An Amazing Year

I thought our first year in Panama should have been over-the-top stunning. But instead, it was fraught with challenges, worries, stress and disappointment.

Little did I know it would be the 2nd year that was awesome, yell-it-from-the-mountain, over the top, amazing, stunning, unforgettable, luminescent, unbelievable, who-would-have-known, preposterous, ludicrous, I can't believe it, great!

Who knew it would be my 62nd year that held more milestones, events, accomplishments and growth than possibly any other year of my life.

I know, this is an outrageous statement, given that the earlier years in life are supposed to hold the biggest changes and growth.

Some of of this stuff may not sound like big stuff but it had an impact on me. And, some of it I have mentioned in previous blogs...sorry.

So here goes...this is what happened:

1. My Planter Fasciitis (sore feet) went away so I could resume hiking. I love to hike. I love to hike. I love to hike. The loss of hiking in 2009 was crushing even though it forced me to ride my bicycle which was a blessing. I am hiking again. Hurray!
2. I learned how to relax. Sounds so simple but IT IS NOT, at least for me. I found my self one afternoon hanging out at the house, when I noticed the time, the entire afternoon had gone by...and I didn't really do anything. Now that is an accomplishment!
3. Learned mucho Spanish. Even though we learned a lot, our ability to speak and hear is still minimal. Just goes to show you how difficult it is to learn a language at our age. We are getting there...poco o poco.
4. Got dogs! I haven't had a dog in 40 years. I loved dogs when I was growing up but my allergies squashed that. The conditions here...tile floors, open windows with fresh air, keeping them outside most of the time...enable me to minimized the allergic reaction. I love dogs!
5. Spirit of service and helping. Because conditions are so challenging, everyone--gringos and locals--will stop to help you anytime, anywhere. It is contagious! This mindset is amazing. People become more attractive and enjoyable.
6. Friends. I have a circle of great friends--some of them are "family". And, most important, I found a "best" friend. I have to have a local, best friend for life to be full. (I have a couple of best friends in the US but they aren't here everyday) Additionally, we have a huge number of people who are acquaintances because Yella and I are in plays and we play music so hundreds of people see us and feel they know us. Amazing!
7. I get to play music and improve my skills on guitar. This is an area of life that comes from "being" rather than thinking or feeling. The opportunity to "be" is precious. I can't articulate what this means, it is beyond words.
8. I was the lead in a play! Holy shit how did that happen? And it was a great play. I never wanted to act or thought I could act. This is the most bizarre, out-of-left-field thing to ever happen to me. And I was even asked to be in another play and did it too.
9. Yella and I worked out the huge relationship issues required to live in a 3rd World nation. No small feat. It was touch and go for 18 months. Whey! That was close!

Am I the luckiest guy or what?!

This is not your father's retirement. I thought retirement was relaxing and letting go of many things. I thought LESS would happen rather than more.

Never in my wildest imagination did I think life would actually accelerate!

Now, looking back, what would have happened if I had done something like this earlier in life. Who knows?

I can't wait to see what happens this year. It's kind of like going to the movies. But it's my life.

The hardest thing to deal with is the guilt of not deserving all this. I don't deserve it. But I have it anyway.

I am baffled. And humbled.

And oh so grateful.

Too Many Parties!

I feel hung over this morning.

That is strange because I don't drink.

I am partied out.

The marathon started at noon Christmas Eve with a small party and it was enjoyable. We actually got to talk to some friends that we don't see too often and it was great.

The next party started at 3 pm. It was a big one with about 80 people. We set up our equipment and played a few songs which was fun. Then, there was much milling around and small talk which I find exhausting.

The next party started at 6 pm and was a full blown, large dinner party. I thought it was going to be a small, intimate gathering of our best friends. This was a disappointment. We once again played a few songs, ate too much, it was loud, loud, loud.

Finally, we got home at about 10:30. I can't remember when we partied that long in one day.

Christmas was delightful, just Yella and I. We opened presents, then worked around the house, getting it ready for Daniel's visit on Wednesday.

That evening we prepared dinner for 3 of our best friends and watched Princess Bride. It was sooooo looooow key. Everyone was partied out.

This morning I felt hungover. A few cups of coffee started to cure that.

We have another party tonight. Both of us are sorry we accepted this invitation. We just want to sit around the house.

Next year, we need to manage the party thing better. We could have attended 3 parties yesterday too.

This is such a party town.

Last year, we were so new, trying to fit in and be accepted, and make new friends, that all these parties were good. We sought them out and appreciated each one.

I don't think we are quite so needy for friends and acceptance this year. We now have a small group of great friends, a large group of friends and, because of our music and acting, a huge group of people who know us.

We are definitely entrenched in the community. And it feels good.

This moving to a 3rd World country thing is trickier than I thought. I now declare it complete! We have fully arrived. Whew! It took 2 years.

I tried to remember what we did on previous holidays. Mainly, we relaxed at home with an occasional gathering with friends. As a matter of fact, in my past life, I don't think I attended more than 4 parties a year!

Now, in retirement, we go to ten times that many. This is good most of the time. We just hit the wall this holiday season.

Here is to sitting at home, relaxing and enjoying peace and quiet!

Peace!

Christmas Eve

One of my favorite days of the year.

We are off to a marathon day of parties, each one special to us in a different way.

We have been truly blessed by this move to Panama. This is a day of community and connection for us.

Tomorrow, a day of rest. A few presents, Skyping with family and 2 close friends over in the evening to watch Princess Bride.

And through it all, reflections on Peace and Love!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Only In Panama!

My friend was returning to his auto mechanic because he left 6 cartoons of contraband cigarettes in the car --unlocked. Plus he left an ounce bag of, let's say, medicinal herb next to the cigarettes.

Smokers here frequently travel 2 hours to the Costa Rica border to buy illegal cigarettes at about 70% less than normal ones. A big savings! But you have to pay for the travel expenses and all the time, a total of 4 hours.

A lot of time and work.

There is much coordination of trips to the border so that smokers can enjoy their habit at a fraction of the normal cost. You can imagine the arrangements offered just so someone can avoid the trip but still get their cigarettes.

My friend returned to his auto mechanic for his cigarettes because he was out and needed more.

Of course, when he got to his car, all 6 cartons were gone. But not the medicinal herb...it was still there.

Now we know the priorities of the locals.

He then went across the street to buy a pack of cigarettes. The clerk pulled out a pack of contraband cigarettes, strangely like his missing ones.

When he asked for more than one pack, the clerk pulled out the bag with all 6 cartons in it. He had to buy his OWN cigarettes back at a MARKED up price.

The spirit of entrepreneurism is alive and well in Panama!

A Peruvian Shaman

This morning we ate breakfast and played music with a Peruvian shaman.

Now that is something you don't do every day!

When I was in the US, I was aware of medicinal plants and indigenous shamanism. But it wasn't readily accessible.

The longer I am out of the US, the more I realize that my life in Colorado was isolated from much in the world.

I guess life in the most prosperous country in the world doesn't demand much attention--or even interest--in things outside of the US. Too bad! It is our loss.

This particular shaman lives on one of the smaller tributaries of the head waters of the Amazon river in Peru.

You too can visit him if you are willing to fly to Peru, take an incredibly small single engine airplane to a village in the jungle, then endure a 4 hour boat ride to his village. Once there, you will stay in mud floor huts, no plumbing of course, but there is much magic medicine if you open your mind to it.

Or, of course, you can come to Boquete once a year when he visits and do ceremonies with him.

A group of people spent the night going through an ordeal induced by drinking an ayahuasca tea. This is a hallucinogenic medicine used by shamans to cure what ails you. Including almost anything plus addictions.

There is much purging (Translate: puking and shitting) as well as visions.

Ayahuasca is known as a "teaching plant", a notion somewhat foreign to us in the US.

Some of our friends claim to have cured alcoholism, cancer and the more mundane stuff like parasites and arthritis using it. If you are intrigued, Google it for more information.

When I pulled out my guitar to play for Yella and her friends, Teo, the shamana, indicated that he played too. So off we went on a musical adventure that transcended two continents and many worlds of reality.

He played a hand drum for our songs, then he played guitar and sang a song. His music had the strangest, simple rhythms, stuff I haven't heard before but so interesting and powerful. When he opened his mouth to sing, in a loud, clear voice, the air seemed to shimmer and penetrate into the soul.

