Here it is almost Saturday and I have attended but one meeting and no other appointments traveled only 80 miles and still the days wing by in chunks of morning and afternoon unmarred by hours or minutes.
I don’t wear a watch and there is only one easily visible clock in the house so the way we tell time is by the firehouse air horn which blasts at 7 am, noon, 4 pm and 9 pm. I guess this is because a lot of Panamians don’t have watches either and that gives them a general idea of the time.
But also looking at the future in time is different. I used to keep a computer calendar that had appointments and meetings and conferences months in advance and I would fret and get ready for them…..but now…no. Time is a much more immediate thing with no long term consequences. Let me describe it this way. A couple of years ago I crewed on a sailboat crossing from Long Beach to Honolulu. After a couple of days shake down we all got into the routine of standing watches of varying hours every 4-8 hours. So suddenly my life only looked forward to my next watch, the next great meal, and the next time to sleep. Time became a very short term thing that I could focus on because it was only one day large.
It is not so different here in Panama. Linda and I make plans sometimes together, sometimes separately, but most often not more than a week out. And we have learned that a task like going to the store which might have taken 1 ½ hours in the states could be all morning or afternoon, depending on what adventures or friends or traffic jams or special errands that is suddenly remembered. That is all part of the adventure.
I know we have all heard retired folks say that they don’t know how they ever worked because NOW there is so much to do. Well now I know what they are talking about. The days and nights fill up with stuff that never seemed to take so long before. It is now 9:45 pm and I have been up since 6, let in the housekeeper, set up for the painter (who was 3 hours late) gone to a Spanish class, came home for lunch, met with our Spanish tutor, cleaned up after the painter, took the dogs to the beach, washed and tended to a sick dog, put the furniture back in place, had dinner, washed dishes, and watched 30 minutes of TV. I sound like one of the Facebook people who Twitter their every action but the point is none of that stuff seems so significant and yet they all seem to blend together into this thing called life.
I gotta go.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Stephen Gets Out of School
Did I mention that I was a volunteer teacher at an International School a couple of days a week? Well after a long hard spring of study, school is out for three months I am on to other educational endeavors. That includes a more intense Spanish course, a SCUBA training program, and learning how to bid, negotiate and supervise a contractor to do work at our house. So things will be no less busy, just new stuff.But back on the school…..It was great fun. I got to teach pre prepared lessons in science, math, geometry, language (English) and other stuff. And since I was the only gearhead on the faculty of three I put together a small engines course with 4 boys and 1 girl who all got greasy and sometimes frustrated in taking apart a gas engine…….and putting it back together. Five times. These kids are whizzes on a mouse but mechanical stuff was a mystery to them. None of them had ever touched a ratchet or box end wrench before. It was fun and they want to do more in the fall.
Anyway there was a graduation where every kid in the school got a diploma for completing a year. They all wore paper ties so I wore my dress up tie. The pics are cute so I included them.
Now I gotta go study SCUBA and Spanish
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Exotic fruit in an exotic land
As the dry season ends a lot of the fruiting trees are now ripe with lots of wonderful exotic fruits many of which I have never seen much less eaten . And Mango trees are considered a “junk tree” here because there are so many of them and they are really dirty when they drop all their fruit. Above is a picture about 2 blocks from our house with the ground littered with mangos. The young boys in the neighborhood split their time between skateboarding and throwing things into the trees to bring down mangos. There are as many types of mangos as there are wine grapes and we have quickly become discerning eaters. Only the biggest, sweetest mangos touch these lips since eating a mango is always a messy but worthwhile experience. I guess that is why they call them “exotic fruits” 'cause you have to get involved with the fruit to eat it. I have not yet learned a way to eat a mango that does not end in washing my face and hands afterward.
In addition to mangos there are lots of other strange and exotic fruits we had never seen before……Mocambo, Star Fruit, Maracuya, Guanabanas, giant papaya, Panama Berry, Alligator Pear and lots more. Many of those trees are prized and protected but still the birds and iguanas get a lot of the crop. Not only do we need to learn the names but also how to pick, ripen, juice, puree, barbeque (yes!) and just plain eat all of them.
