Carnival in Panama

New Orleans gets Mardi Gras. Panama, along with other countries with large Catholic populations, gets Carnival. And that is exactly what is going on right now in Panama. Until Wednesday much of the country is shut down for festivities including the crowning of a queen, music and dancing. This event is our first time experiencing and one we have been hearing about since we moved down. Carnival is a festival that occurs before Lent and ends when Lent begins.

Interesting enough, Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday" in reference to eating rich and fatty food before Lent. The entomology for Carnival is disputed. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Lent, it is a time of self-cleansing in which people often fast. This event happens for 40 days and nights until Easter. The purpose of Carnival is to consume any remaining alcohol and/or foods that may go against the traditions of Lent.

While I know it is not a necessity with modern day freezers and food preserving technology, the origins and purpose of this event are important and interesting. And this is where our mystery begins with what to expect from this year. All that I heard about Carnival was that there is music, dancing, and people get sprayed with water.  When I looked it up I saw pictures expected a wild party.

Carnival in Las Tablas, Panama which is where
one of the biggest events occur in Panama.

After seeing the picture above, I was certain this is how it would be everywhere. I was wrong and it turns out this is what it looked like Saturday in our small village. Surely this is what I might expect in our small village of a few thousand people, but it can't be this small everywhere.

With these awesome little holders we got Robert and I packed our valuables and headed to meet our friends and head to Carnival together in a larger town (at least compared to our village) located about 20 minutes away.

Three zippers to keep things dry

They worked surprisingly well

When we got to Carnival this is what the scene was like. 

It was exactly how Carnival was described: dancing, water, music. Carnival can be described in few words: simple, and fun. The event in this town literally all took place by these two water trucks. It was hard to imagine something so simple being fun, but it was and people of all ages were there to enjoy the festivities. 

Having glasses and/or a hat seemed to prove beneficial at times when you got sprayed but the water. If you did not have sun glasses venders were near by with a selection for your choosing. If you were hungry you could buy this for food. Common food from vendors is a hotdog wrapped around a stick. Americans call it a hot dog, Panamanians call it chorizo. Again, the chorizo is another reminder of the beauty of how simple such a big event can be. The party stopped around 2:00pm. People went back to their homes and still partied, but this area was no longer the center of the festivities.

I know this is probably not like how it is everywhere in Panama or how it is around the world. However, the festival that we went to made for a good time. Carnival was fun and lived up to the hype. It not at all what I expected, although honestly, I was not sure what to expect; although it was simplicity of what I saw. This experience was very memorable. Until next year!

A Week in Review

Robert and I have been living in Panama for over a week. Time continues to go by and the term "mañana" does not seem to apply to these experiences.  Mañana is a term which I have heard be used by expats as the fact that the culture here tend to get things done whenever it gets done.

We enjoy our house. Both of the dogs seem to be unsure of what to think as they see dogs walk by and they cannot. They are in quarantine for 40 days as part of them being able to live with us in Panama. One week down, about 4 weeks more to go until they can join the local dogs around our small town.

Panama has a lot of dogs that tend to belong to one house or another but walk around as they please. There is a small group of dogs that tend to hang out on the beach. All of them seem friendly enough and tend to be curious from afar.

He followed us around the beach
but kept is distance. 

We went for a walk on the beach the other day and saw somebody surfing. It was a nice walk and we found some restaurants that might be worth trying soon. I have no idea what kind of food they serve, but that hasn't stopped us on other occasions.

We've also tried some new food. A package of Crema de Maíz happened to be in our cupboard and it looked like it was not there for very long. Our landlord said that we could help ourselves to it. We did. What in the world is Crema de Maíz? Originally I had a hard time because isn't creamed corn the whole kernel corn stuff you buy in a can?

I read the back of the package and then came to the conclusion it was a dessert. The ingredients call for milk, vanilla, and sugar. What a great dessert! Wrong! After doing some research I discovered that Crema de Maíz is in fact something you eat for breakfast. A person online described Crema de Maíz as being finely ground cornmeal and has the texture of "smooth poletna."

Robert and I tried some for breakfast and it was quite good. We found it to be satisfying, but neither could finish our breakfast as it was very sweet. I agree that this could be seen as a smooth polenta. It reminded me of eating Cream of Wheat. The Crema de Maíz had a smoother texture and was much richer than Cream of Wheat. I think this could be a delicious breakfast on a cool foggy morning if it was a little lighter. It was a worth trying!

