Weekly Photo Challenge: Orange
Weekly Photo Challenge: Reward
If I keep at it, maybe my reward will be the satisfaction of being caught up with the photo challenges! 😀
Recently there have been some people looking for short term rentals, so I posted about a house sharing possibility #1, and the house sharing possibility #2, and here are a couple casitas for short term or long term rental.
Cuesta de Piedra is a small town between Concepción and Volcan. A Google Map will help you find it. It is at a higher elevation and cooler than David and the towns along the highway. The area is mostly farms and a lot of dairy cattle, and it’s really beautiful. The casitas are on Cedo’s property, and behind them is her farm. The farm has dairy cattle, pigs, chickens, and some plant crops for personal use. There is a caretaker and his family who live on the farm and do the daily work.
The bigger casita was a restaurant in the past. Now it has been turned back in to a casita but it is easy to imagine it full of tables of happy people eating Cedo’s good food. This casita has a large room in the front which is the living room on the left, and the kitchen on the right. Towards the back are two bedrooms and the bathroom.
The smaller casita has one bedroom and a loft. The living room is in front, the kitchen and bath are in the middle, and the bedroom is in the back.
There are buses that run north and south on the road in front of the casita. There is a small store, a small restaurant and a few other things within walking distance in Cuesta de Piedra. For supermarkets and other shopping, much more is available in both Volcan and Concepción, and of course in David.
The larger casita is $250/month, and the smaller is $200/mo. This includes water and trash. You pay for electricity and internet. If you have questions you can write me at info@thePanamaAdventure.com and I will do what I can to get answers and facilitate communication with Cedo.
This home is in Villa del Carmen, a quiet middle class Panamanian neighborhood on the north side of David, just within the city limits. The neighborhood is surrounded by woods and a beautiful river runs along the east side. There is only one way in and out so it is quiet and safe, and the neighbors are friendly and welcoming.
My good friend Cedo has an extra room in her charming little house. There is also a recently arrived expat lady from the US staying there, so you would get a mix of Spanish immersion (Cedo speaks no English), and a gringa friend having a similar experience.
Cedo is easy going and not fussy about little things, and will do anything she can to take care of you and make you comfortable. There is internet in the house, and use of a washing machine.
There is a neighborhood bus that comes around every hour or so which can take you to shopping or the downtown terminal, or if you prefer there are inexpensive taxi’s everywhere in town.
Both this and the previous house would be suitable for a well behaved, non smoking single person who would enjoy the experience of living in a nice, very Panamanian household.
For questions or more info email me at info@thePanamaadventure.com
Some people have popped up recently looking for short term rental possibilities in this area, so I am putting together a couple things that I know about. Here in David short term rentals are probably a bit difficult to find. Even long term furnished rentals are harder to find than unfurnished (and unfurnished means no stove or fridge or washing machine). But, I know of a couple house sharing possibilities and a couple casitas for rent in Cuesta de Piedra, so I’ll put together some photos and some information in case it is helpful to anyone.
This house is on Ave Tomas Herrera close to Colegio Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles. (A google map should bring it up – look for the school on the north side of David, north of the Pan-American highway) This is a very nice neighborhood with some beautiful homes. It is close to a bus route and if you like walking, probably a 15 minute walk to shopping.
I stopped by today to chat with the owner of the house. She was just finishing lunch and her housekeeper was there, so they weren’t expecting company. But, in typical Panamanian style, she welcomed me warmly and gave me the house tour so I could take a few photos. She is 92 and very proud that she can pretty much take care of herself with a bit of help with the heavier work. She has a son living next door and a granddaughter on the other side if she needs anything. She is charming and delightful, and the few times I have stopped to talk with her have been a real pleasure.
Panamanian homes typically have small bedrooms and may be lacking some comforts we are accustomed to in the US (like hot water), but I think this is offset by the beautiful plants and the lovely homeowner. I think she would be a pleasure, and it would be Spanish immersion as well (she speaks no English). As far as I know there isn’t internet in the home but if you have an iPad, iPhone or similar device you can get a data plan for $11-12/month which will do for basics, but not if you work on line or need a lot of internet.
Another possibility is coming in the next post, and I am visiting Cuesta de Piedra tomorrow so I will have photos of the casitas there soon.
Oh, and for questions or more info email me at info@thePanamaadventure.com
La Feria Internacional de David (the International Fair of David) is a yearly event in March. People come from a number of other countries to participate, and the fairgrounds come alive with activity. There are things for sale, things to look at, businesses sharing information, plenty of food, and fun things for children and adults.
