I asked her what happened as neither of us really likes chicken tenders. She said, "I didn't even think to tell you that they were out of chicken breasts so I got something else."
Now this seems insignificant but it indicates a change in us that is significant.
When we first got here, it drove us nuts that you couldn't go to the store and get what you want. Think about it. Almost every time you go to the store in the US, you get what you want. It is a given that stores are well stocked and consistently stocked.
Not here. It drove us nuts.
Now, we don't even notice it most of the time.
When we go to the store, we scan what is available and what isn't. We buy more of what is available because who knows when you will be able get it again.
This has become normal and is transparent to us. We just do it.
Plus, we have developed work arounds for various things.
Take having only one car this week when we have no public transportation to rely on.
This morning I drove to town at 7 am to pick up our fence workers, returning to the house at 7:15. Why you say? Because our contractor's truck broke down and the part is still missing so he can't get his workers to the job site. Remember, almost none of the locals have a car.
At 7:30, I hopped on my bike to go to town to eat a quick breakfast and meet some guys for a hike. Yella needed the car to go to David and pick up supplies not available in Boquete so the car was not available for me.
On the way, I stopped to visit with a few of my normal breakfast friends, then moved on into town where I passed another friend. We visited for a few minutes.
This is the way of a small town. Constantly running into friends.
I got a ride to the hike with a friend. We hiked, returned to town for lunch, then another friend picked me up to go to a party at a town 20 miles away. Yella had an afternoon party for the women in the Broadway Review so I didn't get the car. She returned the workers to town on her way to her party at 2. There was a loss of 2 hours of work. The price of all those cars that don't work at the moment.
When I returned to town from my afternoon party at about 6, I called Yella and she left her party to pick me up with my bicycle and we returned home. Why didn't I ride my bike? Because this is the tropics in the rainy season and there was a down pour.
(I should mention that another friend saw me standing by the road and offered to put my bike in the back of his car and drive me home. A generous offer since we live way out of his way and on a bad road. And it was raining cats and dogs making the loading process very wet.)
We start this rat race again tomorrow with me going to town to pick up workers at 7 again. Who knows what the rest of tomorrow will look like.
Another little wrinkle. I made arrangements to pick up the contractor at 7. Yella made arrangements to pick up the workers at 8. We can't get any one on the phone to straighten this out. So we might go to town twice tomorrow morning, just to get the work on the fence going.
Hmmm????
Strangely, all this seems normal. I even enjoy it. Today (if you catch me on another day, I might cuss this stuff) it beats the mundane simplicity of life in the US.
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