The Panama Adventure

Many of us retire with a spouse or significant other. This is not only about Panama or retiring overseas. There are things to consider wherever you end up. I have met couples who, when retired with new quantities of free time, were driving each other nuts. One wanted more space or more attention than the other. One wanted to continue the usual activities and the other wanted to go off into new directions, taking the reluctant partner along.

Add the changes that come with retirement to the challenges of moving to an entirely new country, and there could be some bumps along the way. What if one of you is unhappy and frustrated by the challenges, and wants to drag the reluctant other back to the home country? What if your relationship has problems, and now that you don’t have the former distractions of work and a busy life, your problems feel bigger and bigger?

I recently read a good article, 1,500 PEOPLE GIVE ALL THE RELATIONSHIP ADVICE YOU’LL EVER NEED that prompted this post so I could share it with you all. It’s not just about retirement, but about healthy relationships in general. I won’t cover it here but you can easily read the headings, or read it entirely if you find it interesting.

The main points in the article that stood out to me were #5, “A Healthy Relationship means Two Healthy Individuals” and #6 “Give Each Other Space”. Maybe with the opportunity for so much time together it’s easier to lose your own individual space and interests, and that’s probably not the best thing for long term happiness in a relationship.

I have heard about a few relationships here that have failed. I hope they are the exception and as many of us as possible will be even happier in our retirement years.

We decided to go visit the Tuesday Market today and connect with some friends. There is a market every Tuesday morning where they sell food, jewelry, coffee, soap, plants, chocolate, and all kinds of things and it’s one of the events recommended for expats who want to meet other expats. I was surprised at how big the market has become! Part of it is this time right before Christmas but still, there were people everywhere, vendors in every possible space and shoppers elbow to elbow throughout the market.

I was only on a mission to get some hydroponic greens, and then I left with my friend for lunch and some time for chatting and catching up.

Boquete can be just gorgeous and today did not disappoint. This is the view of Volcan Baru from my friends’ front yard. Baru is the highest point in Panama and an active volcano, though thankfully it has been dormant for 400+ years. It’s a beautiful mountain covered with lush forest and I never get tired of seeing it.

As we left our friends house we saw a very common sight, water pipes lying on the ground. Since it never freezes this works though sometimes one gets a hole and then there is a fountain. Boquete has many different water systems and a lot of water problems, but right now they are digging up the town everywhere to put in new and better water lines. People aren’t happy about the disruption in an already congested town but hopefully they will be happy with the results when it is finished.

As we drove down the mountain I couldn’t resist snapping a few more photos. There is a line of clouds that always seems to moving south off the mountain. Sometimes there are lots of clouds and sometimes only a few but I can’t remember seeing it totally without clouds. There must be areas over there that are constantly fogged in but from where we were, it’s always beautiful.

On the way down, just a bit above Las Molinas we passed this interesting construction in progress. It is going to be a lighthouse with great views and the largest children’s play area in Central America. There is an article here.

Then it was a matter of enjoying the rest of the ride home on the great new road, and looking at the clouds and scenery. Now I’m back at my house sitting gig. I was complaining that this neighborhood is too quiet for me, and today the neighbors are having a party complete with a mariachi band. How fun is that!

Usually not a recommended pairing! My last post mentioned my current house sitting and dog tending gig, and the iguana that was chased into the pool, and now I have requests for photos of both.

Don’t get excited. They are not great photos but it is what I have.

This was taken just before I released the iguana. I had to get her (I think it’s a her) over two fences in the net attached to a very long pole, while dodging two very excited dogs, while trying not to lose the phone I had grabbed for a photo, and this is what I got. I am happy to say that when I finally tipped her out of the net she ran for the nearby bushes and when I looked a few minutes later, she was nowhere to be seen.

Here are the iguana chasing dogs.

Ria was very happy to look at me and wag her tail for the photos. Cleo, not so much. I called her into the kitchen where there was light, but she only made a quick circuit of the room and dashed back to the hallway where there wasn’t light. There are  outdoor lights! Let’s try that.

Ok, I’ll come outside.

But I will again run in a circle and refuse to sit still

Then I will go back and lie in partial darkness in the doorway.

I had about as much success getting Cleo to pose for photos has I had getting her in the house so I could rescue the iguana in peace. But, the iguana survived, the dogs are both ok, the house is still intact, and I have achieved my house sitting goals for today.

