Okay, so we are finally settled in. We picked up our luggage yesterday - Monday. We arrived in Panama City on Thursday night, and we were told by the delivery service that it would be in Boquete by Saturday morning. Another case of "you get what you pay for." The service charged only $13 to deliver three suitcases, which is a big savings over what Air Panama charges, but obviously it's a gamble. Nevertheless, everything is now here; we have clean clothes; and we are able to use our laptops again, which means we can also watch Netflix. I also finally got a good night's sleep thanks to having my earplugs.
We are in the same unit that we had last year. There was some miscommunication because we were told that this unit was rented, but when we arrived Yelin asked which one we wanted because they were both available. So, here I am sitting in my favorite spot on the little couch with the sunshine, breeze and birds saying "Welcome back, we missed you." And we got it for last year's price ($550/month). I emailed the owner to ask, and he said we could pay that price or the new price of $675/month, which includes utilities, Internet and cable. We calculated that the utilities (if the same as last year) were only about $12/month, and the Internet is $16.95/month. We don't need cable, so the $550 is a much better deal.
I bought a bag of local coffee when we first arrived, and I was so disappointed; it was awful, but Ted saved the day and gave me a bag of Panama Joe, so this morning I was very happy. Drinking coffee, listening to Mozart. And how is it in Wisconsin? Ana called this morning and said it was -2. Serrana and George Koconis are staying in our house. Serrana said George has been shoveling for two days.
Yesterday morning Ted and Pam took me, Audrey (the elderly Venezuelan lady who swears a lot), and Nancy (a newcomer from California) into David to shop at PriceSmart (the Panamanian version of Costco) and Rey (a great supermarket). So,we're set for supplies for quite a while. I stocked up because it is likely the last opportunity I will have for a ride into David. Ted and Pam sold their house. They will be out on the 15th. They are actually swapping houses with the buyers for a while before they leave for Arizona. They will be staying at the new owners' home in Valle Escondido. Not a bad break. It's beautiful there, and it has a golf course, so Ted is happy. They can stay as long as they need to. Pam is doing much better than I expected. The only noticeable changes from her stroke are her speech, which is just slightly halting, and her weight. She is very thin. She said she just doesn't have an appetite. But her cognitive skills seem as sharp as ever. While in David yesterday she was giving directions to Ted on how to get to the Claro (telecommunications) office. I could tell she was proud of herself. They recounted the "stroke story" to us, and Pam was obviously very emotionally upset. Her treatment in the local hospital sounded horrendous. They actually had her tied down until Ted showed up one day and had her removed and taken into David. Although Ted cites other reasons for wanting to return to the US, when we are alone he says it is due to his concern for Pam's health.
We also went to a pharmacy yesterday where I was able to communicate that I had a problem with my left ear. I should know better, but I got on the plane without a nasal spray, and while landing my left eardrum ruptured. Not sure exactly what is going on, but this goes back 30+ years when I flew to Florida with a cold, and both tympanic membranes ruptured. I ended up having to return to Wisconsin by train. So word of caution: If you are congested, be sure to take a nasal spray with you to keep your eustachian tubes cleared, otherwise your ears cannot equalize the cabin pressure, and ouch... it really hurts.
The wind here is horrible. It's causing lots of damage and power outages. Ours has been out a couple of times. I've seen postings on Facebook of some of the damage in town, and Ted said that he and Pam took a pass on the Tuesday Morning market today because it was so bad in town. Up here in Volcancito we escape a lot of the wind experienced at the lower elevations in Boquete, When it is windy up here, as it is today, you can be sure that it is really windy in town. No problem; it's not too windy right here.
My sister, Kathy, gave me a great list of movies and series from Netflix to watch. Unfortunately, most of them are not available. However, I did log in this morning to Amazon Prime and found lots of things to watch, so looks like we're set for the duration. So, my very strenuous agenda thus far is RPM (rise, pee, meditate), journal/blog, exercise, knit, read, practice the ukele... not sure in what order yet, but that's about it. Like I said, not sure a blog is going to be very interesting this year, but you never know.... :)
We are in the same unit that we had last year. There was some miscommunication because we were told that this unit was rented, but when we arrived Yelin asked which one we wanted because they were both available. So, here I am sitting in my favorite spot on the little couch with the sunshine, breeze and birds saying "Welcome back, we missed you." And we got it for last year's price ($550/month). I emailed the owner to ask, and he said we could pay that price or the new price of $675/month, which includes utilities, Internet and cable. We calculated that the utilities (if the same as last year) were only about $12/month, and the Internet is $16.95/month. We don't need cable, so the $550 is a much better deal.
I bought a bag of local coffee when we first arrived, and I was so disappointed; it was awful, but Ted saved the day and gave me a bag of Panama Joe, so this morning I was very happy. Drinking coffee, listening to Mozart. And how is it in Wisconsin? Ana called this morning and said it was -2. Serrana and George Koconis are staying in our house. Serrana said George has been shoveling for two days.
Yesterday morning Ted and Pam took me, Audrey (the elderly Venezuelan lady who swears a lot), and Nancy (a newcomer from California) into David to shop at PriceSmart (the Panamanian version of Costco) and Rey (a great supermarket). So,we're set for supplies for quite a while. I stocked up because it is likely the last opportunity I will have for a ride into David. Ted and Pam sold their house. They will be out on the 15th. They are actually swapping houses with the buyers for a while before they leave for Arizona. They will be staying at the new owners' home in Valle Escondido. Not a bad break. It's beautiful there, and it has a golf course, so Ted is happy. They can stay as long as they need to. Pam is doing much better than I expected. The only noticeable changes from her stroke are her speech, which is just slightly halting, and her weight. She is very thin. She said she just doesn't have an appetite. But her cognitive skills seem as sharp as ever. While in David yesterday she was giving directions to Ted on how to get to the Claro (telecommunications) office. I could tell she was proud of herself. They recounted the "stroke story" to us, and Pam was obviously very emotionally upset. Her treatment in the local hospital sounded horrendous. They actually had her tied down until Ted showed up one day and had her removed and taken into David. Although Ted cites other reasons for wanting to return to the US, when we are alone he says it is due to his concern for Pam's health.
We also went to a pharmacy yesterday where I was able to communicate that I had a problem with my left ear. I should know better, but I got on the plane without a nasal spray, and while landing my left eardrum ruptured. Not sure exactly what is going on, but this goes back 30+ years when I flew to Florida with a cold, and both tympanic membranes ruptured. I ended up having to return to Wisconsin by train. So word of caution: If you are congested, be sure to take a nasal spray with you to keep your eustachian tubes cleared, otherwise your ears cannot equalize the cabin pressure, and ouch... it really hurts.
The wind here is horrible. It's causing lots of damage and power outages. Ours has been out a couple of times. I've seen postings on Facebook of some of the damage in town, and Ted said that he and Pam took a pass on the Tuesday Morning market today because it was so bad in town. Up here in Volcancito we escape a lot of the wind experienced at the lower elevations in Boquete, When it is windy up here, as it is today, you can be sure that it is really windy in town. No problem; it's not too windy right here.
My sister, Kathy, gave me a great list of movies and series from Netflix to watch. Unfortunately, most of them are not available. However, I did log in this morning to Amazon Prime and found lots of things to watch, so looks like we're set for the duration. So, my very strenuous agenda thus far is RPM (rise, pee, meditate), journal/blog, exercise, knit, read, practice the ukele... not sure in what order yet, but that's about it. Like I said, not sure a blog is going to be very interesting this year, but you never know.... :)