The Panama Adventure

We have Ofertasimple here, like Groupon in the US. Every day they send out an email with the latest deals. Most things are in Panama City – hotels, restaurants, spa treatments, all kinds of things but sometimes there are deals for other parts of the country as well.

Photo from the Ofertasimple page

Today they have a deal on the Boquete Garden Inn. I’ve seen this place and it is really nice. It should be since it is expensive, but with this you can stay there for much less, $75 instead of $220.

Here is THE LINK. It’s good for three months starting on June 22nd.

If you plan to travel to Panama, it might be worth keeping an eye on this site. Maybe you’ll find other deals that will also help you out.

We have two seasons on the Pacific coast of Panama, dry and rainy. Dry season starts about mid-December. Schools have summer vacation until early February. Rain is very unlikely and everything gets more and more dry and brown. Brush fires are common. Different trees burst out in flowers and new fruits appear. My favorites are the mariñon (cashew apples) and of course, mangoes!

The rains are supposed to come back around mid-April. In this el niño year there was talk that the rains would be delayed, even by as much as two months but thankfully this did not happen. The rains came back right on schedule.

I like the rainy season and I’m always happy to see the rain return. Everything turns green again and the rain brings welcome cooler air. Sometimes though, an amazing amount of water can come down in a short time! I took this video a few days ago during one of those epic rains but it was even more impressive in person. We have a metal roof so it’s also very loud! Don’t call me on the phone when it’s raining like this 😉

People worry about being here in the rainy season but it is actually quite easy to work around. Mornings are usually clear and bright, though there are some cloudy days. Rain comes later in the day, sometimes mid-afternoon but usually later as it gets closer to dark. (Days are pretty constant this close to the equator and dark is always shortly after 6:30PM) It may rain hard for a little while, followed by a lighter rain in the evening ending around mid-evening or bedtime.

This is just the average though. I can’t say it never rains in the morning because I am sitting here at 10:30 AM and it has been raining lightly for well over an hour. Yesterday it didn’t rain at all. But, generally, if you do your errands and outside activities in the morning you will be fine. Rainy afternoons are good for relaxing and engaging in at home activities. And, even if you do get caught in the rain, it’s warm.

Holes in the head. Sometimes that is my problem. I put an email aside until I can give it proper attention, it gets pushed down below other incoming emails and I never get back to it. I totally overlook a blog comment. I forget to return a phone call. Things just leak out of the holes in my head. I used to be super organized because I had to be but now that life is more relaxed, sometimes I get too relaxed.  Apologies to anyone I unintentionally ignored, and if it happens to you please poke me and remind me that you are waiting to hear from me.

That’s all I have on my mind today. Other than that, life is pretty normal el bario (the neighborhood). Well maybe not totally normal. There was a whole lot of noise this morning. The teak guys were sawing and loading wood. I haven’t seen them again since the truck left though and I have a feeling they are done. The guys across the street are adding a new room so they were banging around. Our other neighbor got a delivery of materials for his work. The yard guy was next door with his weed whacker. About the time I figured there was not going to be any more sleeping, our realtor showed up to collect the rent.

One of our banana trees has had bananas on it for quite a while, so we decided to harvest them a couple days ago. They are still green. I heard you can use green bananas like green plantains so I tried to make patacones out of one that got damaged in the fall. It didn’t smash well into the little pancake like things but it tasted good, a lot like a potato so it is now in the chicken soup.

Man a machete attack the tree

Man and bananas!

My Facebook friends have already seen these photos so excuse the repeats.

I have three plantain trees in the front yard. I used to have two but we had a tree fall last year and it smashed one of them. The roots put up two pups though, and that is why I now have three. The bigger one now has a flower!

Bananas and plantains make the most interesting strange flowers! Our veggie guy told me it should be about two months to plantains now. I will keep an eye on it as things progress.

Yes, our veggie guy came by today. Enrique gets up at 4AM, goes up to Cerro Punta and who knows where all else to get his fruits and vegetables, and then drives around town selling them out of his truck. We look forward to his visit every week because he has the best fresh produce. And, he’s a heck of a nice guy.

This afternoon the thunderstorms came through and really cooled things down! For us, this is quite cool and sent me looking for my long pants. Joel took it as an excuse to make hot chocolate. It poured like crazy for a while but finally settled down, and by dark it had quit (dark here is around 6:30. We are so close to the equator that the length of the days hardly varies throughout the year). Now at 10:30 it’s 73, a nice temperature for sleeping.

