TheExpatJournals.com

It’s May 15, 2009.  My things have finally arrived from Panama.  I thought they would arrive in December 2007.

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(Note: First…at the end is a link to photos that you absolutely should not miss!)

There is a valley outside Cuenca that has become my dream.  Nestled between mountains, yes, a river runs through it. I have been out that valley about 8 times now, each time going a bit further. The further you go, the more the landscape changes…from lush green to paramo where the handful of residents plant bushes around an area to use as a garden because otherwise, the wind is too harsh and the nights too cool to grow anything. (more…)

I realize I haven’t been posting or writing and offer up my apologies to those of you who are here for no other reason than that. My work schedule is so grueling and I’m pretty much spent at the end of the day. The good news is that in about another month, I’ll then have about 3 months off. Like a teacher, my work revolves around the school year. The best thing about the work I do is that I can do it from HERE!
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So indeed, dog tired, I arrived back in Casco Viejo Tuesday night missing both the opening day of post-season baseball and the vice-presidential debate. I had arrived in NYC in the middle of the Republican Convention. Those two flights couldn’t have been more poorly timed if I had tried. At least it wasn’t boring when I arrived and thank God the flight didn’t have a lot of people on the return. I think I’ll try to always book flights on Tuesdays in this direction.

I don’t think I will ever get used to the overpowering blast of humidity when you open the door at Tocumen. Even before that, the smell of mildew is present from the time you deplane. (more…)

For some reason, I feel absolutely every little thing that touches my skin. At first, I thought that was simply my bug/mosquito paranoia. I don’t think so. Most of the time, I look to see what it is and it’s a piece of hair or a string or something innocuous. But it feels so vivid. Wondering why this wasn’t the case in NYC, it’s probably two-fold. First, I rarely went sleeveless or wore shorts nearly as much as I do here and therefore my skin wasn’t exposed to feel it. But also, there just aren’t many bugs in NYC and there, I spent so much more time indoors that bugs weren’t a normal part of awareness. And here, those pesky little hormigas (ants) that are everywhere will sting! Those don’t raise a welt, but for an instant, it’s as though a burning hot needle was poked into my skin that causes me to simultaneously itch…just for a moment. Still, I think the climate has something to do with what feels like increased sensitivity.

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July 8th, 2004

This was a magical morning. I borrowed the neighbor’s dog, a wonderful Springer Spaniel named Manuela. She and I walked for an hour beginning at 8AM. Virtually no one is out in my neighborhood at that hour, at least not on a rainy morning. The intense thunderstorm woke me up at 5AM. The lightening seems to crack as though it’s just hit your building followed immediately by the immense rolling boom of thunder. It’s so loud you know it’s in your neighborhood, not simply
nearby. (more…)