We went on a Wednesday afternoon hoping to avoid the crowds that can descend in the night and on the weekend.
There were multiple buildings full of vendors selling all sorts of things, mainly clothes, shoes, purses, backpacks, and other personal / decorative items. I didn’t need anything and was very good about just window shopping until I saw an observation bee hive where I ended up talking and then buying a bottle of honey. (I was a backyard beekeeper in the US so this interests me) I was too busy chatting though and didn’t even think to snap a photo.
I believe the vast majority of the merchandise for sale is hand made. There were a lot of really beautiful things and I admire the skills of the people who make them. Haydeé was looking for some patio furniture so we spent quite a bit of time looking at the various furniture vendors from Nicaragua. This is all hand made and so gorgeous!
I talked with a few of the furniture folks, and they said they travel a lot selling their furniture. Next they are going to Los Santos area, then to Panama City. It must take a lot to haul all the merchandise around so I hope they are able to make a decent living at it.
There were many businesses represented who sell real estate, appliances and other things for homes, various services and equipment… I don’t have much info on this since none of us were looking for this sort of thing, so we just breezed through these buildings to enjoy a bit of air conditioning and then were on our way.
There were a lot of animals! There was a very large barn full of cattle, mostly bulls, and some of them very large. There was also a sort of zoo area with other animals and birds in cages but somehow we missed that this year.
I was looking forward to the plants area. There were also plants for sale and I was very good and only looked. There were a lot of gorgeous ornamental plants and flowers, and some orchids that I looked at more than once though. I am most interested in plants that produce food and I didn’t see any of them to tempt me, so that helped.
By now the sun was getting low in the sky and the roads were starting to fill up with more people. On our way out we bumped into a musician friend of Haydeé who was setting up, so we hung around a while to see if they would start playing. We watched some kids doing traditional dances on that stage but eventually decided that we had all the excitement we needed for one day and headed home.
The lighting was very bad with bright advertising signs behind and no light on the dancers so apologizes for the poor photo. It was a lot of fun to see them dance though, and they had obviously worked hard to learn their routines because they performed flawlessly.
The feria is a much anticipated event every year so if you are in the area it’s definitely worth a few hours to check it out. It’s $3 to park, $2 entrance, but only $1 if you are retired. That’s not much when you consider how much time and work go into putting this together.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Rule of Thirds
The Rule of Thirds is a photography concept that puts the subject of the photograph off-center, which usually results in blank space in the rest of the image. If you focus closely on your subject and use a wide aperture, your photograph’s background will also be beautifully blurred in that blank space. The blurred area behind your focal point is referred to as bokeh, and when executed well, it adds depth and artistry to an otherwise simplistic photograph.
There are more bugs….
Weekly Photo Challenge: Symmetry
I am also way behind on photo challenges. I have been sorting through a couple years worth of photos and backing them up in case this old laptop bites the dust. In the process, I have come across some I want to use in these photo challenges. Warning – there are bugs!
For symmetry, I find some of the many representations we find in nature more interesting than a symmetrical composition of a photograph.
I looked at the calendar and realized it has been over two weeks since I have posted something. I don’t know what happened. A day goes by and I don’t write something, and then another goes by, and then another.
Maybe life is too normal. I have been here almost 2 1/2 years, and it’s easy to forget that daily life in Panama might be interesting to people reading about it from afar. But, mostly, I have been too busy living life and haven’t taken the time to write about it.
My usual view at my outside “office”. The flowers are a gift from one of my neighbors, and the green spiny thing is a guanabana (soursop) that Joel managed to climb up and get before it fell.
Days seem to fly by and I never get everything done. How did I ever manage to find time to work and do everything else I used to do? Every moment was scheduled and I felt guilty for any moments of “doing nothing”. I still have trouble with doing nothing. This time seems like such a gift and I don’t want to waste it. Now though I have so much more choice about how I spend my time.
But, ask me what I do all day and I have to think about it. We have had more cyclists and guests here, and of course I want to spend some time with these interesting people. I go biking myself most days. I have a new friend who plays tennis so we have gone out a couple times to hit some balls. I went to the Feria with some friends. My neighbor showed me her favorite produce market. Of course there are the usual household chores too.
The back yard – the bananas look pretty shredded after weeks of windy summer weather. The ground cover looks good for late in the dry season. The squash plant in front has been watered daily and seems to be thriving.
