The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Pedasi, June 17, 2014

As we are nearing the end of our first three months of actually living the dream here in Panama I thought I would take time to move away from all of the glorious things we have found here (beautiful beaches, 50 cent beers, friendly people etc.) and talk about a few of the things that we never thought we would do in our lifetimes.

Chasing chickens through our house.  I so wish I could get a picture of this.  As we have mentioned before, our next door neighbor has a veritable farm including chickens.  When we first moved in the babies would come under the fence, so we blocked them with the dog crates much to Zoe's chagrin and haven't had more than the occasional mother hen in the yard since.  Well during the last week the adolescent chickens have started wandering into the yard.  The first one was caught in the jaws of the Labrador before we could stop her and subsequently devoured by the Beagle who now has acquired the taste for freshly killed chicken.  She paces the perimeter like a Sargent at arms waiting for her next victim.  Unfortunately they oblige her several times a day.  We hear the squaking and run out to capture her and then we have to catch the chicken and put it back over the fence.  Yesterday she chased one right into the house and it jumped onto the shelf and hid behind the pans.  They do not appreciate the rescue as much as I think they should.  Who knew they we so soft!

Perimeter secure.... for now.

Really!  Fresh from the grocery store with its head still attached.  Oh my.

Killing insects on a daily basis.  OK OK I know we moved to the rain forest, but the hundreds of different species of insects we have seen, relocated and killed since we have been here is unbelievable.  They seem to come in shifts.  There were the giant June bugs, the tiny bees, the colorful crickets, the scary waspish guys, cockroaches that need a saddle, flies and maggots by the pound, mosquitoes, ants in all sizes - tiny, small, medium, large and OMG, moths, noseeums, barelyseeums, and the don'twannaseeums.  I have never seen so many different kinds of bugs in my life.  Our gardener and now friend Einar was enjoying a few cervesas with us after his weed-eating the other night and Peg shows him a nest of itty bitty bees in our backyard.  He quickly before we could stop him, takes a plastic bag wraps it around the nest and ties it off. Then he makes the universal sign for choking complete with sound effects.  It turns out they don't die as quickly as we hoped.  We erroneously put the bag in our kitchen trash can and when we opened it a couple of hours later we had bees frantically flying around the house!  I won't even mention the gecko droppings!

Sticky plate for catching flies after one day.

Not a great picture, but those red things are crickets.

Having to sweep the beds and walls.  Not only do we have to sweep the floors every day at least once, but we have to sweep the walls, window sills and occasionally the bed!  When I did a thorough clean on Sunday I was amazed by the life forms we had unknowingly been supporting.

Utilities are optional.  Much of the electricity here in Panama is hydroelectric and since the rainy season came late and slow this year the entire country is required to have rolling black-outs that last anywhere from an hour to eight hours.  And when the electricity is out, so is the water and the igniters on the stove.  We live in front of portable fans so this can be torturous when there is no breeze.  Our solution is a trip to the beach... not too shabby!

No power, no water, no problem!

Guess which can the TP goes in?

Driving is a blood-sport.  I am sure we have mentioned before that the driving "style" here in Panama is very Central American - not a surprise I guess.  There are no rules to follow except this... you can stop your car anywhere, anytime and put your flashers on.  The rest of the drivers will simply go into oncoming traffic to go around without hesitation.  Stop signs are optional.  Speed limits aren't really necessary since the Panamanians are rarely in a hurry which means that the few that are will be recklessly passing the others. And when driving down a two-lane road the proper placement of your vehicle is right down the middle!

We followed these piggies to the slaughterhouse!

They call it the rainy season for a reason.  It doesn't rain all of the time, but when it does... carry a change of clothes.  When I moved to Texas I couldn't believe how hard it could rain, well this is one thing that is not bigger in Texas.  There is so much water flowing through the streets that a car size pothole can literally develop overnight.  It is filled with brown water so you really never know how deep it is.  Also since it rains every day at some point, it makes it really hard to do laundry.  We washed our beach stuff out and hung it on the line where it remained soaking wet for a solid week.  The locals seem to know when it is going to rain ahead of time, but they don't share that information with us.

That rug has been wet for three days.

