Third Time's A Charm

Recently, random road inspections on some of the main Boquete thoroughfares were conducted by the Police. We called it the Gring-Sting as the cops were checking the Gringos, and other foreigners, for valid visas AND Panamanian drivers licenses. We were stopped in the sting and detained for about 20 minutes because Randy could only produce a US license. They eventually let us go because we were just barely still within the 90 day grace period that is given after receiving a permanent visa.

The city of David is 40 minutes south of Boquete. It is a very hot city that we try to avoid but in order to get your Panamanian license, you have to go to David. The first time we made the attempt was last Thursday and the systems in the drivers license office were down. The second time we went, all the "appointments" for the actual driving portion of the test were full. With a little fussing, Randy did manage to get his license that day but I was still out of luck meaning we would have to return a THIRD time with no guarantee that I would emerge with Pan license in hand.
Thankfully, the third trip to David did prove productive. Now, not only can we both drive hassle free in Panama, we can also use our new licenses to drive with complete impunity when we visit the States. SWEET!

First Fire

The first time Randy and I saw our land, now called Mañana Madera, was a year ago today, September 1st 2007. We celebrated by giving our chimney, now complete with fire bricks, a first flames christening.

The Birthday Mac Cracked

For my-Congratulations on Your New Job/Happy Birthday-present, my ever thoughtful Randy placed an order to procure me my very own MacBook laptop. I was overjoyed with such an exciting, functional gift. He placed the order back in June. I couldn't wait to finally have it in hand! The plan was that during his visit to the US to see family, he would pick up the Mac and hand-carry it back down to Panama. Rand carefully packed the sparkling, new machine in his backpack and boarded the first of several planes that would transport him back to Boquete.

He arrived safe and sound. We're not sure where or how it happened, but unfortunately, the computer did not arrive in the same, splendid shape as the husband. When I opened it, it looked like the screen had some bunched up, protective film on it. I booted it up and saw that it was not protective film at all. It was actually several mammoth cracks in the LCD screen. I had to talk myself down in order to not start crying....months of anticipation were met with a shocking and crushing discovery. The screen was so badly shattered that it was completely unusable. Logistics. It's not like there is a neighborhood Mac store around the corner here in Boquete.....

We think the story will have a happy ending though. The 3rd party supplier from whom we purchased the computer had pity on us and is replacing it at no cost (except the $350 to get the cracked system back to the US and the new one back here to Panama). We will certainly take it though. At least we're not out the cost of a whole new machine. We are holding our breath that Macbook Numero Dos one will make it to us unscathed. Keep your fingers crossed for us, Chums!

The Reverend Machismo

Across the street and up a few houses from our little rental apartment lives.....The Reverend. The Reverend is in his late 70's and wears glasses and almost always a hat. Often times his hat is red to match his truck. His truck is a little red two door ride that can really make a statement when pushed.

After renting here for 6 months, we've learned The Reverend's morning ritual, yet it still makes us wonder, "what the hey?" He is not called The Reverend because he is a pious man but rather because he is a revvv-er. Each and every morning, without fail, he is up at 5:30 and gets into his little red ride, starts it and then revvs the gas. LOUD. Obnoxiously and ridiculously LOUDLY and for 15 to 20 seconds. Not 15-20 seconds and then he is done, 15-20 seconds per rev. He revs over and over. With the cost of gas being so high, we just don't know how he can afford it. The strange thing is that he only sometimes goes somewhere after all that revving. Other times he just sits inside the red ride, revs and stays right there in front of his casa. Guess he just wants the whole neighborhood to know that he is still very much alive and kicking and...revving. With each break-of-dawn growl of the little truck, you can almost hear his Machismo roar.
Ah Reverend, long may your revv reign supreme.

Mondongo & Boxing Match Box In

In Panama there is a house building tradition in which we recently took part. When the roof on your house goes up, your construction crew erect a bandera roja (red flag) and won't take it down until you throw them a Mondongo party to celebrate the milestone of being under roof. The fiesta gets its name from the meal traditionally served at the party. Mondongo is tripe, ie. cow stomach. Needless to say when the mondongo part of the celebration ended up not materializing, I wasn't exactly crushed.

