Things They Don't Tell You About Living in the Tropics

I remember when we decided to move to Panama. Packing my bags for one season (HOT!) was incredibly easy and joyful, and I imagined what our beach lives would look like: surfing lessons, long runs down the beach, and so on. Don't get me wrong -- we really like it here. There are just a few things that didn't really come out the way I would have expected when I moved to a beach town.

1. You don't go to the beach that often. I can't say this is true for everyone, as I know people who take beach walks every single day. It's just weird to me: we live, literally, right across the street from the beach. Yet our twice-weekly beach volleyball games are almost the only times I ever go to the beach (and that beach is in a nearby town). I feel somewhat ashamed of this, but I'm admitting it anyway.

2. You're not the only one who notices the heat. I sort of feel like the bad gringa when I complain about the heat, so I don't do it very often, particularly not in the presence of Panamanians. But the Panamanians notice the exceptionally hot days, too, and will comment on it if the door is open for the conversation.

3. There is not the abundance of organic fruits and vegetables that you might expect. When we moved here, I was picturing weekly or even daily farmer's markets filled with delicious fruit untouched by the Monsanto-style devils. While there are a couple of guys who set fruit trucks up outside the grocery store every day, and there are a couple of weekly markets in nearby areas, there is no guarantee that the produce is pesticide or chemical fertilizer free. Unfortunately, that ugly nonsense is far-reaching, and it may in ways be evens worse here because the education about how terrible it is isn't wide-spread. We aim to buy organic when we can, and we pick mangoes off the giant tree in our yard.

4. Once scared of the water, always scared of the water. Not that I'm really scared -- I just never have (and still don't) enjoy having my head under it, and I certainly don't enjoy getting smashed into it when I least expect it. There go any ideas I might have had of becoming a surfer.

5. Beach community doesn't mean "fit" community. I enjoy a life of fitness, and I expected Panama to support that and even take it to the next level. The good news is that I am staying in shape, trying new things, and feeling generally happy with my body and what it can do nowadays. But the process is nothing like I thought it would be. I don't have a gym, so that's out. It's really hot outside! So the desire to get out there and run for miles just isn't there. Many people here are retired, so fitness isn't necessarily the first thing on their minds. (With notable exceptions -- there's a group who regularly trains for triathlons, and several who have started yoga and exercise programs for the first time.)