Fruit and vegetables are scarce but delicious.  There are few vegetables that you can get every day, but what you do get is amazingly fresh.  It is a whole new experience planning meals.  We have found that it is just better to hit the Chino every day to see what they have and then plan from there.  We do get deliciously fresh avocados, mangoes, star fruit etc. from our neighbors and Peg makes the best salsa ever with the fresh tomatoes, peppers and jalepiños.

Platanos - twice fried plantains - Delicious!  We may never eat french fries again.

Fresh tomatoes and avocados YUMMY

Need I say more?

We have really enjoyed our time here in Pedasi.  We will miss our new friends, our fabulous Spanish teacher, and the beautiful quiet beaches.  Our little house has taught us some invaluable lessons for our new home. Screens on every window, back up generator and water supply a must, air conditioning in every room necessary, concrete floors are amazing, outdoor shower and sink very useful, closets and cupboards are missed, ice maker not a luxury, and roosters are not your friend.

Our friend Karen's homemade bread will be missed!

Dania - the best Spanish teacher in the world!

Enjoying Panama

June 2014, Pedasi

Our friend and lead salesman for Los Islotes Louis let us know that he was bringing a couple interested in the property out for the weekend along with his family.  Daphne, Louis'wife speaks fluent Spanish so we thought we could use her help in the search for a rental house.  We drove down the west side of peninsula without much luck.  We arranged to have a house-sitter so we could spend the night at the Torio Cabañas hoping that the owner might have some insight into a rental house in the area.  Come to find out there really aren't any available houses in the area.  After putting out as many feelers as possible, we decided to spend the day with Louis and his family and visit Los Islotes.  He was showing the property to Tony and Claudia a fabulous couple from Ohio.  We had a really fun day driving around the property and looking at the available lots and talking about the vision.

Louis, Daphne and their beautiful daughters

Sold!  Lot 131

As it turned out Tony and Claudia wanted to visit Pedasi, so after a full day at the property they followed us home where they stayed at Casita Margarita another great B & B in town.  We made plans to go with them to Isla Iguana an island off the coast here in Pedasi which is designated as an iguana and frigate sanctuary.  The hotel packed us a lunch and rented us chairs and snorkel gear for the day.  It is about a 30 minute boat ride out to the island which has a beautiful white sand beach and great snorkeling.  It was high tide when we returned to the main land from Isla Iguana and the waves are too large to beach the boat where we parked to leave for the trip.  Irvin, our captain took us into a cool little river filled with mangroves.  Turns out it is called Rio Pedasi.  Irvin parked the boat at a little dock where his friend is there to pick us up and take us back to our truck.  We all jumped in the back, along with Irvin and got to ride like Panamanians back to our truck.  Most pick-ups you pass on the road are loaded with Panamanians in the back, standing up.  The ratio of cars to people is small so everyone gives their amigos rides.  It was fun to feel like part of the community.  It was so nice to spend a day enjoying Panama!  We just kept looking at each other and saying "we live here".  It was great fun getting to know Tony and Claudia and we look forward to seeing them next time.

Peg enjoying a cerveza panamanian style

The boat to Isla Iguana

Just beautiful - Isla Iguana

New friends Claudia and Tony

We decided to expand our search for a rental house to the area of Santa Fe a city on the north side of Santiago which is opposite of Los Islotes, but still a lot closer than Pedasi.  There was an ad on Craig's List for a rental there that sounded great, but there was some weird postings on the internet saying that the property was in the middle of a legal dispute.  We emailed back and forth and it turns out the owner has a crazy ex-wife who is making his life hell.  He is leery of renting to us with two cats and sends us on to a real estate agent in town who might be able to help us.  We reach out to them and decide to drive out there for a look.  It is a solid hour drive from Santiago to Santa Fe on a beautiful road through the mountains.  The town of Santa Fe is about the size of Pedasi, but with a much smaller ex-pat community.  It is absolutely beautiful.  Peg was singing "the hills are alive with the sound of music..." .  We are able to meet with the agent and he shows us a duplex that is just being finished and they are willing to rent it to us and our menagerie for $450 a month  It is a two story house with two bedrooms, satellite TV, a washing machine, oven, microwave and the rent includes all of the utilities, even the Satellite.  Plus, if we understood correctly we think the owner is going to come and clean once a week as part of the rent.  We took a couple of hours to drive around the town and check out the rivers in the area and then decided to go ahead and take it.  It will be different living in the mountains, but we figure that once our house is built we will be back at the beach permanently.  

