The Panama Adventure

Panama has a lot going on, but in some ways it is still a developing country. It’s also growing at a rapid rate and the infrastructure sometimes struggles to keep up.

We are used to being without water for short periods (up to now, never more than a day), and we learned to keep water on hand. Many people have water storage tanks. Sometimes the water would be off because they are fixing something but it would come back on in the evening. Sometimes during the dry season the water would run low so we’d have rolling water outages, kind of like rolling blackouts. At other times we would have so much rain that the inlets that take water from the river would get clogged with mud and debris, and they would have to shut off the water while they cleared them. We could always tell that because the water would come back muddy at first.

The country has been working hard on the water systems. Millions of dollars have been allocated for improvements and to bring safe water as many people as possible. Things have improved here and we went through the last dry season with the water flowing almost all the time. But, Friday evening we noticed the water pressure was dropping, and then the flow stopped entirely.

It is now Monday afternoon and the water is still off. The whole neighborhood is out as well as some of the houses outside our neighborhood. Nobody knows what is going on. Yesterday a water truck came through and people came out with buckets, pails, gallon jugs, anything that would hold water and the truck filled them all.

It’s interesting to see the reactions of the people. They are grumbling a bit now because it’s going on for so long, but no one seems to be seriously upset. People are going to friends for water to bring home for themselves and neighbors in need. Neighbors went out ahead of the truck to alert other neighbors so everyone could get resupplied. Jokes are made about going to the river, but people do use the river if necessary. I myself have bathed in the river, and also in the rainwater pouring off the roof.

This sure makes you think of the millions of people who have no water in their homes, and who have to carry it home from some outside source. We take it so much for granted and I’m sure we use more than we really need.

I have learned that you can wash an entire day of dishes in a gallon of water. You can also bathe two people, including hair, in a gallon of water. You can flush the toilet with a gallon. I don’t know what it takes to wash clothes though. That can wait until we have water again.

If you are considering living in another country, especially one less developed than your home country, keep in mind that you may have to be flexible about some things. This is inconvenient but in the big picture, we still are very well off. And, meanwhile, they are considerate enough to send a water truck to help us out.

My nursing license is due for renewal. Should one leave past bridges open? Should you hang on to the possibility of working again?

I am having trouble getting past the feeling that I should maintain my license. I’ve been a nurse since 1979 and though there were a few years when I did other things, it was always my safety net. I could always find work anywhere with that nursing license. But now, this is the first renewal time when I have had another steady source of income thanks to that social security money that arrives every month. What would force me back to work now?

And, if the unimaginable did happen, could I go back to nursing? I don’t think so. It’s been four years and I still feel too fried to consider the possibility. I imagine putting on my scrubs, hoisting my supply bag over my shoulder, picking up my box of paperwork, checking the phone in my pocket, heading out to visit my various patients….. noooooo! Even my former friends and colleagues are often hanging on my their fingernails. It’s very hard to work in the deteriorating US health care system especially in home health where the nurses are responsible for the financial decisions as well as the medical ones.

Maybe you aren’t really retired until you close the door on that past working life. For some it seems to be a fast process – the last day, the farewell party, and that’s it, don’t look back. For me it was a gradual process. I took less cases to give me more time to prepare for the move. Finally I got tired of my phone ringing when I was covered in paint, so I stopped seeing patients entirely. Later, I gave away my scrubs and supplies. But, I still kept the license.

I applied for an inactive license but it will cost $65. Why should I pay it? If I remain inactive for two more years I can’t practice anyway without going back for remedial training. I think it’s time to put the whole nursing thing to rest once and for all. It is time to be really retired and not look back! It is obvious now that Panama is working out, and so is retirement.

On a totally unrelated note, as I was writing this I happened to glance at the dish of lizard eggs and saw that the 3rd one had hatched! I had the phone handy so I was able to get a couple photos.

I put it down in a quiet place on the terrace so hopefully it can start it’s lizard life safely and find a bug or two to eat.

Yeah, I am retired 🙂

Bob Adams has made a number of videos about living and getting things done in Panama. He does a lot of research, and I think he is sensible, honest, and intelligent. He’s not trying to sell anything either, just share helpful information about Panama.

I thought his latest video is worth sharing. Who wants to come to Panama and get involved in a bad real estate or business deal? This country, like anywhere, is not immune to opportunists who will take advantage of someone if they can.

