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.

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’.

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"

A trip to the end of the road

Hi there,

Sorry I have not posted anything for a while but life just gets busy when you are retired.

I am now sitting a crowded garage office we still have in Aromas. It is cold and raining out and I have been here for over a week working on two sets of income taxes and also at the Authority (for a few bucks). I called my son Tyler on this birthday on the 2nd and did not reach him. That always leaves a vacant feeling....oh well.

The campsite of a trailer and two sheds we made on the property works well but it seems I am always schlepping something up or down the hill to the office. In real camping I would be schlepping firewood and water but here it is laptops, briefcases and water.

Of course people here ask me how I like living in Panama, what is it like and lots of other questions. And sitting in this garage it seems like a long ways away right now and except for my images of Linda and our house and dogs it is a little fuzzy. Guess that’s because I am cold and lonely here. I really look forward to the daily Skype calls with Linda. Now we can fight long distance and actually see each other! But that is who we are.

I am almost to the end of the income tax stuff for both us and mom. Of course that just means I am done and give it to the respective “bookies” to gin up the results. Then a week of working and packing and back to Latitude 8 on March 15th, The Ides of March. This working takes a lot of time.

But that is not where I started on this episode so here is the fun stuff.

A few weeks ago Linda and I took a very short road trip with surf friend Obie and her two kids to a surf spot about 160 miles from home. The destination was Quanico, a crescent bay on a road not shown on any maps. The road ends at the beach were there is a single restaurant and two rooms for rent. And the only communication is the pay phone at the restaurant. But the rooms have satellite TV and AC.

Linda and Obie surfed their hearts out (witness the pic) and the kids played. Down the beach about ½ mile is a compound built by two young Brits, Russell and Laura. It is truly a work of art with wonderful craftsmanship and a warm feeling. The two pics are of the main house and the outdoor shower.

The quest for organic veggies

You would think in the tropics that vegetables would abound. Lots of starchy veggies yes, but lettuce, tomatoes and other broad leaf plants, not so. Yesterday at the super market we saw baby spinach from Salinas for $7.25 a small box. Not on our list! So every week we make the trip up the hill to El Valle to buy organic veggies from Thomas the organic farmer and his family. He has been workireat funng the same farm for 25 years and it is a model of sustainability. And it is great fun looking for and picking the lettuce, onions, carrots, and other stuff and then weighing the harvest and playing with their kids and dogs. The bill is about $15 bucks and it tastes great.

(Still haven't figured how to place the picture next to the text. They always end up at the top. If you know how to put them other places tell me!)

And while we are there sometimes we go next door to a very fancy hotel called los Mandarinos and have a look (or occasionally lunch). When we are at Thomas’ we see the los Mandarinos staff gathering and buying their own food. El Valle is round valley about 2900’ in elevation and a micro climate of cool days and much more rain than San Carlos. Great veggies and flowers. That’s what happens when you live in an extinct volcano not unlike Jurassic Park. As a matter of fact Thomas even has a dinosaur garden complete with plastic beasts in among the leaves.

I'm going to have a salad.

My wife has become a kilowatt junkie

I don’t know how much more energy efficient the United States has become in the past four months but I bet the rest of the world is still way ahead of it. In Panama where electricity is typically $.20 a kilowatt people are very careful how they use it. And anywhere that light bulbs are sold there is often nothing but compact fluorescent bulbs. You know, those funny looking things with the little white tubes looping around. Well now they produce up to 125 watts according to the label. And they give good light but according to Linda it is just too white to read with. So on every shopping trip Linda looks for and comes back with a treasured incandescent bulb…. The plain old light bulb. And we have a few around in our house for reading and quite a few spares as those wear out (and they do pretty fast). As an old energy management guy I wince when I know that the reading bulb is using 5 or 10 times as much juice as the new ones, but what the hell, I only read a couple of hours a night if that.
Now I gotta turn out the light.

The Fire Cracker People of New Years

Want to blow up your favorite celebrities, enemies or adversaries? Well the People along the Panama Highway near our house have a way. They make up dummies of the character they love, despise, or are upset with in some way and fill the dummy with firecrackers. Often you recognize the dummy as a politician or Bart Simpson or a celebrity with a sign telling who it is. This tradition started with the local Indians making dummies with heads painted on coconuts and stuffing old clothes for shape. Now the practice has refined itself and spread geographically along Highway for twenty miles. There is even a judging and awards with money given out and on New Years Eve the dummies are for sale so you can take them home. I have included a few pictures of the dummies some of which are works of art. The dummies are just appeared right after Christmas until New Years Eve when at midnight they are all BLOWN TO SMITHEREENS! Talk about closure!

And since fireworks are legal in Panama the celebration of the New Year is very loud and sparkley. We have a friend and her twelve year old twins here so the best way to bring in the New Year was to light it off! We went to the beach with rockets, sparklers, and other exploding gizmos and after had set off all of our stuff we witnessed at least three major major displays put on by private parties up and down the coast. It was as good as any 4th of July I have ever seen. The after midnight the discos open with live music and dancing until 6 am. We closed the windows and turned on the AC and went to sleep. After all, Linda had to get up real early to go surfing and I wanted to write this episode.