For anyone interested, I found a very similar recipe that we used to make it and linked it here. We had no cinnamon but everything else is very similar.  If you find it in the United States, I imagine a package of this will likely be in the same area where other warm breakfast cereals are found in grocery stores.

The weather here has been pretty much the same since we got here. It is humid but I feel like for the most part, it feels like how Arizona feels after it rains in the summer. It does get warm here, especially during the afternoons where the sun seems to be baring down on you. This observation makes sense considering we are living closer to the equator than we have ever lived.

Temperature in Degrees Farenheit

Temperature in Degrees Celsius 

Robert and I have been busy trying to prepare for Carnival. We will take advantage of promoting our business to everyone who is enjoying their extended weekend. I am still not sure what to expect from Carnival but the experience is welcomed. All of this is very new. I am soaking it all in and have been learning a lot. Over all, life and Panama are both good. The next few days will be quite an adventure with Carnival. I cannot wait! 

First Impressions

¡Buenos dias from Panama! Like my Spanglish? Since our move this is how I have been talking. I know we have only been here since Wednesday, but to me, it feels like months. Panama has been treating us well so far. While I admittedly do not miss Arizona (I was never much of a fan) I am very thankful for social media and Whatsapp to keep me in contact with some of the friends I met while there.

Robert and I continue to adjust to our new house and the area in which we live. Our house is a 30 second walk from the beach. The picture below is outside of our drive way. You can see the ocean in between the trees straight ahead. Panama is surrounded by two bodies of water: the Caribbean and the Pacific. We live on the Pacific side of the country.

Our neighbors are pretty quite. The house next to us is vacant and we do not have a house next door to us; it is an empty lot. The house in front of us looks like it was burned down some time ago, although there seem to be people (possibly investors) looking at the property on a regular basis. The picture below us shows who lives behind us.

Yes, it is a cemetery. I asked Robert to take a picture for me. He stuck his hand outside of our fence. Dead people do not bother me and they are quiet neighbors. Panama is infamous for being party central. Last night people in the neighborhood were shooting off fireworks. They also did this on Wednesday night for no apparent reason; again, something that is a common practice in Panama. This morning people were playing music. 

I am sure the fireworks will only gain in intensity as Carnival is come up soon. Carnival in Panama is the equivalent to Mardi Gras in the United States, from my understanding. It is four days of festivities and four days of paid holiday for Panamanians. I am not entirely sure what to expect, but I'm sure I'll have a lot to write about in the upcoming days. 

As I mentioned earlier, Robert and I are settling in. Both dogs made it safety with us. Our little dog did not like his crate and the medicine we gave him to help calm him did not work very well. Luckily nobody gave us glaring looks and people seemed more interested in wanting to pet him. He also did not tear through the meshing this time. Robert and I got little sleep on the plane with our little dog. When we got to our house we took a two hour nap and slept for 10 hours that night. 

We recently went shopping. I have been told it is hard to find a lot of items in Panama. With respect, I am not sure I have had much of an issue at this time. Case in point, I was able to find these to hang up some pictures.

El Rey is a popular grocery store. Robert and I usually go here or to another store across the street. Prices for local food is inexpensive. However, certain things like canned beans will cost about $1.25. There are no generic brand names for canned items (versus going to Frys or Fred Meyer and getting Kroger brand). You are paying for the food to be imported. Despite this, food is still pretty inexpensive compared to what I am used to paying for food so long as you buy local versus imported items. As far as I am concerned, it is a win-win when it is possible to do this. 

Fruit vendors like this are easy to come by. Right now you some vendors are selling pineapple as low as $0.50. You haven't had pineapple until you have gotten it from Panama. They also sell other produce that is in season. Watermelon and papayas are also available.

Shopping can also be inexpensive compared to in the U.S. if you shop at Panamanian stores. I bought both pairs of shoes for under $8.00. The shoes are decent and would have cost me at least $40-$50 in the U.S. These prices are inexpensive to me, but it is also important to be mindful that everything is relative. I have been told that the minimum wage in Panama is a salary of $600 per month.

See an American brand store? Expect to pay American brand prices. The fedora cost over $20 at Levis. It is not anything I am not used to, however, it is relatively expensive all things considering. 

Robert and I are also able to use our phones. I bought a new one that is unlocked and got a SIM chip with a local cell phone company. Apparently my old one would not work outside of the United States. Whether or not this is true, I am not sure. I bought a phone almost identical to my old one in hopes that it would work. Facebook is great, but I also enjoy texting my friends. Whatsapp is a very popular app down in Panama that many people use, even for local phone numbers. I was hoping to download that in order to text.