A view of the Santa Fe hills from the real estate office.  That's our truck in the parking lot who we have affectionately named "Junior"

So far so good in the budget area.  We are able to live very comfortably on our fixed income and add to our savings as well.  This is a relief after living in the red during our RV adventure.  No blog would be complete without a Zoe update!  She has become quite the little fisherdog.  She loves to hang out in the pools and chase the little fish.  Adorable!

Zoe fishing

Our favorite swimming hole "flatrock pool"

The view from out from "flatrock pool"

 The rainy season is definitely upon us and it rains pretty much every day at one time or another.  Our little house has come into full bloom.

These just popped up on the side of the house

Pretty flowers

Hope this finds everyone back home doing well.  Keep in touch!

I Thought We Were Retired!

Pedasi

Whew!  We just thought we were retired.  We have been busier than ever so much so that I don't know how people have time to hold down a job.  Although I guess learning Spanish is a full time job.  We spend six hours a week in class another six to eight doing homework and then we have to study and practice what we have learned.

We took a day trip with our friends Robert and Lolita to Cañas to see their new construction.  They have purchased a large parcel of land and are well into the building.  It was great to see and discuss the various options of building.  They have a gorgeous view of the ocean and mountains and have designed their house with windows positioned in all of the right places.  They have painted and were getting ready to put in the tile floors and then cabinets.  It will be fun to watch the progress.  Robert researches every decision completely so we will be picking his brain in the coming months.  Peg and Robert have been cycling every morning and she comes home with lists of questions for our builder already.

Robert and Lolita's house

View from their kitchen window - just beautiful

Lolita loves purple - very Panamanian

Phineas their Africa Grey that has traveled the world with them

We also had a surprise visit from some new friends Richard and Daryl.  We originally met them briefly at the last Los Islotes tour back in February.  They have invested in a lot as well and are as excited about the project as we are.  We didn't know that they had gotten the link to our blog and had been following our adventures.  They made contact and wanted to come visit us here in Pedasi after a meeting with the builder.  Peg went to check out the newest B & B here in Pedasi called Casa La Jagua and was really impressed with the owners and the facilities and she recommended it to Richard and Daryl.  It is fantastic.  The owners are Canadian and have really made a beautiful oasis with all of the creature comforts.  We spent the day showing "the boys" around Pedasi and they treated us to a fabulous dinner at Segreto a little Italian restaurant we had been dying to try.  We had a great time getting to know our future neighbors and planning the zip-line between our properties to make happy hour a little easier.  They have been friends for over 40 years and met in college.  Daryl still has a successful accounting firm in California and Richard lives a life of leisure in Nevada.  We look forward to many future adventures with these two.

Richard, Daryl and Peg enjoying music and libations at Smiley's

Our next big hurdle is finding a place to live on the other side of the Peninsula.  Our lease here in Pedasi is up at the end of June and we want to be closer to Los Islotes.  We didn't know how difficult this task was going to be or we would have started looking sooner.  The first builder we talked to, Alberto, mentioned that he had a lake house that he rents out in the area so we went to see it.  It is a five bedroom getaway on a beautiful piece of property, but unfortunately there is no internet service and the price is a bit above our budget.  We also met with a woman we met via Craig's List to see a couple of houses in the city of Santiago.  One of the houses might work, but we were really hoping to be outside the city.  We love the little town of Mariato which is mid-point between Santiago and Los Islotes, but have not been successful as of yet finding anything for rent in that area.  Keep your fingers crossed and the prayers a coming.

View from Alberto's terrace

One final shout out for my daughter Alex and her husband Jacob.  They have been called to go on a mission trip to Romania this summer to minister to children in an orphanage and could use some support.  To those of you reading this that have already given your generous support THANK YOU!  Anyone interested in helping please email me at bairnhess@gmail.com to get the specifics.  Thanks for reading!

