The Land of Noise

I went to the bank today as I do every Friday to get money for the week.

This is a cash society.

Try using a check just once and you will stop it! They make you jump through so many hoops that it isn't worth it. Credit cards are OK in larger stores but not the local stores. And ATM's are everywhere...you can get cash by the wheel barrow, if needed.

The bank is across the street from the cathedral. As I was leaving, the noon bells started to ring. These are real bells...big ones. I desperately needed to make a phone call but I couldn't hear my self think, much less the phone.

I got in my car and rolled up the windows with limited success.

I drove down the block and around the square and the noon siren went off. This is an old style siren like the US used to use for tornadoes and such. Very loud.

It goes off every day at noon. All conversation stops. Every day.

Such is life in a Latin country.

Wednesday, after I returned from breakfast and the gym, I read on my bed ALL day. It was raining and perfect for reading.

I haven't done that in years.

The rain started at noon and continued into the evening. I love the rain!

I lived in a semi-arrid desert in Colorado for over 30 years. I can count on one hand the times I woke up to rain in CO in all those years. I love rain and it rarely happened in a desert.

There is something about rain that makes it OK to be lazy.

Come to think of it, there is something about Boquete that makes it OK to be lazy.

I good place to retire!

Ode To A Second Car

We have gotten so active (I hesitate to say "busy" because how busy can you get retired for God's sake!) that a second car will be nice.

Typically, one of us ends up sitting around Boquete for a couple of hours a day waiting on the other to finish something. Or you simply skip an activity because the arrangements drive you crazy.

Yesterday, I took Yella into town at 2 for her thing, and I had to wait until 4 for my thing, then hers was over at 4 so she had to wait for me until 6, when I was done.

Phew! That will chew a big hole in a day.

Interestingly enough, that isn't so bad.

I went to Romaro's supermarket to look for fish. No fish fillets. So I went out to the car, rolled down the window and took a nap...in the rain...it was great!

We successfully purchased the first truck on Sunday. I don't know if you remember but we were going to flip this truck and get another one.

So the first phase of the triple flip is completed.

Our friend has it and is putting new tires on before he sells it to the 2nd buyer. We will then take the proceeds and buy the next truck.

I can't wait.

Unfortunately, the old car will have to go into the body shop for some repairs, therefore rendering us "one car" again for a couple of weeks.

It is always something...

Oh well, what else have we got to do? Well, besides all our activities, of course.

Saturday Night Boquete

Another big Saturday night.

Yella was sitting in with the jazz band at Amigos again but with a twist.

Another female vocalist has arrived in town. She would do 3 songs before Yella. As it turns out, she has a good voice.

In rehearsal, the band struggled to work up 3 numbers with her because she didn't have any music. Bands at this level prefer music because they all are trained musicians and can read music. This did cause a few musical mis-steps with the band.

She had been in town for 2 weeks only and was not familiar with Boquete audiences. She got a surprise.

Amigos was ready and waiting when the band started...packed, hot and sweaty, a little drunk. More people squeezing in as the band played a couple of songs without a vocalist.

The band was doing well with fast, jazz style, triplet rhythms. When I hear this type of music, I always think of my friend in KCMO who loves this rhythm...he would have been in 7th heaven last night.

Then the new girl started.

After her first phrase--that's right, first phrase--the place erupted in applause. I bet that hasn't happened to her before. These audiences are simply the best. They get excited about almost anything.

Her songs were laid back, well sung and worked pretty well. The audience gave her a big response. Not bad for her first time with this band.

Then Yella took over for a few songs. She was in the zone and brought the house down. Yella's stage presence plus her voice give her a huge impact on the crowd.

She got a standing ovation.

We migrated over to The Bistro, which is closing for a few months for renovation. Always a dangerous thing to do because construction in Panama is so difficult.

Who knows when they will open again...

A major renovation party was in progress. The tables were removed to make a dance floor and the dance was on. The owner, Lauretta, was slinging drinks behind the bar at an incredible pace, and dancing to boot.

As I watched the dance floor, I thought I could make a movie called "Gringos Gone Wild." It was pretty insane out there.

After about a hour, I called it quits. I got tired of my friend screaming in my ear to be heard. Not my cup of tea but Yella had fun. And we got to see many friends.

Hmmmm???