We are house and dog sitting this week not far from where we live. There is a big yard with lots of flowers so I thought it would be fun to bring my good camera over.

This very interesting grasshopper was in my yard, eating a heliconia leaf (it was relocated after the photos)

Bougainvillea has these tiny white flowers in the blossoms

Inside a tai plant

These small trees are covered with purple and white flowers now

A heliconia

I’m not sure what this is with the tiny star like flowers

A bamboo orchid

The tai plants are flowering too

I’m not sure what this interesting flower is

More colorful tai plants

Another pretty bamboo orchid

Of course I have to include a spider 😀

It’s not a bad gig sitting here on the large terrace watching the clouds float by, enjoying the comfortable breezes, and listening to the birds. The only incident so far has been when the dogs chased an iguana into the swimming pool and I had to rescue it. Thankfully it didn’t try to get out of the net so I was able to get it safely away from the dogs. It was a beauty too, very orange colored.

Yesterday a good friend and I decided to go downtown and look around a bit. It was Mothers Day so it was unusually quiet, but most of the stores were open so it was a good day to go. There is more activity during the Christmas season but it didn’t look like everything was quite in full swing yet.

Street food. We had lunch here and it was excellent.

Amusement park rides

More street food

The Hotel Iris second floor bar overlooking the park is a popular hangout

I think Joseph was wearing the trash bag for transport.

They were in the process of assembling a big Christmas tree here

There were many gift wrapping stations scattered around downtown

The park is a fun place to hang out anytime. There are big shade trees, plenty of benches, lots of people to watch, and if you are lucky you will see one of the iguanas who live there.

The fountain wasn’t on today

Christmas decorations

This iguana had no problem with the people nearby

This tanager wasn’t shy either

Cool iguana

This one seemed to know how to pose for photos

That was yesterday. Today and for the coming week we are house sitting nearby. As we went home this morning to pick up a few things we saw Volcan Baru! Between the rain and the daily clouds that have covered it, we haven’t seen the volcano for weeks.

Life in the tropics. My Seattle daughter is sending me pictures of snow and I am looking at palm trees and parrots.

After travels and crazy amounts of rain, our life in Panama is more or less returning to normal. I’m finally biking a bit again and my muscles are slowing getting some strength back. I like getting out too because I always see something interesting.

This, however, is pretty unique. This guy said he was tired of pushing the lawn mower so he invented this remote control mower. It looked like a regular mower below with a couple car batteries on top, and some other parts that included some bright lights which is what first caught my eye, and a controller is from a remote control plane. How cool is this!

I decided to revisit one of my favorite routes northwest of town through Aguacatal and beyond. The Walmart lot still has corn growing but the sign is gone. Only the frame remains.

There have been rumors that the Walmart sign was only a joke. Could this be true?!

Villa Patricia continue to grow. These houses weren’t there a couple months ago.

The first houses now have people living in them

What a nice road to ride

I love the scenery

This route involves crossing the highway a couple times, and traffic was crazy when I came back. The Pan-American highway is always busy near the Terronal shopping area, but yesterday it was backed up all the way to KFC. I also had to wait a long time to cross the old Via Boquete. Joel and I went out to do a couple errands later in the afternoon and it was even worse. There were long lines of people waiting to turn into the shopping area and probably no parking. It’s Christmas season!

the Pan-American Highway

the old Via Boquete

But, it was one of those perfect days, not too hot, light breeze, blue skies, and really beautiful clouds. We were just a little late though with errands in the afternoon. We saw the sky darkening in the distance, and we were maybe half way home when it started to rain, and then pour, and then do one of those epic downpours that immediately floods anything that can possibly flood. Almost as soon as it started though, it was over.

Beautiful skies

Probably after no more than 20 minutes of downpour, it stopped and patches of blue appeared in the sky. I was able to quickly dart out and finish my last errand.

Today we decided a Pricesmart run was in order. The store was fairly crowded for a Tuesday morning and again, any time you go out there will be something interesting.

It is very common to see people selling things on the street. People walk around with buckets of tamales and bags of other things, put a table in front of their house, and there are many of these more substantial operations. There is always something going on in front of Pricesmart because there is space and many shoppers coming and going.

