Arriving in Boquete a little over 3 weeks ago, we are slowly getting acclimated to our new home. It has been quite an adjustment to say the least. Having arrived at the start of the rainy season, you can expect a bit of rain every day, some days can downpour for hours, other days just a short period or two. Everything is lush and green, the flowers really love it!
This week, my daughter Jess gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Stella Louise. What a joyous occasion! It was difficult for me not being able to be there and share in their joy. Thank goodness for Skype and Google Hangouts, the next best thing to being there, until we can make a trip back to visit.
Our days are filled with taking walks, going into town to pick up groceries and necessities, having snacks and a cerveza or margarita at our new favorite bar & grill, Big Daddy’s, Spanish lessons, and relaxing. We also joined a local gym that has a pool, hot tub and saunas.
Every Tuesday we go to the Boquete Tuesday Market. It has a good selection of items including an assortment of food, medicinal items, fresh fruit and vegetables, souvenirs, and Panamanian handmade items. All the expats in the area seem to congregate there every week.
One cannot underestimate how much we rely on the basic necessities, such as water, electricity, and internet. It is pretty common for one of these 3 things to be out at any given time. I think this is our biggest adjustment. We have two water reserve tanks for when the city water goes out, but when the reserve tanks are low, water pressure is slim to none, and at times doesn’t give us enough hot water. We get our showers when the getting is good. Electricity can flicker on and off. We have not had any major disruptions thankfully. We have a propane tank for our hot water and cooking. We have figured out when to return the tank for a new one…an empty tank weighs 6.17 kilos. We have been using our luggage scale to weigh it so we don’t run out! The internet is another story. The first week or so that we were here, it went out at least 3 times a day, which made our VPN router get all messed up with numerous calls to Sabai Technology for technical support. This week we’ll drive into David and get a UPS battery backup for our electronics to hopefully lessen future issues.
We are getting to know our community and some locals. Everyone has been so welcoming. Hasta la próxima vez!
Congratulations on the new grandbaby! I’m pretty sure that once you guys get to hold her, the spoiling will begin. Karla and I are trying to plan another vacation trip down to Panama and hopefully we can talk some of our friends into joining us. It won’t be the tour with Jackie but maybe we’ll stay at one of the resorts that we stayed at during the tour; ocean views. Enjoy the warm rain which I’m sure is better than the snow.