The shaman sings through out the ceremony to facilitate the process. He also "sucks" the problems out of people. He puts his mouth on various areas of the body and sucks, then it is his turn to puke and purge himself of your demons.

These folks looked remarkably good for having been up all night...puking and shitting to boot!

After reading this, I suppose you are convinced I have slipped a few cogs and gone native. And that may be true, for sure. I am known to go off the deep end from time to time.

Or, maybe it is our US context in life that is the strange way of living.

Think about it...

Another I Love Panama Day

It's a beautiful, calm, warm, clear day with the Volcano in resplendent view.

I got up alone, Yella having spent the night at a sleep over. So I fed the dogs, guaranteed to garner the love and affection of the beasts. Then, headed out for my morning ritual of breakfast with friends.

I drove by Dorado Park Cafe and didn't stop because no one was sitting outside, then headed to the Central Park Cafe. I haven't been to this cafe since the park was re-done.

Two streets that border the park have been blocked off from traffic, paved with concrete bricks and a row of quaint street lights installed down the middle. Now also with a huge Christmas tree decorated to the max.

And, Central Park Cafe extended it's patio out about 25 feet to meet the new, brick-paved street.

It was gorgeous sitting out essentially in the park, drinking coffee and eating oh-so-fresh fruit and talking with friends. Oh by the way, two large mugs of coffee and an enormous fruit bowl with papaya, banana, pineapple and watermelon was $3.25.

Then I headed toward home, passing Dorado Park Cafe again. Another friend was now sitting outside drinking coffee so I stopped. Pretty soon, five of us were conducting another exercise in hilarity.

Eventually, I got home just before Yella arrived. We messed with the dogs for awhile then Yella went to bed, having been up all night.

I walked out my front door for a 2 hour walk. It was now warmer, sunny and still. What a great walk!

Such a pleasure! I haven't been able to walk for over a year because of Planter Fasciitis. All of my recent hikes have been on trails with softer gravel or dirt surfaces. This hike was on roads, something I haven't done in a long while.

I got a wild hair and cooked grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, something I haven't done in many years. That was good!

Now, I am sitting after lunch writing this blog.

I hope the rest of the day is as good as the first part was!

An Uproarious Week in PanamaI

While we were busy with finishing our Spanish classes, things were going nuts in Boquete.

A friend of mine and I were at a crazy music session in a bar a few nights ago. The band, thrown together for one night only, included the best but insufferably load guitar player around, a wonderful single-guitar country singer, a jazz drummer and the best musician in town on bass.

We thought it would be a train wreck and couldn't resist taking a look. Not bad! A little weird but damn good music. Only one fight started over the guitar players volume with the drummer being bigger and scarier so he won and the offending volume was turned down...a smidge.

On break, our buddy the country singer told us about his trip to David earlier in the day. And only in Panama would this stuff happen.

The highway is being widened to 4 lanes so many trees are being removed.

The international contractor is excellent and so far had not made any big mistakes. This was to change.

The traffic got stopped to wait for them to fell a tree. Our buddy noticed that the line of traffic was too close to the tree. If the tree fell the wrong way, it could get a few cars.

Three men were in the top of the tree working when the tree started to fall...prematurely! The tree fell across the traffic taking out a car with people in it. The 3 men working up in the tree came down with the tree and were scattered across the road.

The car was totaled with no one injured. And the 3 men were relatively OK.

Whew! That was close with no one hurt.

Next, a friend of ours was helping with the Live Auction for a huge fund raiser last week. She was on stage, going through her funny antics, as was usual for her. She is very talented and capable of handling stage work with hilarity.

Only this time she was a little over the edge of drunkenness...well, all 200 people in the room were, to tell the truth.

She was wearing a short dress and had no underwear on...a recipe for, ahem...a situation.

She flashed the audience her private parts.

The bids did go up substantially for the next item!

No one seemed to mind but she was REALLY embarrassed the next day when informed of her transgression.

And on to the next item, I went to David this afternoon to buy a Christmas present for Yella.

It was mayhem!!!

They were felling trees across the road, repairing cars out in the middle of the road and the taxis--really small taxis--were darting around as if shot out of cannons.

I don't know why I didn't have an accident. By all rights, I should be in a ditch somewhere along the way.

But I did stop by the fish market and get fresh Red Snapper fillets for $2.60 a pound and Tuna for $3 a pound.

Can't beat that!

I am going to prepare Red Snapper Veracruz Style tonight.

I can't wait!

Halleluja!!! We Finished Spanish Classes

Rarely have I been so glad that something was over!

What an ordeal!

Each gringo that I talked to at the school said the same things: I am totally confused, I hit the wall every class, some just shake their head and even lack the English to complain, confusion is pervasive.

I do believe that learning a second language at this stage of life is a herculean effort...so prohibitive that the vast majority quit.

(If you are now disgusted and want to stop reading, I understand, but I encourage you to read on.)

We are learning a language in a school, an intellectual environment. This is probably the only way to "teach" Spanish. But it is artificial and engages the wrong parts of the brain.

We learn our first language as small children TOTALLY as a verbal, mimic style endeavor. No studying, no thinking, no understanding.

To the schools credit, they did everything in their power to avoid "studying." They spoke 99% Spanish and tried to give us the word meanings with pantomime, other Spanish words and pictures.

They used pictures and asked us to describe them with only Spanish. They used games. They used conversation. All a great effort to avoid "thinking."

Ah, but we do have powerful minds! Thinking just can't be avoided.

So, this process is PAINFUL to the max.

At the end of our last class, la professora gave us a review test. Neither Yella nor I could answer 20% of the questions, at least half of the test we could have aced when we started. We have regressed, lost what we had, feeble as it was.

I was defeated.

When I filled out the evaluation form, I gave the school and la professora excellent scores, then I gave myself a poor score.

I figured that I need another 200 to 300 hours of instruction to converse at a 5 or 6 year old level.

Disheartening...

Now the interesting part.

I picked up our gardener this morning and automatically, without any intention to do so, started to talk to him in Spanish. Not good Spanish or even minimally acceptable Spanish BUT Spanish.

Holy Shit!

I don't know what to say. This baffles me.

Well, I have been wrong about so many things in the past, could it be possible that I am wrong about learning Spanish?

Naw!

Behind the Eight Ball

I went to Spanish class on Thursday with my homework in hand, ready for more intellectual abuse.

As always, we started by going over the homework...and I had done it wrong, wrong, wrong! I thought it was supposed to be one way and it was supposed to be another way. What I thought I knew, was wrong. I even argued with la professora.

So, from the beginning of class I was screwed, behind the eight ball, the runt of the litter, out to lunch, off on the wrong foot, brain dead.

And that was how I spent the entire 2 hours...completely brain dead.

I couldn't come up with anything. I couldn't come up with stuff I knew well. There was nothing in the grey matter under my hair.

I have rarely, if ever, been that clueless and without any thought whatsoever.

We were working on the second of five past tenses in Spanish.

That's right, you read right, 5...count them...5 past tenses. What kind of bullshit is that?

No wonder I can't hear Spanish when spoken. If you know the root word, that is no help at all because it is pronounced at least 25 different ways when used.

I tried to figure out how I could get that confused. Too many decisions required to come up with a verb. At least 4.

First, what root verb (In Spanish, the infinitive). Then what tense (Past, present, future and quite a few more). Then what person (1st, 2nd, 3rd, singular or plural). And, if it is the past tense, which is a very common tense in normal conversation, which one of 5 is it.

Each of these decisions takes at least a split second, if not a second or too. By now, my listener is gone, off doing something useful with their life rather than waiting around for me to come up with THE RIGHT F$#@$#! VERB!!!

That is why you can't think and speak. It has to be automatic.

I have always had problems hearing Spanish.

But, I have not had a problem speaking it, other than vocabulary. The grammar has not been a problem.

And now it is...shit! The one skill I had has disappeared.

Meet Romeo

There was a dog roaming around town that was the friendliest dog. He would go up to people on the street or in a restaurant, put his paw on their leg, then his head and look up at them waiting to be petted.

We kept bumping into our friends who would comment on him. He started getting a reputation as the friendliest dog in town.