Successful Trip to Texas

Pedasi and Dallas month two

It has been a busy couple of weeks here so I have some catching up to do.  I made my first trip back to Texas to attend my daughter Alex's graduation from UT Arlington with her Master's of Social Work.  To recap; it is a five hour drive from Pedasi into Panama City and the international airport.  We look forward to when the new Rio Hato airport has some flights to Texas then it will only be a 3 hour easy drive.  

After talking to all of our new ex-pat friends we opted for taking the bus into the city instead of trying to drive in the craziness that is the city.  We drove into Chitré, parked at the bus terminal and hopped on the big bus into the city.  It is a four hour bus trip for under $10 on a nice air conditioned bus.  We arrived at the bus terminal at Albrook in the city armed with what I thought were driving directions to the Hostal Areka in the Punta Pacifica area of the city.  Of course, the taxi driver had no idea where this hostal was so we had to get the phone number and have him call directly to get directions.  So much for Google maps, what we needed to say is take us to the Super 99 in Punta Pacifica.  Since I didn't have the phone number written down, I had to pull out my laptop at the crowded bus station to get the number.  Not a smart idea anywhere in the world.  The only guy that bothered us was an American who first told us to be very careful with our stuff as he had everything stolen and then proceeded to come back a minute later to ask for money.  The taxi driver came running over to get rid of him and help us make the call.  He called the guy a regular "loco".  The cab driver was very friendly and helpful, but he charged us double the normal rate.  Frustrating.  Every strategy we try in order to get the price of a cab ahead of time seems to fail us. This time I'm not sure we did get a price until we were in the cab.  He had already rescued us from the regular "loco", made the call to our hostal for directions and now it was pouring rain as he loaded our bags into the trunk.  Every cab ride is a new experience!

We decided to use our trip to the city to get our residency visas started as all of the paperwork we collected in the states has a short shelf-life and we are technically only allowed to drive on a foreign license for 90 days (even though we can stay in the country for 180 days on a tourist visa). I picked Hostal Areka because it is only a couple of blocks from our attorney's office and the manager speaks English.  As a side note, I just learned that here in Panama a hostal is defined as any hotel with seven rooms or less.  This hostal has a great location across the street from a shopping center with several restaurants and a grocery store.  We walked to the attorney's office the next morning armed with our signed and certified FBI reports and retirement info. Peg is getting the Pensionado Visa which is pretty simple and only needs the criminal background check and proof of her retirement income (all signed and apostillated).  Mine is what is called a Specific Nations Visa which is a little more complicated; I need the background check, proof of a Panamanian bank account and either ownership of property or a corporation in Panama.  It took a couple of hours to complete the application process at the attorney's office and then we headed over to the immigration office.  Think DPS/DMV on acid.  We were warned that the office was really crowded that day and that the public offices are not using A/C in order to save energy.  Thankfully we have a fantastic attorney!  She has an employee at immigration first thing in the morning pulling numbers and waiting the several hours to be called.  So we just show up and get the next available spot.  It only took about 45 minutes.  After taking yet another picture and getting fingerprinted, it all went very smoothly and we are now on our way to having residency!

View of Panama City from our attorney's office

Copy "center" outside immigration.  That is our visa liason hired by our attorney to wait in line for her clients.

We did have one scary episode while in the city.  We have taken taxis all over the city and have paid all different rates so now we ask how much before we get into the cab.  We caught a taxi in front of our bank to take us back to the attorney's office knowing we had paid anywhere from $3 - $10 for this ride.  We turned down a couple of drivers and finally got in one that held up three fingers and Peg heard him say "tres".  He was a very aggressive and scary driver, running the toll booth without paying and dodging in and out of traffic like a lunatic.  As we got close to our destination, traffic was backed up so I pulled out $3 and went to hand it to him and he started yelling treinta, treinta (which is $30).  We said no way were we paying 30 and then he said trece (13) and we said no way again knowing it should be a $5 ride.  While I was trying to reason with him and he is yelling at us he pulls his arm back like he is going to hit me.  Peg says throw the money at him ($5 to distract him) and get out of the cab.  He is trying to pull back out into traffic so we can't get out and I give him the money. I have the cab door open and am getting out, when he grabs my shirt to try to prevent me from getting out, Peg pulls his hand off me and shoves me out of the cab.  While Peg is trying to get out of the cab behind me, the cab driver grabs her hair, then takes and shoves her head so she stumbles out of the cab.  We have heard of horror stories, but this was the first time it happened to us.  We now have the name and number of a very reliable and friendly taxi driver name Luis programmed into our phones.  I used him my last day in the city after returning from Dallas.  He picked me up at the hostal, took me to the attorney office, waited for me as I signed papers and then took me to the bus station for my trip back to Pedasi.  All for $10, now that's what I'm talking about being the norm, it is just hard to find on the fly.