After the rain, my neighbor came over. She has been required to take English classes at the university (she is getting the credentials she needs to be the boss of all the special ed teachers!). I have been helping her which means explaining things in Spanish which helps me too. She is very smart and learns a lot faster than I do. I explain something one day and the next day she’s got it. I need things repeated multiple times over many days, and if I don’t use it in a month it’s gone again.

That’s quite a lot for someone who started off with nothing much to say! 😀 It’s late now though and time to wrap things up. So, along with a quick shopping trip, some yard work, computer time, and a few chores that’s what has been going on around here.

Panama is not a cultural center, but I have been seeing more and more events here. Most things are in Panama City, of course, which is on the opposite side of the country from us, but still it is nice to see that there are things going on.

Today I saw this https://ofertasimple.com/ofertas/panama/el-lago-de-los-cisnes-ballet-nacional-ruso-moscu-teatro-anayansi-7jun16-e  We have ofertasimple which is like groupon, offering discounts on a variety of things from restaurants, spa treatments, hotels, events, and all sorts of other things. Today they had a deal on the Russian Ballet who will be performing Swan Lake in Panama City. You don’t get more upscale than the Russian ballet!

The Metropolitan Opera in New York broadcasts performances live to movie theaters, and those are also available in Panama City. I’ve seen symphony concerts and other classical music, plays, theater, pop concerts and many other events advertised in Panama City. That makes sense since it is a big city with the population to support such events.

Here in Chiriqui we are not totally without culture. There is an expat community in Boquete and they have a lot of things going on up there such as a theater, lectures on a variety of subjects, photography club with a gallery in the library, and we can’t forget the famous and well attended Blues and Jazz Festival that is a yearly event.

If cultural events are really important to you, you might feel deprived in Panama especially outside of Panama City. But there seems to be an increasing number of events which is nice to see. And, we also have the internet which provides a wealth of opportunities.

Even my art school here in David also offers music, ballet, and other dance classes and some of those kids are impressive.

I came across an article recently – Poverty is often looked at in isolation, but it is an American problem. A photographer set out from California on a trip across the US to find and photograph the poorest communities, and was surprised that he never had to go more than 20 miles to find another community with a significant percentage of the population living in poverty.

There is poverty in Panama also, sometimes extreme poverty. The indigenous seem to suffer the most, especially in the comarka or land under their control. But, there is poverty in the general population as well. It is worse in rural areas but also present in cities. We have seen slums in cities, and shacks made of foraged materials along roads in the country. I know there are many protections for the indigenous and programs to help the poor, and frustration among the general population that the helping hands aren’t always used or welcomed.

I have rarely seen begging on the streets of Panama. Occasionally there is an indigenous person, usually a woman or child, outside a supermarket or place where people gather. I have seen a few people begging in Santiago where people get off the buses for a break and a bite to eat. There is a blind man I’ve seen a few times, and occasionally an indigenous frail looking woman. I have also seen many people drop a few coins in their cups as they get back on the bus.

There is also poverty in the US, and the homeless population has been on my mind a lot since my bicycle trip. Then, I saw the article and these photos by Matt Black from the article above (check them out, very striking black and white photos). I think many agree that the distance between the haves and have nots is increasing, and it seems that more people are struggling. The last recession hit many people hard, and the lack of job opportunities is still a problem especially for people closer to retirement age.

The people living on the streets are at the bottom, and they seem to be everywhere I went. In my experience when I was homeless (by choice on my bike) I learned a valuable lesson about the social isolation these people also face. The majority of homeless who I met were not young people either, but people probably in their 40’s, 50’s, or more.

There was a lady living in this RV with her disabled grandson in an RV park in central Washington state, trying to make it on $750/month social security. The roof leaked, the electric didn’t work, and the toilet had fallen through the floor. She said the low income housing program had been cut back so there was nothing for her, and she had no idea what she was going to do.

There was the homeless man on the bus. The bus driver was kind enough to give him a ride to the next town, and he had all his belongings in a trash bag. He said he had just gotten out of the hospital with pneumonia. He was still weak and having trouble breathing, but he was taking antibiotics and breathing pills. He only had a daughter who was estranged so he was very alone. As a nurse I wouldn’t have a lot of hope for his health, sending him back to the streets in his condition.

These are only two people for whom I have photographs. I also spoke to others, the guy who’s only friend was his dog and a sign that said if you don’t help me, at least help my dog. The lady with her stuff in a shopping cart who said she just walked every day hoping to find a place where she could spend the night in peace. There was one who didn’t want to be approached but all the others seemed surprised and happy that I would take the time for a short chat.