The only problem was that a crazy lady claimed he was hers. She would take him to her farm and he would be back on the street in hours.

One day, our friend called Yella and reported that he was around town again.

So they stole him!

We cleaned him up, took him to the vet...goodbye to his balls...got his wounds stitched up.

Now he is ours...I hope.

Our old dog is very competitive...for everything. Food, attention, being in the house, playing.

Romeo has to kick her ass from time to time but, so far, he is getting the job done.

There is a new sherif in town!

I have to say that this is the sweetest dog I've known.

Welcome home Romeo!

P. S. I do realize that this is the second entry on this dog and some of it is repetitive. But, I wanted to show you a picture of him anyway.

Summer is Really Here!

This is day 3 of summer!

This is the real deal, about 2 to 3 weeks late this year. We had a couple of summer days in November but nothing substantial.

The shift is remarkable! The air is much drier and the winds have picked up with cooler temperatures.

(The temperature goes from a low of 60 to a high of 80...year round! So when I say it is cooler, I am talking about a few degrees, not freezing.)

The flip flop from the US seasons is disorienting. For some reason, the school year in Panama, north of the equator, follows the South American year where this is summer and time for all the schools to be out.

The same in Panama.

To add to the confusion, when I look at the weather and satellite pictures, the ITCZ (the rain producer) is still right over Panama but we aren't getting any rain.

HHMMM????

Doesn't make any sense but it is clearly now summer...only a little rain until April.

It is great!

Even though I don't mind the rainy season, all of this sunshine is wonderful.

Home

If you asked me where home is, I would say Colorado.

I still think of it as home.

I wonder how many years it took me to consider Colorado home after growing up in Kansas City. That was 35 years ago.

But, every now and then, I think of Panama as home...it is just starting to feel that way.

My favorite time of year is the holiday season. You might be confused because I hate the cold and it is cold at this time of year, at least in the US.

But the holidays trump the cold.

I love the camaraderie, family, friends and festivity. All the hoopla and activity.

And then the dastardly January 1st...the end of the holidays. I dreaded it. The long, bleak winter. Yuk!

I came home from working out at lunch time and found Yella putting up the Christmas tree and decorations.

I put on some Christmas music. It was foggy and raining outside.

And it felt like Christmas. Looked like Christmas. Felt like home.

Very strange! There are no old friends, no family, no snow or cold, no dream house in the mountains at 9000 feet elevation with deer grazing out front.

But there are new friends, Christmas decorations and music, and the cosy fog and rain. Plus 2 dogs!

Ahhhhh...the holidays!

Just a Trickle of Water

Uh Oh! I turned on the outside water spigot and a measly splash of water came out.

The outside spigot is connect directly to the water service pipe before the pump so it gets the limited pressure from the main water only. I did this to save on running the pump for irrigation. In retrospect, not the best idea.

But, I can see how much water I am getting from the water main this way.

And it was barely a trickle.

Damn!

These small neighborhood water systems are notorious for running out of water.

What, you say? In a country that measures rainfall in feet.

There is plenty of water but the water systems are very bad.

I had a look in my 660 gallon tank and, although it was almost full, there was only a trickle filling it.

I went up to the main above my house and tried the relief valve and there was plenty of water there. So the problem was in my service line. It seemed to be plugged.

I was getting ready to cut the line and find the blockage but I talked to my friend first. He convinced me to get a plumber to look at it rather than me trying to fix it.

He does know my limited mechanical skills!

I am SO HAPPY he talked me into it.

The technician from Grupo Agua de Chiriqui came out this morning. I showed him the spigot and the tank.

Then he did something that I thought was stupid. He dropped the sediment filter just before the tank and out came gravel and sand galore. And water...gushing!

This indicated that the service line was working and not plugged.

We went to the spigot, unscrewed it, and sediment and gravel spilled out followed by water.

It never occurred to me that the obstructions were at the termination of the pipes, a logical place for the sediment to collect.

I would have started cutting into the pipe in various places trying to find the problem. This would require many repairs to the line, a pain in the ass and always a source for future leaks.

Whey!!! Dodged a bullet on this one.

Oh, the cost...$16.05.

Now, all the way around, that is a bargain.

New Dog Number 2

We adopted Sophie out to a couple in David. They returned her the next day because he had a severe allergic reaction to her.

This amazing dog adoption group in Boquete went to David, a hour away, picked her up and are keeping her until they get her adopted back out.

Our house was not safe for her with our terrorist original dog, Emmy. Emmy was too aggressive and just plain mean to Sophie.

Meanwhile, a young male has been hanging around Culture's, a restaurant. This dog is a professional affection getter. He will go up to a patron, put his paw on their leg, then his head and look up at them.

An affection hound for sure.

A woman claimed he was her's but the dog was always loose around town looking uncared for. She has 8 dogs and most people say she is crazy. Crazy, of course, applies to most of us down here so who knows what to make of that.

My friend who is a dog lover has been trying to get me to take the dog home. I wasn't all that interested because he was claimed by this woman and this is a small town where everyone knows everything about everyone.

We kept running into people who would talk about how they spotted the most loving dog in town. This dog was becoming famous and getting a following.

My friend got Yella's attention and they teamed up to get the dog yesterday.

Damn, another dog!

Yella immediately took the dog to the vet for a look over, shots and stuff. Then home to meet the intrepid Emmy. It went OK.

The dog is remarkable. So loving. And he holds his own with the terrorist Emmy.

We were told that a male would do better with Emmy and they appear to be right. So far, if Emmy gets to rambunctious, he attacks back.

Take that you terrorist Emmy!!!

This new dog is a lover. He is more interested in humans than dogs. Strange??!!

Time will tell. I hope this one works out!

Things Work Out

We celebrated Thanksgiving with a few friends in the high country outside of town.

It was gorgeous...sunny in the morning, overcast and foggy in the afternoon and a bit cool. They had a fire in the fireplace, much camaraderie and food, food, food!

After dinner, we played music for a couple of hours then headed home at dusk.

Before we left, I got a telephone call from the optical shop telling me my new glasses were ready. Great! They were here better than a week early.

Whoo hoo! Christmas early! I really need new glasses.

Today, I ate breakfast with some friends, then went to the optical shop.

Now, in the past, they haven't always been open in accordance with their posted hours.

Typical!

So, on the way, I tried to prepare myself for the shop being closed.

When I got there, of course, they were closed.

Damn! I thought I could weather the disappointment but I was pissed...and thwarted!

There was a little, tiny hand written note letting us know they would be back.

When??? I called the phone number and got a bunch of noise and that was it.

I told myself, settle down. They will be open latter.

I went to the gym and worked out. And, I got a call from them saying that they were now open.

I drove down and got my glasses and they work great!

This is the way of this land. Things do work out, just not the way I want them.

In the US, if I was going to run some errands, I would figure out how to run around town in an efficient manner, stopping here and there, ALWAYS expecting stores and offices to be open.

I would tolerate NO delays! And, most of the time, in the US, in works out PERFECTLY as EXPECTED.

You have to forget that here. Oh boy, this must be forgotten!

I does work out. Just not in the nice, neat order that I anticipate.

Later in the day, I went back into town today and had to kill 45 minutes. Now...here...that is nothing. Really no delay at all.

In the US, a 45 minute delay was a l-o-n-g t-i-m-e . . . . .

Oh, how life has changed.

Thanksgiving

It's 7 in the morning and I'm sitting on my porch...in a short sleeve shirt. A bright, clear, calm day.

I'm trying to write this blog while Emmy keeps interrupting me, nudging my leg with her toy, wanting to play fetch. So I toss her toy and write a sentence before she returns, then toss again.

Flowers are blooming every where, birds are singing, all the tress and plants have their leaves.

It is a glorious Thanksgiving Day morning!

I am grateful for all of this. Today, I am.

I know, you have had to endure copious amounts of my whining over the past 2 years in these blogs. Sometimes out and out rage. This place has thrown me against the wall more than once. It has stretched me to my limits and then some.

But on this morning, I am grateful.

A friend had a quote in Facebook that said we get into a rut and live our lives in that rut, rarely struggling out into life newly.

Yes, I am grateful for the warm weather and absence of winter, but much more than that, I am grateful for the opportunity to get out of the rut.