It did not work. We took it to a local cellphone store to see if they could figure it out. After over an hour in the store, they asked us to come back the next day. According to the cell phone shop, my phone needed an update. Robert and I took it to an office for the cell phone carrier to get the phone updated. It did not work. I ended up getting another phone and will be sending my other one back. 

In order to add minutes you can usually buy a card at a grocery store or you can add minutes with one of these kiosks. You pay and enter the phone number you would like minutes added onto. As previously mentioned in another post, $15 will get you unlimited everything for a month. 

The first day we moved in, our landlord set us up with new propane tanks which we use for the stove and to heat the water. The hot water was ready to go! NOT! Robert and I took cold showers the next morning. 

Luckily the outside air was warm and the coldness did not last too long. The heat from the sun also has a somewhat warming affect on the water pipes; keyword: somewhat.  The water has since been fixed. For whatever reason, my shower was another cold one. It was warm at first and then got cold. Robert was able to get hot water in the taps. Regardless, I am thankful I have clean bathing water. 

I think as a whole, this is how our life has been like thus far. We have a business meeting early next week and will be taking some time off for Carnival. We are not going anywhere, but from my understanding, everything in Panama pretty much shuts down and a grocery store is the last place you want to be. Robert and I will continue to settle in and will the walking the dogs on the beach later today. Life is good. :)

Farewell, Arizona

What an adventure over the past few days! This past week has been filled with more goodbyes than I've ever experienced. I have re-written this post numerous times trying to figure out what I am going to say. After all, this will likely be the last post before we leave the United States. Did I really just say that?!

What is really going on? A lot. Robert and I have a date to move to Panama. We will be taking an overnight flight starting Tuesday, February, 3 and will be landing in Panama Wednesday morning. We will be driving to Las Vegas as there are no direct flights from Phoenix to Panama City and we did not want to have to fly with the dogs twice. This is when our adventure living full time in another country officially takes off. We will be flying with our small dog in the cabin and our large dog in cargo. 

Our small dog does not like crates and hates pills. Last time we flew up to Oregon from Phoenix (a 2.5 hour flight) he tore a side of the meshing in his crate, and this was with him being sedated. This time we asked from stronger tranquilizers from the veterinarian and put him in his new carrier for about 2 hours. No holes yet though it was not because of lack of trying. He will also be in this for a significantly longer time as the flight alone is 6.5 hours. 

He is not amused. 

Aside from the events with the dogs, we have been busy selling more of our stuff. Robert sold his vehicle and now mine is up for sale. For the most part, this is all we had left after another garage sale this weekend. People ask if it is hard to let go of our possessions. Yes and no. The stuff you see below can be replaced, including the cars. I will say I do feel somewhat vulnerable (if that is even the correct adjective) knowing that mine and Robert's lives have literally been condensed down to about 15 moving boxes and some beds. I suppose the feeling is similar to the feeling that you get when you move and you realize your whole life fits inside of a moving truck. This feeling is also liberating. 

All of the items we did not sell.

The hard part about this trip is all of the goodbyes I have to say in person. I have been fortunate enough to become close with a small handful of wonderful people in Arizona. As I write this, I think of a friend whom I have been going on regular walks with at a park. She and I have talked about pretty much anything and everything. The other day as we were walking, we stumbled upon this:

 It is a stick that says "May Peace Prevail On Earth" in several languages/communication forms including Braille. The Braille is written in the bronze rectangle on the picture above. I can only guess what some of the other languages are.

Could this have been discovered by me at any more perfect time? 

I also got the cell phone I will be using in Panama. The current one I had is evidently unable to recognize cell phone towers outside of the U.S. and would apparently not be able to put in a SIM card to use it; I got a new one. No phone number yet. Once I get into Panama I will need to pick a cell phone carrier and get a SIM card. 

Down there you generally use prepaid phone cards. I have been told that $15 gets you unlimited everything for a month. It is a simple process as there are an abundance of little kiosks in and outside of stores that allow you to update your phone. You can also get them at many checkout lines. Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and the like do not exist in Panama. Their cell phone carriers include Movil, Moviestar, and Digicel. Like the U.S., there are supposedly better carriers than others. 

The remainder of our time will be spent with family and friends and watching the Superbowl. The Super Bowl is the big championship game for American football. I am rooting for the Seahawks simply because I am from the Northwest. I will say that they could have left the rain back in Seattle as it has been raining for over two days now. Haha. 