In addition to the food and beer (they specifically requested Budweiser and Tecate) we gave the guys tickets to the 2nd Annual Panama Regional Boxing tournament that night. Randy used to box back in the day and I had never been to a boxing match live so we decided to splurge and get a Super VIP ringside table for $15/person. Before the bouts began, we got to hear the Panamanian anthem for the first time. Suitable timing as we recently became official card carrying Panamanian residents. YEAH! Though the fights were entertaining, by 10:30ish, I was ready to head home. We thought Rand would run me to the house and return to see a few more fights. But that was not to be. As we neared our vehicle in the parking lot we saw to our dismay that were securely boxed in by another car. Yes, boxed in at a boxing match.
Rand sent me home in a taxi and remained until the evening concluded at 2:30am when the offending boxer-inner came slowly sauntering out of the gym. Obviously, he hadn't heard the several announcements made over the loudspeaker about his license number asking him to move his ride. The very tired Randy was certainly glad to be finally free.

Don't Eliminate the Wrong Thing

Randy came home with this medicine for eliminating intestinal parasites.

Volcán Barú Ascension

The Volcán Barú is the tallest mountain/volcano in Panama peaking at 11,400 feet. Our town, Boquete is on the eastern side of it. It is possible to climb to the top and, on a clear day or at sunrise before the clouds move in, both the Pacific and the Caribbean coasts can be seen from the zenith. When our friends Gordon & Richelle said they were making the hike, I decided to join them (sans Rand since the only thing that would have motivated him to do the long, uphill climb would be a trout stream waiting for him at the top with tons of fish and that wasn't the case, alas).

We-there were 5 of us total-started walking at 1:15am with our headlamps on to guide us through the quiet dark. We thought it would take us 5 hours to get to the top. We'd arrive right around sunrise. Well....it ended up taking us 8 hours to reach our goal. The climb was very steep and very long. I'd even use the word grueling.

Upon reaching the summit we saw the Pacific coast for about 5 minutes. Then it was gone, claimed by the clouds as the Caribbean coast was even before we arrived at the top. We did some picture taking, some resting and some concurring about how sore we already were. As a group, we lamented about now having to go DOWN. The rains started to fall as we began our descent and accompanied us all the way back. The steep path going up was the same one we had to negotiate down and the rain made it extra slick. I was thankful for the coffee tree walking stick Rand made for me for the trip (he even sanded the handle) as it saved me from a twisted ankle several times.

We walked a total of 17 miles and it took us 13 hours. During the adventure, I swore I would NEVER do it again. It was TOUGH. Definitely the most physically demanding thing I've ever done. As time passes though, I think I'm in for another go 'round. How quickly the pain is forgotten!

Dead Rooster Bucks and Wrong Wedding Clothes Woes

Randy went to his first Panamanian cock fight and bet some bucks on the bladed birds. He ended up winning $40! He wants to take me with him next time, but it sounds pretty brutal to me. If he ever does manage to convince me to accompany him to a rooster brawl to the death you can be sure there'll be a blog update recounting it.

Also we received an invitation to attend [our first] Panamanian wedding. We were thrilled to be invited and looked forward to this special event. When we talked to Juan, the groom (our first mistake but we didn't know his bride to pose the question to her) we asked him what type of duds we should wear as the invitation did not give us any indication as to the appropriate attire. To our question he replied, "It's a free country, wear what you want."

Since it was a wedding, we got all spiffed up. We were looking good for our first Panamanian ceremony, or so we thought. When we got there though we realized that what Juan should have said was that the dress was "Black Tie". ALL the other guests were in full length sequin ball gowns and their most expensive suits. I mean dressed to the HILT. We felt very uncomfortable and obviously stood out as "the Gringos" who didn't get the memo.
THANKS A LOT JUAN!

Deposito Completo

A smiling Don Randy in front of his new deposito. Until today we have not had a place to house our tools. Our machetes, rake, wheelbarrow, weed eater etc. were all being stored under a bright blue tarp. However with the addition of a deposito door today our tools now have a roof over their heads and a locking door behind which to rest at night.

The Rainy Season Cometh

Because we originally arrived in Boquete in late July of 2007, we missed the beginning of the rainy season for last year. From what we understand, the rainy season usually begins between mid April and mid May. Sure enough, May 1st brought with it an obvious change in the weather. The afternoon rains seem to have begun, slowly now, but gradually as the months progress the rain volume will continually increase and the hour at which it begins to fall will gradually creep from 5pm to 12pm by October. For the sake of our house construction, we hope that the rains will stay away for the most part until we get under roof at Casa de Pigott. Our little garden and plantings however are smiling we're sure at the gift from above.
Here you can see our view of the volcano totally obscured by rain clouds.