But, live chickens?! I know the pictures is bad, but there is a cage on the ground with chickens, and a guy holding up bags of guandu (pigeon peas, pretty much a requirement for holiday dinners)

There is another supermarket under construction on the Pan-American highway and it looks huge

The highway also has more and more of these potholes. It looks like whole sections of asphalt have gone missing, exposing the concrete road below. People say the heavy rains are to blame for a lot of this.

Life in Panama, always something interesting.

The Centro de Arte José Cáceres O. is not far from my house, and I have been taking painting classes there with Víctor Aguirre Chirú. (There isn’t much about him or the school on line except for their Facebook page HERE) It is an interesting and growing school offering classes in music, dance, and art. There is an occasional adult student but the majority of them are children, and many of them are very young children.

Last night they had a very well attended event and art exhibition.

This is only a few of the many people who attended.

José Cáceres and another guitarist provide the music

Victor Chirú (right) and the wife of José Cáceres (left with an orange necklace) confer on the upcoming activities.

Victor Chirú addresses the crowd

There was some social time for the crowd and beautiful guitar music by José Cáceres. Then people from the school, including one of the students, addressed the crowd.

This darling girl shows off her dance moves

The “stars” of the school

Some of the youngest students were brought on stage and honored for their achievements in art, dance, and music. Then, there was an interesting dance performance, a shadow dance behind a large piece of fabric.

The dance performance

The fabric was lowered so we could applaud for the dancers

The dinner crowd

Next was a drawing for gifts, one of which was a small painting by Chirú, and then dinner was served. There were long breaks between each activity for socializing, and dinner took a while too. Small plates were made up as people came through with green salad, potato salad, a bit of chicken, a piece of sandwich, and a square of flan for dessert. But, it was all very good. There weren’t enough chairs for everyone though and by now I was tired of standing. We decided to call it a night but Chirú caught us on the way out and took us to the kitchen for a celebratory glass of wine.

What a nice evening. I’ll leave you with a ton of photos of the art work. There was art outside, inside, and on every available flat surface! Keep in mind that many of these students are as young as four, and the more advanced looking paintings are probably done by students around 10-14 years old. Unfortunately the information included the name, but not the age of the student on each painting or drawing so I can’t say the age of the specific artist.

My friend Haydeé discuses a painting with Joel

This is one by Chirú

Mine is the lower painting. Haydeé insisted on taking a photo of me with it.

I’ve really enjoyed art classes. I like working beside the little kids and seeing how well they do, and I am enjoying exploring my own abilities with paint and canvas. You just never know what interesting things you may end up doing, especially when you are retired and your time is your own.

Joel had a problem with a filling, so a trip to the dentist was in order. We had been going to Dr Spiegel but he was appointed ambassador to Singapore! His practice is still active though, and is being maintained by other dentists who come in to cover.

Joel went in last week and the filling was fixed ($25). Yesterday he had an appointment for a cleaning (many dentists don’t even require appointments. You just walk in and wait your turn. But, us gringos who are used to appointments like the appointment system too). Anyway, the cleaning appointment… I went with him this time.

It turns out that the dentist is a very lovely woman who lives in our neighborhood about three blocks away! What a small world. He liked her so much that I wanted to go meet her, and while I was there she was happy to clean my teeth too ($30 each, done by the dentist. There is an assistant and a secretary in the office but no hygienists). We had so much fun talking that it is a wonder we got the cleaning done 😀

I didn’t take pictures of the dentist, so instead you get to see another absolutely beautiful morning in Panama.

I have had trouble with my teeth pretty much all of my life. I went in for cleanings every three months. I had the gum surgery (I’d rather lose teeth than do that again!), I had many deep cleanings, I used the water pick every time I ate along with flossing and brushing but if I let up for an instant on my constant care, my gums would start to bleed. They were always measuring my pockets and tisk tisking, and I have lost one of my back teeth entirely.

I came to Panama and my dental problems were GONE! Immediately! It’s crazy. The water pick is gathering dust. I still floss after eating and if  I’m even somewhat consistent with that my gums never bleed. I went for cleaning every six months with Dr. Spiegel and he always said everything was fine. This time though, I hadn’t been in for well over a year. She said I had some cemento (tartar) on my teeth but other than that everything looked fine, no gum disease, no cavities, no problems, nothing.