In our back yard is a producing avocado tree with probably 200 fruit on it. Seems every one in the neighborhood knows it is there, since it is an old tree. Last week a woman up the street who I only know to say hello ask if I would give her some. I said yes as soon as they were a little bigger. So I guess this is the season to win friends and influence people with fruit.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Burn it and make it go away (or should I start smoking again?)
This part of Panama has an air pollution problem. I tried to get some pictures that would show the situation but just cannot get a lens big enough (or maybe it is the lack of skill of the photographer). So I will try to show you in words.
Anyway the air pollution is not just from lots of old diesel engines or thousands of 2-cycle weed eaters. No, the majority is from the burning of the countryside. You see, from February until now it has not rained and the Panama custom is to burn any and everything they want to get rid of. Incidentally the city trash collection and disposal for service three times a week is $27 a year! The trash collection guys in our town will not accept green waste (brush, grass clippings, leaves, etc) unless you pay them a couple of bucks extra. I guess because it takes too much effort and fills up the dump too fast.
As a result the neighbors rake up their leaves and palm fronds into small piles and burn them right there in the yard. There are about 25 burn piles visible from our back gate.
And on a much larger scale, land owners clear the underbrush of large plots the same way. So in the summer months of January through April there are hundreds of fires burning every day. It may have made a lot of sense in earlier times as it was a way to clear the undergrowth and leave the trees and large bushes intact. But now houses and fincas (farms) dot the landscape everywhere and some get burned up. And on the windy days more fires are started because they burn better. Never mind that the undergrowth fires get out of control. The fire department does not usually respond to these fires unless called to protect a structure or to reduce the smoke drifting across the Autopista. But they usually leave when they run out of water regardless of the status of the fire. Life is so different here!
So today, we're were driving back from El Valle, a little volcanic valley about 2500’ in the mountains, and looking toward the Pacific we only see a thick haze on the horizon and wispy plumes of white smoke drifting up from 30 or 40 fires in our field of vision. Along the road was a blue haze hanging about 4 feet above the ground where the grasses had just burned. It is like everyone knows the rainy season is coming soon and needs to get everything burn that they can.
You would think in this decade dedicated to reducing global warming that there would be at least SOME consciousness of the impact of open burning on the atmosphere. If I can see the smoky haze over all the countryside can’t anyone else? The “government” does have a law or ordinance against burning but like many other laws in Panama it s not enforced. And the problem is much larger now there synthetic products everywhere so in addition to burning organic stuff anything else in the way gets burned up. That includes a lot of plastic, paper, paint cans, used oil and whatever else gets thrown into the fire. We have some friends who own and run a very environmentally sensitive and sustainable finca and the only alternative they have to trash disposal is a burn dump on their property. There is not trash collection in the rural areas and no one knows where the municipal dump is (sound suspicious?).
So all the years I spend protecting my health by wearing a mask or respirator or avoiding smoke has now been pretty much negated by all the diesel exhaust and burning plastic. But the beaches are great!
And it WILL rain soon and clear the air.
Got a light?
Anyway the air pollution is not just from lots of old diesel engines or thousands of 2-cycle weed eaters. No, the majority is from the burning of the countryside. You see, from February until now it has not rained and the Panama custom is to burn any and everything they want to get rid of. Incidentally the city trash collection and disposal for service three times a week is $27 a year! The trash collection guys in our town will not accept green waste (brush, grass clippings, leaves, etc) unless you pay them a couple of bucks extra. I guess because it takes too much effort and fills up the dump too fast.
As a result the neighbors rake up their leaves and palm fronds into small piles and burn them right there in the yard. There are about 25 burn piles visible from our back gate.
And on a much larger scale, land owners clear the underbrush of large plots the same way. So in the summer months of January through April there are hundreds of fires burning every day. It may have made a lot of sense in earlier times as it was a way to clear the undergrowth and leave the trees and large bushes intact. But now houses and fincas (farms) dot the landscape everywhere and some get burned up. And on the windy days more fires are started because they burn better. Never mind that the undergrowth fires get out of control. The fire department does not usually respond to these fires unless called to protect a structure or to reduce the smoke drifting across the Autopista. But they usually leave when they run out of water regardless of the status of the fire. Life is so different here!