I am running out of things to write about. And the readership on my blog is down about a third in the last 3 months.

Maybe I am getting stale. Or the adventure of moving to a 3rd World country isn't novel anymore. Or I am losing my fire because life is going so well.

I think that as I get more and more settled, and used to the quirks in Panama, the opportunity to write something of interest diminishes.

Today I did the same old, same old. Ride into town, eat breakfast at Olga's with friends, go to a meeting, drink coffee with a friend, ride back home.

Same old, same old...but it sure was fun!

I will wait and see if this trend continues.

There are several of you that read my blog continuously and I am appreciative to the max. So, I don't want to do something rash and quit writing it.

Oh, something I forgot to mention. I got a barbeque grill a couple of weeks ago. I haven't grilled fish in a year.

I bought a pound of Red Snapper fillets for about $3, grilled them and had a feast. This is the land of fish.

A fish monger comes up from David, which is close to the ocean, in the morning with fish caught earlier that day. Fresh, fresh, fresh...and good and cheap, normally about $2 a pound.

I missed eating grilled fish. Time to catch up!

Panamanian Tax Work

Finally, a day with...hmmm...well...ahhh...free time!

No formal rehearsal, no trip to David, no meetings, no lunches, no parties. Just time to finally catch up on things. Much needed things.

First, the IRS couldn't get my tax payment that I provided electronically. It took 3 weeks for their notification letter to reach me so I am now deliquent. Damn! So I need to straighten that out.

Second, I need to organize my financial info for the Panamanian accountant to file my local income tax report. This is a big job because my house is finished (Hurray!!!) and needs to be evaluated.

Third, practice stuff for my play.

Fourth, nap time!!!

A fantastic day for it. Yella is going to David so I will have the house to myself.

The rainy season has started and I love it.

No wind. Calm but hotter days, mainly sunny in the morning and cloudy in the afternoon with a light rain shower each day. Perfect. Enough rain to bring things out of the dormant state but not enough to tear my road and land up.

This won't last. The rains will get heavier and demand work on things.

But until then, I like it.

With each month, we are getting more settled into Panama.

Thank God!

A quick note about my new play.

Most of it is physical humor...slap stick.

We are working on 4 short segments that are the same wedding scene from different individuals' perspectives. It is done in a slow motion pantomime between 2 women and 2 men, all hitting and kicking and slapping each other in a slow motion dance with falls and such. Try falling in slow motion sometime.

Remarkably difficult to do! And remember. We keep confusing which scene we are in, etc.

But it is so much fun to work on!

Sunday

We don't get trash pick up at our house yet. It takes building a structure by the road for the trash, then registering for pick up and paying the enormous sum of $3 per year.

In the mean time, I drive to Boquete on Sunday morning and throw our trash in a trash truck parked in front of the Bomberos.

The only problem...this is the land of inconsistency. Sometimes it is there and sometimes it is not. And, it has started to leave at 8 am in the morning, making me scurrying into town before it leaves.

The last 2 Sundays, I had to stop the truck driver as he was leaving to take the trash. Not a problem...Panamanians are nice, cheerful people, always willing to help.

I will start to take the trash in on Saturday night to avoid missing the pick up. Trash here gets ripe if it has to sit in our garage for an additional week, if the pick up is missed.

We finally were able to have a couple visit us at our house this morning. We have tried to set this up several times and it didn't work.

We had a feeling that these people are "best friend" material. And, it turned out that we loved them.

Yella may have found a best friend or two but I have not. Still looking. Many friends, even good friends, but no heart buddy yet.

Who knows? Maybe these folks will be best friends.

We then drove into Boquete and met up with 2 people to drive 30 minutes to Potrorios, a neighboring town. We visited a friends who is 80 and is recovering from a massive heart attack.

A group of us had a little get together for him at his home since he can not get out. If he feels better, he will fly to Canada for surgery. Why return to Canada for medical help...it is paid for by their medical insurance. In Panama, the procedure would cost about $7K, not much but more than free. He really wants to get better so he can return to Panama where he has lived for 15 years.

He was so touched by our support that he cried, which embarrassed and frustrated him. One of the effects of the illness and medication is a propensity for crying.

It was good to be able to contribute some fellowship to him, and the ride with other people there and back was a hoot.

Now, we are home for the evening, grilling Salmon and watching a movie tonight.

