As we entered the new year, I pause to reflect on the extraordinary life changes we have been through in 2019.
Purging . . . Simplicity . . . Minimalism
In 2019, we sold our home, our cars, and most of our belongings. Years of accumulation collecting in every nook and cranny, gone in a matter of months. Most of our lives spent purchasing things that make us happy. We did not get rid of everything though. We are renting a tiny storage unit in the states to house our most precious things, and they are still there waiting on us.
I find that I am very content in this new lifestyle. I really don’t miss those things. They have been replaced with a new reality, new experiences, beautiful landscapes, and new friends.
I remember when I was going through my things this time last year. It was winter in Pennsylvania. What to keep, what to sell, what to throw out, what to give to the kids. Honestly I think we saved too much. When we finally have those possessions we chose to save, how relevant will they be to me at that point in time? Of course, among the saved items were pictures, family heirlooms, Craig’s tools. Those things mean a lot to us. They tug at the heartstrings.
Moving to Panamá has given me a new perspective on what is truly important. Then there is the family back home, especially our children and grandchildren. Being able to video chat with them has been a godsend. It allows us to still be a part of their lives. At times, not being physically able to see them does gnaw at me. I especially felt it at Christmas time. It has been a little over 8 months since becoming an expat beginning our new adventure in Panamá. After all, experiences are what you make of them!
So, what was our first Christmas like in Panamá? Here are
some of my reflections of our holidays as well as other thoughts as our year
closes.
November and December are filled with holidays and parades. There was no shortage of Christmas lights and decorations, from Santas to Snowmen (believe it or not)! As an expat, moving to a foreign country can mean holidays without your children and grandchildren, brothers, sisters, and parents. We knew this going in, and we certainly had our share of missing them. Thank God for video chatting! Moving away also meant that we would make new friends who would help us through without our family. We have been blessed with meeting a nice group of people since we arrived.
On Thanksgiving, we were invited to share the holiday with expat friends south of Boquete. They had German friends visiting also, as well as a couple of Costa Ricans girls who are currently living in Panamá. We had a fantastic meal of turkey and all the trimmings buffet style on their large covered patio. Our daughter Lauren was visiting at the time which made it “muy especial.”
We recently hosted a holiday get-together, our first real party since moving here in May. Our home has an open floor plan and an was able to accommodate our medium sized group very well. Our outdoor terrace is an extension of our home and made for a wonderful area to hang out and enjoy the canyon view. New friends from all walks of life, both Panamanian and Americans, enjoyed food and drinks, along with good conversation. And it also allowed us to practice our Español.
Many of the local restaurants had special holiday menus for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Living in Boquete, which has a large expat community, you will find turkey served on Thanksgiving and even on the US holidays such as Memorial Day, Labor Day, and 4th of July, there are special menus and celebrations.
Our town square was beautifully decorated. On Christmas Eve, we drove into town. Our first stop was to have a specialty coffee at one of the many cafes. The Café we stopped at was brand new and overlooking a creek. There was a nice breeze, the temperature was in the low 70’s and it was Christmas Eve! We walked across town to pick up a few things at the farmacia, then had dinner at one of the American-owned restaurants in town which had a special menu that night. I enjoyed a flavorful corvino fish meal (sea bass), and Craig had a Ribeye imported from Texas. We decided to walk off some of that good food and had a nice stroll around the town square and admired the lights. Once we got home, we made some video calls to our children.
Christmas Day was very laid back. We attended Christmas Day church services at the beautiful chapel at Valle Escondido The service was in English and it was very nice. It really felt good to worship at such a welcoming place. When we got home, Craig made us a fantastic brunch and then we spent the afternoon watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Christmas Vacation”. We also had another video chat with family that evening. I have to admit that it was a bit difficult. I did miss the craziness of watching the grandchildren opening presents and running amok. Luckily Panamá is only a three hour flight to Miami, and a five hour flight to New York.
