Pam got us an invitation to this little group dinner hosted by Vivian, her painting instructor. It was held at El Oasis a little hotel/restaurant right in Boquete. It was an enjoyable evening of meeting new people and learning more of the ins and outs of being a new resident in Panama. Apparently all of these couples have big beautiful homes in and around Boquete, so I had to laugh when while getting to know us, one person said, "Oh, so you're the ones who are living in the crates?" I felt like one of the boxcar children. This house that we are living in was apparently an experiment by the owner to try to recycle the shipping crates that all the expats use to move their stuff here. Turns out what he thought would be a good idea turned out to be complicated and expensive. So, the practice hasn't taken off. So, we were definitely the paupers at the table. Much of the conversation was spent on how to protect yourself from your hired help claiming your property. Apparently the law here states that if you have a Panamanian live with you for five years, the property is theirs as well as yours. The key is to have a clear contract that states that they are an employee only for a certain amount of time, and that certain amount of time is best kept to three months, because if you have a contract for a year, and things don't work out, you can dismiss them, but you still have to pay them the full year, and a full year of employment means they work for 11, and you pay them for 13. Just the way it works. So, Martine, the most vocal and informative of the evening has taken it upon herself to organize lectures given by lawyers and other experts to educate the expats in regard to the law. It was also her and her husband Mark's opinion that you do not try to learn Spanish in Panama. They said it was like taking English lessons in the rural South of the U.S. They recommended instead to go to Peru, El Salvador or some other country and spend the $5/hour charged by young adults who do this as a part-time job while working on advancing their careers. She said that they learned a lot more doing that than sitting in the kindergarten classrooms here at Habla Ya in Boquete and doing homework. They also said to never lend your car to anyone (thanks Ted) because the law goes after the owner not the driver. I don't think this is terribly different than the U.S. Also, lots of discussion on how to drive to avoid the speed traps and how to deal with the police if you do get caught. Martine's advice: Just start babbling in English; thank them profusely for stopping you; explain that you're lost; and ask for their help. So the detention turns into one of them giving you an escort to your destination instead of the ticket that you probably deserved.