TheExpatJournals.com

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…)

Well, back into the land of the technologically blessed (?) after a month of roaming to cooler climes where you can find Panama as it used to be and where the horses far outnumber the cars. I did keep a bit of a journal and since I’m a little ‘burned out’ as a result of driving all the way back from Boquete on Thursday followed by a trip to Portobelo and back on Friday (and a BBQ coming up today followed by a trip to Sierra Llorona tomorrow and Portobelo on Monday), thought I’d just copy you guys on bits of my Santa Fe journal: (more…)

Didn’t know I was going to stay that long, but one thing lead to another and quite honestly, I was loving it there so much, I didn’t want to leave. I wrote 22 pages of journals, but since you’re all so familiar with Panama, I can sum them up simply by speaking about a few stand outs. (more…)

And no, I’m not talking about Bush’s visit last week. Isn’t that what they call Air Force One? I’m being literal. Honestly, sometimes life in Casco Viejo seems to fall into that category of ‘who could invent this stuff?’ And everytime, something rich unfolds, it just feels like this little part of the universe is something more special than most.
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I have written that what I love most about Casco Viejo is an intangible in the same way sparks fly when two people meet. You can’t put that in words that can adequately explain it, but you sure know it when you feel it. (more…)

Beginning with coming over to sign the lease on the new apartment last week, life has been completely different. That day, I kept running into people I knew. Seems I can’t walk a block without interacting with folks. Everyone knows me, says hello and smiles. I didn’t realize how comforting that interaction on the street was until it was gone. It does remind me of the neighborhood feel of an NYC of yore, a time when perhaps you didn’t know the shopkeeper’s name for the first few years of going in there on pretty much a daily basis, but you knew each other anyway. You shared those few moments each day or every few days that said "We are neighbors. We share this and that is special because that’s just about us and not the rest of the world. We have mutual respect for one another. The day is a little bit brighter now that we’ve shared a smile."
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