Summer in Panamá : We are in the beginning of summer here. Children are out of school for summer vacation and the dry season seems to be starting. I’m thinking another trip to the beach is in order very soon!
We want to wish our our friends and family a very happy and healthy 2020!
The registration on our Nissan
X-Trail was due for renewal this month. This is how it’s done here in Panamá.
In Panamá, you get a new license plate every year. The plate number
remains the same, but the ribbon color on the plate changes year to year.
Apparently it helps police identify expired plates. Vehicle registration must
take place within the same month every
year, not one day before, nor one day after.
The first step is a vehicle inspection (Revisado Vehicular) by
an ATTT authorized garage. We took the car to Quick Fix in Boquete. There were
3 or 4 people ahead of us, but we decided to just wait and get it done. It was
early in the month and we wanted to avoid any potential holiday season backlog.
Just as it was our turn, the computer to
the national system went down and we were sent home. We were told they would
call us when it was back online. Garages have to upload the inspection results
immediately. We got a call from them an hour or so later letting us know the
system was back up and running. We drove back to Boquete and got it done.
Surprisingly, they did not pull the car into the garage and give it a look,
checking under the hood, brakes, tires, etc. The car was simply parked in front
of the garage, a camera that was placed on a tripod came out, and pictures were
taken. I’m sure there was some sort of a visual inspection, but not that I
really noticed. Unless there is something glaringly wrong, your car will pass
inspection. You also need to show proof of insurance, a copy of your title, and
proof that the registration is due for the current month. The cost of
inspection was $20. It seems to be a good way for them to check up on any
tickets you may have and make sure they get paid!
The next step was to go to the
Municipal Building where your car is registered. In Panamá, there is no national registration office. Our car is
registered in Dolega District, which is 15-20 minutes away. We entered the
building, took a number, and waited for it to be called. I was a little bit
nervous knowing my Spanish still has a long way to go, and in Dolega there was
no English spoken. I told the lady in the best Spanish I could manage, that I
was learning and if she could please speak slowly. She was very nice. She told
me that I needed copies made of my documentation. Luckily there is a lady doing
copies there for you if you don’t have them, and you will be charged to have
the copies made. I went back to the window with my copies, paid the $36, and
received a new license plate, windshield sticker, and registration paper.
That’s it and you’re done. Apparently all the registrations in that
municipality that are due in December are pre-ordered, so you get your new
plate at the same time.
We still had one additional step while we were there. We needed
to get the car title switched from my Passport ID # to my e-Cedula since that
is the ID I am using now. When we purchased the car, we did not have the
e-Cedula yet. Apparently if you ever get pulled over by police and they ask to
see your credentials, the car title ID has to match your credentials, or you
will be fined. A very nice bilingual Panamanian man who noticed that we had a
bit of trouble understanding what we needed to do next, accompanied us to the
Caja (cashier) window outside, gave them the new registration paper we had just
received, along with a copy of my e-Cedula. It cost an additional $20, and
within minutes I had a new car title with the updated number. So what happens
if you buy a car that is registered in a municipality that is very far from
you? That would be a real pain. You can have the municipality changed to
another district. That would involve additional paperwork and cost, but it
would be worth it. Luckily we did not have that problem.
It is a great feeling and sense of accomplishment when you get
another “notch in your belt” with dealing with bureaucracy in your
new country.
The other day I was getting the broom out to sweep the terrace and something in our outdoor fireplace started moving. It was a long thin brown snake that had come to visit.
Snake In The Fireplace
So armed with the broom I was going to use to sweep the deck with I escorted Mr. Snake out into the yard.
I eventually got him out into the yard and he seemed to be aggravated to the point where he turned around and opened his mouth as if to say “you better be careful who you’re messing with!”
“I’m a bad hombre!”
