Is it Winter or Summer?

So many things aren't clear to us anymore. We keep getting different answers on the naming of the seasons and it appears that there are only 2 in Panama. Rainy season and the "dry" season. Not sure what they did with the other 2 and we don't know that we aren't getting different answers depending on which coast we are on when the question is posed. Then there was the misunderstanding at the house today when a young woman asked to borrow a brush and I thought she wanted a scrub brush so when I handed her the scrub brush; not to appear ungrateful she began to brush her hair with it! I then understood the non verbal and immediately provided her with a hair brush.

The neighbor's pig had to be rescued today as it seems our friends Rottweiler isn't fond of tiny wandering pigs. In the end it was safely returned to it's own yard to continue on to it's ultimate destination onto a plate or a spit. Last week our neighbor called us over to look behind the plumbing in their soon to be completed bathroom. There was a tiny nest of tiny birds stuck back there. Eric decided that the right thing to say was to pretend that all would work out fine in a few more days when they grew a bit larger but it looked to me like they were stuck for life, once again no clear solution; the pig was simpler once the dog was corralled and tied up.

Panamanians are truly too polite sometimes. I had read before moving here that this was a normal characteristic of this culture and it has proven to be true. A great quality for sure unless you need a straight answer. Then you just might be in for a surprise as in general they will not disappoint you by telling any truth that might not be what you want to hear. Added to the challenge of us not possessing a great command of the language this can be quite the brain teaser. Additionally they will be very surprised by anyone who is overly direct so of course I usually have my foot in my mouth; Eric fares a little better on this. We will keep practicing and paying attention.

We spent the entire week traveling this past week for immigration and other important business. In the latter part of the week the van broke down and we had so many knid people try to help us (most could speak no English and went to find someone who could) in this tiny town called Rio Hato. We were lucky to find a mechanic there but discovered we would have to stay over and travel by bus and cab to Panama City to get the parts. Normally you can get parts (or anything else, dogs, mattresses, chickens) shipped around the country by the bus but in this case the Ford Dealership did not take credit cards by phone. The parts clerk was kind enough to tell us the whole saga of why they no longer take cards via the phone but we will save you the details and get to the guts of the story. We found a reasonable hotel with optional hot water (extra $5) and jumped up at 5 am for the bus trip to begin. In Panama City and at the Ford Dealership at 8 am and there was our new phone friend Freddie the bi-lingual parts clerk. In his possession were the much needed parts; of course they were the wrong parts (in spite of being told in both languages what exact parts were needed). So the good news was that we did not pay by credit card and by phone for the wrong parts! 4 bus riding hours later we were in a rental car on the way home having made a call to Eric's friend Howard in the US to procure and ship the parts to the mechanic via DHL. We will see how this works as the part is scheduled to arrive tomorrow and we have our fingers crossed! We will be very happy to get Eric's van back since we are moving to new digs on the weekend and will definitely be needing it. No it isn't the pig or the incessant rooster calls at 3 am that is compelling us to move; bottom line is the lack of Internet here. So after June 1st we will be writing from Boquete and I will stay there to market properties, promote the soon to be "World Famous Punta Linda Eco Adventure Park" and Eric will go back and forth a few days in each place as he supervises the building of the trails and bridges on the property. We have hired a great foreman to help with this who is bilingual, used to work in canal zone and extremely over qualified. A person like this gets paid $75.00 per week and we are thrilled to have him!! The manual laborers (Indians) get $1 per hour.

We will write soon from cool, mountainous Boquete where we will be comfortably surrounded by our personal possessions finally albeit temporarily.

This is a zoomed in photo of the Caribbean view from our property Punta Linda. We have toucanns, three toed sloth, butterflies and white hawks, bellbirds, and of course a few very tiny viper snakes. Eric is getting quite good with a machete and has 2 kills to his name thus far.

Who took my paddle?
Taken froom a boat near Bocas Del Toro. The Caribbean water here is outstandingly beautiful and the colors amazing!

Our friend Curly runs a farm for Buffalo de agua!

These guys love to be photographed an have a natural curiosity.