So here's to adventure and reinventing life.

After all the whining, complaining, rage, spoiled brat antics, pessimism, doubt, confrontation, resignation, and disgust...

Is gratitude...

I am fortunate to have this opportunity!

Yuck...Spanish

I really, really, really don't like learning Spanish.

Our teacher talks to us 95% of the time in Spanish, of which I understand only a small portion. This is tricky because I am trying to learn it and only a portion of the explanation is understood.

Now, here is an interesting distinction in learning.

The teacher gave us a test today and I did well, only missing 2 things out of about 30. The test evaluates what you know...knowledge.

But I can't understand what she or any other Spanish speaker says.

Yella, on the other hand, didn't do as well on the test...but she understands the majority of what Spanish speakers say.

So it just goes to show you that knowledge is worthless. At least for learning languages.

This kind of shit pisses me off to the max.

I am used to dealing with the world through thinking, analyzing and knowledge.

But that doesn't fly for learning a language.

There is some other skill involved that eludes me.

And I don't like it!

This all leaves me feeling stupid. I don't do well with stupid. I want to strike out and hurt someone for making me feel stupid.

I better go hide in a cave for a while.

One Hell of a Party

Las Ruinas threw a party celebrating it's 1 year anniversary.

This is a cool place. A circular open room with a thatch roof that accommodates about 100 people...normally. I think about 150 were there last night. People were packed in and sitting on the low wall which goes around the room on the outside...plus a couple of dozen smokers outside.

Yella and Rick played the music. He is a one man band...highly computerized full band sound...with Yella singing. The sound was great. This is unusual for here because most places have a tile floor, concrete walls and drywall or metal ceilings.

Not here! The thatched roof dampens the echos and the sound is crisp and clear. And loud...very, very loud.

That part I can do without.

I have found over the years that drinking is recommended for loud music. And I don't drink so I am loud noise challenged. (I like loud music at a concert. Just not at a social event where visiting is a big part of the party)

This restaurant has the best food for the best price in town. And it was great last night.

He was giving away free shots of rum all night...the rot gut stuff, maybe 3 days old before bottling.

No one cared that it was crap...a generous splash of coke took care of that problem.

I stayed longer that normal so you know it was a good time.

And it was drunk out. EVERY ONE was dancing. Even me for one dance!

As it turns out, I was sitting at a table with a woman who had 32 years of sobriety and a guy who had 25 years of sobriety. Plus mine of course. Not much danger in us getting drunk.

The party season is officially in session!

The Nickname Culture

Most people have a nickname in Boquete. It's kind of like back in college or high school...remember?

Some of the names are mundane like "Backpacker Jim", which is self evident.

Or more colorful like "Dr. Pepper". Don't ask, I have no idea what it means.

Or functional ones like "Keith-the-Car-Guy" and this is self evident again.

Now for some of the interesting ones...

There is Rebar Dave and Pain-in-the-Ass Dave. Rebar Dave picked up a length of rebar (steel reinforcing bar for concrete) and beat Pain-in-the-Ass Dave to within an inch of his life over some dispute which is unknown to the rest of us.

Clearly, with a nickname like Pain-in-the-Ass he probably deserved it!

Oh, by the way, the US Marshall showed up in Boquete 2 months ago and arrested Rebar Dave for fleeing the US will out on bail pending a re-trial for the first trial that got him 45 years. I met the guy several times and you couldn't meet a nicer guy. Hmm???? Are most criminals nice guys?

Then there is Hillbilly Phil who is from Tennessee. He gave his mother a box of shot gun shells for Christmas last year. No explanation needed for this one. I don't want to know how their family get togethers play out.

This is such a small town!

I was going into the supermarket this morning and I saw Garn standing outside. This is the 92 year old man that I hiked with last week.

He asked if I would help get him a taxi. I offered him a ride home. I could see the relief on his face when he knew he didn't have to negotiate with a taxi driver.

Such a small thing to do for him and such big results. This country and town offers so many opportunities to help out. And the rewards for helping out are huge.

I returned home feeling pretty good. A great way to start the weekend.

Several Things

As I was driving into town, 4 miles and 15 minutes, I noticed how often I waved at the other drivers.

I need to back up for a minute.

In the US, when you are in your lane, it is your lane totally. If a car was coming at you from the other direction, in your lane, you would react in some negative or angry way. You have the right of way in your lane.

Absolutely...you can count on it...take it to the bank!

In Panama, the entire road is at your disposal. Everyone swerves into the other lane to dodge pot holes, pedestrians, drunks passed out in the road, animals, bicycles, children playing or whatever.

When buses pull over to get or let out passengers, they only partially pull off the road. The traffic behind the bus swerves out into the on-coming traffic's lane. All the time. Everyone squeezes by the on-coming traffic.

So, the road is SHARED by all, in any way you want to use it. You can park or stop in the road...in either lane. Doesn't matter.

Needless to say, you have to pay ATTENTION!

The difference here is that all this is approached with courtesy. Cooperation. Working it out as you go.

Thus all the waving. Friendly acknowledgement of letting someone use "your" lane.

This is a much more appealing way to drive, I find.

Now about soap...

If there is soap in bathrooms, it is liquid soap. Frequently, in is weak, watered down stuff.

Why?

Well, when the soap is about half gone, they fill it back up with water. So now it is 50% watered down.

This process is repeated several times until the soap is essentially water.

Just a little quirk of Panama!

I was hiking on the Pipeline Trail in Bajo Mono. This is a beautiful 90 minutes hike. It ends at a 200 foot high waterfall. My favorite hike to date.

This morning, I met a local farmer and an old one to boot.

I told him I didn't speak much Spanish. He still rattled on with a blistering pace, ignoring my lack of understanding.

He was so charming that I didn't mind. At one point, he pulled out his pensionado card (retirement). I said "tambien" (me too) and he started to laugh. I guess because we had something in common.

I find that the older farmers are the nicest people in Boquete. That is saying something because most people here are nice.

Even though I didn't understand much of what he said, there was a pleasant sense of relationship, based more on way of being than words.

We parted friends. I'm sure I will see him again.

Gringo Funeral

A service, not really a funeral, was held for the 48 year old man who died of a heart attack last Sunday.

It was at 11 this morning with about 100 people attending. That's about 10% of all the gringos in Boquete. This is a small, intimate community.

It was held at a house outside Dolega, lower in altitude and hotter than Boquete by 5 to 10 degrees. It was a magnificent location for the service with perfect weather, partly sunny with a cool breeze on a day that didn't know if it wanted to get hot or not. We were on the veranda over looking pastoral fields.

Our friend lead the service. He has a PhD in psychology and a master in Divinity. He is also the best musician in town, playing both bass and piano. He was the Number 2 minister of a mega church in Calgary, Canada. It burned him out so he came to Panama to re-charge his batteries.

We are very fond of him, his wife and family. You would never know this guy was big minister in his past life. Never any preaching or even a hint of it. He is one of the most unassuming men I know.

He lead a wonderful service.

The support for the widow and daughter is amazing. She will be well taken care of.

This is an interesting difference in cultures: When she went to the hospital after they notified her that her husband died, they expected her to take the body with her...in her car.

As you can tell, there is a lack of funeral services in Panama!

Also, she was informed of her husbands death without any sugar coating. The doctor who called identified himself and then said, "Your husband died, come get the body." That was it...nothing leading up to the statement and nothing added after it.

Just...he died. Short and simple.

Hiking With the Boys

I got a call from my friend who sets up a hike every 2 weeks or so. We scheduled it for this morning.

When I got to the meeting place, the normal four including me were present and another, Garn.

Garn is 92 years old...very spry for his age...and alert and quick witted.

But a strenuous hike?

I first met Garn when he was 90. He was signing Frank Sinatra's old standard, "I left my Heart in San Francisco" in a musical event. He still has a good voice although he had no idea where he was in the song and he was driving the band nuts figuring out where he was headed.

Didn't matter. The audience loved him. He is very, very charming with a twinkle in his eyes.

We started the hike on a steep hill. He couldn't keep up but his pace was still pretty good. Better than a coach potato.

A strange thing happened. One or two of us would drift back to keep him company. Then someone else would take over and it kept changing.