Bob Adams also has a website called Retirement Wave that is well worth a visit. You can find it HERE. You can learn more about the man, and if you sign up for the free update service you’ll gain access to tons of articles on a variety of subjects. He knows a lot and does a lot of careful research so he can bring you the most accurate information. Check it out.

If I was in charge of papayas around here, nobody would have any papayas. I have been growing them since I’ve been here, but I’ve only had a couple fairly bad fruits in all this time.

They are easy to plant. Drop seeds on the ground and they sprout. Don’t drop seeds on the ground and papayas will still sprout everywhere in places you don’t expect, like the ones I have now. But, in my experience, most of these trees will never reach maturity. The few that do get big and start making fruit seem to want to fall over. We had one very promising tree loaded with fruit and one night I heard this crashing sound, and there it was on the ground with the fruit scattered everywhere (these were the couple bad fruits that I tried to salvage and ripen. Apparently they were too green). The trunk tried to grow again but after a while, it also died.

A couple days ago, Joel went to the window and saw this outside.

The top of the papaya tree is laying on the ground

All the leaves and fruit is on the ground

The trunk is still there looking like someone whacked it with a machete.

What the heck?? The top of the tree just fell off like someone had whacked it off with a machete. The tree has a couple sprouts so it might grow again, but this fruit is certainly lost. I picked out a few of the most promising looking ones and we will see what happens, but I’m not holding out for anything remarkable.

I have a couple other promising trees at the moment, one at the back corner of the house and the other just outside the front fence.

By the back corner of the house

Just outside the front fence

I have another small papaya also just outside the front fence that has male flowers, something you don’t see as often.

Male flowers, When the tree gets bigger and has more flowers, they almost looks like sparklers

A white, female flower on a fruiting tree

Maybe I need some instruction on papayas. I haven’t noticed any other trees getting special care, and I’ve seen others loaded with fruit that seem to be doing OK. Maybe I need to lighten the load on mine and remove some of the fruit so they can support the rest of the fruit? I don’t know. The one that just fell was super tall, but the others have been short enough that removing fruit would be possible. I’ll have to do some asking around.

Meanwhile, thank goodness, other people know how to manage papayas. They are available in the markets year around and they are delicious.

Some of the mango trees are still fruiting and dropping fruit on the ground. One advantage of riding a bike around town is knowing where these trees can be found. There is one near the entrance to our neighborhood, and another just a bit south of us that are my current targets.

The mango tree near the entrance to our neighborhood

The mangoes from this tree are really good! They are flavorful, tender, and without the strings that you find in some mangoes. The other tree is dropping smaller mangoes but they bruise less when they hit the ground, and they are also very good.

One day’s findings

There are hundreds of mango trees around town, and some of them look huge and very old. They don’t all produce fruit every year but with that many trees there is always fruit somewhere. I thought mango season usually winds down when the rains come back in April but for some reason, some trees have fruit now in July.

Frozen mangoes ready to put in bags

Mangoes freeze well and we have a deep freeze, so I have been picking up mangoes almost every day. I peel them, cut up the fruit, lay them out to freeze and then package the pieces in bags. This works better for me than having one big hunk of frozen mango in a bag. Frozen mango makes a great treat, sort of like ice cream, or it can be used in smoothies or probably any recipe that calls for mango.

ready for storage in the freezer

We also have frozen bananas. When one of our trees fruits it makes a bunch big enough to share and still have a lot left over. I like bits of banana in my oatmeal pancakes, or it’s good for smoothies or for just a frozen treat. There are also other fruits around town, lemons and other citrus, star fruit, cashew apples, and the other fruit that looks like a cashew apple but has a seed in the middle, and is a lot like an apple when cooked. I wouldn’t take anything growing that could belong to someone, but if the fruit is falling on the ground and not being used, why let it go to waste?

This reminds me of a Florida joke – Why do you have to lock your car in Florida? Because if you don’t, you’ll come back and find it full of citrus 😀  Here it’s mangoes because if you have big mango trees, you will have a lot of mangoes.

I happened across a wonderful B&B that also offers tours. A couple of my blog followers were in town, we were exploring the area, and they remembered this place where they had stayed before so we stopped by for a visit. I might be interested in some of the tours they described so I kept their contact information.

