Working off of three hours of sleep, our taxi pulls into our new town for the next year, Santa Clara.
The small town in Panama has a mix of massive vacation homes, deserted homes and some smaller
cottages.
We pull onto a gravel road and open up the gate to our property - our new home.
At that moment, I realized that my attitude could completely make or break my experience. While our home truly exceeded my expectations, I had to maintain an open and flexible mindset, putting aside any preconceptions to truly embrace the journey.
With this in mind, I documented my initial thoughts the first week moving to Panama.
1. Tranquil or Stifling
A two hour bus ride from the city for $2.25 will get you to our humble abode. We have a small mini-market, four restaurants and of course the beach. We need an SUV to navigate the gravel roads to our house.
I enjoy walking around and picking up mangoes on the side of the street for fresh smoothies in the morning. I've slept a minimum of eight hours a night, played Cooking Fever, swam, cooked delicious food and exercised. (Kevin and I haven't started working at this point).
The other teachers and faculty have truly embraced us immediately into their social circle. From beers on the beach to understanding phone plans, it is exciting to meet a group of people with one thing in common - a zest for life.
As my mind wanders, it is also easy to miss and yearn for the people back home - family, friends, our dog, co-workers. Kevin and I always had a packed calendar, but we liked it this way. Now, we have no plans until October. Panama is going to bring balance - a healthy combination of relaxation, exploration and work.
2. The Mountains or the Beach
Luckily, we do not have to decide. The Pacific Ocean is about a ten minute walk from our house. There are nice cabanas to rent to get out of the shade and the waves can rock you to sleep. I love waves that are just large enough to allow you to “jump waves” but, they do not completely crush you.
We took a bus ride to a mountain town, El Valle, about forty five minutes to our house. It is approximately fifteen degrees cooler and packed with multi-colored butterflies, a smorgasbord of flowers and some great waterfalls.
During our trip, we got caught in a massive rainstorm in the middle of the rain forest.
3. Confusing or a Learning Opportunity
Even a trip to the grocery store is exciting. It took me forty five minutes to go down all the aisles, and I didn’t get everything on my list. Not only are you looking for bargains; you have to translate everything. For many goods, they offer the American brands in English, but of course they are more expensive (and sometimes less tasty).
Knowing little Spanish, I look at the tuna aisle to determine what to purchase. What is actually tuna? What is the best price? How do I know if this is ethically sourced (i.e. no dolphins)?
I have been using Duolingo and writing words on our refrigerator. I also need to master the phrase, "No entiendo" in Spanish. I often just look at the individual blankly with a confused expression on my face.
4. Carefree or Inefficient
The "tranquilo" attitude of Panamanians often surfaces in conversations with other EXPATS (people who decide to live in another country in which they are not a citizen).
There is no fear of suing here, less regulations and seemingly people who like to have a lot of fun. Don't get me wrong. Panamanians are extremely hard working. They work six days a week and often commute 1-2 hours via bus.
On the flip side, it takes longer to get things done. In the past week, I've heard of these experiences: a five hour wait to take a photo for immigration, air conditioning units broken for weeks and unlivable apartments due to a disregard for deadlines. All in all, I'm trying to embrace the phrase, "the time is now" featured on the photo below.
Kevin’s bosses have been wonderful supporting us through the transition process. They understand our roots – the need for immediate answers. I know that there will be frustrations along the way, but I also hope to embrace somewhat of the “Sigh, this is Panama” attitude.
I couldn't really think of a great photo to represent inefficiency. But, I thought I would share this gem with my grammar geek friends. This marketing copy was prominently featured on the play gym that my neighbors bought for their baby. Do you think there is a QA process? (I almost feel bad for posting this).
5. The People or the Dogs
There are many medium to large stray dogs in packs or acting as a one man show. They tend to hang around the restaurants because they know that they will get food. Most of the time, you see Panamanians shooing them and outsiders giving them a piece of bread or a bite of fish.
Here is the struggle. Do you follow the lead of the restaurant owners and ignore the dogs? This shows respect for the people. Emaciated dogs cannot be good for business. Or do you give into your heart and offer them a piece of your food?
Little does Kevin know that I’m feeding a litter of kittens outside of our gate. We named a little black and white one, Tux.
6. Creepy or Helpful
The first day here, our neighbors showed me a picture of a tarantula hanging out on porch. We have tons of creepy crawlers on the property ranging from leaf bugs to tarantulas. The scary ones are the medium-sized spiders that can really do some damage physically. On a brighter note, they really do help keep the mosquito population down.
7. Eating Healthy or Eating Everything
There is so much delicious food here in markets and even falling from trees near our house. It is so cool to read a label on bread with four basic ingredients - yeast, water, flour, salt.
There is so much to explore here from a culinary perspective. We are eating and enjoying a lot of fresh food. But, we definitely need to work on minimizing how much we eat as we are trying to lead a healthier lifestyle.