Our daughter Lauren came for a visit (our first guest!) and earlier this week we drove to Volcán to visit Raquel’s Ark – a wildlife refuge. The place isn’t too much to look at from the outside but Raquel took us in to spend time with all of the residents. And Raquel is not running a zoo. You get one on one with the animals in their cages and you give her a donation to help keep her refuge going. The website for Raquel’s Ark is www.raquelsark.com
Raquel brought a sloth out to see us and he was very friendly but really sharp claws?
Lauren And The Sloth
The next stop was the monkey cage where Nancy made a lot of new friends. The monkeys were all over her in between trying to pickpocket me. And we all smelled like monkeys until we finally got home and showered. Needless to say all the clothes went right into the wash too!
Nancy And The Monkeys Pickpocket
There were some coatimundis there and they also loved Nancy!
Curious Coatimundi
There was also a Jaguar there – he’s been there for a while awaiting relocation. Really an impressive animal! We hope he finds a permanent home soon!
Señor Jaguar
Peering At Us Through The Cage
We enjoy our visits to Volcán. Its a splendid part of the Chiriqui Provence. We had a fine day and thanks Lauren for being our first house guest!
November is a very busy month in Panamá. They have five national holidays spread out during the month, two of them are for their independence. They are collectively known as the “Fiestas Patrias”, or “Patriotic Parties” (holidays). If you have business to accomplish, don’t expect much to happen during this time. Banks, public offices, etc. will all be closed. It’s probably safe to say that not much will be accomplished until after the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. Panameños love to celebrate and parades and festivities are common occurrences. Workers have been busy for weeks planting flowers and hanging flags all over Boquete town and along the main thoroughfare.
Although not one of the “Fiestas Patrias”, the Day of the Dead, or el Dia de los Muertos, is celebrated on November 2nd. It is a day of remembrance for the loved ones we’ve lost. It is not the huge festive holiday it is in Mexico and some other Latin American countries. This is also a “dry day.” No liquor is sold, so stocking up ahead of time is a good idea!
Here is a list of the Panameño National holidays this month:
• November 3: Separation Day from Colombia
• November 4: Flag Day
• November 5: Colon Day
• November 10: First Call for Independence from Spain
• November 28: Independence from Spain
We live in a quiet neighborhood. The loudest things you will hear are roosters crowing and birds singing. But in many places, it is not uncommon to have loud music playing at all hours. The country is literally in “party mode”.
I found some interesting trivia about the symbolism of the Panamá flag that I want to share. Initially a flag design was proposed that utilized the colors of the Colombian flag. It consisted of equal horizontal stripes of red and yellow with a blue canton bearing two linked yellow suns, symbolizing the linking of the two halves of the planet by the future Panama Canal. A different flag design was finally chosen. It was divided quarterly with two stars. The attributed symbolism was the alternation of the two major political parties in government (originally, red was for the liberals, blue for the conservatives, and white for peace between them). The colors and stars clearly hinted at the influence of the flag of the United States. The Panamanian flag was designed by Manuel E. Amador, son of the first president of the new republic.
We are lucky to have an abundance of banana trees in our yard. We both love them, and they are chock full of potassium. I also love making banana bread when I have lots of over-ripe bananas.
I learned that banana trees are actually large herbs. The succulent, juicy stems arise from a fleshy corm. Suckers continually spring up around the main plant with the oldest sucker replacing the main plant as it fruits and dies. Smooth, oblong to elliptical, fleshy stalked leaves unfurl in a spiral around the stem. A terminal spike, the inflorescence, shoots out from the heart in the tip of the stem. As it opens, clusters of white flowers are revealed. As the young fruit develops, they form slender green fingers which grow into a “hand” of bananas that droops due to its weight until the bunch is upside down.
When is the right time to harvest them? Generally, banana tree harvesting can begin when the fruit on the upper hands are changing from dark green to a light greenish yellow and the fruit is plump. Banana stalks take 75-80 days from flower production to mature fruit. The fruit will generally be 75% mature at picking, allowing the fruit to ripen in the next 1-2 weeks.