So today, we're were driving back from El Valle, a little volcanic valley about 2500’ in the mountains, and looking toward the Pacific we only see a thick haze on the horizon and wispy plumes of white smoke drifting up from 30 or 40 fires in our field of vision. Along the road was a blue haze hanging about 4 feet above the ground where the grasses had just burned. It is like everyone knows the rainy season is coming soon and needs to get everything burn that they can.
You would think in this decade dedicated to reducing global warming that there would be at least SOME consciousness of the impact of open burning on the atmosphere. If I can see the smoky haze over all the countryside can’t anyone else? The “government” does have a law or ordinance against burning but like many other laws in Panama it s not enforced. And the problem is much larger now there synthetic products everywhere so in addition to burning organic stuff anything else in the way gets burned up. That includes a lot of plastic, paper, paint cans, used oil and whatever else gets thrown into the fire. We have some friends who own and run a very environmentally sensitive and sustainable finca and the only alternative they have to trash disposal is a burn dump on their property. There is not trash collection in the rural areas and no one knows where the municipal dump is (sound suspicious?).
So all the years I spend protecting my health by wearing a mask or respirator or avoiding smoke has now been pretty much negated by all the diesel exhaust and burning plastic. But the beaches are great!
And it WILL rain soon and clear the air.
Got a light?
Friday, April 10, 2009
Adventure trip to Santa Catalina
Recently Linda and I, our friend Alex from Venezuela, and two acquaintances from Santa Cruz took a trip to a wonderful surf/fish trip to a place called Santa Catalina. We also took Grayson our Weimeriener ‘cause he is a handful to leave with a dog sitter.
Santa Catalina is about 200km away but takes about 5 hours to get there on the small roads. It’s a small fishing village near Coiba, an island national park in the province of Veraguas (if you want to look it up), that is a world class surfing destination when conditions are right and great place to game fish for all sorts of varieties. The diving is also some of the best in the county.
Well anyway, we stayed in a surf hotel that Alex used to manage for $19/night. Linda surfed right in front of the hotel and Alex, I and our acquaintance fished with a local guide. We caught one of each kind of fish, a total of 5 and 2 got away. They were are in the 7-15 pound range and fought like their life depended on it. As we trolled along the short it was clear there were not roads, houses or development as far as we could see. But the Panama Coast Guard came by to check us out in a big grey launcha bristling with guns. We put on our life jackets just before they got close enough to see.
The second best part of fishing is eating what you caught and this was really true when we had a local restraint (with Alex’s direction) prepare the tuna and Wahoo as the best I have ever eaten. And that is not just because I caught it. We intend to return to Santa Catalina again soon.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Return from the Aromas Campground to a Doggie/Cat hospital at Latitude 08
After spending three weeks in California doing the annual tax stuff that needs to be done for being an American citizen (the only country in the world which taxes its’ citizens who do not even live there) and working a little for the Authority I have shed my long pants and shirts and returned to Panama. It was the first time I have spent three weeks in the little trailer we have on the Aromas property and it worked really well. I think the secret is the two sheds we have deemed “the closet” and “the garage”. That way we don’t have to stuff all our stuff into the trailer itself. Anyway, I packed the Worlds Largest Suitcase and one of its smaller brothers and returned home just below weight limit with lots of goodies.
Immediately after getting home I was swept up in the preparations for a spay/neuter clinic in our little town. You need to know that there are a lot of unwanted dogs who roam the towns of Panama and the local solution has historically been to put out poison bait and give them a slow painful death. In the past ten years several expat organizations have put together platoons of volunteer vets and technicians who swoop into an area and do marathon spay and neuter clinics which allows the dogs live but just takes the thrill out of their reproductive lives. So was the San Carlos clinic. Last Sunday I was the taxi for locals with no transportation to or from the clinic and the trapper of vagrant cats. Linda was the recovery room caregiver for dog’s ears. In one night and one day we sterilized 168 dog and cats and lost only one….the mother cat that lived next door to us and had produced at least 15 kittens in past six months. See the website at spaypanama.org and look for San Carlos. It was a well coordinated effort and most everyone had a good time, except the dogs and cats who were a little sore for a few days.
