December 12th, 2007

Last week, our friends Skip and Linda Shipman came to visit. One of the things I had always wanted to do was find the fish market down on the coast, which someone had mentioned to me in passing but with no directional details. So, S&L and I went on a hunt for the fish market.

By asking directions at almost every intersection, we did find the fish cooperativa which was on the beach, a short walk from the parking area. A she got out of the car, Linda put her watch in the front pocket of her slacks, since the watch was irritating her skin. Unbeknownst to her, she had a hole in that pocket and when she realized it (couldn't have been more than five minutes later), the watch had been found and the finders were gone.

After we bought the fish (robalo, as fresh as you could have it) and shrimp (enormous, 7 to the pound!), we stopped at the police station in Gorgona, where the fish cooperativa is. Between Skip and I, we explained the situation, that there was no point in returning to search the area, and that we only needed a police report for the insurance. After about 15 minutes, the lady cop got in the car with us and directed us to the main police station in Chame (about five minutes eastward). Along the way, she touched Skip's shoulder and said "Tranquila" because our boy was not happy nor patient person.

At Chame, the police lady reported our problem and the record making guy said we had to go to Panama City, where there was an official interpreter. Much smiling and begging later, he had called his superior and received permission for a guy sitting in the office to translate for us. This guy, along with his friend, were in the police station to report a break-in at their hotel, and the theft of several things, including a gun. (This is interesting: the owner of the gun is responsible for whatever happens as a result of using the gun, no matter who uses it. So, it was therefore, vital to him to make an official report that the gun had been stolen, which released him from responsibility for subsequent actions.)

So, perhaps an hour and a half later, with the help of the unofficial translator, the police report was produced. By the way, all the Panamanians were surprised that an insurance company would pay, based on a police report (I will tell you more about insurance in Panama later). We gave the unofficial translater $5 and a five-pack of beer (Skip had one); he was delighted. And, as a postscript, Skip just told us that the insurance company was accepting the police report and would pay up based on that. So, it was worth the wait.

Our Christmas tree arrived yesterday by bus. Rene's son, Nigel, bought trees for her and us, and had them transported up here, on top of one of the commuter buses. What a sight!

And a P.S. to the previous posting: no, the gardner did not show up on the day promised for fixing the road. He showed up on his normal day, and used part of that day to fix the road. Unacceptable. I decided not to confront him, or get angry at him, but rather just to ignore him. He is well aware, as all drunks are, that he has misbehaved. Yesterday, his regular day here, I noticed several new potted plants on the terrace. It is not going to be that easy for me to forgive his bad behavior!

December 6th, 2007

I made a big mistake last week, and am waiting today to see what the consequences are. The lane in front of our house is sandy/muddy and terribly pot-holed, and is becoming increasingly difficult to use because it is so rutted and muddy. Everyone here "fixes" their portion of these secondary roads by putting down loads of big stones and then sand.

I finally asked our gardener to arrange the stones and to dig the french drains, etc. etc. We agreed on a price and he was to start on Saturday and then finish up yesterday. He did start on Saturday, and then Sunday came to the house, asking for the total agreed-upon sum for the job.

I was distracted and not thinking straight, so I gave him all the money. In retrospect, I realize that he wanted the money to take his friends drinking (there was a live band in the beer hall on Saturday night; the band finished about 5 am Sunday but its audience seems to have continued celebrating all day Sunday). Well, needless to say, the gardner didn't arrive yesterday. Today is the normal day for the gardner. I wonder if he will show up, and, if he does, what the story will be. And I wonder what my reaction will be to the lie. This is a very wierd situation, isn't it? His family must hate me for enabling his drunkness.

November happenings

November is a month of national holidays here. We started off with the religious holiday of Lost Souls Day on November 2, followed by Independence Day from Columbia on the 3rd, and Flag Day on the 4th. Then we had the 10th, which is the "First Cry for Freedom from Spain". Finally, we will have the 28th, which is Independence Day from Spain. How about that?

