Some kids from the neighborhood
church came to the lobby of our building and performed Christmas carols. It was
really nice and it was a shame only about 6 people showed up to see them. They
were adorable. A lady from Venezuela, Lucilia invited us or we wouldn’t have
known about it. We see her on the beach sometimes and she invited us. There
were refreshments for the kids after they finished.
tree in our lobby
On the 20th we
attended the CASA Christmas Party held at Coronado Golf. There were 203 people
there and the food was good and the company of friends at our table really made
the night. It was a different vibe from last year. Last year there was better
music and lots of people danced. This year, most of us were asking each other
what kind of music is THAT? So, there wasn’t a lot of dancing and people seemed
to leave early. We had good company at our table so we stayed and talked for a
long time. Jim and Jennifer’s daughter Holly was visiting as was Adam and
Mary’s daughter Jennifer. The other couple at our table does a lot of community
things.
Holly, Jim & Jennifer
Adam, Mary & Jennifer
Brian, Barbara & Adam
group photos
The “highlight” was Jim and
Jennifer had just returned from the States and brought me a replacement thermos
for the one I have dropped a few too many times. Since ice melts instantly in
my sodas at Picasso’s, I bring the thermos with ice and it keeps everything
cold and not melted. They liked mine and bought 1 for each of them and all 3 of
us take them. I hadn’t been able to find one here so it was a wonderful and
thoughtful surprise. The bag also came with home-made amaretto. Yum!
The day after the party I got
some weird 24 hour type bug. It’s been a long time since I have been that sick.
Luckily, it only lasted 24 hours and a day of just being wiped out and I was
back to normal. Phew! (no photos of that....and you're welcome!)
We were invited to Jill &
Don’s for Christmas breakfast at 10:00. I cooked our Christmas dinner on the 24th
since the breakfast was on the 25th and then we just reheated
leftovers later in the day. I made my usual Bananas Foster French Toast. Yum!
It’s probably the “last” holiday dinner I will ever prepare so the work was
worth it. (we figure we won’t do that much work in an RV)
Banana's Foster French Toast
it was a pretty tasty bird
our tree
Here are a few shots from the
Christmas breakfast at Jill & Don’s. They have a lovely apartment and the
food was very good and lots of it. Lots of drinks. Did I mention it was 10:00 in
the morning? LOL We had a few mimosas. The couple that we met at last year’s
Christmas party was there and we spent most of the time talking with them. They
are also pretty addicted to travel so we talked about where we have been and
where we are going next. They are headed to the Greek Isles next. She has had a
tough year as her daughter committed suicide recently and she said this was the
first time she had been “social” since. They also have been taking care of
their 14 year old granddaughter. It was nice to see them again.
potatoes, eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy
Trish & John brought Crème Brule French Toast
Greg & I in line
Mack, Cat & Jill
Bruce & Judy
Jill being silly
Jill being Jill
Sharon finally relaxing
Christmas Eve night we were
treated to fireworks set off about 2 houses down on the beach. We could see
them right outside our balcony window.
Muñecas are
life-size dolls that people make and put in front of their houses and alongside
the highways. There is often a theme, such as political figures, entertainment
figures, ex-husbands or wives or themselves as a symbol of out with the old and
in with the new.
Muñeca Burning is a New
Year’s Tradition in Panama. Panamanians begin to papier-mâché their muñecas in
early December. The muñecas are stuffed with paper
and firecrackers, and they are lit ablaze on New Year’s Eve usually in a
bonfire or tied to a stake and burned, ultimately burned in effigy on
New Year’s Eve at midnight. Other traditions include eating 12 grapes and making 12 wishes at each
stroke of midnight for prosperity. Here are some we saw driving around our area:
Yard work here is either done with a weedwhacker or a machete, this is a clever ad for a guy that is offering his services. His name and phone number is on his pocket.
Many paper lanterns were released over the ocean as well.
They are basically a small hot air balloon made of paper with an opening at the
bottom where a small fire is suspended. It was windier this year and a few had
some issues until they found the right breeze to lift it out to sea.
lanterns
bonfire on the beach
New Year’s Eve on the rooftop was quite
different this year. Last year it was packed from around 5:30 on with lots of
music and people. This year it was very quiet up there until 10:30 or 11:00.
There was a church service at 8:30 in the enclosed room, but most didn’t stay
after it was over. The condo association (new management this year) didn’t do
anything downstairs like last year. They had a party with food and music and
fireworks that made it extra amazing since on the 24th floor they
went off right in our faces. However, the fireworks did not disappoint this
year all up and down the coastline and all over the residential areas.
Fireworks here are legal and they are of the quality you would normally see at
a 4th of July celebration in the States. You could hear people all
around us remarking they had never seen such display. A few go off early in the
evening (6:00 on) and of course ramp up as midnight approaches. They finally
died down around 1:30 and we came back downstairs and went to bed.
moon on New Year's Eve
the beach as it got dark
Hard to believe we will be in
Antarctica this time next year. Not sure how penguins celebrate…ha ha.
The hikes in “our woods” have been pretty quiet. However, we did catch a glimpse of a Hooded Warbler. Not of interest to anyone except fellow birders. They aren’t supposed to live here and we got a “bad” shot, but good enough to identify it. Greg reported it to ebirds and they questioned it, but after he sent the photo to them, they published it and on the daily “rare bird alert” it was sited with location and his name. So, 2 days in a row we spotted a new bird. The other one was a Greenish Elaenia. Not rare, but it was the first we saw it well enough to determine without a doubt what it was.
Hooded Warbler
Greenish Elaenia
sunrise
We are 3 weeks away from our Amazon River Cruise. Time to start pulling together our packing strategy. I’m still waiting for the malaria meds to arrive from Canada. Hopefully, it gets here in time.
I’ll have more on our itinerary in my next post before we go. We probably won't have internet access on the riverboat, so will update and post photos when we get back.
Until next time......
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