May 29, 2011

We skyped with our Sunday School Class from Cincinnati last week. That was fun. It was during the regular Sunday School time. But someone asked us what we missed MOST about Cincinnati, other than family and friends. Right away we said Sunday lunch at Chipotles. Guess we went there pretty much right after church every Sunday and we really do miss it. But Wayne and I were talking about it some more last night. We really miss the wonderful public libraries that Ohio has. We probably went to the one in Sharonville once or twice a week just to browse all the books. Public libraries don’t exist here. There is one by a branch of Florida State University here, but I am younger than most of the books in that library. Most everyone here swears by the Kindle. I guess litter free streets would be something else we miss, plus “more” sane drivers. It will be fun to visit the states this summer and see what is different. A few people told us to not go back for at least a year, because once you do, the honeymoon is over. That is left to be seen!
We were at a party last night and I was lamenting over the fact that we have no gas, therefore cold showers (cold is relative down here). Found out that the real Panamanians do not like hot showers. I guess hot showers are just a gringo thing. Anyway, you run out of gas here and it takes a couple of days to get a replacement cylinder (no gas pipe supply), meanwhile no hot water heater, no stove, no oven, no clothes dryer which are all run by gas. Gas is cheaper than electricity, though.
Heard a funny story this week. Apparently some diplomas are being issued for a bribe at one of the local universities before all requirements are met. Someone “got on” to the fact and started an investigation. Then, interestingly enough, the documents office burned down and the guy in charge would not allow the “bomberos” (firemen) to investigate. Sounds pretty guilty to me!

Well Memorial Day is tomorrow. Off to work I go. No celebrating here!

May 23, 2011

How interesting is THIS? We lost the electrical power at school this week and life went on as NORMAL! No one got freaked out, no one seemed to care other than the fact the A/C was off and it got pretty warm. But teaching and education went on. Makes me remember in the states when all the rules and regulations have to be followed and we all went to the “safe” place in the gym where 400 teenagers were trying to knock each other down, while things “could” have been going on as normal, just without lights. And not one of the kids here said, “Will they send us home early?” Doesn’t happen here. No way could you get all the taxi drivers, etc here early to pick the kids up. All buses are these little private “school” busses. Many taxi drivers. Many parents. Very few kids drive to school. Just a few seniors is all.
We were walking the other night and right in back of us, a nanosecond after we passed under a tree, a mango came crashing down from a tree and landed with a loud thump. It was the size of a grapefruit and probably a little heavier. Mangos are everyplace, everywhere. There are some 15 varieties of mango in this city. Apparently, mangos cause many problems with allergies, especially if you are allergic to poison ivy. Even touching the leaves is bad. The pollen can be an issue as well. It causes a lot of respiratory problems. Beautiful trees and great fruit. Although some people can’t even touch the mango, they can eat it without any problems, as long as they don’t touch it with their bare hands or allow it to touch their lips.
Went to a gathering the other night at an outdoor restaurant. Dogs were allowed. Ace had a blast. But, what interesting people we met. One couple sold their house, put their stuff in a storage unit, bought a RV and have travelled for a few years now. (Guess they flew down here, though). Another couple from Austria lives on their boat and have sailed across the Atlantic several times. Me, just looking forward to an apartment with two bathrooms!
It is soccer season here. But May, being the rainiest month, means most of the games are cancelled since it pours about 2:30 every afternoon. Kids have had every game cancelled for the past three weeks. Finally, it is drying out some and make-up games mean there is a game nightly. They play on the Kiwanis Field (pronounced KEE WAN NEES in Spanish, sounds so dog gone funny to me!). Sport seasons are backward from what I know. American style football season begins about now. I certainly wouldn’t want to be in those uniforms in this heat.

Pictures from our window at the apartment. Also we went to lunch with friends from church Sunday to the Fish Market. Our boys said they saw a program on TV about Panama and the Fish Market. Downstairs was a large fish market with all sorts of fresh fish (just caught) for sale. Upstairs was an open air restaurant overlooking the ocean. Pretty cool.

May 13, 2011

We had Field Day at school this week. Actually, it was one of the most fun Field Days I have ever had. Maybe it was just the mix of kids from 4 years old to seniors in high school. But Wayne and I were in charge of the water slides. They got a couple of huge inflatable water slides from a local company. They were to have them up and ready to go at 8:00 am. So, our first group came to play exactly at 8:00. Absolutely nothing was ready. Ninety kids waiting to play and nothing to play on. The recreation company just started to inflate the first slide at 8 am. While waiting, we were reading all the “warning notices” on the slide (In English by the way). Absolutely nothing was being followed. The electric cords used to power the fans to blow them up had the grounding prongs removed from the plug, so they could easily be plugged into an extension cord that was also not grounded. Wires were everywhere, hoses were in a tangled mess. It was a comedy of errors. So the first group missed the water slide completely. The second group came and waited in line for their turn. Eventually, both slides were inflated, but water was needed. However, the workers must have felt like they deserved a break, so they stopped to eat and drink!!! Finally one lady (who thankfully spoke Spanish) went up to them and reminded them these kids were waiting! How funny. All the rules written on the side of the slides were totally ignored when the guys from the company assisted with getting the kids on and off the slides. But, the kids had a blast and not a single one got hurt. They all survived without any the rules and regulations being followed.
The big news of the week was that after ten months, I finally got my Panamanian driver’s license. We went to the license bureau (which is NOT a government agency, but actually a private enterprise) and the process went pretty smoothly. Can’t complain about that trip. However, the large parking lot in front was full and Wayne had to wait about 10 -15 minutes before somebody drove out. It was amazing how many people that visited the driver’s license bureau didn’t drive there. Now, I just have to get the guts to actually drive around here.
Apparently, when shopping here you are not allowed to try on white tops. Stores are afraid that if you get makeup on them, they won’t be able to sell them. However, almost all stores have a no return policy. What to do?
And Peanut Butter. The librarian read a book to the kids about peanut butter and jelly. He asked the kids how many liked peanut butter. Only the Americans in the school raised their hands. So, he continued to ask all the classes during the week. Absolutely none of the Panamanian or Latin American students said they did. Guess they wouldn’t survive in America! Stores here sell very little peanut butter, the ones that do sell only very small jars. Thank goodness for PriceSmart (our Costco). There you can get the big jars!
Here is another great short story. One of our neighbors left the country for a period of time. His house burglar alarm (5 minute siren) kept going off every half hour or so for a few days. It was driving all of the neighbors nuts. We found that we could sleep in our back bedroom and not hear it, but otherwise, the dog-gone thing went off all night long. So, someone who was to watch the house finally came by and disarmed it. BUT, it was connected to some Panamanian alarm company that was “suppose” to call them and check it out as soon as the alarm went off. I can only guess that the monthly monitoring fee wasn’t very worthwhile.