Today is mostly a quiet Sunday at home. This morning I checked email while eating breakfast and then went bike riding, visiting some friends along the way. Then I showered and made a smoothie for lunch – banana, mango, strawberry, and guanabana (soursop). Guanabana has a bit of a strange taste but maybe I am getting used to it, and in a smoothie it’s fine. It is supposed to be really good for you so I have frozen cubes of it for later use. The mangoes (picked up from a tree in the neighborhood) are still mostly green but a friend said you can cook them like green apples, adding sugar or sweetener as needed. She is right! Strawberries are a treat usually only found in the highlands but I got lucky at my neighbor’s produce market – 5 pounds for $6.25. I have enough in the freezer to last a while. The bananas are a gift from Cedo’s farm.
Laundry is under way and drying quickly in the hot sun. A little house maintenance and floor washing is in order today also. Dinner only needs to be warmed up. We bought a used BBQ a couple days ago so we have some BBQ pork and chicken in the fridge. We have some veggies that only need to be warmed up and I’ll make a cucumber and tomato salad. We’re watching Episodes on TV/on line, the Showtime comedy series with Matt LeBlanc, so that’s this evening’s dinner entertainment.
The terrace roof is now insulated with a blue tarp, and the light installation is under way.
The rest of my time today will probably be spent catching up on my blog, reading others, and maybe a bit of yard time with my audio book. Joel has put a tarp under the terrace ceiling which looks kind of cool, and is also insulating us from the roof which gets warmed up by the afternoon sun. Now he is moving a light to the other side of the terrace so he can BBQ after dark more easily.
The BBQ waits to be put back in place while one of our frequent visitors gets a drink from the not fancy, but much used bird bath.
So, there you go, a little slice of our life in David, Panama. It’s pretty sweet!
Panama has a great bus system but it can be a bit intimidating especially at Albrook, the big bus terminal in Panama City. Maybe a few photos and tips will help.
Albrook is a large, busy, but attractive bus station.
When you arrive at the bus station, probably the first thing you want to do is buy a ticket to your destination. We were going to David so we needed to find the window selling tickets to David.
The easiest thing is to hand the your passport(s) to the agent and request your tickets – dos para David, por favor (two for David, please). They need your name and passport number, and its easier to let the agent read the information than try to tell them through the window in a noisy place.
Your ticket will have some important information.
I have circled the most important parts. Bus 63, means you will be on bus #63, and this number will be painted on the outside of the bus. Asiento 50 means you will be in seat #50. As you go down the aisle look for seat numbers. If I remember they may also say Vent (window) and Pasa (aisle). Hora 10:00 AM means you are leaving at 10:00 O’Clock. Destino (destination) is Panama, and Salida (departure) is David. Monto is price. The words above mean – esteemed passenger, present yourself 30 minutes before your departure.
Now you need one more thing, the card to get you through the turnstile so you can get to the boarding area. This seems to be unique to Panama City, so you won’t need this in other bus terminals. (This card is also good for buses and the metro)
This place isn’t far from where you buy the bus ticket, just a bit down to the left from the David window. Again, give the agent your passport and tell her how much money you want to put on the card (I’m afraid I don’t remember costs but it isn’t much, maybe a dollar for the card and $.25 to get through the turnstyle?) One card can be used for multiple people so you only need one. Keep your card because it can be used again, and you can also have it recharged here. You will find bathrooms on either side of this window also, and this card is used to get through the turnstyles to the bathrooms. Any time you use the card, your balance will be shown in the turnstyle window where you swipe your card.
Yeah! Now you are ready for the bus. The next thing is to find the waiting room, which is between the David ticket window and the place that sells the 3 in 1 cards.
If you have baggage, go to the side of the bus. There will be someone there loading baggage underneath. He will stick a ticket on your baggage and give you the other half. Hang on to this ticket because you will need to present it at the other end to claim your baggage. (They unload baggage one piece at a time and call out the number for the owner to come forward and claim their item. When you claim yours you have to present your half of the ticket. It’s a bit chaotic but somehow it always works out).
Then, finally, you are on the bus, in your assigned seat, and ready to get on your way! One more suggestion though – bring a sweater or jacket. Sometimes they get the air conditioning cranked up to freeze level.
Every bus has an assistant who takes tickets, loads the movies, answers questions, reminds you of your stop if you are getting off somewhere along the way, and does anything else he can to make things run smoothly and keep everyone comfortable.
If you are arriving at the bus station, things are much less complicated.
The mall also has a big food court of you are hungry. It’s at the very end of the hall past all the ticket windows.
Hopefully this will give you some idea of what to expect at the Albrook Bus Terminal. Everyone is helpful and used to confused travelers, but I think you feel better when you are armed with a bit of information beforehand.
