You Can Run But You Can't Hide

This is a small town...and some times it works to your advantage.

If you remember, the last blog noted that our builder was doing the Panamanian Avoidance Dance.  We were trying to get the necessary documentation to get the electricity process going.  And, he was not returning calls.

As we were driving home last evening, their goes our builder, in his pickup truck, toeing a trailer with his horse.  

Now, Panamanians are ALWAYS polite so he had to stop and say hi, because, after all, to ignore us would not be polite.

Ha!

The first thing out of his mouth was, "I have all your papers and I will call you tomorrow morning (Sunday) (like that would ever happen!) and you can pick them up.  You will notice that he was guilty about it.  This is a Catholic country after all.

So, today when Sunday morning is almost over, there is no call.  

No problem...we go over to his house.  This used to bother me because it is intrusive in the US to do this.  But here, it is accepted.

And, lo and behold, we get the actual, original, signed, stamped by all entities, plans for our house.  I have been trying to get a copy of these plans since September.

It's like winning the lotto...well, almost anyway.

Then, we head back to the house to eat lunch because we are going to our storage unit to retrieve some goodies and then to David, the big city, to buy groceries.  On the way we got delayed.

It is hard to imagine ALL the ways you can get delayed in Panama.  Don't try, you will hurt yourself.

Above is a picture of one of them.  A drum core sponsored by the Bomberos, the fire department, is having a little parade.  Of course, they barricade the street at the ONLY bridge across the river, successfully stopping all traffic.

They love this stuff, the parades, the infinite opportunities to delay everyone.  We did think that it was charming.  Well, after I accepted the delay, it was charming.

I'm still working on this stuff.