All of this happened without any planning or conversation about it. It was a natural progression of movement.

I spent about 45 minutes with him alone. We discussed our backgrounds. He was born in Utah, a Mormon. At 19, he became a pilot in WWII. He never returned to Utah and I have no idea if he is still a Mormon. He is on his 3rd wife. She won't let him drive any more because he totaled the car a few months ago.

He hiked for 2 hours...up steep hills and then down them.

Truly remarkable! His strength at 92. And as amazing, the way the group naturally and organically kept him company.

I was proud to with this group of men today. A great hike in paradise!

Yes, It Did Happen Again

On request, I have included pictures of the now mildly famous gate. The one that keeps falling off.

Yes, it did fall off again yesterday afternoon.

We thought we knew what was causing it to fall but we were WRONG! When Yella came home, it fell off again.

She immediately called our contractor who said he could come up here at 4:30 in the afternoon. The only problem...we would have to go get him and pick up his tools.

Yella got him, they re-set the gate and welded a stop/gate-catcher to the assembly.

NOW, the gate works and--to date--has not fallen again.

As you look at the pictures, the side view shows the drop from the rail that the gate slides on. It is about 4 feet. Enough of a fall to damage the gate.

The gate weighs about 400 pounds. Too much for 2 guys to pick up so the gate has to be pushed, dragged and rolled back into position.

Hopefully, this phase of our lives is over.

You can stop laughing now...

Summer!

The rainy season ended with a bang...3 days and nights of solid rain caused in part by the outer rain bands of tropic storm Tomas which stalled just north of here.

Now the north winds, bajaraque and SSSSSUUUUUUNNNNNNNN!!!!!!

The rainy season didn't bother me...it wasn't too bad. But, I do love the sun!

It's Back...

I hiked the Pipeline Trail up high in Baja Mono. It was gorgeous! Sunny, cool and no wind today.

Yella took the new dog into the vet in David. She doesn't have distemper. She got her shots, re-stitched the opening for the neutering, got medicine that is supposed to stop the head bobbing. And we found out she is about 3 to 4 years old, much younger than she looks.

She has had a hard life. The good news is that she should regain all of her health from being fed and treated well. Great news! This is one sweet, affectionate, mellow dog. Just the opposite of our original dog, Emmy.

Now, if they would just get along.

Yella got her head caught in the electric gate this morning. Thank God the pressure shut off worked. After, of course, giving her a good jolt and a sore neck.

The dogs follow Yella out to the gate when she leaves. This means she has to close the gate while shooing the dogs to stay inside. Emmy got aggressive and made Yella reach back through the gate to push her to stay inside.

Only problem, her head was still inside the gate.

Walla, squished neck.

What more can happen with this damn gate? I am afraid to even think about it.

WTF!!!

Rafael, the fence installer, was here Sunday to put the finishing touches on the fence, including a physical stop for the gate so it can't fall off again.

It fell off just a few moments ago...again...shit!

Even with a physical stop, it fell off. The stop is not big enough to prevent the gate from rolling over it, or derailing or whatever it did to come off again.

This is the way of Panama. Very frustrating at times.

We lugged it back onto the track.

The gate is suffering wear and tear that was never meant to be. The cyclone wire is tearing off the frame, the magnetic signals to stop the gate are damaged and falling out.

I wired the magnet back in place. That is after we found it. The ground is not only weedy and uneven but trenched down to the footings for the fence. I had to get a flashlight to peer down into the small spaces. No magnet.

I mysteriously looked up at the post and there it was. Stuck to the post. Lucky! We could have looked for days.

All is well now. That won't last!

Onto another subject...

Three gringos have died in the last week.

A young man ran off the road and was decapitated. That had to hurt. (That was a rude comment. Sorry.) No alcohol or drugs were involved.

An older man, about 80, died in the hospital with a severe lung infection. He really died of old age and it was expected. Still a loss for his family.

A 48 year old man died of a heart attack while in the hospital. This was complicated by alcoholism so who knows what really happened.

Many gringos dead. There are only about 1000 down here, alive that is.

They say things happen in 3's. We all hope so.

The 2 younger men leave devastated families and my heart goes out to them.

Dogs & Things

We got our new female neutered on Sunday.

That was an all day job which Yella handled. It is a free clinic. They had 4 vets and neutered 100 animals on Sunday. This is an incredible organization. But it takes waiting around all day to get the job done.

There was so much activity on the back street that there was a traffic jam in front of the clinic.

We have discovered that our 2 dogs are essentially incompatible. If any food is around, and I mean ANY, a wild fight occurs. It took 3 of us Saturday to pull them apart.

We are now keeping them separated. What a chore. We have the new dog up for adoption. This could take months. We can't keep these 2 dogs together. Emmy will kill the little one eventually.

Yella discover the stitches for the neutering had pulled out of the dog. No vets were available today because of the holidays.

Our friend who runs the free clinic loaned us lidocaine, a needle and super glue.

Before dinner, we started to replace the stitches. But the needle wasn't sharp enough to administer the anesthetic. So we super glued the incision together.

Hope it holds. This little dog might not make it.

You would think that was enough excitement for the day...BUT NOOOOOO!!!!

We finally had our automatic gate installed. I tested it and it worked while the installer was here.

As Yella and I were pulling out for Spanish lesson, the ENTIRE 22 foot by 7 foot gate fell over with a mighty crash!

It had retracted off the end of the rail and came out of the guides.

It was too heavy for Yella and I to set back up so off we went to Spanish class.

While in class, I figured out how to get it back up. By sliding rather than lifting it, we finally got it back on the track.

Now we have to make sure we don't allow it to fully open. We have to stop it a couple of feet before the end.

It will take a week to get someone back up here to fix it.

The holidays, don't you know.

And, of course, this is the nature of Panama. One step forward and two steps back.

Let the Parties Roll

This is holiday season for Panamanians!

November is their biggest month of holidays, even more than in December.

For reasons to long to include here, they celebrate 3 independence days. (Like our 4th of July) Many nations have had their fingers into Panama. And there is a Labor day thrown in.

Wednesday through Friday, the whole town will be in fiesta with most businesses and all government offices closed. Later in the month there are a couple more days like this.

As gringos say, it is drum season. Endless drumming. Endless parades with drumming. Most streets closed for the drumming parades. Large crowds standing around waiting to drum.

You get the picture...mucho noise.

Late in November, Boquete has a national drum competition, just to cap the month off with The Big Drumming.

Panamanians love this time of year, maybe more than the Christmas-New Years period.

We have a make up Spanish lesson today because we will miss so many classes during the holidays.

I made sure I went to the bank yesterday to get money for the week because there will be no banks open until Saturday, then for only half a day.

The bank was crazy with people in preparation for the holidays. For the first time in Boquete, I used my Jubilado card (Retirement status) to get into the short line so I didn't have to wait for an hour or 2.

Retirees get privileges that include a special line at banks and many other places. I normally don't use it because I am physically able to stand in line and I don't want to be the Ugly American.

But I used the short line yesterday.

Bank lines are extremely long. Much business is conducted at the bank. It is not like the US where we use the mail for most transactions. When I want to pay the electric bill and the internet invoice I have to go to the bank and stand in line.

Businesses sent people to the bank with multiple transactions, requests for cash and other business. This can clog up the line for an hour or 2. Not fun.

Anyway, we are all set for the holidays! Let the party begin!

The Hootenanny

When we got to the venue early to set back up and do a sound check, my worst fears were realized. All the settings and connections tuned in by the professional sound tech on Thursday had been arbitrarily changed by the keyboard player.

Grrr!!!!

Why he did that is a mystery to me. Why use a sound tech if you are going to screw it up yourself?

We tried to put things back together but we never got the good sound like we had the day before during the tech rehearsal.

The best I can say is "the show was a mess but people loved it."

That's about how I thought it would go. Parts of it were really bad and parts of it were actually good. Over all, the audience was thrilled.

I was shocked at how many people I didn't know! Where do these people come from anyway?

It was an old, old crowd. At one point, a friend of ours blurted out, "This looks like a nursing home." I had to agree.

Well, they had a great time at the nursing home!

This show sold out in 2 weeks. Sold out a full 3 weeks before the show. Obviously, there is a huge demand for this type of event. They love music here! And that is a great thing for us.

