It took two days of bureaucracy to finally get my Ecuador driver’s license. The main reason for me to do this was two-fold: A. A driver’s course is mandatory and cost $160 up until May 1 when it was rumored to shoot up to $900. B) My US license expires in July and I’m not so sure I’ll be back in time to get it renewed. So the double whammy added up to ‘just do it.’ And boy did I ever break it in! (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…)
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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There are so many men with guns in this neighborhood. I’ve not only grown used to it, I really, really like it. In Casco Viejo, there are the Presidential Guards (Guardia Presidencial) , the Tourist Police (Policia Turismo) and the National Police (Policia Nacional). All have office headquarters in this neighborhood. The National Police and the Tourist Police have virtually identical uniforms that are similar to any US police uniform except for the color - khaki short sleeved shirt and brown pants. Both have bicycle divisions who have the same uniform except they wear shorts instead of pants. All carry guns, but only the Presidential Guards directly around the Palace carry machine guns. (more…)
I’ve lived in Panama City for 3 weeks today. So far, the `likes’ are decidedly outweighing the `dislikes’. I had done as much online research about Panama as possible before coming down for a month to see for myself. As I assumed, what I was able to unearth…even given my ability to dig pretty deep…was a mere pittance of what there is to find out. (Gallery at end of post) (more…)
I lived in the city for a decade, but after a crippling divorce two years ago, I moved away from the only place that ever felt like home. I refused to go back for a visit because I knew I wouldn’t want to leave and feared I might not. And I needed the time away. I finally did go back on September 5th after moving my son to school in Boston.
NYC to Panama to Ecuador...An ongoing glimpse into my life as an expat.
Photo: My favorite spot in my yard by the Yanuncay River.
