July 8, 2011

So, I was told to not return to the states for the first year because the honeymoon with Panama would then be over. So we went back to the states after 51 weeks. I didn’t want the honeymoon to be over. I still wanted to live it. Anyway, we went back and now noted some differences. Many good, many not so good, but different. We had a great trip. Visiting children and friends was wonderful. We missed everyone so much, but we just want to live something different. And Panama is giving us that opportunity. We are different people and challenged by new experiences.
So what did we notice! America gave us clean streets! No trash anyplace that we saw. Granted, we did notice a lot of cigarettes butts outside of stores. That we don’t see here in Panama. I guess it is way too expensive to smoke down here. America gave us no mold on buildings, sidewalks, or furniture. Then, those amazing four lane highways we found everywhere in the states (actually two lane roads with wide shoulders). Looks like the people in the US only use the middle two lanes and leave the shoulders for emergencies. Not in Panama. Down here, those appear to be special lanes for the taxis and for those who think they are just too important to wait along with everyone else.
Another difference was with the traffic lights. The red lights in the states were so much longer to wait through. Down here, I honestly don’t think people in Panama would wait that long. For a culture that is laid back with a “mañana” attitude, they are crazy behind the wheel. Oh well, fun to notice.
The weather up “north” was marvelous although we do realize that we were there during the summer, not during winter! Another difference noted was that people in the states pay attention to weather forecasts. Down here, the forecast is pretty much always the same: partly sunny with a chance of showers.
We are now back home. We didn’t have too much mold in the apartment, but there was some. That is the problem with having the air conditioning off for 15 days. Just part of living in paradise. So we got our vinegar water out and started spraying like crazy.