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.