Time sure flies while we move at a snail's pace

Hola

Well we made it to Panama!!!!
Life is good!!
The trip went well we discovered a new place to stay in Costa Rica was about 5 miles from the airport, had their own free shuttle, and the rooms where okay and was only $60. Most other places we called for a room at that price did not include the shuttle which can cost as much as $30 each way for a taxi ride.
The first day we arrived in Panama we rented a car from Thrifty and got a free upgrade to a SUV it’s a lot nicer than the Toyota corolla we usually get. We stayed at our favorite hotel called Puerta Del Sol room prices increased a little now they are about $35 a night but real nice rooms, great restaurant and the people are very helpful. Our friends Jack and Ruth where staying at the Puerta Del Sol as well so we had a nice dinner together and found a good free place to check email within walking distance from the hotel and can drink a beer while you check your email. The ride over the mountains went well and really seemed to take no time at all (little over two hours). The second day we arrived here Mario took us on a boat ride to check out some friends’ of ours property they just bought 12 acres right on the Caribbean. It is very beautiful and about a 10 min boat ride to Bocas Del Toro. The work at Mario’s is coming along the restaurant is getting closer to being finished and we hope to help him open it soon. Tonight we are cooking some seafood Conch, pulpo (octopus), and lobster and camarone (shrimp) paella. We bought the seafood fresh from Chiriquí Grande about a 5 minute ride down the road. We spent $14 and have enough for another meal and we could serve 8 at each meal. We did find a fast internet café 7 minutes down the road with DSL still trying to figure out how to get that at Mario’s.
Can’t believe what a great response I got on my pictures I sent you all. (Eric)Thank you for the feedback. Here are a few more pictures.
We are doing a lot of bird watching and hope to have some fabulous photos soon – patience and diligence. Starting to relax a little and have installed hot water at Mario’s house. The Panamanians don’t believe in it for the most part but we are spoiled Gringos and will have hot water. The weather is wonderful, a little cool with a tropical breeze so no need at all for AC right now – perfectly comfortable.






Febuary
Wow a lot transpired since we started this letter.
Even though the time seems to go by slowly the days go by quickly. We are working on getting a place of our own to house our possessions and have some privacy, a concept that is foreign to the Panamanians. Mario’s house usually has 8 people minimum in residence which requires a lot of cooking and cleaning and much noise and activity. Also the construction of restaurant and cabanas continues. The great benefit of living with a local friend is that we are having our immersion Spanish lessons daily in both the language and customs.
Carnavale started right after we arrived in Panama thus it was imperative to suspend all business in lieu of drinking and partying; there really was no choice. Time to leave all sense of urgency behind and attend rodeos, bullfights and the constant partying that goes along with the biggest celebration of the year here. On the last day I finally gave up and went to bed early and Eric continued on down the road with Mario who went on horseback. The typical end to Carnival is that they hose everybody down with fire hoses and whatever water hoses they can find. As Eric was doing his photography, he was raised over the heads of about 8 Panamians to go for the required dousing. No doubt it was a compliment of acceptance but with his multi thousand dollar camera in tow he was most anxious to be kept dry. Just in the nick of time one of Mario’s friends noticed the situation called to Mario who rode in on his horse just in the nick of time and stopped the hoseing!! Knight without armor!!
Benny a biologist and birding expert and friend of Mario’s came to Punta Linda found over 50 different and rare birds on the property as well as 8 sloths in less than three hours. It was contagious seeing his excitement about abundance of wildlife. He feels Punta Linda has what it takes to be a birding destination and since he has a successful birding tour business we are inclined to trust his judgement . We will begin soon on making trails and the access easier. We even have teal toucans!
We had our first visitors from Florida. Cindy and Bill from N. Fort Myers came to see Panama for the first time, we certainly enjoyed having them here and judging by their smiles they had a good time. Throwing our fears aside we all went zip lining over the canopy of the rain forest. A few days later we attended a free Jazz concert in Boquette and were quickly caught up in the spirit despite the typical afternoon Boquette shower. Without missing a beat the problem was solved as the promoters just quickly brought every one up on the covered stage with the musicians so no one would get wet. Can you say “life is good!!!”
We finally received our van and trailer with our belongings. After finding the right people in charge and spreading a few of our dollars around we got through customs with much help from our Panamanian friends. As in many things here it required a road trip in this case to spend 2 nights with Mario’s sister’s family who helped get us through the maze at customs. The trip back to David was long and the trailer was over loaded but the van did the job. We left the trailer at our friends Jack and Ruth’s place just outside of David so would not have to take it up and over the mountains until we have a chance to take some of the weight out of it. Leaving the heat of David behind and coming back to Punta Pena we realized again after we took a deep breath of the clean, fresh, cool air why we are so sold on this area. New homes are popping up regularly and the signs of work and improvements going on reinforce this progress as well. I wish we had sound and “smell avision” so you could enjoy the sensations with us as we watch the locals climb in the stream and swim and the air is filled with the sound and smell of the river cascading over the rocks. The neighbors graciously bring any one of their friends or family that speaks English to meet us. We even have an invitation from the school that offers college classes to visit and judge a play which they are performing in English.
Time to wrap up this edition of Life is Good Panama as we enjoy a drink over the Chiriqui Bay at our favorite waterfront (the only one) restaurant and bar.
More soon. Hope all of your adventures are happy ones.

Can't believe it is May already!
Happy belated Mother's day to everyone. We will soon have full time internet connection and promise to get posts done more regularly In the meantime this will catch you up if you have not received our earlier posts and hopefully get a thread going which can be understood. We will have a new post before the end of the week.