Last night, we went to a neighbor's house for a going-away barbecue for a one of our colleagues and friends. It was a last-minute gathering: it was first mentioned late the night before (we just happened to be there) and then an email was sent out that morning. We left our house wondering how many people would show up.
Pretty much everyone showed up.
That's the beauty of getting together around here. Back in the States, I remember trying to put together a dinner with three friends, and we had so many things to schedule around. When I went back for a visit between lives in Argentina and Panama, I had a month in which to get all of them together -- and we could never make it work.
Last night was another on a list of many last-minute gatherings we've attended. One Sunday, for example, we went to play volleyball, not knowing we'd end up at one of the player's homes right afterward, eating a delicious lunch and spending the rest of the afternoon in the pool.
Of course, we do have things to do. We're getting our work lives together down here, and many of the people we hang out with work more than we do. But there is a real sense of priority when it comes to down time, and if a responsibility can be put off until tomorrow, it is so that today can be enjoyed with the people we love. It's not laziness or irresponsibility -- in fact, putting it off can sometimes result in a bit of a scramble the next day, but it's so worth it to enjoy warm evenings, good company, good food, and everything else that we're coming to love about life in Panama.
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