There were some good parts. I played guitar for many hours a week for weeks. I met Mickey and Squirt, the song writing couple from Nashville and I now know I don't want to do another one of these!

Now that I have my life back, with free time and everything, the Panamanian holiday season goes into full swing.

Rehearsals for Hootenanny

We have been rehearsing 4 times a week for 3 to 5 hours.

Too much!

My fingers are sore. That's what happens when you haven't played guitar for a while. It takes a few weeks to get your calluses back then it takes a few MONTHS to strengthen the tissue beneath the calluses.

So I am screwed from that stand point...not enough time to prepare the fingers. I even soaked my finger tips in ice water last night. It may have helped.

For some strange reason, I have been enjoyed playing this simple, sing-song music at rehearsal. There is a zen like quality to it. And, there has been plenty of opportunity to crack jokes and have fun.

All that came crashing down yesterday.

We had a full run through rehearsal at the venue with a sound tech.

A couple of notes about live performing.

Every time something changes, the music falls apart. That's because we are all amateurs. The pros are so familiar with the different performing environments that they take it in stride and the show goes on.

Not with amateurs.

Every new change leaves us disoriented and baffled. As soon as concentration is lost or misdirected, you lose your place and start hitting bad chords and notes.

Needless to say, at the venue, we can't hear much. All the sound is out front with the sound system. This is typical. I have rarely been able to hear at a gig. This is just the way it is.

With this group, it created havoc and so many things went wrong.

By the end of the rehearsal, I was hungry and exhausted.

All the laid back, zen, easy going attitude that I had been maintaining was gone.

The key word was maintaining. My concerns were always there but I was squashing them.

Thank God, this is a sing along. The audience will love it, no matter what happens. I'm sure it will go over well. No worries about pleasing the crowd.

But, I like to do a good job. I am an achievement junky. It pains me to screw things up.

I just need to scratch around and find my "Bad Attitude Suppressor" and turn it on...full blast!

The show must go on...

Returnable Coke Bottles

I ordered a coke with my pizza this afternoon and noticed that it was in a returnable bottle.

It's been a while since I've seen that!

In many ways, it is 1950's retro here.

The kids wear uniforms to school. Dogs run free...no leash laws. People walk around at any time of night without fear. And everyone stops to talk to friends...this can cause a few accidents with drivers suddenly pulling over to talk to someone.

Panama is building a new 4 lane road from David to Boquete. This is about 30 miles of road, now dangerous because of all the inconsistent traffic on the road.

They have a REAL road building contractor. New equipment and everything. I actually saw a street sweeper cleaning the road after it was trashed with mud and debris while they were working.

How about that!

As I was walking downtown, I looked into a pickup truck and saw a nuclear density gage! This is the testing equipment we used in the states. I had no idea they even knew what proper road building technique is.

Will wonders never cease!

Today and yesterday we had almost no rain! A little wind out of the north...summer!

Summer happens December through March. But it also is a term that means the wind is from the north which prevents the rain from oozing up from the south which causes the rainy season.

We had "summer" the first 10 days of October which is unusual because this is the rainiest month of the year. And now we have had 2 days of summer.

I think the rainy season is almost over. I'm ready!

Here is a link that isa very funny video, especially for those of us that are sober.

http://www.theonion.com/video/aa-destroying-the-social-lives-of-thousands-of-onc,18349/

I encourage you to watch it. I know, you already get too much crap from your friends.

But, I don't normally send you anything so watch it, OK?

Doggie Amor

I haven't been around a dog in heat for about...huh...well...40 years.

I forgot what a pain in the ass (excuse the pun) it is!

Our little dog is getting laid more than a whore in Las Vegas. The males are lined up outside the fence 3 and 4 deep.

I drove up to the house with our contractor Friday and Sophie (Our dog) was locked with a male in the road. There was no getting them out of the road for a while.

Stuck is stuck!

So we parked in the road and walked to the house.

One little black male in particular knows how to defeat the fence time after time. Really, this is a good thing because we get to debug the fence.

A fast as we fix a hole...normally at the bottom of the fence which is cemented to the concrete blocks at the base of the fence...the little black dog digs through the cement patch before it gets hard. Every time! We are on fix 4 and counting because he got through just a few minutes ago--again!

We have yet to keep this little bastard out.

You would think he would be exhausted by now! Got to admire him.

Yesterday, Yella had been in the bedroom. She came out into the living room to discover the dogs locked together and at it again.

Can't really separate them. Just got to wait it out.

Fortunately, Sophie is about out of heat. Maybe we can get some sleep now.

She undergoes the knife next Sunday so this won't happen again, with her anyway.

Onto another topic...

The contractor has yet to finish the fence.

I picked him up in town this morning at 7 am. I had to go to town 3 times for supplies and to pick up additional workers that NEVER showed up.

Grrrr!!!!!

Then, went it started to rain, I took him back into town. If you are counting, that is 5 trips into town in one day.

When workers are here, we end up working for them.

It is a major pain in the ass to get anything done.

Don't laugh now, but I think we will get the fence finished this week.

I know, funny huh?

The Ying & Yang of 3rd World Living

I am struggling with Spanish.

The last couple of classes, our instructor has looked at me kind of incredulously when I don't understand something she is saying. At one point, she said "really!?" To my lack of understanding. Like, how can you be so obtuse?

I can't hear Spanish when spoken. This is Yella's strong point. She hears it very well. She has "good ears." Probably from her musical talent.

We have done a flip flop.

At the start of classes, the teacher was somewhat amazed at the words and grammar I knew, being a beginner.

I had been cheating. I listened to Spanish tapes for over 2 years and did learn somethings, not listening but words and conjugations of verbs.

Now I am the slow poke. And the dense one.

I also feel cheated.

The most important skill in language is being able to hear. If you can hear, then you can speak any old jumble of nouns and verbs and you will be understood. Walla...communication.

So I got the shit end of the stick. I know the grammar and I can speak it fairly well.

But I can't hear a damn thing spoken to me.

I am very frustrated.

That is the ying.

Today, I realized that my car license plates were 3 months over due.

I forgot!

My friend and I went to David and waded through a maze of crap to get my plates. It took less than 20 minutes and less than $50 bucks (including the penalty) to complete the transaction.

Not bad!

That doesn't happen every day down here.

Then I rehearsed for 3 hours for the hootenanny. Sitting around playing guitar, doing a little singing, is not a bad way to spend the afternoon.

When I got home, Yella had badgered our fence contractor to plug the holes in the fence so we can actually contain our dogs with the fence now.

Oh, the joy!

Being able to throw the dogs outside, without chaining them up, is like a huge relief. All the male neighborhood dogs come around trying to get to our in heat female...and they can't get in!

Ahhhhhh..... Now that's is satisfying.

That is the Yang.

The Never-Ending Fence Project

We are now in week 6 of building the fence. The same one that our contractor said would take 1 to 2 weeks to complete.

And the end is in sight but the finish is still a week or 2 out.

The little female dog we are adopting is now ours full time. And she just went into heat!

Shit!

I swore I would never go through a dog in heat again. With any luck, the fence will be finished to a degree sufficient to contain the dogs at the end of today.

If not, let the doggy sex begin!

We have an amazing spay and neuter clinic in town. It is a non-profit, free service. The awful starving, stray dog problem has been solved through the incredible efforts of this non-profit.

Our new little female will under go the knife in 2 weeks.

In the mean time, we will have to endure the powerful yearning of nature's way.

You may be asking yourself, "How in the hell can a project get delayed this long?"

I'm glad you asked.

Mainly, a lack of supervision and underestimating the amount of work.

The contractor left 2 men on the fence for 4 weeks without supervision. They sandbagged him in a big way, mainly hanging out in our garage playing video games on their phones. And the afternoon rain would send them scurrying home when a 15 minute wait would of yielded a perfectly good afternoon to work...if they only waited.

Now, after today when they will finish most of the fence, we will wait another week or 2 for the electrician to hook up the electric gate motor.

Not a big problem because we can use the gate until it is hooked up to electricity.

You are now shaking your head and wondering why we are putting an electric motor on the gate, huh?

Well, the road is steep at the gate. To get out of the truck or car and open the gate requires shutting the motor off and setting the brake. Sooner or later, the temptation to leave the motor running and use the emergency brake would be too great and an accident will surely happen.