Why is this?! I haven’t changed my diet much, but I think the fruits and vegetables are fresher since they are grown so close by. I have a lower stress life because I’m not working, but maybe higher stress navigating a new culture and language as I adapted to living here, at least at first (and we won’t mention living with mother in law). I am happier and I have stronger connections to my friends, neighbors, and the people around me. I think happiness and connections need to be given more credit in physical health. But even with all these points, why did it change so quickly after arriving, before I had barely settled in and started to make friends? I noticed I also felt generally better within a month of arriving and I have a feeling it’s the fresh produce. Here it’s grown for flavor, not appearance, and it only spends hours in shipping, not days or weeks. Maybe it has nutrients we don’t even realize we are missing when things are shipped in from a long ways away. Who knows, but I am very happy for my improved dental and general health.

I love beautiful skies with interesting clouds, and today you can see this everywhere you look.

We have found that if you need dental care here, it is much more affordable and of very good quality. If any of you need a dentist here let me know. This lady doesn’t speak English, but if that is necessary a friend raves about another dentist who does speak English.

This morning the sun was shining, there were great cloud formations against a blue sky, and a very light breeze was blowing. What a wonderful day to be out.

This is one of my favorite views from the south part of town looking back towards the mountains

Panamanian speed bumps. I think all this rain hasn’t been good for the roads and there seem to be more potholes everywhere. Sometimes they repave some roads, and more often they patch them until they become a patchwork quilt of patches. Hopefully this summer there will be more road repair work. Meanwhile it tends to slow down the traffic which isn’t always a bad thing until you hit a hole yourself because you didn’t see it.

Something more beautiful than potholes

A common sight around town – a newly cut yard. Yard work was on hold for quite a while when it was raining so much, so everyone is catching up now. The egret flying away isn’t as common in town, though you can see them frequently in the country with the cows.

On the way home it looked like rain might be coming in. It didn’t rain here though until much later in the afternoon.

In the other direction were more pretty clouds and blue sky.

One thing about all those gray and rainy days is that you sure appreciate a sunny day when you get one again!

This is the rainy season in the tropics, and we have had SO much rain! According to this article in La Prensa, we have broken the record for the most rain in 30 years. David usually gets 179 mm (7 inches) in the first half of November, and this year we got 325 mm (12.8 inches). Other parts of the country have similar statistics. There was even heavier rain in the second half of the month as Otto came though.

With humidity comes mold. This year, especially in the mountains, it has been really bad. Boquete friends told me they have mold growing on everything including walls and ceilings, and there is thick fog that comes though for a few hours every day.

Come and live in Paradise, in the land of flowers and eternal spring…. rainbows… unicorns… they forget to mention some of the real challenges you will face, especially in those beautiful mountain areas. If you have health conditions that don’t do well in wet climates, you may be really unhappy here.

The subject of mold was brought up on a Facebook group today (Expats in Panama). Suggestions have been to remove humidity by AC or dehumidifier. Try to increase ventilation by fans and open windows/doors for air flow. Some recommend cleaning with bleach, but others say this only makes things look better and doesn’t kill the mold. Others recommend vinegar, and someone said tea tree oil works well mixed with water and vinegar. I might try that one. Someone is selling Concrobium Mold Control at this website. I might try that too.

Thankfully we haven’t had too much trouble. We have some things we do – squeegee the shower walls, remove any wet towels or other items to dry outdoors, do not return any worn clothing to the closet (which is the other half of the bathroom, nice idea except for moisture control), and Joel put a small fan above the closet that vents air to above. Anything we don’t wear or use gets cleaned, dried in the sun, and then stored in a plastic bin.

We don’t have much mold, but things do get musty smelling – clothes we haven’t worn for a while, the suitcase in the back of the closet, Joel’s speakers that have wooden cabinets… pretty much anything made of wood and leather? Forget it. Mold loves leather. The dry season isn’t my favorite but at least the dryness has the benefit of discouraging mold for us. In the mountains though even though it doesn’t rain, they still get moist foggy air rolling through.

But, on a positive note, we have had three good days! Tuesday I went biking and made it home just as the rain started. Yesterday I went out again and it was one of those days where a single cloud comes through and rains on everything below. I got wet once but the rest of the ride was wonderful. Today, it didn’t rain until after 5PM! I did errands and even worked in the yard a bit. You can imagine how badly that is needed after all this rain and no care.

It is predicted that we will continue to see rain until the end of the month instead of the usual middle of December. If I can enjoy the mornings and get in some yard cleanup time I’m fine with that.

Even mold has its uses. Look at the great pattern it made on the underside of a plastic chair!