If this is what retirement feels like, I might be ready.
Not quite, of course, since I still burn to find my great passion and make my great contribution, and I'm looking forward to doing Thai bodywork and maybe teaching a little yoga -- and all that -- but I've got to say, for two people who aren't working, we've been mighty busy.
The ex-pat community here is close-knit, and they keep a full social calendar. I bought a bunch of art supplies last week, thinking I'd keep myself busy painting while I waited for work to pick up, but I haven't even had time. Our first beach hammock afternoon was squeezed in between the weekly happy hour, a community safety meeting, a chili cook-off, a real estate open house, lunch with the owners of the house we're going to rent, dinner (and the use of the gym) at a friend's condo, two markets (one of them monthly, one of them weekly), a trip to the mall just outside the city to catch a movie, a small group meditation session, and more that I'm already forgetting as I fill up the schedule for next week.
Brent is only semi-retired, actually, as he had his first full week of work last week. ("Full week" meaning "eight hours".) I am working my way out of retirement, as it were, having met so many great people who are excited about Thai bodywork. Apparently, the two resident massage therapists just moved out of town, so there is a great Amanda-sized hole to be filled here.
And the people, the people. We have met so many amazingly nice people, all with an awesome story about how they came to live (mostly retired) in Panama. People like this are what make settling into a new home so fun and rewarding.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Wednesday, February 06, 2013
Toto, we're not in Argentina anymore...
I took a quick solo trip to the store to pick up a couple of things so we would have breakfast the next day. Since I wasn't expecting to get much, I didn't bother to grab a cart or little wheeled basket when I entered the store. I wandered around, carefully stacking the few things in my left arm as I used my right hand to gather goods and hold items for careful label study.
The stack was not unmanageable, although it was larger than I expected it to be. I was checking for the presence of corn syrup in some crackers when a little old man tapped me on the shoulder and presented the little wheeled basket for my use. We chuckled, I thanked him, and then we both went about our shopping.
No need to tell you there's no way something like that would have happened in Argentina. If we were there, that same little man might have tripped me so he could beat me to the checkout line.
Speaking of Argentina, you should check this out: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21331052
And this: http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2013/02/04/no-one-ever-learns-the-argentine-price-freeze/
Bottom line? It's always a good time to get out of Argentina.
The stack was not unmanageable, although it was larger than I expected it to be. I was checking for the presence of corn syrup in some crackers when a little old man tapped me on the shoulder and presented the little wheeled basket for my use. We chuckled, I thanked him, and then we both went about our shopping.
No need to tell you there's no way something like that would have happened in Argentina. If we were there, that same little man might have tripped me so he could beat me to the checkout line.
Speaking of Argentina, you should check this out: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21331052
And this: http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2013/02/04/no-one-ever-learns-the-argentine-price-freeze/
Bottom line? It's always a good time to get out of Argentina.
Tuesday, February 05, 2013
Excuse me, I need a plastic bag for my plastic bag.
On our first trip to the grocery, we forgot our reusable bags (which I brought from hom in lieu of an extra shirt or two, because we really do use them that often and they are that important to us). No bother.
Everything was double-bagged, and they didn't fill them any too full. My jar of peanut butter was put in a peanut-butter-jar sized plastic bag, then put in the larger bag. A tiny one-serving packet of chocolate candy was put in a one-serving-packet sized plastic bag, then put in the larger bag.
We were laughing about this excessive use of plastic bags when our friends told us that when you do bring your own bags, items will be tagged and signed by the clerk, then the tags will be removed at the door by the guard -- who is close enough to see you purchasing the items to begin with.
Tags and tickets are pretty popular, too. I went to the bathroom at a market, and it cost 25 cents (not unusual for public bathrooms outside of the US, though I may have mentioned in long-ago posts that I rarely use them because I find it hard to support the pay-to-pee idea). I gave the woman my quarter, and she tore off a little ticket for me. For such a suspicious operation (if I had beat her there that morning, I might have been able to charge 25 cents for each use of the bathroom), I was surprised to have such an official looking ticket. I thought I might have to give this ticket to someone inside the bathroom door (which was wide open and about five feet away), but there was no one in there. I held onto it, thinking I might have to turn it back in to her when I was finished, but no.
It felt weird to throw it away. I ended up holding on to it for the whole day: a few more minutes in my hand, then it went into my purse. I finally tossed it when we got home -- into the plastic bag now serving as our garbage can.
Everything was double-bagged, and they didn't fill them any too full. My jar of peanut butter was put in a peanut-butter-jar sized plastic bag, then put in the larger bag. A tiny one-serving packet of chocolate candy was put in a one-serving-packet sized plastic bag, then put in the larger bag.
We were laughing about this excessive use of plastic bags when our friends told us that when you do bring your own bags, items will be tagged and signed by the clerk, then the tags will be removed at the door by the guard -- who is close enough to see you purchasing the items to begin with.
Tags and tickets are pretty popular, too. I went to the bathroom at a market, and it cost 25 cents (not unusual for public bathrooms outside of the US, though I may have mentioned in long-ago posts that I rarely use them because I find it hard to support the pay-to-pee idea). I gave the woman my quarter, and she tore off a little ticket for me. For such a suspicious operation (if I had beat her there that morning, I might have been able to charge 25 cents for each use of the bathroom), I was surprised to have such an official looking ticket. I thought I might have to give this ticket to someone inside the bathroom door (which was wide open and about five feet away), but there was no one in there. I held onto it, thinking I might have to turn it back in to her when I was finished, but no.
It felt weird to throw it away. I ended up holding on to it for the whole day: a few more minutes in my hand, then it went into my purse. I finally tossed it when we got home -- into the plastic bag now serving as our garbage can.
Friday, February 01, 2013
Welcome to Panama
It's a breezy day, but hot, and I've got the air conditioner on because I've been moving about the cabin, getting things put away as best I can. (What you should take from that is that we have air conditioning! Yay!)
Temperature-wise, each day is like the last. Gorgeous and sunny. It's hot, but not unbearably so. I went running at 8:00am this morning. Thanks to my altitude lungs via Denver, it was delightfully easy.
Brent's dad, who retired here last April, has been showing us the lay of the land and introducing us to so many cool people. Already we've uncovered where to find organic skin care products (perhaps not as exciting for the guys as it is for me), organic foods, and all sorts of other fantastic things that will come in more handy when we have a permanent living situation.
Our place is really nice, but it's a cabin like a hotel room. One big room. Huge balcony/deck. No stove. We're looking around this month and deciding where we need to be. On Monday, we're going to the city (that would be Panama City) to see if we might like it there.
Temperature-wise, each day is like the last. Gorgeous and sunny. It's hot, but not unbearably so. I went running at 8:00am this morning. Thanks to my altitude lungs via Denver, it was delightfully easy.
Brent's dad, who retired here last April, has been showing us the lay of the land and introducing us to so many cool people. Already we've uncovered where to find organic skin care products (perhaps not as exciting for the guys as it is for me), organic foods, and all sorts of other fantastic things that will come in more handy when we have a permanent living situation.
Our place is really nice, but it's a cabin like a hotel room. One big room. Huge balcony/deck. No stove. We're looking around this month and deciding where we need to be. On Monday, we're going to the city (that would be Panama City) to see if we might like it there.
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