So we will get the electric opener.

Once again I learn the lesson that nothing, and I mean nothing, happens here in a reasonable amount of time.

On another note, life is busy now. I have 3 rehearsal a week for the hootenanny and 3 Spanish lessons a week plus homework. Busy, busy.

I like it!

Life is good...in spite of the Never-Ending Fence Project.

Money is Not the Same In Panama

On my way to Olga's for breakfast, I saw a friend at Dorado Park. I haven't seen him for a couple of weeks, so I stopped to have a cup of coffee. We then moved on to Olga's for breakfast and had a fun hour of conversation.

Then I went to the gym to work out and on to rehearsal for the hootenanny.

Only the rehearsal was for this afternoon, not 11 am when I got there.

No problem. We started talking and soon we were discussing an unusual relationship to money in Panama.

He was having trouble with his PA board for his sound system. We had talked about where electronics could be repaired. The only tech we knew of was at the Chino electronic shop in David.

Scary!

He took his PA board to them. They ran it for 6 hours and couldn't get it to act up.

The shop owner offered him a cheap PA board as a replacement even though his was working in the shop. He commented that he wanted to try it before buying it.

This is where the difference in money shows up.

They said take the PA board and come back and pay us if you like it.

That happens here a lot.

I got a haircut a few weeks ago. When I went to pay, I didn't have the correct change and they didn't have change either. I told them I would be back to pay.

No problem.

I went back 30 minutes later and paid.

My friend was in a pharmacy to buy drugs. When he went to pay, his credit card was refused. He tried another and it was refused. This happens a lot. Sometimes on store will accept the card and another won't.

That's the way it goes.

He pushed the drugs back across the counter and said he would return. They said take them and pay us later (it was $40). He said he would return in the PM. They said he could return manana.

In the dictionary, manana means tomorrow but in reality it means some time in the future.

A very loose relationship to money!

Or maybe a relationship of trust. Even though this is a thieving culture, there seems to be a high degree of trust around paying what is purchased.

The in's and out's of a culture are interesting!

John Lennon

John Lennon would have been 70 today.

But some rotten bastard shot him.

There are a four people from this time that were my heros. For me, he is in the company of Gandhi, John Kennedy and Martin Luther King.

I am left wondering what the world would be like today, if they all lived. How can any nation or world make it with our best and greatest leaders assassinated?

Who is left to be the voice of greatness? The voice of peace. The voice of kindness. The voice of kindred spirits.

I miss them. And yearn for them.

The Beatles, with Lennon in the lead, shatter what was possible in the music world. Then, turned their attention to the world, and social change.

The sentiments in his song "Imagine" sum up his life well.

For some of us, this song has become sacred.

May you rest in peace, John.

Spanish, Round 2

A few blogs ago, I was lamenting about how hard it is to learn Spanish. We had 2 lessons that were ass kickers.

Yesterday, we had a conversation in class that was spirited and facile. It flowed and went at a good clip. At one point, our instructor took off and forgot she was in class with a rapid stream of Spanish.

I felt like maybe we can do this.

Now, it was a highly focused conversation about our families...you know, aunts and uncle, nieces and nephews, etc. Many "at-a-boys" to our professora and the school for their skill in structuring a conversation that was attainable to us neophytes.

I observed how all this worked as it was going on.

I let the conversation flow over me like water over a rock, being content to get a few of the words spoken, enough to get the gist of the communication. Then the magic started. It was hard to get a word in edgewise with 3 people talking.

It's been a long time since I was in school. I forgot how to learn. I forgot what it takes.

And, to be honest, I didn't like it back then either, even though I was good at it.

I know that the process of learning Spanish will come and go, easy and hard. It was nice to have a magical experience at this point.

The Power of Water

I was taken to a trail a few weeks ago that I thought was a new trail, previously unknown to me.

As we started the trail, I didn't recognize it. For the next hour, walking the entire length of the trail, I didn't recognize it.

We got to the end in a magnificent box canyon with a 200 foot high waterfall. Stunning! I didn't recognized it.

On the way down, it dawned on me that I had been on this trail at least 10 times before. It had been so altered by the floods in the last 2 years that I didn't recognize it.

Previously, below the waterfall, there was a huge log jam about 100 yards wide and 300 yards long.

It was GONE. Now, just stream bed. Wow! Where did all that debris go?

Last week I tried to walk the same trail. No deal. The recent heavy rains had washed out the first log bridge and I couldn't get across.

Today, I walked the trail and someone had restored the log bridge. Who? Whoever, thanks!

After the hike, I drove up a road high in the rain forest to look for a trailhead I hadn't been on in 3 years.

The road was devastated. Landslides, washes across the road, ditches full of mud and debris.

Amazing to watch the power of water in action.

The US doesn't have this much rain...anywhere in the lower 48 states. I haven't scene this in the past.

Plus, this is extremely young geologically speaking. Geologic time starts in the 10's of thousands of years.

Here, the volcano erupted 500 years ago. The slopes are still steep and relatively unweathered by the forces of nature.

This is still a wild place.

I love being in the middle of these massive, earth forming forces.

Micky and Squirt

What is a Micky and Squirt?

They are a musical couple who have been retired in Boquete for 5 years ago.

He, Micky, played in bars for 40 years across the US, mainly in the resort areas of Colorado, Nevada and eventually Nashville. He went on to write songs later in his career.

She, Squirt, is a song writer who lived in Nashville most of her career.

They both had hit songs in the country market. Hers was number 1 and his was in the Top 10 on the Country Charts. Most of their stuff is very good and funny. They also wrote a musical play that has been performed here to rave reviews.

The problem is that Micky is on psychotropic drugs for mental issues. He has a nasty reputation for being a king sized jerk when off his meds.

We were at a play a few weeks ago and Micky was off his meds. He created a scene in the lobby before the show, throwing a fit and demanding to be let into the play before the doors opened. He threw a few coats around while yelling and kicky shit.

Not a pleasant experience. His reputation proceeds him around here.

They are playing 5 songs in the hootenanny.

We were rehearsing today when Micky and Squirt showed up for the first time. I was full of trepidation. And I was intimidated by their amazing careers. After all, I am an amateur hack and he is volatile. Not a good mix in the best of times.

They are folk singing artists, from a time before mine, in the early 60's. A perfect fit for the hootenanny.

They look the part.

She has white, long hair loosely pulled into pig tails. Pigtails...can you believe it. He is WASHED out. With thin hair going out in all directions, looking like a old, old man at the end of his life.

As he was playing along with us, he was missing notes and chords. Clearly he has seen better days.

The director asked them to play their stuff.

He started playing and singing "Puff the Magic Dragon." This was a bad, limp, insipid song when it came out and it is now even more tired and worn out.

His finger picking was spotty and his voice was croaky. But...this is his music...authentic, coming from his being, who he is. And it is an innocent song about children. Micky is regressing to the point that he is child like too.

I was moved. The sincerity and authenticity coupled with the innocence and childlike quality were mesmerizing. So beautiful. So haunting. So much integrity. So personal.

If I heard this in a bar or restaurant, with all the noise from the silverware and dishes and conversation, I would have walked out, disgusted. I would have missed it.

This was a rare opportunity to be in the presence of something great. Sitting in a garage, high up in the jungle rainforest, rain coming down a few feet from where I was sitting, listening to a thin, haunting, authentic song of child-like innocence.

Wow! I will remember this for a long time.

Feeling Oh So Stupid

I don't do well with feeling stupid.

After all, my life has been about achievement and accomplishment. I made sure that my time was spent doing things that I was good at, for God's sake. And I was damn sure successful!

I had a meltdown on Saturday, in public. Not a good thing.

I was at rehearsal for this hootenanny. They are asking me to sing 3 songs with harmonies as well as learn the guitar for 20 more songs all by October 30th. Learning the guitar parts is confronting enough.

I don't like to sing for a reason.

With singing, I am a very slow learner. And a tedious learner. A laborious learner. And I get fried easily once confronted with my stupidity around learning a singing part.

I am the village idiot around singing.

Very few people are willing to believe that I have this much trouble learning a melody, much less a harmony. They think that because I sing well once I know a song that surely it comes fairly easy for me.