Banana
plants take around nine months to grow up and produce banana tree fruit, and
then once the bananas have been harvested, the plant dies. It sounds almost
sad, but baby banana trees will replace the parent plant. This is when suckers,
or infant banana plants, begin to grow from around the base of the parent
plant. New suckers will form, which can be removed and transplanted to grow new
banana trees and one or two can be left to grow in place of the parent plant.
sampling of recent harvest
Craig just harvested some of our bananas. Though they were a little greener than what we would have liked, we were anxious to harvest some before the gardener did. We noticed that some of our banana plants had been chopped down after the last time he was here. There is, however, plenty to go around. I look forward to monitoring their progress!
It’s early November and the wet season seems to be slowing dying down. We’ve had a few very nice days in a row. With the dry season on the horizon, so will be the winds that accompanies summertime in Panamá.
The elusive howler monkey. I’ve been on the lookout for a glimpse in and around my hood.
Working around the garden today, I heard a rustling that was out of the norm. Sure we have birds and squirrels constantly moving about, but this time it was rather brash. I stood for a while scanning the trees behind our terrace where the canyon descends. There it was, a lone howler monkey just relaxing on a branch. I was so excited! I’ve been hoping that our new neighborhood was a habitat for them. It didn’t pay any attention to me. Craig and I tried to catch its attention, it turned towards us and back again.
We also get to watch the hummingbirds, which are a constant sight. We strategically placed a feeder hanging from a tree branch on the terrace. As we sit outside they come to the feeder. As their rapid wings hover about, it sounds like a small engine. It is so amazing.
We have also witnessed some incredible feats of strength. This tiny ant carrying a large leaf trudges on to its destination inside a hidey hole on the outer terrace wall.
Then there are the very tiny ants that find their way into your home. You don’t even know they are there. Today I cut up some leftover banana bread that I had been saving in the freezer. It seemed like a good day to get it out. Placing it on the kitchen counter covered in saran wrap, I never gave it another thought. I wasn’t diligent about putting it in the refrigerator soon enough. I felt like a piece so I uncovered the wrap and tiny little ants were crawling all over it. Ugghhh!!! Having never lived in a tropical climate, I can see that I need to be more careful in the future.
And then there was the skinny green snake we saw slithering along the terrace by the patio door. It seemed to be as afraid of us as I was of it! We could not get a better picture because it hightailed it real quick when we walked outside. According to our pamphlet of Panamá wildlife, it looks like it could be a Satiny Parrot snake which is mildly venomous. (So not looking forward to seeing my first scorpion!)
Other frequent visitors are a plethora of butterflies, colorful birds and birds of prey, who fly across the canyon in search of its next meal.
Well we’re back in Panamá after a good trip back to the states and we apparently arrived in the rainiest part of the rainy season. The first thing we did when we got back to the house was to make sure our car started, which it did with no problem. But it had quite the crop of mold growing in it from being parked in our carport for a month! Nancy was a bit freaked out, but after some solid airing, vacuuming, cleaning, and deodorizing the car is pretty much back to normal.
As we were settling back in to our new house we discovered mold and mustiness throughout our house; in some of our clothes, our books, bed sheets, cabinets – everywhere! The mold was pretty light and easily cleaned for the most part, but its probably a good thing we were only gone for a month.
Rain Over The Canyon
It rains a LOT here this time of year, usually in the afternoons, but sometimes at night, sometimes in the morning, sometimes when the skies look clear. The rain can be drizzly, light, sporadic, or really heavy; “aguacero” is the term the locals use, which means downpour. And downpour is what it is! I grew up in South Florida and have seen rain this heavy; just not every day.
We have been learning how to manage all this moisture and constant humidity. We run a dehumidifier, keep everything dry and clean, keep air circulating, put Damp Rid in our closets, etc. A learning curve no doubt!