I know there are some people who choose to live on the streets. There are others who are mentally ill. But, how many are not there by choice but can’t get themselves back on track? My CA daughter works for the county government. After hours they open their large parking lot to people living in cars and RV’s, and it’s so full that they are looking for more space. In Oregon I saw a news segment from Portland. People don’t want the homeless in RV’s and cars parking in their neighborhoods, but if everyone feels like this where can they go? In Seattle, I saw another news segment about the homeless living in tents, and they are causing a problem with their trash but there are no provisions for them to dispose of their trash.

This poverty and homeless problem really bothered me, and still does. I have never seen it at such close range or talked to so many people. When I lived in Sarasota FL there were homeless people, three I knew fairly well, all mentally ill and the community took care of them. But, the community also put a lot of effort into pushing the homeless out. The benches in the park were removed so people couldn’t hang out, for example.

I know people are trying to help and there are programs, but it’s obviously not solving the problem. And, when you add the social isolation and disrespect from the general population, it’s even harder for people. At least here in Panama I don’t see that. You are judged much less on your economic circumstances. I have no answers. Panama is not my native country and people with much more understanding and wisdom are working on it. Sometimes I don’t feel like I’m in sync with the US either, where priorities seem to have gone so far off track.

From the article above, this interesting thought from the photographer – “… what has surprised me is the similarities I have encountered as I traveled from one community to another. All these diverse communities are connected, not least in their powerlessness. In the mainstream media, poverty is often looked at in isolation, but it is an American problem. It seems to me that it goes unreported because it does not fit the way America sees itself.”

It’s been a really nice day, sunny, light breeze, not too hot, very enjoyable. I’m sitting here reflecting on my day, just a ordinary typical day in my life here (as ordinary and typical as any day can be in a different country).

The teak harvesting continues. They arrived about 8:15-8:30 this morning. It is now 5:30 PM and they are still at work. I caught the truck leaving yesterday. If you missed my previous posts about this work in progress and want to see more, the posts are here and here. It’s been quite interesting to watch.

The guys who load the wood (by hand!) on to the truck all pile on top when they drive off. I don’t know where they go, but before long they are back to load more.

When I went through my photos I saw I had caught my neighbor Lucho who was also watching the truck leave. He said he did that work when he was young and it was really hard. After a year he knew he needed to find a different line of work (he is now a welder who makes security gates for doors and windows, and also does a variety of construction projects). He said the guys doing the heavy lifting make $20/day, or at most $25/day. I also talked to the very strong little guy this morning. He said he is making good money but he’s heading up the whole operation.

Lucho watching the truck. I have such nice neighbors.  He’s smart, hard working, sensible, and has a heart of gold, and just looking at the photo makes me smile.

I hadn’t been on my bike in a while, so I set off for a ride and some errands this morning. As you leave our neighborhood, there is another neighborhood on the other side of the street with a lot of new activity.

As you leave our neighborhood you see this sign pointing across the street to the new neighborhood under construction.

At the end of the street is the new neighborhood that is going on. I still don’t understand the cutting in to the hillside. I notice it also goes around the right side of the hills.

Also, about a block down the street I saw this. An apartment building?? That will look odd in this area of single family homes.

There is a big field south of our neighborhood, and once in a while they hire three guys with machetes to cut the grass. It usually takes them three days. That kind of labor is very cheap, so they probably figure it makes more sense to do this than hire a machine that could cut it in a couple hours. What hard work out in the hot sun though.

Next I headed over to the old Via Boquete and saw this new sign. It looks like a large apartment building is going in there, also in a neighborhood of single family homes. It’s crazy all the construction and growth going on around here!

I was headed to the art school since I hadn’t been there since my trip. I had a good time saying hi to the other teachers but my painting teacher was out doing other things, so I’ll stop by another time. On the way back I passed another view of the construction in progress for the new bus terminal and shopping center.

No tire basura = don’t throw trash. Se vende = for sale. This would be a nice lot with a pretty view.

That’s about it for this morning. I have a cold, nothing serious, just a very runny and sneezy nose but I’ve lost my desire to fill my afternoon with activity.  I’ve been mostly sitting and reading and I’ve found some interesting articles. You have been warned 😀 There may be more off topic posts.