The first weekend was a major celebration. In Panama City, all major buildings were draped with huge flags, and red, white and blue bunting. Small flags were being sold everywhere. The entire country had marching band parades. Here in El Valle, our parade consisted of about ten different bands from the local schools as well as one independent band. Some of the bands included baton twillers, some included cute girls marching in complicated patterns, and others included girls dressed in polleros, the beautiful national costume. Our parade lasted almost two hours, ending at the reviewing stand near the mercado. Music continued for most of the day. And no wonder, these kids practice the entire year for these parades! (All of us can hear the practicing, at almost any hour of the day and night.)

The school kids come from very poor families. It is amazing to know that the families have to buy the uniforms, the instruments, and costumes. Imagine this on family incomes of about $300 a month.

I watched the parade while sitting at the Gourmet Coffee shop (only open on holidays and weekends). The shop has seats outside, so I enjoyed my coffee outside while watching the parade. How about that for comfort!

October 30, 2007

We went to Panama City on the bus on Sunday, primarily to get set for the chemo on Monday. However, we had some fun along the way. We saw the movie, "Michael Clayton"; our first movie in a cinema in Panama! So, because we are "juliblados" (i.e., old geeks), our tickets were half-priced: $2.00 each. Hard to beat! With our coke, water and popcorn, the whole experience was less than $10! The cinema house was a standard multi-plex item in the mall, with clean, comfortable seats and a huge screen (it was hard to get far enough away from it so we didn't get dizzy). Good film, too.

Later that evening we went over to the casino nearest our hotel (Veneto Casino). We had a snacky dinner while we watched the Red Sox womp up on the Rockies on the big screen in the sports bar area. We thought one of our table neighbors was a real Rockie fan until we realized that he was betting every couple of innings. He didn't do too well that night.

The casino was completely decorated for Halloween, although this is not a holiday celebrated here in Panama. The decorations were great: lots of balloons, huge spiders and webs everywhere and pumpkins all over. Great atmosphere!

While Tommy was having chemo, I went from store to store, getting stuff we can't get up here: decent light bulbs (note: one only buys name brand light bulbs here; the others are made in China and either don't work immediately, quit after 10 minutes, and/or twist off from the metal bottom when one tries to unscrew it...on this we happen to agree with Lou Dobbs!); shelf standards (had to visit two different stores to get 12 brackets to match!); English muffins; you get the idea. We were both exhausted, for different reasons.

Tommy wanted to sleep in this morning, so I took an earlier bus home. When I got off at our street, I was carrying my purse, two curtain rods, and two heavy, large bags. Three kids, who were walking home from school, stopped me and took my packages to help me home. Even though we went past their house, they insisted on walking me all the way home. Ah me, what a great feeling!

Saturday, October 20, 2007

We had another parade today even though it was pouring rain. We knew that there was an upcoming parade because all week long we have been hearing drum practice every night. This parade was "hosted" by one of the local schools, but there were floats from many other provinces (Bocas del Toro, Darien, Panama, etc.). Today's parade was a bit more low key than the one about a month ago, which had many more floats and all the floats were pulled by oxen. The general idea was the same.

The queen of the parade was the daughter of Dario, one of the fellows building the workshop. As I was riding my bike home this morning, I met Dario. When I asked him, "No work today?", he told me about the parade, about his daughter being the queen, and that he was looking for his boss to get an advance so that he could buy candy for the queen to throw during the parade. Of course I gave him a couple of bucks.

The parade started at the other end of town at 10ish. At 11:30 Tommy and I left our house and drove three blocks to a restaurant on the main street (on the parade route). This restaurant also has two bar seats outside in the front, and we were early enough to grab those. So, we had front row seating, con bar service, for the parade.

All the floats were pickup trucks decorated with flowers, palm fronds, and posters. The kids were in the truck beds, waving, dancing, and throwing candy. All were costumed: boys in dressy white shirts and dark trousers, and the girls in the beautiful native lacy dressy with elaborate hair ornaments. Most of the floats had some sort of cover to keep the kids dry. We saw one dad walking alongside the truck, holding an umbrella over his kid in the truck.

