Retired Nomads: October 21 to November 3

Greetings from paradise!

I had gotten in the habit of not including any photos to the blog since it took so long on the cruise to upload them and realized I don't have that issue here. I will try to share a few here and there, but the Picasa Web Albums link is still the best way to view our adventures.

This month’s Playa Community Mixer was Indian themed. I wanted to wear one of the Saris the tour company that we used while touring India on the World Cruise sent me, but lacking the 2 undergarments that should be worn under it, I gave up. I said there were not enough youtube videos to assist me in making it look nice. I think it required several people to wrap me into it as well. So, I copped out and wore the tunic I got in Little India in Singapore called a Kurti.

Here is a description of our evening:

Break out your India themed clothing, as this is the night to wear it - for prizes!

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INDIAN DINNER MENU
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APPETIZER
Samosas and Pakoras with tamarind dip or Curried chickpeas and potatoes

MAIN
Chicken Tikka or Goat curry or Veggie Curry

ACCOMPANIMENT
Basmati Rice with mustard seeds and Sag Paneer

DESSERT
Gulab Jamun or Ice cream with Rose Syrup

Greg and I chose one of each course so we could taste everything. (except for the main dish where we had to only choose 2 and we went with the chicken and the goat dishes. Everything was wonderful. The only thing that would have been nice to have been offered would have been a tasty garlic naan. We had it several times in India and loved it!

Only a few people wore Indian garb and only 1 Sari was worn by a young woman who wore it well. As the lady in front of me as we were lined up to parade our outfits to the crowd for applause said “we don’t stand a chance against her” (cute, young and really in shape). She was right, as of course the one in the sari won. (as she should have) The second place was a guy who was dressed in Indian dress. (I think he is actually Indian) There are quite a few Indians living here in Panama and there is a store here called Sol de la India where a few people had bought their tunics. The lady who owns the Playa Community website/newspaper is Indian.

We have done some more “birding”. Walking around our neighborhood we spotted a Squirrel Cuckoo. Big colorful bird with a huge long tail. We didn’t get great pictures of it, but I have them on my web albums site.

We took a drive to Parque Nacional Altos de Campana and did some hiking trails there. It’s more challenging hiking than at the park in town. We had planned a picnic, but it rained and we ended up eating in the car. Greg spotted a La Loma Robber Frog that leaped across the trail and posed on some bark. Of course we didn’t know what kind it was until we got home and ID’d it and it is endangered. We also saw some male & female Green Honeycreepers and some other birds. We didn’t get a photo, but saw 2 Rufous Motmots, beautiful birds! Hopefully, we will get pics next time. They are a bluegreen bird with an orange head and a long tail and is a pretty good sized bird.

La Loma Robber Frog

Spotted Woodcreeper

As we were driving back home we passed what looked like a hawk on a cow. We often see egrets on them eating bugs, but not a large hawk. We backed up and tried to get a shot, but we didn’t get a decent one. It does look like an immature Caracara sitting on a Brahman Cow (eating ticks/bugs).

So, to update the saga of the process of getting our pensionado visas, we have encountered a few new hurdles we need to jump. On the upside, our attorney rushed Greg’s visa and it is finished in record time. Normally takes around 6 months and it was closer to 2. So, again we thought now I can be added on with no problem. Wrong! We now have been told we need to go back to the U.S. embassy and repeat the process of getting an affidavit of Greg’s pension letter. Nothing different than we did last time, just do it again. OK, we have an appointment for next Thursday to do that. Also, we need to provide a signed copy of our condo rental agreement. No problem got that. Then, the last thing is we need to open a local bank account with at least $5,000 in it. None of these things would have been required if we had applied at the same time. It would have been nice to know that in advance and we may have chosen to wait and do it together. At the very least if we knew those things were needed we could have been working to get them so we could have proceeded as soon as his visa was final. ARGH!