We met our new friends Robert and Lolita for dinner in the city at "Beirut", one of my favorite restaurants.  Since they lived in the Emirates they knew exactly what to order and it was delicious! Peg was able to get a ride back to Pedasi with them and I headed to the airport for my Dallas departure.  We had left the butt-holes in the care of our Spanish teachers sister, Gloris for the two nights we were both gone.  She doesn't speak English, but loves animals and she did a great job.  Not only were the animals cared for, but she cleaned the house from top to bottom.

I reached Dallas a little later than expected (thunderstorms) and Alex was their to greet me!  Amanda and Andrew came into town as well for the graduation so we had a beautiful couple of days together celebrating Alex's achievement!  Jacob's parents drove in from Boerne for the festivities as well.  Alex's husband Jacob threw her a graduation party at their favorite winery in McKinney on Saturday and we had a fun Mother's Day together attending church and making a yummy dinner.  I had been shipping things to Alex's house for a while (new dogs collars etc.) and I was also able to do some shopping to pick up things we haven't been able to find in Panama and came back loaded down with three 50 pound suitcases stuffed to the gills.  I stayed at the hostal again before catching the bus back to Pedasi and made it home safe and sound.  I will say I think my Spanish is getting better, but it is still a little stressful getting around.

Time with kids Mother's Day weekend - Priceless!

Congratulations Alex!  Jacob is also very proud.

At our celebration lunch

Unfortunately while I was in Texas our little Zoe had another setback.  It looks like she may have had a stroke, but we aren't sure.  Peg took her to the vet here in Pedasi who doesn't speak English.  He took blood, gave her IV fluids and prescribed a few medications (all for $90). Peg went and got our Spanish teacher so she could talk to the vet and explain to Peg what he thought might be going on.  He thought she might have gotten into a fight with a frog and the frog won.  She was not foaming at the mouth which is a sure sign of "Rana"poisoning, so chances are good it was a stroke. She has started eating again in small doses, but is having some trouble walking and her head is tilted slightly.  She has a swerve on and lists to the starboard side.  It simply adds to her adorable charm :)  We call her the comeback kid so we hope she will bounce completely back once again.  We did go to the beach yesterday and she seemed like her old self.  Here we thought it was the cats who were suppose to have 9 lives!

Next post... a fun visit with our new friends and future neighbors Richard and Daryl.

Zoe at the beach before stroke - such a happy beagle

We are not alone

Pedasi Semana Cuatro.

I can't believe we have been here a month.  The good news is we are settled and have found where we like to shop (El Rey), get our laundry done (Lavanderia), our favorite beach (Destiladeros), made a few friends (Karen, Lolita & Robert), are able to drive into Las Tables and Chitre without getting lost (an enormous feat in a country with no maps or street signs) and even recharged the WiFi connection (everything is pay as you go here).  The not so good news is that our espanol is coming along much slower than we hoped.  It seems like every time we figure out how to say one thing we need to say, there is something else we can't figure out and then we can't remember what we just learned.  We are getting better at conversing with the local shop keepers, but we are always amazed when they stare at us with that deer in the headlights look when we thought we were speaking perfect Spanish.

Favorite new friend Karen

A nice lady washes, dries and folds for $8 per basket - drop off, pick up a couple of hours later!

Favorite new drink - not really sure what it is but it tastes like vodka and is cheaper

There were hundreds of crabs one day at our favorite beach.  Look closely and you will see them on top of the rock

Our new favorite art - we call it crab art and yes it is crabs making the design as they run through the sand around their central hole/home

Our favorite new butthole - we don't have to feed it or clean up after it. It is the same frog from an earlier blog but he has changed sides of the porch and is now standing up on his hind legs.  He stays like that all day!