The dry season is just around the corner and we’re looking forward to some rain free days. We can’t help but wonder what new challenges the dryer weather will bring…
No, we did not fall of the face of the earth! We have been
away!
Just came back from a month in the states visiting family and friends. In early September, we flew to Florida visiting Craig’s family, then drove up to eastern Pennsylvania to spend time with our daughters and grandchildren. Visiting with family and meeting our newest granddaughter, Stella, was very special. After almost 2 weeks there, we drove back down to Florida for more fun in the sun before leaving the US once again.
I forgot how much I missed American beef. Also the many conveniences available at your fingertips. But after 4 weeks we were ready to get back “home” to Panamá and move into our new rental. We feel very blessed to have found a great open concept house with two bedrooms and on suite bathrooms. The “pieza de resistencia” is the great terrace and canyon view. What great outdoor living space! We really love it here. Although a bit further away from Boquete town, we are a little closer to the large city of David. There is a temperature difference from where we were living in Lower Volcancito, where the altitude is 1190 meters above sea level. The altitude at our new place 10 minutes farther south is 830 meters. We are finding the weather to be still very comfortable without having air conditioning.
The month of October is the rainiest month here. Today was mostly cloudy with a little bit of rain, but yesterday we had quite the “aguacero” (downpour). There is a lot of drainage ditches here for good reason. It comes down in buckets. I watched our drainage ditch become a creek as it journeyed through a revine in our backyard down over the canyon. The rain sounded like a waterfall!
In the coming weeks our time will be spent on making our new rental homey, trips to David to price shop another TV and find other items to outfit the new house. Life is pretty simple with no rushing. If it doesn’t get done today it will be done tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day. Such a dilemma! Love the people and beauty of our little stretch of heaven.
Yesterday Nancy and I volunteered at the local spay and neuter clinic. Its mission is to provide low cost spaying and neutering of dogs and cats in the Boquete area and to promote the general welfare of the animals. There used to be a substantial amount of stray animals in the area and town itself; packs of stray dogs and feral cats roaming the streets with no access to care or sterilization. There are far fewer strays now than there used to be but the work goes on. There is a lot more information on the website: https://www.aadab.org/ I can’t say enough good things about the founders and volunteers of this organization; they are all just splendid people. Nancy and I live here now and we want to help our community and this is one of the ways we have chosen to do that.
So we decided to volunteer. The day before we had attended a brief orientation and training session but we were still unprepared for the actual clinic. We arrived at 7:30 in the morning and the parking lot was full and there was a line of owners and their pets going around the building waiting their turn for spaying and neutering! There were a lot of people volunteering to make this all work. There was a kitchen set up to feed the volunteers and provide snacks and refreshments for the owners, there was a intake area, a space where ten or so operating tables were set up and a recovery area. We were amazed but we were quickly put to work. I was to help at the intake – I helped weigh the animals, hold them still enough for the anesthesia, mark their tags with their weight and dose of medication, and line them up for the actual surgery. There were large dogs, small dogs, medium sized dogs, dogs with owners, stray dogs, cats in pet carriers, stray cats brought in in traps; just an amazing quantity of animals. And the animals were all understandably nervous and jumpy. It was hard work: getting the animals to hold still on the scales and holding them for the anesthetic injections, and lining them up for the next step. Some of the cats were too hard to control and had to be put in bags; cats don’t like being put in bags and between their teeth and claws they made it as difficult as possible! Nancy worked in the recovery area with the large dogs (we are both “dog” people no doubt). She moved them, checked their temperature, and helped them recover from the anesthesia, and got them ready to go back to their owners. Very hard work but very rewarding! We made it to the early afternoon when my back could not take any more bending and lifting, and Nancy was sore from the waist down from spending the day moving large dogs around on the floor. By the time we left close to two-hundred animals and been attended to and there seemed to be no end of the flow!
So that’s how we spent out day yesterday in Panamá. We are both still sore from the experience but we will be back to do this again soon!
