The Panama Adventure

I’ve noticed a little brown bird coming and going from one of our bushes by the driveway. When I investigated, I found three little bluish eggs in a nest. On Friday when I checked on them, I saw that two had hatched. On Saturday, and again today I saw two birds so apparently the third egg didn’t hatch.

I plan to disturb them as little as possible but I’ll try to look in on them occasionally. We have found many similar nests in the bushes, and the doves like to nest in the bushy palm plant in front of the house. Another bird likes to make a nest on top of a pillar and manages to drop a lot of nesting material and make a mess below. We also have countless visitors from hawks, falcons, and vultures to tiny finches, wrens, and hummingbirds. It is said that there are more varieties of birds in Panama than in the whole of North America, and since we live next to a wooded area we get to enjoy many of them.

We also have more varieties of insects than in the whole of North America. I’ve never seen so many kinds of bees and wasps. I noticed a bunch of little ones on a small branch of our guanabana (soursop) tree last Monday. By Tuesday I could see the definite beginnings of a hive, so I snapped a photo every day to see their progress. I’ve seen many of these hives on houses and in trees and some say they are good luck. They are like the most delicate paper and very lightweight.

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday. They seem to be finished.

Bees here seem to be very easy to live with. I’ve only been stung once when I was pulling vines off the fence, not realizing there was a hive on the fence post. Even then they only sent out one bee, not half the hive. I’ve seen big bumble bees, very tiny brown/golden bees, and everything in between in brown, black and/or gold. Many of them don’t even have stingers.

Life in Panama… In most places you get to live with a lot of wildlife. We also get to live with a lot of rain most of the time. Yesterday it rained hard for hours and I heard about flooding in Panama City and I’m sure there were problems here too. When it rains that hard the water just can’t drain from the streets that quickly. But this is nothing compared to Texas. What I’ve seen in the news is beyond awful. It’s going to take a very long time to recover from that and even with the help of many generous people, many lives will never be the same.

Continue reading →

I had an interesting experience the other day. Someone who has followed my blog for a while, and who has seen me out and about said she was nervous about approaching me to say hi, but she finally got her courage up and came over.

It always surprises me to hear that I am seen as some sort of celebrity because of my blog. I don’t feel at all out of the ordinary. I enjoy writing and I just write about what is going on, what interests me, or what catches my eye. I’m always surprised that people know me, or know things about me because I don’t think about the blog when I’m out.

But, I really appreciate knowing that people find the blog interesting and helpful. I forget how I latched on to any information about Panama before moving here, and I never thought about becoming one of those sources of information. I started out because a blog is an easy way to keep family and friends updated but since I’m living in Panama now, it is also a way to see life here through my eyes. I worry sometimes that people will come here because of my happy experience and find it doesn’t work for them, but so far I haven’t heard about that happening. Keep in mind though that everyone’s experience is unique and success is based on many factors, so do your own homework.

I get many emails and comments, and if you take the time to write I appreciate that and will respond. If I don’t please poke me because it’s an oversight. I have also met many people in person through the blog, many of whom have become personal friends. I am not shy and I have no problem talking with people I don’t know so if you see me, please feel free to say hello.

Joel saw this funny video posted by a Facebook friend. A “northerner” was terrorizing Londoners by *gasp* saying hello to complete strangers!

But, much of humor has truth behind it. In some places it is not customary to greet strangers and it makes people very uncomfortable. Here in Panama it is quite the opposite. Greetings are customary with strangers on the street, on the bus, in a waiting room, everywhere! After five years here it has become my normal and I really miss it when I’m in the US. It makes you feel good to be aknowledged by everyone but isn’t the custom in many places.

This is what you expect, right? You turn on the faucet and water comes out. I learned on my first day that this is not always so. I was alone in a new country, new house, half bottle of drinking water on hand, and when I turned the faucet nothing came out.

In the summer when there isn’t any rain water shortages are common. When it rains too much the lines get clogged with mud and the water is off until they can be cleaned. If they are fixing something, the water is off. No one seems to know why the water is off most of the time and no one seems to get very upset about it either. Thankfully the water always seems to come back on later. I can only think of once when it was out for more than a day and a water truck came through the neighborhood to fill any container that you gave them.

Panama is working hard to upgrade infrastructure, including the water systems and we have fewer outages than when we arrived five years ago. But, it still happens. Last Saturday the water slowed to a trickle, and then went out. It was back at night but Sunday was more of the same. Monday was variable, but mostly low water pressure. We are in a lower part of the neighborhood so we often have a trickle where the higher houses have nothing.

We have gallons of water on hand so it’s only inconvient when the water goes out. Laundry and cleaning wait, and hair doesn’t get washed. Many houses have water tanks to see them through outages but with just the two of us in a rented house, we are ok without one. I’m always thankful when the water is back on though, and think about the many people in the world who never have water in their homes or even access to any clean water at all.

If we are without something, I’m glad it’s water. Electricity has been very reliable. It goes out once in a great while but almost never for very long. Internet has been equally reliable.