To be honest, I love and miss this weather. 

The fog this morning, which I have not seen in the
four years I have been in Arizona

In addition to the game will also continue to pack. It has been a lot of work to get to this point, but I honestly think I see the peak of the mountain. I am anxious to see what new adventures wait for us in a new country. I think Robert and I have both been too busy to really realize what we are about to do but I think we are both excited to go on this crazy/wonderful adventure.

I will be staying in communication and will continue to post regularly. This will likely be the last post while living in the U.S.. It will also be about a week before another post. I consider myself beyond fortunate to have parents who have raised me with the courage to not be afraid of trying big things and friends who I know I can laugh and cry to whenever it is needed regardless of location or distance. Most of all, I am thankful for Robert for going on a new chapter in our lives.

In the words of John Denver, we're "leaving on a jet plane" and we really do not know when we'll be back in the US again. Until then, keep in touch!

It's a Date!

This weekend seemed to fly by. We had a yard sale in order to try to sell off some of the remaining items that we are not planning on brining to Panama. We also are one step closer to having an official date for moving to Panama, which also seems to make the days go by that much faster.

Friday was spent preparing for the yard sale. My five month old niece helped supervise. The picture below is not her, but this was pretty much what she did the entire time. She wanted to be talked to and seemed very curious as to what we were doing. I can honestly say that her patience and good mood helped get us prepared for Saturday.

And luckily, my niece was not in this kind of a mood...

But even if she was, she is only five months old and she was strapped in a stroller with two of her toys to entertain her when I was unable to talk to her. Who could blame her for wanting to roll around on the carpet over watching us?

On a more serious note, we felt like we had a lot of decent things for sale and most of it was larger house items. Included was a full length mirror, several bookshelves, two couches, end tables, a lawnmower and other items. My mother in law was very kind and made cookies and small loafs of banana bread to sell. As one might expect, there was no issue selling the baked goods!

Astonishingly enough, we were able to sell almost all of the items. I hope that everyone enjoys their new treasures as most of the items are less than 3 years old and are all in pretty good condition. This experience has helped show what things you really treasure.  Obviously this stuff was not valued as much as items that cannot be replaced as easily like my pictures. Big box furniture is a dime a dozen and very replaceable.

The next step in our process will to be to sell the cars. Unlike the house that is easy to sell from afar (thanks to the internet), the cars need to be sold soon, very soon. No word on the house being sold yet. There have been people looking at the house on a regular basis, which keeps our attitudes positive.

We are planning on bringing our two dogs and our box turtle down to Panama. The logistics of this all have to happen within certain deadlines which make it hard to really want to buy airline tickets unless we know for sure we can leave with the animals. As of right now, we are planning on being in Panama by next Thursday (February 5). 

It might seem kind of random, but for us it really is not. Bringing an animal down requires a very rigorous process, the first of which involved Robert taking both of the dogs to get a wellness check done by their veterinarian. The wellness check has to be done within 10 days of the dogs entering the country. This 10 day deadline makes getting a plane ticket brings a lot of anxiety. 

The dogs look healthy, right? 

I love this dog but she is not a fan of photos

It sounds simple enough to be able to get a plane ticket, but the reality is that there is more than that.  The dogs' vaccination records need to be sent to specific USDA offices around the country, the closest one being in Albuquerque, New Mexico. That office is temporarily closed so we sent the documents to Salt Lake City, Utah. Once we get those documents back, they have to be certified by the Panamanian Consulate in Washington D.C. and sent back to us. All of this has to be within the 10 days of the wellness check. What if the paperwork is not mailed back in time?

In order to expedite the process, we decided to overnight the documents to Salt Lake City and provide a pre-addressed envelope that will enable them to overnight it back to us. The total cost just for Salt Lake city for about 6 pages of paper was over $100. Yes, we love our pets and if this does not show it, I am not sure what will. 

Some may be wondering what happened in order to get such a sudden date. Wasn't Robert working on his hours for the powerchute? He was, but as the part was getting worked on for the powerchute, the part was ordered incorrectly. It would have been another three weeks to get the part shipped and then probably another two weeks after that to have it worked on and then about another month to finish his hours. 

It is prime season in Panama right now for our business and we thought it would be more economical to start working down there now and have Robert come stateside when the business starts to slow down a bit. Robert will complete his training when it is low season (or slow for tourism). I will likely stay in Panama and help with the business where I can and take care of the dogs. 

Robert and I are planning on having one more yard sale this weekend for some smaller items before we decide to donate everything we are not planning on taking. The time from now until next week will be cherished as I continue to say goodbye to many friends that I care about. 