It’s now 6PM. Joel went to Boquete this morning for band practice for tomorrow’s gig. Then he had an afternoon thing with his other group, and now suddenly they have also been asked to play at a restaurant tonight! It looks like the teak people are wrapping it up for today. A couple of the pickup trucks have left, and they have parked the tractor in Lucho’s yard (huh? Maybe he’s keeping an eye on it for them if they aren’t coming tomorrow). It looks like I have a whole baked chicken all to myself! 😀

Life in Panama…

The owner of the land behind and around our neighborhood is having teak trees cut down for lumber. The workers have been very happy to talk with me and answer my questions. I learned that the trees are 35 years old, and they plan to cut 70 of them. That’s a lot of teak and according to my neighbor, muchisimas plata (a whole lot of money). She also thinks the teak is going to be exported to China.

The guys continue to be hard at work cutting the teak and hauling it away. Wednesday it was all going on at once. Guys were below cutting, the tractor was hauling up the trees,  guys were above cutting logs to size, and other guys were putting the pieces on the truck, driving off with it, and then returning with the empty truck to do it again. That’s a lot of activity in our usually quiet end of the street. They were even loading the truck after dark and in the pouring rain!

This is our street. I was standing in front of our house which is on the right. The fence is in front of my across the street neighbor. The pine forest is behind and beyond her house. Straight ahead the road ends at the edge of a cliff. The teak trees are mostly down there next to the river. They have been bringing them up to this area. You can see some of them beyond my neighbors fence, and there are more in front of the workmen’s white truck.

To the right of the white truck in the photo above is a road. It hasn’t been used in many years and was completely overgrown. Joel and I went down there when we first moved here but it was hard going and involved a machete to cut our way though. But, the guys have cleared it now so they can use it to haul up trees. How nice for us! We have an excellent new route down to the river.

Today we decided to go exploring a bit.

The top of the road

We head down the remarkably clean road, though because of all the rain it’s a bit muddy and slippery.

Now I’m looking back up the road. It’s a fairly steep incline

I think it’s really beautiful in the woods and when they get finished with their work, I’m sure I’ll be taking more advantage of the cleared road. I am also interested to see that though they have cut a lot of trees, there are still a lot of smaller teak trees and a variety of other trees and plants. The area is changed but it doesn’t look naked or damaged. The woods are also thin because of the brush fires that burned through here three months ago. In some of the photos you can see the scorched and charred trucks of trees. What a comeback though, in a short time.

When we got to the bottom of the road we found the work area.

Looking back up the hill we could see where they had cut a lot of the trees. The pine forest is up above here.

The river is beyond these trees. You can see evidence of the brush fires that went through here three months ago.

I would have had to climb through underbrush and over rocks to get to the river and I wasn’t in the mood or prepared. Next time though, I must get to the river. This is the part where the water rushes over the rocks and the sound can easily be heard from our house. If I can discover and clear a good access point, it will be a nice, nearby place to enjoy our beautiful river.

Yesterday was much quieter. Only the two guys in the white truck showed up, and I could hear their chain saws and trees crashing down below. It will be interesting to see what today brings. So far two pickup trucks have arrived with the guys who have the chain saws and drive the tractor, but it’s still early.

And, they tell me that after the teak, they will be harvesting the trees in the pine forest. it’s not going to look the same around here.

Ahh, and here comes the truck that hauls away the wood. It’s going to be a busy day in the neighborhood!

This has nothing to do with Panama, bugs, new experiences, or the usual subjects of this blog. It’s a very personal thing, and since this is my blog and I feel like writing about it, here I am. I won’t be offended in the least if any of you just click on by. The next post will be more about the teak harvesting going on in my neighborhood, so stand by.

I happened across this article today – “Please don’t tell me I was lucky to be adopted“.  The writer is talking about some of the difficulties of being an adoptee. One line really struck home – “Can you imagine being the only person in the world you know you’re related to?” Yes, I can. That was my reality for many years of my life. I felt like I had been dropped on this earth by aliens with no connection to anyone in it.

I am one of the lucky ones. I found my birth mother when I was 27 and we have shared a very warm and happy relationship ever since. We are now connected on Facebook and it is possible that she will see this post. The last thing I want to do is make her feel any guilt or responsibility because she deserves none of that. I was born in 1952, and in those times unmarried teen mothers were treated very differently. The decision to relinquish me was made for her, not by her and I think she suffered a lot because of that. She feared I would hate her for giving me up but that thought never crossed my mind. I have thanked her every day for the genes she gave me which I believe have kept me mentally and physically strong throughout my life.

