TheExpatJournals.com

One thing I do miss a lot about Panama was spending New Year’s Eve in Portobelo at the home of my friend, Sandra Eleta .  Being the great lady that she is, it was always fascinating and since I spent a one night with her when I was in Panama a couple of months ago, missing it was felt all the more.  Her Portobelo compound was always filled with the most interesting people no matter when you visited, but New Year’s Eve was special.  It instilled in me an appreciation for new spiritual traditions.  The custom of burning a muneco (doll in English, but almost a life-sized scarecrow-like rendition in real life or as most foreigners here call them: effigies.) of someone you dislike was something I adored in Panama, so I was very glad to see it’s just as much of a custom here in Ecuador.  In Panama, they’re called munecos.  In Ecuador, they’re called ‘Ano Viejos’.   (more…)

My dog broke my water main. When trying to figure out where I lived, the girl at the video rental asked if I lived in front of the “Judy who drinks?” One friend knew exactly when I was at Cable and Wireless in spite of the fact that there are only 3 employees and there were 2 other customers whom I did not speak to. A great lunch is $2.25. The electricity bill for my house last month was $4.24 which could be because there are so few outlets to plug anything into. I had two 25 year olds seriously hitting on me even though I told them my son was almost their age. I watched the Academy Awards en masse. There are six options to purchase shower heads, one option to purchase an on demand water heater larger than 6 liters and no marine sponges exist. (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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Well, it feels akin to that in-between hair stage on this board right now. There are lots of things happening in the neighborhood, but I’m not well enough informed to actually write about any of it.
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I’m gonna ramble, so bear with me… It is HOT during the day, clear and beautiful, but hot. Seems the average daytime high now is 90-92. And because we’re in the tropics, the sun feels far more intense than 92 degrees felt in NYC. I walk in
the shade. I use the air conditioning every day.
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