I don't think I have mentioned that it is an election year here in Panama.  There are three candidates running for the office of El Presidente and the campaigning has been amazing.  Hoards of people walking up and down the streets all dressed alike, carrying flags and banners.  Cars and trucks painted with the faces of the candidates blasting music and propaganda.  They have a law here that all campaigning must stop one week before the election so there were big finale parties on Saturday night.  The election is next Sunday.  Everyone is saying it is a very close race so it will be interesting to see.

Different colors represent different candidates

Entrance to Pedasi

Every tree, pole and building is covered in political signs.

There is large fresh vegetable truck that comes to Pedasi once a week.  We missed it the first few weeks we were here, but were finally able to get to it this week.  What fun!  We were officially introduced to Gererado by Ingrid, the woman that owns our Spanish school, and then we jumped up into the back and started pointing and ordering.  We purchased fresh spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, cucumber, onions, garlic, avocados, lettuce, mangoes, papaya, peppers, beets, carrots, and our new favorite root vegetable yucca (pronounced you-ka) all for $14.  Yucca looks like a 2 foot long tree branch that you peel, cut up and cook pretty much like potatoes.  We have had it boiled, fried and mashed - all delicious.  We will definitely be hitting this truck every week.  We are working on knowing the names of the vegetables for next week.

Yucca.  Not as easy to peel as you might think.  It is just like peeling bark off a branch.  The knife gets sharpened before we begin!  If it's fresh the inside is softer than the outside but not as soft as a potato.

Peg turned some of those fresh veggies into delicious salsa! Thank goodness she brought her knives and chopper. She makes my batch without cilantro but loads hers up with the nasty stuff.

The animals are all doing great and are very comfortable here, a little hot maybe, but happy.  The dogs have actually adjusted to the noise of the neighborhood pretty well.  And it is noisy!  Unfortunately, we did have a couple of incidents with the cats.  They both love to be outside and only venture out on the front porch and into our fenced backyard which is great because there are a lot of dogs that roam freely in the streets.  Well one evening just after dark, we hear loud cat fighting on the back porch and run out as Miciou quickly runs in with fur flying.  It took her two days before she would come out and relax and thankfully she was not injured, but we decided to be more careful after dark.  Well, wouldn't you know that a few days later we were eating dinner as it got dark so the house was still open and we hear fighting on the front porch then Midnight comes running in.  She has a whole different attitude about this.  She just sits on our bed growling and hissing!  She is pissed!  Again no permanent damage, but we close up the house as soon as it is dark so they can't get out to be attacked.  The problem is this is the coolest part of the day, but we don't know how else to keep the other cats out of our yard.

Caclite's favorite time of day - she has become quite the body surfer.

Miciou just minding her own business on the porch.

Karen introduced us to another couple that have been here a bit longer than us and are already in the process of building a house here.  We went to their house for happy hour on Friday night and had a great time.  Robert and Lolita Stricker lived in Houston eons ago and have since lived in Dubai and Abu Dabi.  They were a wealth of information and we look forward to seeing their new home and taking copious notes about the do's and don'ts of building in Panama.

We have been talking with Mike our new builder and had a meeting for Saturday to review our design ideas.  Karen made the trip with us as she had never been to the other side of the peninsula.  It was a great day and boy is she great to take along.  She brought a cooler filled with drinks and snacks and seemed to have everything we could possibly need for a day trip.  Mike has some great ideas and we have decided to move forward and use him as our builder.  Let the decisions begin!

Peg hiking our property

Discussing ideas with Mike.

Things you never see in the states......

Herding cows along the road.

These little piglets were just wandering on the side of the road.  Peg tried to get out to converse and maybe grab a pet but they ran from her instantly as she called "come here piggy, piggy"

Neighbor wrangling her runaway cow

Other neighbor's chicken in the tree on our side of the fence.  They roost every night at 6 p.m., you can set your watch by it.  Makes Calcite crazy!

Kids playing baseball in the yard - ok maybe you see this in the states.

Love to all.