November 4 to 10

Well, while the beach was busier than usual on a weekend, we here in the condos did not experience any loud all night parties or any fireworks celebrating the holidays. When we went for our morning walk through the neighborhood, there were a lot of cars parked on the street and lots of litter along the road. Despite the 9:00 hour some people were drinking beer by the guard gate. Lots of traffic and you could hear music all over the neighborhood and people were out in their yards enjoying the day; cooking food, singing to the music, kids playing and just being with family. It was almost disappointing that we weren’t kept awake all night with their celebrations…lol.

We went to our first CASA meeting this Tuesday. CASA stands for Coronado Area Social Assoc. We paid the small dues to join. Normally, it is $5.00 per year, but since it is past the halfway mark it was only $3.00pp. It is designed to be another venue for expats to socialize and also people talk about any causes they may be involved in.

There are at least 2 groups (Spay Panama and Spay the Strays) that work very hard to spay/neuter the dogs and cats that are strays or are brought in from people who can’t afford to fix their pets. Vets volunteer their time as do many regular people that assist doing various jobs (shaving, vaccinating, etc.). While the animals are there they give them vaccinations, clean their ears and do flea & tick treatments. It’s at a reduced rate, but if they can’t pay it that’s OK. Many people donate time and money. It’s not uncommon to spay/neuter around 80 to 100 animals each time. (once a month there is a clinic) It really has cut down on the stray dogs & cats seen here. Others talked about families of handicapped children (mental & physical) and put together baskets of essentials to help them.

The main thing talked about was the Christmas Party which we signed up to attend. Buffet and dancing at the Coronado Golf Club at the Bahia room. A local band called Poco Loco will play and a DJ plays on their breaks. He also played music at our meeting. Louise’s Bohio is huge and has a bar, lots of tables and lots of ceiling fans. This meeting was coffee, iced tea and cookies. Next month will be wine and cheese.

Picasso was crowded this week. Seems many snowbirds are down already. Our table just kept getting longer and longer as people added tables to our usual place. All tables were full and many had to stand. We are told it gets really busy in the dry season.

This week we had lunch at the Coronado Café. I had Philly cheesesteak and Greg had a chicken sandwich. Quite tasty!

We drove to the U.S. Embassy on Thursday to get the affidavit of Greg’s pension letter. (AGAIN!) On the walk up the hill we saw an Agouti under a tree. After surrendering all our electronics and going through the metal detector we had no problems getting the letter done. It wasn’t lunch time yet so we killed time at The Discovery Center. I found my “normal” toothpaste there! Wow, was I excited. I’m one of those people that doesn’t like paste (makes me gag), and that was all I was finding here. They have the same brand though, in fact Colgate seems to be about the ONLY brand here. Anyway, they had my gel flavor there and that made my day. Gotta love a store where you can buy toothpaste and a kayak all in one store!

We went in search of a Chinese Restaurant called Jumbo. It didn’t look impressive on the outside (or inside for that matter), but the food was very good! We’ll definitely go back. Then it was off to PriceSmart to pick up a few things…since we were in the neighborhood.

Our best new bird this week was a Ringed Kingfisher. Huge beautiful bird. Though not a new bird, we saw 3 Squirrel Cuckoos and got some better pictures of it. Their tails seem to move in all directions. (straight up and sideways) Oh, and even though I have seen Jesus Christ Lizards before, I finally saw one “walk on water”.

Here are a few of my favorite shots:

 Yellow-headed Caracara in front yard

 tiny crab eating a wasp

 Jesus Christ Lizard

 House Wren

 Ringed Kingfisher

 Southern Lapwing

 Clay-colored Thrush eating bananas

 Black Vulture on gate

 Squirrel Cuckoo

iguana on power lines

I've added a new album called Playa Coronado Nature Walks with these and more on Picasa.

Still waiting for our banks in the States to send reference letters. Once we get those (or at least one) then we can go to Banco General in hopes we can open a bank account to satisfy our attorney to get me added on to Greg’s visa. Seriously, this saga must come to an end soon!

Until next time….