May 10, 2011

Unfortunately, being in paradise doesn’t mean you never get sick. Apparently, the germs down here don’t die and they love new people to attack since you aren’t immune to anything yet. So this week was my turn. Fortunately, we have avoided major bugs since getting here, but one finally got me. On Saturday, I headed off to the “Doc in a Box” place in our neighborhood, which was another Panamanian experience. Only had to wait for about 5 minutes to see a doctor and during that time met another new friend in the waiting room. And luckily this new friend was bilingual! The doctor, as sweet and nice as she could be, knew very little English. So after finding out I had a bad case of bronchitis, my new friend came in and translated for the doctor and I. Walked out with a fist full of prescriptions and a doctor bill for $12.75! Some things in Panama cost more than in the states, but medical care doesn’t appear to be. Went to pharmacy next door and with my game of charades (since they didn’t speak English), got my prescriptions filled . Wayne and I also this week went to a dermatologist for our annual skin cancer check. What an experience that was. He brought us into his office, chatted with us, personally asked us all the questions you normally have to fill out on a form prior to seeing the doctor, checked us out, then talked with us again, all without running out to see another patient or two. I have been told that the doctor experience down here is totally different from the states. Even, that many doctors give you their cell numbers so you can call them personally if you need to. The last few days have proven that to be true. His English was perfect and his bedside manner was even more so. He is considered one of the top dermatologists in Panama and still had time for us. Now, if we had to have gone to the government Social Security doctors, the stories would have been quite different and likely we would still be waiting to see a doctor.
Climate changes are here too. Neighbors have mentioned that it is the hottest it has ever been. We have not complained about the weather ever here, until now.

Ancon Hill, May 2, 2011

Really, I got super excited today. It is Labor Day (May 1st and no school). We took a hike to the top of Ancon Hill which is the highest spot in Panama City. The hike was absolutely breathtaking. The jungle is so amazing. But, the most exciting part was seeing a sloth. Well, actually TWO of them. And they were moving. Really, most don't move at all. But these two were actually doing so. See the pictures. Frankly, I think they were trying to hide from us and our camera so most of the pictures did not come out. But I couldn't have been happier about the site!

May 1, 20100

Just a few more pictures of our neighborhood. I need to take pictures while everything is still so amazing to me. I am afraid that one day the newness will wear off. So far it hasn't.

April 30, 2011

Ever stand outside and have someone dump a bucket of water over your head? That is what the “change of season” rain storms are like here, except the buckets keep going and going and going for hours. Amazing. Wayne and I were yelling at each other the other night just to talk. It rains so hard that you can’t hear each other. If it wasn’t ruining my evening walk, I would have loved it, but it was ruining my walk. Umbrellas are pretty worthless, not because it rains sideways but because it just rains so hard. Rivers form on the sidewalks and streets. Now I understand why the most popular shoes here are Crocs. Then you can wade in the streets during these storms. Amazing though, shortly after a storm, sidewalks and streets are water free. Great drainage.
We were in a government office the other day. Us, along with about 50 locals, all patiently waiting to have our number called to be helped. A woman, who appeared to be a supervisor, came out from a back office and asked a question (in Spanish, of course) in a loud voice. Just about everyone in the room raised their hand. Wayne and I sat there, looked at each other and laughed. Wonder what the question was? She could have been asking who wanted a $10 bill. Needless to say, we still don’t know why nearly everyone raised their hand.
Interesting story about the night before Easter. As I said last week, it is dead in the city because all the people go to the interior where apparently they party pretty hard. In fact, one guy said that he can’t stay at his mom’s house in the interior because the neighbors play incredibly loud music until morning. This past weekend, due to some accident, all the power was out along the coast and in some of the nearby towns. He said it was a blessing! There was no a/c, but also no loud music. It ruined the loud parties.
A pictures of our “McDonalds, will travel”. These food carts are all over the city. This is a high class one because it is moved along by a motorcycle. Some are simply bicycles, some just pushed by hand. People are always gathered around them to purchase food and drinks, although I would be scared to death of stomach problems if I did.

Got a picture of some flowers. I guess this might be considered spring??? The rains are bringing out amazing beauty we haven’t seen before. It also is bringing out a much higher humidity that we haven’t felt before either. However, one of our neighbors never turns on their a/c. They do have ceiling fans (we do not) but still, humid is humid, no matter what kind of breeze you have.