Interestingly enough, Panama does not have a mailing system like we do in the United States. In fact, they really do not have a mail system. From my understanding, you go to a local supermarket in order to pay your utility bills. We got a P.O. Box down in Panama. All of the mail goes through Miami, Florida and then gets shipped to our mailbox. If you are reading this and wondering why your card says Miami, now you know. We are moving to Panama the country, not Panama City in Florida. 

I will keep everyone updated on how the move goes. We will have internet down there so we will be able to keep up the blog and stay connected with loved ones. For now, I will enjoy each moment I can with them before most communication will be electronic. The next nine days will go by very fast. I will try to do at least one more post prior to leaving. This experience has taught me so much already about myself and about my family. I've laughed, I've cried, and have taken time for reflection. I cannot wait to see the lessons that the future has yet to hold. 

It's Our Business

Many people have been asking about what Robert and I are going to be doing while living in Panama. Our plans have evolved numerous times since our announcement about moving to Panama. This is partially why a post on this topic has been delayed. I thought I would touch bases on what we plan on doing in Panama at this current time. Due to the fact that some of these ideas are very new, information regarding this post will likely be minimal.

As I previously shared, Robert is working on flying powerchutes (powered parachutes). Part of the idea of the business is that Robert will provide tours, and possibly provide lessons to anyone interested. More about this business may be posted in future posts.

Another venture that we are pursuing is taking part in a rental car business. This business is already operating in Panama. As I mentioned in the last post, we have pages on both Twitter and Facebook that can be followed or liked. In addition to renting cars, this business also rents out and sells sand buggies.

The great thing about Panama are the opportunities that are there to do almost anything. The economy is doing great. Even though a lot of the world has been in this recession with slow economies, Panama's GDP growth (how a country's economy has grown from the previous year) has been in the top 15 countries in the world since 2011, and has even been outperforming China. Just to give you a perspective, in 2013 (last data recorded so far by the World Bank) the USA was ranked 100+ in GDP growth. 

I will be taking a small break from social work in order to focus on our business. I hope take advantage of this break to begin to understand the Panamanian culture in order be an effective social worker for the future. In the mean time, we are utilizing social marketing techniques in order promote our business ventures. This is an exciting time for us and we are looking forward to moving to Panama to be able to be front and center of our new adventures and the business. And of course, any new updates will be posted on the blog.

Post Panama/Oregon Trip

Holy smokes! Has it really been over two weeks since the last blog post? Time seems to have gone by very fast, especially after all of the big adventures we had last month. Things this month have seemed to slow down quite a bit. We are still in Arizona with no definitive date of when we will be moving to Panama. Despite this, Robert and I have both been busy.

Robert has been waiting for some parts to come in for a powered parachute (I refer to it as a powerchute) that he will be flying while in Panama. The parts originally came in back in November, however they were the wrong ones and the correct ones had to be reordered. The correct parts came in while we were in Panama. The soonest that the mechanic could assemble the parts was the middle of this month. The powerchute  should be ready for Robert to fly by the end of the week. He will need to accumulate solo flight time with the powerchute and will have to get some certifications in order to prepare for Panama. Once this is done, then we will be ready to move.

What is a powerchute? A powerchute is basically a go-cart with a propeller and a parachute. Powerchutes can be flown with varied altitudes, depending on what the pilot wants. Altitude can range from just a few feet off the ground to above 18,000 feet (5,486 meters). I believe Robert typically flies his around 2,000-3,000 feet (609-915 meters). The world record elevation for one of these is 20,287 feet (6,183 meters). They fly about 25 miles per hour (40 kph). Below are some pictures of Robert flying a powerchute.

In the mean time, we have been going through a lot of our boxes and have tried to only take what we need to in Panama. I've continued to watch one of my nieces who recently turned 5 months old (keeping in mind I have two nieces). Right now her interests include laughing when the dogs play, looking in the mirror, and rolling over.

Not my niece, but this is not far from the truth right now

In addition to watching my niece, I have taken up starting a blog with our company as well as being engaged with trying to promote the business. I have also been busy with social media marketing for the business on Facebook and Twitter. For anyone interested, feel free to like or follow our business.

I wish I could give more "exciting" updates other than to say that life for the most part is back to normal in Arizona. The house is still up for sale with no reasonable offers coming our way and as I have mentioned before, we are still in Arizona. Life is good right now and it will only get better as we continue to get closer to follow our dream.