A good day in paradise.

Where O' Where is the Lost Questzal?

We drove over to the west side of the volcano which is close to the Costa Rica border. This area is higher by about 2000-4000 feet than Boquete and is the agricultural bread basket of Panama.

I drove to Volcan, Cerro Punta and Guadalupe about 5 years ago with a friend. This is a 2 hour trek. At that time, I didn't enjoy it that much. We didn't know where to go and we didn't speak any Spanish, so we aimlessly wondered around without seeing much.

This time we travelled with friends who know the area. I was surprised at how beautiful this side of the volcano is. Cooler, wetter and more virgin rain forest.

We stayed at an Eco lodge called Los Questzales Lodge. They have rooms in town and they have rooms way, way, way up into the International Park and virgin rain forest. The lodge takes you in all terrane vehicles on a rocky, narrow 4 wheel drive trail, better walked than any other method of travel, about a mile of this.

The cabins are rustic with running hot and cold water, indoor plumbing but no electricity. A guide visits you twice a day to either check on you or bring more supplies.

These wood cabins are rough with the stud work exposed on the interior. They creak with every step and all the doors squeak.

But the birds are dense, varied and amazing. So many hummingbirds that 20 to 40 would be fighting to feed at the same time. Quite a show!

At night, the air was full of fruit bats. They would swoop at the hummingbird feeders in hope of sugar water only to be disappointed because all the food was gone. Kind of spooky hanging around outside with hundreds of bats.

The main focus was to see the elusive Questzal. We heard many of them. The guide tried to call them in but, alas, no Questzal sightings.

The vegetation was huge. Some elephant ear plants had leaves at least 5 feet across. Things growing on things, growing on things, growing on things... Very wet and lush.

A different local in Panama.

We enjoyed it. Want to go back to see many things we missed.

Pics of Last Show

Here's Yella knocking them dead!

In this pic, yours truly is accompanying Dana in a blues tune. I had to break out the ole Telecaster to get the right sound.

More Jazz!

There are times when I am thrilled to be here. Last night and this morning are some of those times.

The jazz band played last night at Amigos with a couple of additions. John Day was back. He is the internationally acclaimed trumpeter and piano player that headlined the jazz festival last February. And a local (David) Panamanian jazz guitar player also joined them. He was extraordinary! How does a town of 100,000 produce someone like this?

Amigos was full and hopping. We stayed for 2 sets. Yella sat in for 3 songs in the first set.

Yella is a town favorite so she gets the big applause. And she did again last night.

John Day got into town at 3 pm yesterday so the band was playing WITHOUT rehearsal. How and the hell do they do that?

It was great! For Yella's songs, they would huddle around the piano for a few seconds, then rip off a near perfect rendition of the song.

In the second set, they started to move out of comfortable playing and into the Hot Lick arena. They upped the stakes for the last half of the set and it was hot, hot, hot! I was stunned at the level of playing. And I'm sure I missed a lot of it because I am not well trained in jazz.

It amazes me that extraordinary music is available here, in Boquete, in a far corner of the earth, in a 3rd World nation, in a jungle village.

Awesome!

We met friends for dinner before the music and sat with more friends for the music. A fun, warm time last night.

This morning, I had to go into town to eat because I was out of coffee. Must have the coffee!

I talked to Olga for a few minutes in Spanish, something I appreciate because her diction is slow and clear. Then, I ate breakfast with a few friends.

Then on to the trash truck parked behind Amigos. This truck is supposed to be available every Sunday for those of us who don't have trash pick up at our house.

Inevitably, the truck is not there or just leaving or something. This is the Land of Inconsistency, after all.

The truck was just pulling out when I got there. He stopped and helped me throw my trash in the truck.

That is the good side of Panama. The people are helpful.

I appreciated it!

I tried to buy some wine at the supermarket before going home and I couldn't because it was before 10 am on Sunday.

I didn't know. We only buy wine for friends so I am ignorant about all this stuff.

I hung around and talked to some more friends, then bought the wine.

Many things to learn here!

A Tight Community

Those of you who have lived in small towns are familiar with this.

Close knit community.

For the last two nights at the play, eight women showed up to help serve the food and wine tastings.

Where did they come from?

It amazes me that the director and food manager could gather 8 women in a town this size in 2 days...to work! I know the time frame because I saw the FaceBook posting making the request.