Moty Hen is the owner, and Israeli guy who manages the place with his Panamanian wife. When we visited the first time I met her sister who was helping out because Moty and his wife were in Panama City.

Their website is HERE.  The place is in southern David in an attractive residential neighborhood. The house itself is very comfortable, but I think the most interesting thing is the birds and monkeys. I took some photos which will tell you more than any words.

The first thing you see is this pretty garden area.

There is a nice sitting area in front of the house

This is the entrance to the house. Note the fridge with water and cool drinks

The large living room has a pool table

Last but certainly not least, Moty with one of his parrots

Moty told me that he used to have even more birds but has been downsizing his collection because when they all got going, it was too noisy for the guests. Almost all of the birds and monkeys are native to Panama and I got the feeling almost all are also rescues.

This one is only friendly after he gets to know you. I was happy to see he has a leash so he can climb around his area, but not come to you unless you choose to get close enough

Moty said this monkey was given to him and is quite elderly. I noticed she was missing quite a few teeth.

I don’t know the story behind this cute little guy.

Toucans! There were lots of beautiful birds and parrots, but I think the toucans are especially beautiful

This monkey was thrilled at any attention, though I kept my distance just in case. He is paralyzed on the left side but still does a good job of climbing around on everything within reach.

If any of you are considering this as a place to stay, photos of the rooms are next. There is a large room for $75 if I remember correctly, and another large room with its own sitting area for $85. Then there are two smaller rooms for $50, one with a double bed and the other with twin beds and they share a bathroom The rooms come with breakfast which my friends said was excellent. If you want, you can arrange for them to cook you other meals as well.

This large room is on the left side of the house.

This room with the sitting area is also on the left side of the house.

This is one of the smaller rooms on the right side of the house. The picture isn’t the greatest because of the sun pouring in the window but you get the general idea.

This is the room with twin beds that is next to the double bed room. Moty and his wife have their own room on this side of the house as well.

Some tour ideas

Moty can also arrange tours with pretty much anything you would like. He says he has contacts all over the country so if you want a tour of Panama City, San Blas or other things on that side of the country, he can help you out. I am interesting in the manufacturing and craftsmen tours in this area to see cigars being made, and those cakes of brown sugar, and some of the other things from Chiriqui. Maybe I can collect some of my friends and we’ll make a fun day of it.

Moty made it very clear that he wants his guests to feel relaxed and comfortable, and to feel like this is also their home. I was made to feel the same way and I am welcome there any time.  How nice is that! There are good hotels in town but they can’t have the personal touch and hospitality of this home.

Sometimes I go through spells when I have nothing to say. It’s just normal daily life here, nothing unusual happening. I ride my bike, putter in the yard, spend time with friends, do the usual errands and chores, paint a bit, nothing really worth talking about. I’ve had a cold and the cough has hung on forever, which though I didn’t feel sick must have been sapping my energy. I thought I had lost all the conditioning from my bike trip but yesterday, finally, I went riding and felt strong. I powered all the way home feeling like my old self, and it was wonderful!

And, of course, as things go, since I organized these photos and mentally wrote this blog post I have some new things to talk about, all, so they will be coming soon.

This elegant tiny bug landed on my table one night

Sometimes we get visited by very green baby iguanas

I rode around the neighborhood the other day, which I hadn’t done in quite a while. This is my favorite tree. Notice the two story house behind it which looks small in comparison. Someone told me the tree is over 200 years old.

This is a huge mango tree in a vacant lot in the neighborhood. It isn’t fruiting at the moment but when it does, it gives really big, red, delicious mangoes.

This is a mariñon corizon tree. It has beautiful purple delicate flowers that carpet the ground below in purple petals, and then it makes a somewhat bland fruit that when cooked, is very much like apples.

This odd looking moth landed on my table one night

It’s rainy season, and I took a couple photos one evening as it started to get dark during a rainstorm.

More evening rain.

I was organizing the shelves by my table yesterday, and noticed this little cocoon hanging from the pipe that handles the water from the AC

This beautiful butterfly landed on my bicycle the other day. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one like this before. What beautiful and intricate patterns!