Not so...

So I had a meltdown and became an asshole and started attacking my fellow musicians for telling me this was easy and how could I have this much trouble blah blah blah.

So the asshole in me came out in flaming colors.

It really pisses me off went people tell me something is easy when it is NOT!

I owe a round of apologies to these poor guys. They were just trying to help. Even though it was misguided, it was heartfelt.

Now on to the next "I feel stupid" thing.

Learning Spanish.

The first 2 classes were amazing. Fun, reinforcing and confidence building.

The next 2 classes were a real bitch. This is tough stuff.

I have discovered that as soon as a word is spoken that I don't know, I stop hearing the rest of what is said. I am stuck trying to figure out the unknown word.

And that old familiar feeling of stupidity takes over. Again, I feel like striking out and getting pissed at someone.

In Spanish, the gender and singular/plural all have to match. As well as the congegation of the verb. You would think this is simple stuff, and it is.

But NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

You try it. Time after time after time we screw it up. So simple. How can it be this F$#@$# difficult? It is mind boggling. Something this simple is so impossible to get right.

The teacher drilled us for a hour on this simple thing with possessive pronouns. You know: mine, yours etc. It is not that difficult. Why oh why do we keep screwing it up?

It is probably easier to learn nuclear physics.

I don't like to feel stupid so someone has to pay, damn it!

So far, I have refrained from acting out in Spanish class. These good teachers don't need that kind of abuse.

I am convinced at this point with Spanish that it will be impossible for me to learn it. I simply can't conceive of understanding something so unintelligible. It is all Greek to me...or...Spanish.

So I sit this evening, pissed at the world because I can't learn Spanish...and I have to learn these stupid songs that I don't even like...I want to kick the dog...and my wife...and anyone else that comes around.

I don't like to feel stupid.

Working for the Contractor

There was very little progress on the fence last week so they were supposed to show up with 6 guys on Sunday (today) to make up for the loss of time. Good idea, you say?

I jumped out of bed at 6:30 to open up the garage in anticipation of the crew showing up. I want to be ahead of them so they have no reason to delay.

Waiting....waiting...waiting...waiting...

At 8:30 they finally get here. They usually arrive before 7. With only 4 guys. Saturday night took it's tole and 2 didn't show up.

Damn. F$#@$!!!

It is always something here. An early start is most important because it is the rainy season and and the probability of rain is 100% and it normally starts at about noon.

Now that they are here, I have to help them. Do you have a screw driver? Do you have a file? Do you have welding rod?

What? Welding rod. So I have to go get some.

And it goes like that.

My friend says, "I have my gardner (or any worker) at the house today so I am working for him today."

When people are going to work at your house, you have to pick them up, get them tools because they never come with much, stop at a store so they can buy snacks for breakfast and lunch, run to the store all day long to buy supplies and materials.

Oh to have a US contractor where they do it all!

It is now 2 pm and they are still working. We had only a short rain at about noon. But it is foggy and the air is pregnant with moisture so the flood gates will open shortly.

And it goes on and on...

Oops!

Don't know how it happened, but it did. I put gasoline in my diesel car.

Fortunately, it only cost me $53 to get it fixed including $10 in diesel and $8 for a new fuel filter. Oh, and a day of aggravation without a car.

Most filling stations are full service but I used one in Dolega that is self serve. I swear I pulled up the lever underneath the diesel logo but that apparently didn't happen. I need to go back and see how I messed up.

Don't want to do that again!

We had our first Spanish lesson at Habla Ya on Monday.

It was fantastic!

This school is so much better than the other one we attended last year. We were speaking Spanish with the professor from the first moment of class.

She was prepared with handouts that were just right for our level of knowledge. She engaged us in a hour of conversation then we did a few exercises with laminated phrase cards. We did a couple of short written things then spent 20 minutes on new vocabulary.

What a difference! This school has it's act together.

We both left feeling good about our Spanish proficiency (or lack of it) and we want more.

I feel that we will get some place with 10 weeks at this school.

I am very hopeful that we will be able to converse in Spanish, on some level, in 10 weeks.

I am grateful. It is simple unacceptable to live in a Spanish speaking country and NOT speak Spanish.

Tropical Storm Matthew

We got home last night at 12:30 am and it was still raining. That is unusual. We normally get rain in the afternoon, tapering off in the evening.

I woke up this morning to rain. Yet again unusual. We rarely get rain in the morning, even in the height of rainy season.

I wondered what was going on.

When I checked various websites for info, I found out that we were getting hit by the outer bands of rain from Topical Storm Matthew which is oscillating between a tropical storm and a hurricane north of here. (We don't get hit directly by hurricanes)

We are projected to get rain for 3 more days...like this...rain all day and all night.

I am sure this will get old. I love the beautiful mornings in paradise!

Grand Slam Theater

I suppose you are going to get tired of me writing about the phenomenal theater in Panama. I can't help it...it is just stunning.

I saw "The Beauty Queen of Leenana" last night and I was blown away with the acting. Or should I say the lack of acting. When actors move beyond "acting" into the assimilation of the character so they become the character, it gets outrageous!

And it was outrageous.

The play, set in Ireland in 1989, is about a 70 year old mom who is mean, manipulative, cunning and, of course, CRAZY! And her 40 year old virgin daughter is equally crazy and, as it turns out, homicidal. It was a black comedy...made funnier by the once-in-a-lifetime performance by the old lady who is actually 76 years old.

I have seen Susan in several roles over a couple of years. She is a top notch actress with plenty of experience. In the past she has been from good to excellent. Last night she transcended excellence and moved into the phenomenal!

With my limited experience in theater, I am realizing more and more that the part makes a huge difference in how well an actor does on stage. It takes a perfect storm of writing, the actual part, directing, the actors abilities and work-work-work-work-work...to make a once-in-a-lifetime performance.

Rare, very rare.

That is what we saw last night. It was so good it moved me. Not because of the emotion in the role but the actually perfection of the acting.

Somehow she put together a palsied yet sane, sly yet drooling, addled yet wicked and absolutely hilarious, sloppy eating, food spitting character. With facial expressions to die for!

She turned a depressing, black comedy into a comedy with an edge.

Bravo Susan!!!

The 3 other cast members did great jobs. Just not roles of a life time.

They put this play together in 4 weeks. How in the hell did they do that? I asked my friend Jim, the director, how they did it and he told me they practiced a lot. I've been in his previous plays. We practiced a lot with a 6 week schedule. I can't imagine how they crammed all that rehearsal into 4 weeks.

I tell you, we have some potent theater here.

If you want to read a review of the play and see a couple of pics, follow this link: http://www.boqueteguide.com/

Dilemmas!

There are big and little problems in Panama. These are a couple of the little ones.

A friend of mine who was a one man band in the US (Think of a guy playing in a bar that sounds like a computerized band) is trying to put on a future event. It will be a hootenanny.

Remember hootenannies?

You may be too young to remember because this is a concept that goes back to the 60's. It involves folk music, not my favorite music. It was a gentler time, not my cup of tea. It was a provocative time, this I like but not the political stuff.

The piano player has been trying to get me to play guitar with him so he can expand out of the one man band thing. The only problem is that he is so used to playing all the instruments...with the help of computers and sound patches...that there is no room for a guitar, unless it is a lead guitar.

I am not good enough to play lead so I am at a loss about playing with him.

The hootenanny is an opportunity to play acoustic, rhythm guitar which is my thing. I hate to pass it up because I want to do something with him, just not this mamby pamby schlock.

Oh what to do? I think I will do it and regret it along the way!

We were invited to 2 parties last week.

One was a big affair with maybe 75 people and loud music. Great food, interesting people but I got tired of yelling to talk to them.

These houses have tile floors, concrete walls and high ceilings...in other words, an echo chamber. Blahh!!! I don't like it except I got to meet some people I otherwise wouldn't get to meet.

The next party was a small dinner party with 8 people. Low key, no exceesive drunkenness, a great fire in the fireplace on the patio and wonderful food. Conversation that was pleasant and low volume.

I am so grateful for small, low key parties.

Like I said earlier, small problems. Hardly worth mentioning. But I hadn't written a blog in 6 days.

Mmhhmm???!!!! Maybe the well of blogs is going dry.