But they all showed up and didn't even get to see the show...they were working.

The play we just finished was an unusual event, produced and directed by our good friend.

It was 3 one act plays with 3 food and wine tastings between the acts. And, yours truly and Yella playing music between the acts, food and wine.

So it was a social/thespian/music event.

People loved it. I personally thought it was a little tedious but I was part of the help, so what do I know.

It was held in the new event center which is a fantastic venue for shows and concerts. Full stage and stage lighting with a pro sound system. A great place to shine.

And Yella did shine.

In this small community, she makes quite an impact.

The first night, the wife of the owner of the Zanzabar Bar ran over and introduced Yella to her husband. He was a dry, flat affect European man. No warmth from him.

At the intermission, he found Yella and told her she had moved him, and that doesn't happen often. All this stated in a flat, dry affect with no visible emotion.

He should tell his face what's going on inside.

We have learned that you can't evaluate a person's enjoyment of the arts by looking at them. I used to think the people visibly enjoying themselves were the only ones. But many enjoy things with no external evidence.

Needless to say, Yella has been invited to sing at the Zanabar.

At least a half a dozen people came up to me suggesting their "new idea" of a project for Yella, mainly some kind of concert and CD sale thing.

There is a latent, ripe demand for Yella to do something big in this town. So many people want to see her in an event that is dedicated to her.

That's got to be gratifying.

As it turns out, there is so much to do that it is near impossible to plan and schedule an event like this. I guess you pick a date and go for it.

We'll see what happens.

Incompetence...Not All It's Cracked Up to Be

In my past life, most of my time was spent doing things I knew how to do. I was proficient and successful at most of it.

I liked that!

Now I am wondering around in activities that I am marginally good at...or even worse, bad...or just honing my skills. Learning and developing. Trying and failing. Ahead 2 steps and back 3.

Struggling and suffering...

I want to be back at those things that I was good at!

The music for the current play is an example of this.

The play had a short 4 week rehearsal schedule. I was gone a week in LA and then Yella was sick for about a week, leaving only 2 weeks to practice.

It takes me time to learn new music. I'm just not proficient enough to be fast.

First, I try to learn "Here Comes the Sun." No go. To difficult. So we cut it. I wasn't happy about that. I just needed a little more time....

Then I learned a blues song for another singer and she cuts it because she was having difficulties. I worked hard on it and, finally had it down. Damn!

Then, I LOOSE the ability to play a boom-chuck, country song that I used to play. What the hell happened there? So Yella is doing it without guitar, alone, no accompaniment. More humiliation.

Last night, at the first performance, we try a new beginning to the first song and it goes bad. I really hated that! As I tried to recover, I missed notes and generally sounded like I am all thumbs....Grrrrr.....

We scored on the next song. Hurray!

The following song, I play for the other singer, and someone turned off my guitar mike, so the audience can't hear the guitar, leaving her naked, without solid accompaniment.

I played one more song with Yella and it went well. She killed the song she did alone.

A very frustrating night and last 2 weeks.

I am so tired of being incompetent.

I long for days of competency.

On a brighter note, there were some great performances in the play.

I watched a new lady play a meek, mild, whiny character to perfection. Everyone wanted to slap her. Now that is good stuff!

I watched a 76 year old pro play a young lady who was all a twitter (Yes, this was actually a word before all the attention deficit bullshit called "twitter" got popular) about marrying her boyfriend. I was standing in the wings, unable to see her, listening to a "young lady" being portrayed on stage. What a pro...and at 76 years old.

Great stuff!

Well, I have to go...the last performance is tonight. I sure hope it goes better!

Break a leg!

Friends

We went to a Sunday morning brunch yesterday. I was grateful because I wanted something social to do on Easter.

The host announced that all of his favorite people were at his party, about 10 people.

I looked around and realized that most of them are friends...you know, people that are fun to hang out with, and you could depend on them to help you in a pinch. But not great, best friends.

Yella started to talk to my favorite person in the group. He describes himself as a F#$%$ Eco Nazis. I call him a modern day Thoreau. He is always, with enviable energy, developing some new construction project to feed the natives, or provide renewable, zero footprint housing, or ...on and on it goes.

This guy is INVENTIVE! And I really appreciate it.