What else? One of the banana trees is flowering so we’ll have more of those great red bananas in a couple months. The war on the ants in the house has been pretty much successful though we are still vigilant. They were sending armies from the yard into the house which we have stopped, but I think they continue to live in the attic because just as we think they are conquered, we spot some a few days later using a trail that leads upwards. We still have some of the tiny little ants that scurry around like crazy in the kitchen though, so we are working on them. Yesterday Joel discovered they had set up housekeeping in a package of saran wrap! There are so many types of ants here and it’s really interesting to see how they all work so hard for the good of their colony. They can’t live in the house though. That’s our space.

Oh, and the lizard eggs, can’t forget them! We were cleaning one day probably 1 1/2 months ago and found some gecko eggs. They are little round, white eggs about the size of a large pea. I put them in a dish on my table and a couple mornings ago, I noticed something brown sticking out of one. I picked up the dish and a tiny gecko burst out of the egg, jumped down to the table with some egg shell still on it’s head, and dashed under that little blue box from the moth photo above! Too bad I didn’t have a camera within easy reach because when I came back with one, the gecko had left and I couldn’t find it again. The next day another egg was open and empty. I have two more eggs though, so maybe I’ll get to see it happen again.

The weather has been great for the most part, an occasional hot day but usually pleasant and breezy with cooling rains late in the day.  The rain keeps everything lush and green, and I like this better than the dry season.

That’s about it for the moment. Even the ordinary days always bring something interesting.

Every year there is a plant sale at the amazing Heliconia Gardens in Volcan. I had never been to it, but yesterday a bunch of friends wanted to go and invited me to go along. I am so glad I did! It’s gorgeous with water lilies, gingers, and many other plants, and the heliconias were absolutely amazing. Even if you don’t want to buy plants it is well worth going just to see the place.

There were quite a few people at the sale. Parking was along the road and then you walk in, or if the truck came along you could hop in for a ride. Even the road in is very beautiful.

When you arrive, one of the first things you see is this amazing water lily pond. I had two large ponds in Florida and love water lilies, so I was very excited to see these.

The other side of the pond with many visitors milling around. Maybe I should put in a pond here? The lilies were also for sale so I would have a source of some beauties.

There were three other plant vendors there, and also people selling food and snacks.

Check out this amazing beauty! It was huge too.

The heliconia sale area. There was a flower on each stick, and the corresponding plants were behind the sticks so it was easy to identify the various types for sale.

This is actually an ornamental banana. Isn’t it spectacular!

I had my eye on that big hanging flower that was red, gray, and almost black. It grows 20 feet tall though and I don’t have the space for it.

Look at those water lilies from the amazon river!

Another water lily pond, and wonderful views of the mountains behind

more plants

more beautiful views

that pink hanging heliconia on the pole, if I had seen one of those for sale I probably couldn’t have resisted taking it home. It’s my very favorite, but also a very tall one

You could walk on paths through the woods, but the woods were mainly more heliconias and other flowers and plants

more flowers

This photo does not do these plants justice. On the left is the one I liked in front of the sale area, and that’s a ginger on the right. They are both huge!

If you look closely at the lighter colored ginger in the center, you can see a couple delicate flowers coming out of a couple of the spaces. They almost look like little butterflies or insects of some sort.

I like the colors of these leaves

What a unique and interesting flower.

My friend’s plants were brought down to the street by wheelbarrow.

The sale was very well organized. There were papers listing all the plants. You told one of the workers what you wanted, they marked the paper, put all your plants in a group while you took your paper to the girls who collected the money. When you returned with your receipt, your plants were put in a wheelbarrow or on a truck for delivery down to the street parking area.

The photos above do not do the place or the plants justice. I don’t think any photo could, but I was especially frustrated with mine. My camera has lost it’s display, I didn’t want to take my big expensive good camera, so I decided to use my iPhone camera. It had a hard time with the exposure on many of the photos, the colors were off in other photos, or the focus, and a lot of the photos were thrown away as unusable. Tomorrow I go down to Panafoto to see if they can advise me on getting my Canon repaired or if not, replaced. I apologize for the quality of the photos, and hopefully I can correct the situation in the very near future.

After the Heliconia Garden, we all decided to go to the great Mexican restaurant in Volcan. Everyone must have had the same idea because all the cars parked in front had plants. Word is the dollar store in Volcan is one of the best, so after lunch we stopped in there. I found a couple small things I needed, and then considered buying some incense. I have smelled incense in other homes but never looked at it closely until this day. Incense here has a purpose beyond just smelling good! Who knew?

