador.wordpress.com/

This is Ecuador, not Panama but I think the practice of burning the negativities of the past year in an effigy is common throughout Latin America. My friends and neighbors here are very familiar with the concept and have stories about some they have seen. We didn’t see any around town but we also didn’t go to town much because it was so busy during the holiday season.

My friends here have taken a lot of great photos of effigies in their town! Their neighbors are definitely creative. I enjoyed this post a lot and wanted to share it with you all here.

If you’re interested in more, here are a couple other excellent links

Posted in culture | Tagged Central America, Chiriqui, Chiriqui Province, David, Ecuador, Effigy, expat, expatriate, International Living, Latin America, muñeco, New Year, Panama, San Clemente | 3 Comments

Ceiba trees?

Posted on January 6, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

We are lucky to live in an area with wonderful flowers and trees. This one tree in particular caught my eye. It’s huge, and gorgeous! It’s in what looks like a beautiful corner park with a waterlily pond and other beautiful trees and plants. It’s probably private property so I didn’t want to stand my husband under the tree for perspective, but hopefully my photos give some idea of the magnificence of this tree.

If my googling and internet research have pointed me in the right direction, this is a ceiba tree. Apparently there are different varieties, so if I keep an eye on it to see what kind of flowers and/or fruit it produces, that should help me identify it further. There is another huge tree in the neighborhood that appears to be the same type of tree. This one is in the side yard of someone’s house.

There are many other interesting trees in the area but these two are by far the biggest. I’m sure they are not the last that I will be sharing!

Posted in Exploring the Area, Panama, photography | Tagged ceiba tree, Central America, Chiriqui, Chiriqui Province, David, expat, expatriate, International Living, Panama, photography, Tree | 12 Comments

Daily Prompt: Quote Me

Posted on January 6, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

Daily Post: Do you have a favorite quote that you return to again and again? What is it, and why does it move you?

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead

Sometimes I think I’m too small to make a difference, that what I do doesn’t matter much in the big scheme of things. This quote gives encouragement that yes indeed, individuals do matter. It’s been one of my favorite quotes for a long time.

Another more recent favorite

“If it’s important, you’ll find a way. If it’s not, you’ll find an excuse.” – Ryan Blair

This has been my sig line for my emails for months. I wanted to be in Panama. I wanted a different life. I was reminded to not make excuses, but to find the way.

Here’s a few other posts (courtesy of Zemanta) Check them out to see what quotes spoke to some other bloggers.

Posted in Miscellaneous | Tagged Central America, Chiriqui, Chiriqui Province, daily prompt, David, expat, expatriate, International Living, Panama, Quotations | 5 Comments

Weekly Photo Challenge: Resolved

Posted on January 5, 2013 by Kris Cunningham

I don’t generally make resolutions for the new year but this one was easy. I am newly retired and have an opportunity to do more of what I want to do. My first goals are to learn more photography and improve my Spanish. So, a good resolution would be to read and study the books I have, and the rest that will arrive soon.

Then, there are the variety of books on my kindle, and my collection of audio books, and the additional kindle and audio books that tempt me…. I’ve always loved books!

What have others resolved? Zemanta found a few other posts from this challenge.