Lot’s of stuff has happened over the last couple of months. I tried my best to keep it brief. I really did. Any way, here it goes: (Pictures will be posted on Snapfish soon)
1. We got our electricity. Thanks to our friend Martin. He knew all the right people. We had it within just a couple of DAYS..DAYS, not months.
2. GOT WATER! Had a well drilled. 170 feet. Looked like chocolate milk for the first couple of weeks but is now clear enough for a shower. Would we drink it?…probably not just yet. Need to have it tested. We built a small house around the well and pump. That’s almost done. Just needs paint and a little finishing up inside.
3. WE HAVE OUR BUILDING PERMIT for the house. That involved about 6 or so different offices needing to give their ‘stamp’. The funniest one being ‘Salud’/the Health Dept. On Thur. we went to their office with our friend Martin. We needed to have the soil tested to make sure it would drain well when we put in the septic. Guy says…my friend can do it for $60 or you can have someone in your town do it for $100. No brainer. We ask, when should we come back? He said tomorrow. We figure based on what we’ve heard that we’d return in the afternoon…to give them time to DIG the BIG hole that is required to do the test. No, no, come by in the morning he says. Ok. We go and we are handed our test results, OUR test results, plans are stamped and away we go. Ummmmm, must have slipped their mind about that BIG HOLE requirement. Oh well, some nice person is $60 richer and we have our stamp!
4. About a month ago our container was shipped from NY to here. Door to door service. They did everything…loaded out of our storage unit in CT into the container, brought it to NY, shipped to Panama, went through customs, paid the taxes, container unloaded and reloaded into box truck (Containers are searched, box trucks are not…Wayne wishes he packed his guns now!), arrived in Pedasi at 3:30, schedule arrival was 4. THEY WERE EARLY. Early is not really in the vocabulary here. Opened the back of the truck and WOW, not pretty. We expected half of everything to be broken. SURPRISE, not a thing. The Driver and co driver helped unloaded and we were done and drinking beer with them in about 1 1/2 hours along with our friends Jerry and Coco who were kind enough to bring some yummy food too.
5. Deposito/bodega/workshop/garage….whatever the hell it’s called is DONE and we finished it just a day or 2 before our shipment came. Still some painting to finish, cleaning and organizing. We went through 3 different roofer…one we fired, one we think quit, and the current one that is now fixing what one and two did. Thanks to our friends Janice and Lynn I’ve got a great start on the landscaping around it. Lot’s of nice plants and MAN things grow here. You just cut a branch off something, stick in the ground and it grows. I planted lots of basil. My favorite
6. I got the license plate for my bike. Yes, we drove a year without one for our car because they ran out of the metal for them. I guess they had enough for the mini plates that they require for bikes. Isn’t that funny. I can’t wait for my first traffic stop…Pardon me but I’ve got my plaque so let’s just move it along Senor Policia.
7. Metal production must be in full force because we were also able to get a plate for our truck. To bad it can’t be mounted just anywhere. It would be nice to try to hide some of the many little dents we have on it. A car with no dents sticks out like a sore thumb here!
8. 3RD PLACE IN THE FISHING TOURNAMENT!!!!!!!!….for dorado. Weighed in at 27 pounds. Wayne, Jeff (Captain), Denny, Jerry and Will fished Friday and Sunday. Weather was terrible Friday, much better Sunday.
9. I’ve been working on and off at a couple different restaurants. Pasta y Vino (guess what they serve. HA!) needed help during the big WORLD Surf Competition. Now I’m helping another place, Smiley’s. Mostly just working in the kitchen, following their recipes. It’s fun. I’m surrounded by food, what could be wrong with that.
10. A few girls here have put together a Girls Night every 3rd Tuesday of the month…YAHOOO…tonight is one of them!!!!! This will be the 3rd one. I went to the 2nd one and it was a blast. It’s a good place for me to practice my Spanish. Tonight’s is going to be held at Smiley’s and they asked me to make some homemade bread to put out on the tables. I hope I don’t get too sweaty before sitting down to join the girls.
11. Lots of other fun things….Doggie sat for our friends Ingrid and Roy’s baby girl…Lou. She’s such a great dog. Many pictures attached of Lou. Lou likes to suck on the end of Panama bottles so Lou is all right in our book. There always seems to be something going on….a little party here, a little party there. We try to make as many as we can….but having to get up at 6 everyday to start working on the house makes it tough sometimes.
12. Sad note. We were friends with Sam and Angela. Really great couple. They had moved here about 1 ½ years ago. Recently they were headed back to the states to visit their daughter’s family for 3 weeks. On their way into Panama City, they were hit head on and killed. They really touched a lot of people. There was a nice memorial held at our friend Alan’s house. Lots of food, friends, champagne and a nice toast to Sam and Angela.
13. We aren’t going to end this on a sad note though. Here’s probably the best news of all….Beer prices went DOWN. Yes, yes, you read that right. DOWN. Now for a case of warm beer it’s $7.50. This is for Panama….which has won several gold metals. If the print on the bottle wasn’t so small, I could probably give actual details of the awards. It’s not my eyes, it’s the print!
14. Lastly, we have a great line up of visitors coming….My brother and Kristen for TURKEY DAY!!! Yahooo, family for the holidays!!! Wayne’s mom wants to fly us to Florida to spend Christmas with her and the family. Then in January Wayne’s Dad and Pat might be coming again…we hope so. In February we’ve got Brenda & Kenny along with 2 of their friends. KEEP EM COMING!!!!!!
So that about wraps it up. For the most part life is good. Perfect?..No. Stress-free?..No. Challenges?..Yes. Always Hot?…YES! Are there things we miss about back home?…NO DOUBT…Friends and family the most. Although, we have been very lucky in making some truly great friends here. Having our boat and hanging around Tighes Marina. Taking the dingy to Mermaids for the weekend’s stock of beverages. Good pizza. UPS delivery. Pinenuts. Uninterrupted electrical service. Edamame…Oh what I’d give for some of those babies in soy sauce and wasabi (both of which we can get)!! But it all leads back to #13…Read again, $7.50!!!
CHEERS everyone!!! We love you, miss you and you are ALWAYS, ALWAYS welcome!!!
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