From the left, incense to attract more clients, then to attract more money, more riches, more energy, power, and total relaxation.

Again from the left, incense for love, enjoy and revive with coffee, cannabis for deep thoughts, vanilla for happiness, strawberries to remove negativity, for peace, money and health.

I bought these – vanilla cinnamon to give the body energy, and cannabis for exploring my deepest thoughts 😀

An update before I send this out -I went to town today to look at cameras. It is possible there is a shop downtown that can repair my ailing camera but it might be more expensive than just buying a new one, so I bought a small, not very expensive Canon Power Shot. When the battery is charged I’ll give it a try. I’ve had good luck with that brand except for the failed display, and I’m not even sure I can blame the camera entirely for that because I did get it wet with salt water in the not too distant past. You don’t realize how much you use something until it’s not available, so I’m happy to have a little basic camera just for daily use.

A friend gave me a couple pups, or hijos (sons in Spanish) of plantains, or plátanos. One got taken out when the guaba tree fell down last year, but the roots put up two pups that are thriving so all is not lost. The other was fine though, and it is now producing fruit. If you look at the post from January 2015, you can see it in one of the photos or go directly here. It’s the little banana looking plant in the foreground a bit to the right. Judging by this post, it has apparently taken over a year and a half from pup to fruit.

The guaba tree that fell, by the way, regrew from the stump and we were very happy to see that it lived. Then, the brush fires came through last summer and killed it 😦

One day I noticed something fat emerging from the top of the plantain plant, something that looked different than a new leaf. It was indeed a flower and from there, things moved along very quickly. The next day I saw this

June 9th

Bananas and plantains have the most exotic and unusual looking flowers! I documented the progress of a flowering and fruiting banana plant here. The plantain isn’t very tall, only a couple feet over my head unlike our huge bananas, and the flower progressed slightly differently. There were far fewer fruits but they were bigger, and the flowers at the ends were large.

June 10th, flower just starting to open

June 11th

June 12th

June 13th

June 14th

June 15th

June 18th. Now changes were happening less rapidly, so I’ll skip a few days

June 27th Not much has changed but the plantains are getting fatter

June 29th. I was advised to cut off the flower which makes the fruits get fatter.

I was told it’s about two months from flower to plantains that are ready to eat. Plantains are a staple food here so I’m sure I can ask anyone to look at them and tell me when it’s time.

Plantains are used green as a starchy vegetable. They are sliced or grated and added to soups and other dishes. Patacones are very popular and are eaten frequently. The green fruit is cut into one inch chunks and cooked either in water or in a bit of oil (different people advise different methods). Then, you take your special kitchen rock and smash the pieces flat, and fry them again in a bit of oil. The result is something that looks like a little pancake but tastes something like a french fry. (an aside, I have been told that green bananas can also be used like green plantains. I have tried this with a few things and it is true, but I found them hard to peel.)

I also like ripe plantains. When they get yellow they get sweet. They are often sliced on the diagonal and sauteed in a bit of butter. I’ve heard people say you can also add cinnamon and/or sugar, but I haven’t tried that yet since I think they are plenty good just as they are.

As far as I know the plantains are like bananas. When a plant fruits that’s it for that plant, but it will grow a pup to replace itself. There is already one growing beside my fruiting plant that’s about three feet high and getting bigger every day. Hopefully at some point there will be more pups so I can expand my plantain operation here.

Speaking of the big bananas referenced earlier, one of them fruited before I left on my US trip in March. We didn’t cut it down until earlier this month. The bananas had been looking quite fat for a while so we figured it was time. They were the best bananas ever, firm, sweet, and delicious so maybe it was good to leave them on the plant for a long time. The ones we didn’t eat fresh or give away were sliced and frozen for smoothies or a sweet, ice cream sort of snack.

Since I was running around the front yard with my camera, I also took a few photos of the heliconias I like so much. Unfortunately these photos are probably the last that will be taken with my handy little Canon since it has taken point and shoot to a new level. The display developed some black lines, and then more black lines, and now so many black lines it is impossible to see anything at all. The photos come out fine but all I can do is point in the right direction, shoot, and hope for the best. I have an iPhone now and can use that camera for daily use, but I miss the Cannon and will have to ask around to see if anything can be done with it.

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