But I didn't know that he had all this stuff hooked into some pretty hefty spirituality.

That's where Yella's conversation with him comes in.

They were getting into some elephant shit...better than chicken shit and meatier than bullshit...the heavy stuff.

Then I heard it. He was saying that he did what he did for spiritual reasons. Not environmental, or economic, or inventive reasons.

What caught my attention was that I had missed it. I thought he was a fringe, lunatic guy about the environment. I thought he was a conspiracy nut, "there is a committee of men in Switzerland that rule the entire world", kind of guy.

I have always enjoyed him but I put him in the "enjoyable nut case" category.

I was a little chagrin that I missed it. He comes from a great place. And I missed it.

I sure am glad Yella had this conversation with him and I was listening in.

Somehow, he started to move from my friend list to my dear, close friend list...all because I woke up and listened closer to what he had to say.

Listening. Now there is a novel thought.

Review for Sylvia

If you want to see a review for the play I was in, I up loaded a scanned file of the review. I tried it and it worked so I hope it works for you too.

http://www.mediafire.com/?gzq5uxjhnti

A Paradise Morning

It was cool and calm this morning.

I stayed home and fixed breakfast rather than going into Olga's.

I discovered the "NEWS" on the Internet this morning. I know, it has been there for a long time but I missed it. OK!

Oh sure, I would read the news on Google or some other random site but this time I went for the big dog, the New York Times!

The last time I tried them, you had to register and the news was limited. Now, pretty much everything is available to read.

What a pleasure!

I the old days, and I mean going back before we moved to the mountains over 10 years ago, I loved reading the paper every morning. After moving to the mountains, the paper was not available until the evening.

No good. The news was too old by then and it just isn't the same.

I like reading the news first thing in the morning...when that first cup of coffee is at it's best...a little zing with news...it helps.

Now I know how to get the best of the best first thing in the morning.

I know. It is the small things that make my day.

I went into Boquete at about 9 for a meeting. What a zoo! Every hotel room is booked and all of them by Panamanians. This is a huge weekend for them.

They all migrate up from the hot, low lands and spend a couple of days in paradise.

This creates a few problems for us gringos.

Panamanians have a different sense of personal space. They have no problem squeezing into your "gringo" personal space when things get crowded.

And, their driving tends to drive us nuts! They drive a parade speed, very slow. And, they will turn, stop, go or whatever in a helter skelter way. We gringos are fond of orderly flow.

No such thing here. So with the crowds of locals, it gets a little dicey for sure.

We are off to some Saturday food shopping (that should be an experience today!) and the first rehearsal for the Broadway Review scheduled to open in late May. Thankfully, I have a small part in this particular skit.

It will be good to see old friends who I have missed a lot since Sylvia was over.

Wheeling & Dealin'

We put money down on a great used Nissan pickup truck...loaded, diesel with an automatic. A good truck at an unbelievably low price.

We didn't want an automatic with all these hills and it is a little underpowered, but what a great buy. A typical case of a gringo selling their house and everything must go so the price was low!

Then, Keith the Car Guy tells us he found a Toyota Hilux at a good price...not loaded but good features, standard stick and a D4D diesel. This amazing diesel is only 2.5 liters but it is a fast, powerful truck because of this new diesel engine technology which has great fuel mileage and CLEAN exhaust emissions.

I don't know why the US doesn't allow this engine. It is fantastic.

This is the truck I want! And Yella too!

So, as it stands now, we will buy the Nissan and flip it immediately to a pre-arranged buyer, then buy the Toyota truck. Netting us in the end a savings of $1000 and the truck we want.

Risky however...

Complex deals have a habit of unraveling, so who knows what we will really do...either way, we get a good to great truck at a good price.

We will see.

Easter time is upon us.

This is a Catholic country and they shut it down for Easter, one of the three big holidays in the year.

No alcohol can be sold or served until Sunday. That has many running for the store to stock up! Now it is too late so I hope everyone made it before noon today.

I was in town a little before 5 pm and there was a stream of people headed for and into the cathedral for some Thursday night service. I used to know this stuff having been raised Catholic but I purposefully forgot it.

For us gringos, life goes on...rehearsal Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Breakfast at Olga's...she never closes except for Christmas. And general getting together for mucho bullshitting!

Not quite what the Catholic Church wants but what the hell!