So, we went to Banco General today and they told us what we needed to open an account. We had wanted to wait and open a local account after Greg got a cedula which is a national ID card that supposedly makes it very easy to open an account. Hopefully, it will go smoothly without the cedula. We need to provide2 local reference contacts and a letter from our bank in the U.S. which luckily they want emailed to them. (waiting for it to be mailed would take a LOT longer.) Once we get that, we should be “good to go”. I kept thinking that our attorney was confused about what kind of visa we were applying for since there is a visa called the Friendly Nation’s Visa that does require a bank account with that much money in it, but when I asked again, she stuck by us needing all 3 of those things. Aw well, such is life here in Paradise. The bank was decorated for the upcoming holidays with lots of Panamanian culture being displayed. The tellers were dressed in more native dress as well. Beautiful lace blouses and fancy hair combs. Banks here are interesting in that there is a guard outside that controls how many people that can be inside at once and one inside controlling when they are let out. There is a dress code of sorts to get into a bank or any government office. No shorts or sleeveless shirts and no sun glasses can be worn. They wand you going in and check your purse. (yes, they are well armed) We were taken right in past the line. We waited in line and one of the associates in Spanish asked what we needed and we were told to sit and wait. The manager arrived and took us to her office. She spoke enough English to make it easy for us to understand what was needed.

All stores, ATMs, malls etc. have armed police inside and out. This seems pretty common almost everywhere in the world except the U.S. Perhaps if we did we’d have less crime?

Anyway, we went to immigration yesterday to pick up Greg’s permanent residence card and met another couple going through the same process with the same attorney. They don’t live here yet, but have gotten their visas for when they are ready to come down. Since we live here they had some questions about how we handle things like watching TV, mail, medical etc. We exchanged info to keep in touch. I think they are considering the Boquete area at this point. We had something in common that he had poor ridge quality as well, but it only took him 2 submissions to get his FBI report with his poor fingerprints. Mine was 3 submissions with a total of 11 print sets. Yes, I’m special! (and not in a good way….)

Panama does not use Daylight Saving Time. We pretty much have 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night year round, so it’s not needed here. So, for Dad in Iowa we will be 1 hour apart instead of the same time and for friends and family in Arizona who also does not observe Daylight Saving Time, we remain just 2 hours apart. (which is way easier than the 3 hour difference when we lived in Florida)

Holidays in Panama are a BIG deal. Lots of fiestas which include loud music, dancing and partying until dawn. Fireworks are common just on weekends, much less a holiday. (we’ll see…) Government offices and banks are closed. We are experiencing our first major ones this weekend. So, in preparation we did our grocery shopping in advance so we don’t have to be out in the madness and often things run out with people buying more than usual for parties etc.

Here is a rundown of the November holidays:

2 November is the Day of the Dead (All Soul’s Day): It is a serious day of respecting the dead and liquor stores are closed. People visit cemeteries and bring flowers. (unlike in Mexico where it is a big celebration day.)

3 November 1903 Panama declares independence from Colombia: With the support of the U.S. government, Panama issues a declaration of independence from Colombia. The revolution was engineered by a Panamanian faction backed by the Panama Canal Company, a French-U.S. corporation that hoped to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans with a waterway across the Isthmus of Panama.

4 November Flag Day: Panama’s Flag Day commemorates the adoption of the national flag of Panama on November 4, 1925.

Major office and most businesses will be closed for most of the week (as the 2nd is All Souls’ Day and Thursday, the 5th, will be a day of recovery).

5 November Colon Day: Panama’s version of Columbus Day. It commemorates Christopher Columbus’s (Cristóbal Colón’s) arrival to the Americas.

10 November Anniversary of Los Santos Uprising: Primer Grito de Independencia de la Villa de los Santos - its first cry for independence from Spain. On November 10, 1821, villagers in the small town of la Villa de Los Santos wrote a letter to Simon Bolivar. The letter complained about the Spanish governor and asked Bolivar for revolutionary assistance.

11 November banks are closed

25 November Inauguration Day – Government Holiday

28 November Independence Day: Panamanians celebrate their independence from Spain. On November 28, 1821, eighteen days after Primer Grito de Independencia, Panamanians took the first step towards this sought-after independence. A meeting was held in Panama City and it was decided that Panama would cut off ties to the declining Spanish empire and join Gran Colombia.

There is definitely an increase of people on the beach (but still not that much) this morning. We went down this morning to catch some rays on the beach before it gets too busy here. We’ll see what tonight brings.

Here are a couple pics of birds/critters from various day trips.