Each float was followed by its own marching band and dancing supporters. The bands all have drums and a horn section (some more than others), and assorted other instruments (one had an accordian). One of the bands took shelter on the terrace of our restaurant; this was great because the muscians continued to play while they were at the restaurant. Hard not to have happy feet while listening to these bands.

The parade route went past us, and a half block later, turned around and returned to the center of town. We watched both passes; probably took an hour or so. Everyone was soaked but had great big smiles.

So, now it's Saturday night and we are watching University of Michigan football on TV (you can take the boy out of Michigan but you can't take the Michigan out of the boy....), and we don't hear any drum practice. First time in weeks!

October 18th, 2007: Health Update

Six weeks after we got here, Tommy was diagnosed with cancer of the esophogus which had spread to his bones. Chemo started immediately, with all the joys that come with chemo: hair loss, nausea, extreme tiredness, etc. However, after three sessions of chemo, spread over nine weeks, a CT scan showed that the tumor (originally 10 cm) had been reduced by 95%! Isn't that grand news!

Chemo has re-started with three more sessions, which will take us to early December, when there will be all sorts of scans to see what is going on in the esophogus and the bones.

The chemo is taking place in Panama City, at the Punta Pacifica Hospital which is brand new and affiliated with Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Md., USA. We originally went to this hospital for another problem, and when the doctors were trying to discover the source of that other problem, they came across the cancer.

We feel the hospital is terrific, the doctors are really on the ball, and the nursing staff attentive and kind. The admin staff, while polite and very nice, are sometimes not as efficient as one would like. However, the Punta Pacifica has a wonderful lady named Dee, whose function is to help patients and families with any admin and/or translation difficulties. This is truly a plus!

Because the doctors know that we live in El Valle and therefore cannot easily run back and forth to the hospital, all the diagnostic tests were performed on an in-patient basis over a period of three days. Because of our terrific BUPA insurance, Tommy had a private room with a couch, which could be converted into a bed for me when I desired (no charge, either). I did that once but didn't eat the offerred hospital food, opting instead to walk across the street to the shopping mall and get a sushi take-away.

The chemo sessions are on every third Monday, so we take the bus on Sunday and treat ourselves to a nice dinner with wine because wine is prohibited for a week after chemo. We like to stay in the El Cangrejo district and have a terrific little hotel ($35 a night, thank you very much). We are learning all the great restaurants in El Cangrejo, as well as the casino Veneto.
We stay Sunday and Monday (because the chemo ends too late on Monday to catch the bus), and return home on Tuesday mid-day.

We are greeted by TwoBaby, screaming his head off. Gladys, the maid, comes in every day when we are gone but it just isn't the same apparently. Nice to be missed!

There are always two ways...., October 6, 2007

When we entered Panama, we were given 90 day visas, as was the van. For one reason or another (including sloth), we let the van visa elapse without renewing it.

After a short time here, we quickly decided that our beloved van was inappropriate in Panama; apart from the main roads, the roads are too pot-holed and narrow, as are driveways, for the "monster" as our friend Rene calls the van.

We toyed with the idea of sending the van back to the States, to sell it there. We knew that the more we drove the van, the more we were tempting the god of fines. Finally, we decided not to hassle with selling the van in the States, which meant that we finally had to deal with registering the van in Panama so that we could sell it here.

After several weeks of unanswered e-mails, miscommunications, and frustrating phone calls, we were directed to Julia. Barbara visited Julia last week, and gave her all the van documents, including the out-0f-date visa.

Julia sent her "boy" to Aduana (must be the immigration office in Panama City?), and several hours later called with the news that the fine (for letting the visa elapse) was $500. Thankfully, we didn't rush to agree to pay this, because Julia went on to say, "As you know, in Panama there are always two ways of doing things. In this case, the immigration lady has offered to place the appropriate monthly stamps on the van visa. She can do this for $25 a month." Since we were four months out-of-date, our bill was $100. Love it.

Contrary to many of the North Americans, we are not offended by "the other way" of doing things in this part of the world. Hey, if it gets the job done and doesn't hurt anyone, what's the big deal? Besides, it is usually cheaper and quicker!