Anyway, things are back to the Panama norm of always 81 F, always changes in plans and almost always smiling’.
Immediately after getting home I was swept up in the preparations for a spay/neuter clinic in our little town. You need to know that there are a lot of unwanted dogs who roam the towns of Panama and the local solution has historically been to put out poison bait and give them a slow painful death. In the past ten years several expat organizations have put together platoons of volunteer vets and technicians who swoop into an area and do marathon spay and neuter clinics which allows the dogs live but just takes the thrill out of their reproductive lives. So was the San Carlos clinic. Last Sunday I was the taxi for locals with no transportation to or from the clinic and the trapper of vagrant cats. Linda was the recovery room caregiver for dog’s ears. In one night and one day we sterilized 168 dog and cats and lost only one….the mother cat that lived next door to us and had produced at least 15 kittens in past six months. See the website at spaypanama.org and look for San Carlos. It was a well coordinated effort and most everyone had a good time, except the dogs and cats who were a little sore for a few days.
Anyway, things are back to the Panama norm of always 81 F, always changes in plans and almost always smiling’.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
I did not make this move alone
You know, to this point I have done all the writing and that is not fair since Linda has been my partner in all this stuff. She recently sent some friends in Aromas a summary of her impressions of our few months in Panama.
Here it is:
" I'm sharing some of my thoughts about Stephen's and my new home here in San Carlos Panama. San Carlos is located on the Pacific side of the country about an hour's drive W from Panama City. For the past 3 months we've been creating our new home, friends and affiliates. All the while doing it in a foreign (to us) language and culture. We're studying Spanish and trying to learn the local culture so as not to offend and to understand. We've met tons of expats from the US and Canada. Most have good stories - some may even be true.
Many expats live in gated communities with only the local contacts being their housekeepers and gardeners. A lot of them are comfortable with that sort of lifestyle from past government careers, exclusive lifestyles and outlooks. S and I were looking to become a part of a local community. Naturally we're looked upon as outsiders but not unkindly. S began teaching at an International School 2 days a week. I'm involved with an animal group entitled, Spay Panama. I'm helping to coordinate a spay/neuter clinic in San Carlos later this month.
I'm finding that change is a little more taxing than I had anticipated. Perhaps it's my age, perhaps my sense of adventure isn't as piqued as it once was... Accomplishing tasks takes far longer than anyone could ever imagine. Sourcing items is far different than in first world nations. A new realization for me is that in the US we have always taken for granted that we can purchase any item we need - and if it's out of stock, we simply order it or go to a different store. Not so here. If you see something you need - or will ever need - purchase everything that is on the store shelf because you may never see it again. Especially in grocery stores. I now have 8- 2 lb bags of brown rice in my refrigerator!
All in all, S and I are still excited and looking forward to exploring our new country. There are only 3 million people here with beautiful beaches, mountains, rivers and forests. To date we've only experienced a tiny portion of what Panama has to offer.
Below are some of my current findings:
Some good news
the US dollar is the local currency
Official retired status gives b/w 10-20% discount on food, drugs, movies, flights, etc.
warm weather
warm water (no wet suits required)
good health care and insurance available at affordable prices
affordable housing
house keepers available for $10 per day
daily laborers charge approx $12 daily
dog leashes never required
dogs can run freely on all beaches
Panama City is cosmopolitan and has nearly everything you could want; however, finding it is challenging
Panama City residents are typically well educated, well traveled and speak at least 2 languages
buses are plentiful, inexpensive and run regularly
household/hardware items are plentiful and inexpensive
And some not so good news:
the US dollar is the local currency
constant warm weather breeds many pesky bugs such as ticks like you can't imagine
most all of the beaches have lava rock beneath the water. Surfing is not for sissies.
house keepers and laborers have very different standards than North Americans
most dogs and cats are not spayed/neutered
Panama City is in such a growth spurt that it's difficult to recognize from month to month and makes driving quite sporting. It currently has more skyscrapers than many US cities.
buses play local music at deafening levels along with air conditioning temps requiring sweaters and scarves
Household/hardware items are mostly cheesy products made specifically for developing nations. By North American standards, most items are worthless.
