TheExpatJournals.com

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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Comment: You should start a Panama branch of Zagat’s dining out guide. What a good review of food and restaurants. I’m a former New Yorker - born upper East Side, lived on Christopher street until moving to New England.

Question: What NYC neighborhood might Casco Viejo compare to in terms of safety (if a comparison can be made)?

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I love New York City, but I sure like me a lot better when I’m not in it.

This will be a bit unusual for my Panama Chronicles as it pertains almost exclusively to departing the US with finality. Many people have asked me how I landed in Panama or ‘Why Panama?’ and there’s not really a simple answer.

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Wondered while flying in if the Empire State Building was colored blue to indicate pride in being a Blue State or mourning for the outcome.

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I am about to leave for NYC again day after tomorrow. This will be the last time I have to go there. In the future, it will be as a visitor and not a resident. My apartment will be closed and empty by the time I return to Panama. While I’m not looking forward to the work of a move, unlike previous moves, the pain of what’s in store is so diminished by knowing I will be free of it and my life will now be in Panama.

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Well the weekend is here. It’s a very different experience living in Panama and working this hard. My work revolves around the school year, so I’m pretty wound down by May and then in September, I become a slave all over again. I had a partner for ten years, but differences in direction forced the seperation at the beginning of 2004. And now, I can work really hard for awhile and then take a decent chunk of time off. But I still hate it when I’m working this hard. I cease to be anywhere but in the work. I can barely take in the ocean outside my door or the flowers that now fill my balcony, though after a relatively strong wind yesterday afternoon, I did at least notice the sunset-red carpet of verenera (bougainvilla) that covered the Paseo. (more…)