Three Weeks in Panama: how's it going?
This Thursday marks three weeks for me in Panama. I arrived with my husband, and I have been delighted to have him with me as I get my feet underneath me. But now he's back stateside for two months, and I think I am actually in a good place to go solo for a while.
So, after three weeks in Panama, how's it going? Pretty darned good, I'd say. I have a few moments of frustration and occasional fleeting moments of regret, but much more often I find myself in moments of delight, curiosity, gratitude, and awe. So, as I said, pretty darned good.
Here's a quick recap of some of the highlights of week 3 here, with glimpses of what might lie ahead.
Animals
This week, I saw . . . a toucan! And many other birds, including herons and humming birds, but the toucan was especially stunning.
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| White herons ("garzas") love poking around in this field after a soaking rain. |
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| I bet they're finding yummy bugs. (Better them than me!) |
Also, there's this nifty reptile called a "Jesus Lizard" because it runs across the surface of the water. I've seen a couple of them in or near the river we cross along our shortcut. I've even seen them run across the top of the river -- when they do, it's a sudden frantic dash, and so I will probably never get a picture or video of that. (And it's so sudden and frenetic that it's always looked like a cross between a magic trick, a panic, and a joke). But if they pause along the bank, it's not hard to photograph them, because when they're not helicoptering their legs in a sudden zany bolt across the river, they're very, very still.
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| A Jesus Lizard, contemplating a miraculous river crossing. |
The crocodile hasn't been back this week, but there's been a near daily gathering of turtles paddling contentedly and sunning themselves on logs.
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| Three turtles holding a Terrapin Conference. See the turtle head near the leaf in the water on the left? |
I have not seen any live snakes, but I did see a dead snake near some smashed cinderblocks. (I'm guessing that another passerby hurled the cinderblocks at the snake).
Food
In addition to "food that falls from the trees" (I'll have to do a whole other post about that), I've been having ongoing success figuring out ways to acquire groceries. Not only did Neil find a few large supermarkets he can ride to during our first week here, but we found an easy bus route to three of them during our second week here. And to make matters even more delightful, last week while exploring, we then happened on an open-air vegetable market on the same bus route. It looks like the kind of place that would be weekend flea market in the U.S., but it's actually a long shaded corridor of tables laden with vegetables and fruit. There's almost no packaging, and it's abundant and very affordable.
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| A fruit and vegetable emporium. |
For example, on Monday I paid $5.35 for
- a large papaya,
- a beet,
- a head of garlic,
- green onions,
- a pineapple,
- fresh cilantro, and . . .
- . . . my very first "maracuya" (passion fruit)!
Repairing
One of the things I love about my home in Pennsylvania is that it's equipped with lots of tools, so I can putter around fixing things. It brings me joy that I've been able to do small mending/fixing projects here, too. They're not on the same scale as, say, building a shelf or sewing 40 face masks, but still. I've
- mended a hole in Neil's bike shorts with a little sewing kit in our AirBnB;
- tightened up Neil's reading glasses with the small repair kit I brought along (yay to me for deciding to bring it!), and
- cleaned a charcoal-encrusted frying pan that the previous tenants had left as a baked-on, smelly mess. That I did with a kitchen knife, a scrubber, heat, water, and lots and lots (and lots) of elbow grease. I'm really pleased with the outcome; last night I used the cleaned, seasoned pan to cook eggs and they slid out beautifully.
Also, on a much sadder note: Tuesday as I was out walking in the evening, I helped a woman bring her dogs home. She'd been walking three dogs when one of them suddenly collapsed, and, after I stopped to ask her if she needed help, died. She was in anguish, obviously. The dog (named Porthos, like the Musketeer and also like one of my former cats) was elderly, and his death reminded me of the sudden pulmonary embolism that our former dog Lucky suffered. It was 8 p.m., so the local roads were deserted, and she was all alone and in terrible grief.
Of course, it was a tragic event. If there's a small glimmer of light in that dark situation, I'm glad that at least I had enough dog skills to be able to help her walk the other two dogs back to her house as she carried poor Porthos in her arms; one of the dogs was a bit freaked out by strangers, so having dog-handling practice was especially useful.
Friends
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| Lissette demonstrates a solution to other volunteers. I think she's amazing! |
Math
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| I'm a whiz at drawing this dumpster/cube object. I like the funky "barren landscape" background! |
Tourism
Panama has an amazing canal, a tropical rain forest with visitor's center, nifty museums, beautiful parks, islands that are popular weekend destinations, and more. How much of this have I seen so far? nothing. That's how much.
I've been very happy exploring the day-to-day aspects of my surroundings: the beautiful and eminently walkable neighborhood I live in, the bus lines near me, the fantastic, deep forests that line the bus route, the grounds of the amazing Ciudad del Saber (a story unto itself and subject of future posts, I promise), and several kinds of shopping centers.
But rest assured I will eventually try to get out and see more of the gee-whiz parts of Panama. I just haven't felt bored yet with the more local and immediate newness that surrounds me so far.
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