Locals outside of Panama City are literate but not educated. The educational system here is rote memorization. Students are not taught to think or problem solve. Employees rigidly adhere to rules and are unable to work outside of them. For instance, if an item does not have a UPC code on it, a cashier will not sell it - at any price. Even grocery clerks will not sell the last bag of coffee or only head of lettuce to a customer if the code is missing. No amount of reasoning will change the clerk's mind - even if you can speak enough Spanish&^%$#@!
There are more items in the good news list, so we still are positive about our move. It's only been 3 months and the house is nearly the way we want it. Oh and we have increased our family with a new stay kitten and street dog named Negrita. Two cats and two dogs seem to be a nice balance - for now.
Miss you all and especially discussing books - any books!!!
Linda"
Many expats live in gated communities with only the local contacts being their housekeepers and gardeners. A lot of them are comfortable with that sort of lifestyle from past government careers, exclusive lifestyles and outlooks. S and I were looking to become a part of a local community. Naturally we're looked upon as outsiders but not unkindly. S began teaching at an International School 2 days a week. I'm involved with an animal group entitled, Spay Panama. I'm helping to coordinate a spay/neuter clinic in San Carlos later this month.
I'm finding that change is a little more taxing than I had anticipated. Perhaps it's my age, perhaps my sense of adventure isn't as piqued as it once was... Accomplishing tasks takes far longer than anyone could ever imagine. Sourcing items is far different than in first world nations. A new realization for me is that in the US we have always taken for granted that we can purchase any item we need - and if it's out of stock, we simply order it or go to a different store. Not so here. If you see something you need - or will ever need - purchase everything that is on the store shelf because you may never see it again. Especially in grocery stores. I now have 8- 2 lb bags of brown rice in my refrigerator!
All in all, S and I are still excited and looking forward to exploring our new country. There are only 3 million people here with beautiful beaches, mountains, rivers and forests. To date we've only experienced a tiny portion of what Panama has to offer.
Below are some of my current findings:
Some good news
the US dollar is the local currency
Official retired status gives b/w 10-20% discount on food, drugs, movies, flights, etc.
warm weather
warm water (no wet suits required)
good health care and insurance available at affordable prices
affordable housing
house keepers available for $10 per day
daily laborers charge approx $12 daily
dog leashes never required
dogs can run freely on all beaches
Panama City is cosmopolitan and has nearly everything you could want; however, finding it is challenging
Panama City residents are typically well educated, well traveled and speak at least 2 languages
buses are plentiful, inexpensive and run regularly
household/hardware items are plentiful and inexpensive
And some not so good news:
the US dollar is the local currency
constant warm weather breeds many pesky bugs such as ticks like you can't imagine
most all of the beaches have lava rock beneath the water. Surfing is not for sissies.
house keepers and laborers have very different standards than North Americans
most dogs and cats are not spayed/neutered
Panama City is in such a growth spurt that it's difficult to recognize from month to month and makes driving quite sporting. It currently has more skyscrapers than many US cities.
buses play local music at deafening levels along with air conditioning temps requiring sweaters and scarves
Household/hardware items are mostly cheesy products made specifically for developing nations. By North American standards, most items are worthless.
Locals outside of Panama City are literate but not educated. The educational system here is rote memorization. Students are not taught to think or problem solve. Employees rigidly adhere to rules and are unable to work outside of them. For instance, if an item does not have a UPC code on it, a cashier will not sell it - at any price. Even grocery clerks will not sell the last bag of coffee or only head of lettuce to a customer if the code is missing. No amount of reasoning will change the clerk's mind - even if you can speak enough Spanish&^%$#@!
There are more items in the good news list, so we still are positive about our move. It's only been 3 months and the house is nearly the way we want it. Oh and we have increased our family with a new stay kitten and street dog named Negrita. Two cats and two dogs seem to be a nice balance - for now.
Miss you all and especially discussing books - any books!!!
Linda"
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