Life in Panama means some things are different, or you do without some things that you always took for granted. But we think, for us, these things are very minor compared to the many things that are so much better. It’s also good to think about what is really important, and to be thankful for clean water even when it occasionally comes in a gallon jug.

What does having a bad day mean? An annoyance? A cranky boss or client? Losing your job? Losing the fight for your very survival?

I saw a story from National Geographic. This girl was born in Rwanda in 1994, prematurely, as her mother was running to escape the genocide. Her mother died soon after the birth, the baby girl ended up in an orphanage where it was arranged for her to be adopted by a Belgian family. She made it out on the last plane, now suffering from malaria, days before all the other children were massacred. She survived though and has now returned to Rwanda where she works to help people with education and medical care.

The article and video are HERE

People get upset sometimes. There is no water today, and it was off on Monday too. We had to go downtown and the traffic was nuts, and then we had to sit around and wait our turn for a car inspection. They didn’t even look like they were trying to hurry. The ants are eating my moringa tree, again, and the darn frog who croaks at night is so loud. It’s sunny and too hot, or there’s too much rain, and they still don’t have season salt in the supermarket. Why does every conversation have words I don’t understand, and they talk so fast?

Some people aren’t happy with the expat life. It’s too hard to adapt, to tolerate the frustrations. There are for profit companies promoting the expat life in various countries but they won’t tell you of the problems and challenges. This is something each of us must learn for ourselves, and then decide if we can be happy.

But, when I hear about the suffering and challenges confronting so many of the worlds people, I see how fortunate we are. We have clean water and at worst, we have to grab a gallon jug from under the sink. No one is shooting at us or bombing our city. We aren’t suffering from diseases with no available health care. No one even looks down on us for our differing religious, political, or lifestyle views. We have everything we need – food, shelter, affordable medical care, friends and community ties, and freedom from worry.

My worst day would be an incredible gift to so many of the world’s people. My worst day is a good day, and I am very thankful. Continue reading →

I’ve finally gotten around the downloading and sorting the photos I took of the Washington part of my time in the US. It’s summer there and though it was hot and there hadn’t been rain for some time, it was still green and there were many beautiful flowers around the neighborhood.

The neighbor had a beautiful yard with many flowers

These roses started out yellow, then turned pink and eventually almost white.

These looked more like wax candles than pine cones

Of course the fun at the house was seeing my daughter, son in law, and my other granddaughter. A frequent outing is the neighborhood playground, and a favorite toy at home was a box. My Panamanian neighbors did some eBay shopping and one item was Mexican boots, and the box they arrived in was a big hit.

Swings are fun

Yay! The slide

NOOOOO! No one else is allowed on MY slide, not even Mom!

The box in the kitchen

The box in the living room

The cat is only able to enjoy the box when the baby doesn’t notice.

We took a couple days away to go into the mountains where the kids had rented a cabin (really a very comfortable and well stocked house) on a beautiful river.

These interesting miss covered woods were across from the cabin

Looking at fish and interesting rocks

Elizabeth spotted these awesome snails munching on dead pine needles

One unexpected and exciting thing was the Pacific Crest Trail. I saw the movie “The Way” which is about the Camino De Santiago in Europe, and later read the book and then saw the movie “Wild” about a woman’s experience hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and found both hugely inspirational, and motivation to get out there and travel on my bicycle. I never thought about encountering the PCT though, and even having a brief chat with a hiker!

What a surprise to see this sign!

This hiker had a box from the post office under his arm, supplies that he had mailed himself earlier. He said he was looking for a ride into town and he must have found one, since he wasn’t there when we returned.

Another sign as seen from the pedestrian bridge over th highway

You could see the ski slopes

The chair lifts were going. We were told that one could ride them up and down all you want if you buy a pass. There were people walking down, and many mountain bikers who went up and then rode their rented bikes down.

Of course all good things end at some point, and it was time for my trip back home to Panama. It’s quite a trip too, an evening flying to San Francisco, then waiting for an early flight from SFO to Panama, a hotel overnight, and a day on the bus to David.

Some of my companions at SFO in the wee hours of the morning, a scared woman who didn’t want to be alone, and was afraid no one would show up to check us in (they don’t open until 4:30am). A guy from NYC (love the accent from “home”), a guy trying to sleep in the corner, and this guy with his therapy Jack Russel who loved it when we threw her tennis ball.

Heading home, San Fransicso below

My granddaughter had a toy helicopter with pontoons and we were saying we had never seen such a thing for real, and here landing at Albrook as the bus drove by, a yellow helicopter with white pontoons!

All very tedious things also come to an end though, and I’m happy to say I’ve been back home for a week now. My stomach flu resolved and I feel like myself again, and Joel and I have spent many hours practicing the songs I have learned to play on the bass. That has gone really, really well and I’m super excited about it. All those hours of practice while I was gone really paid off. We plan to get together with the drummer soon and put it all together, and then I should be ready to step in when I’m needed.