But yes, it is a different experience being adopted. Except for my younger sister, I didn’t know any other adopted children. I had no answers to questions about my nationality. My sister and I look very different which caused many comments at school. I felt no connection with the parents who raised me. That mother was a very unhappy women who subjected us to emotional and physical abuse. I didn’t see much of my father who was also emotionally abused by my mother. It was a difficult and lonely time, and I was comforted by the fact that I shared no genes with those people.

Of course every adoptee has their own unique experience. Some, like me, are driven to find their birth parents. Others seem to have no need to connect with their origins. Some seem fine with the situation, where others feel like a piece of themselves is missing. I imagine it can be even more difficult when you are racially different from the parents who raise you.

For me, it all worked out well. I have been increasingly happy over the years.  I have a good relationship with my birth mother. I have even met my birth father and though we don’t keep in touch, our couple meetings went very well. My children have also been able to meet both of my birth parents. They don’t seem to suffer from the voids on my side of the family history, and I think this was helpful. I went to counseling which helped me put my childhood in perspective, and reassured me that I could be a different kind of parent.

Maybe it was karma, or luck, or the universe knowing I needed this, but my first daughter looks very much like me. It was amazing to look at that little face and meet the first person I’d seen who resembled me. Less than a year after her birth I met my birth mother, and though my other daughter and my grandchildren don’t look like me, it doesn’t matter because I was and am in a different place. There were and are other family who needed to physically see their connections also. I know we are all blood related and for me, that’s more than enough, quite amazing in fact.

I still feel the voids in my family history though. I recently did one of those DNA tests and am awaiting the results. In the US, except for the Native Americans we are all immigrants. What is my heritage?

An aside – a Panamanian neighbor was chatting one evening and I don’t know how we got on the subject of adoption, but he was very amazed that I knew. According to him, that fact is never talked about or revealed to anyone. One day I’ll have to ask around to find out if this is the common way of thinking in this culture. Thankfully my parents were given the good advice to tell me before I heard it from someone else, so I can’t remember not knowing. It would be a heck of a shock to find out later!

Teak is a very hard, durable, and water resistant wood that is often used for boats and other outdoor uses. It is native to Asia and India, but it was found that it grows very well in Panama so there are many teak forests scattered around the country.

The owner of the woods across the street from us planted pine and teak on the land. Recently, she decided to harvest some of the teak. A little of it is in the woods on our level, but much of it is down the cliff on the land by the river. We have been hearing chain saws in the woods for a few days. Yesterday I went to see what was making noise and found them unloading a tractor.

I told them I was taking photos for my grandson who loves big machinery, so they invited me to come along and watch them at work.

The guys headed for a spot in the woods above the cliff.

One of the guys headed up the tree to loop a rope above, which was then used to bring up a steel cable with pulleys

This is one of the teak trees on the ground ready to be taken out

Another guy cleared trees out of the way to make room for the trees to be taken out

These are some strong guys! The small one in the purple shirt is probably 5’4″, and Joel said shaking his hand was like touching a body made of rock. He handles the large chain saw like it’s nothing. They had the trees prepared, then used the tractor and cable to bring them up, and then the tractor and chains to drag them out of the woods.

The tree gets dragged behind the tractor

Trees at the edge of the woods ready for the next step

You can see a lot more of this process in the video below.

The guys returned this morning. There was more sawing and a new truck so I went over to see what they were up to.  I was even more interested and surprised by what I saw. There is also a video but here is a hint.

First the guys were sawing the trees into pieces

Then, they took the truck to the wood

Then, they physically picked up the pieces and carried them to the truck!!

There is a bit of video as well.

Now, it seems like every stage of the operation is in progress at the same time. The tractor is still bringing up more trees. The guy is sawing them at the edge of the woods. The loaded truck just left with the logs strapped down and guys riding on top of the wood. Probably they are needed for the unloading as well, and then they will be back.

This was shortly before the truck left the neighborhood.

Teak is expensive wood. This interesting article HERE says there is about 350 board feet of wood per mature tree. They take 20-25 years to reach maturity but the paycheck at the end can be substantial. Retail for dried and treated wood looks like its about $15-25/board foot so even if the owner gets 1/3 of that, she is going to walk away with a nice bit of money.

The guys told me that they will be cutting pine trees next. I kind of hate to see them go because that pine forest is very beautiful. I wonder if she is clearing the land for development though. Hmmm… it’s an excellent spot right above the river. We shall see what the future brings and go from there.

Yep, the guys on the truck just returned all riding on the bed of the truck, ready to load it up again.