July 8….Arrived Panama
City around noon. Left our bags at the hotel. Went to Multiplaza Mall and ate at
our favorite restaurant Tacontento. Activated our phones at Movistar. Checked
into hotel Best Western Plus Panama Zen Hotel. Our friends from Bocas Jonathan, Alma, Michelle & Maya
met us & we bused to a Buffalo Wing restaurant.
As soon as I stepped off
the plane into the Tocumen International Airport I felt totally relaxed….more
relaxed than returning ‘home’ to the States. It’s hard to explain but I just
felt ‘right’….and present…..’arrived’. Everything felt natural and easy. There
was no line at customs and the agent was mellow and nice. Our bags were waiting
in a group for us in baggage claim. As we exited the airport the usual taxi
guys were there in their yellow shirts soliciting us with a smile. He told me
it would be $50. I ‘made-a-face’ and said to Alisa, “the prices have gone up;
it was $40 last year.” Without missing a beat he leaned into me and said, “It’ll
only be $40 for you! Forty for you!” I’m sure it’s probably more than a local
would pay, but I felt good about it. And then we were relaxing in a big comfortable
van absorbing all of the greenery that filled the scenery. Malea noted that she
loved all of the trees here compared to the lack of trees in San Francisco.
July 9….Dad worked in the
hotel. Michelle came over and all the ladies went to see Antman and Wasp movie.
Girls swam. Dad took metro to Albrook Mall to get bus tickets to Bocas for next
day. We went to Maya’s birthday in the evening. Girls spent the night at their
house.
July 10….Mom & Dad had
a massage in hotel room in the morning. Dropped off some laundry. Alma,
Michelle & Maya came over for a swim. We chilled with them after checking
out. Caught the 6pm bus to Bocas and ran into another Bocas local on the same
trip. Mom & Xiara….Dad & Malea shared seats and slept on the all night ride.
.
July 11…We arrived at the
dock in Almirante at 4:15am and the ferry wouldn’t leave until 6am. Upon
arrival a ferry worker confirmed we had tickets and had us sign in into the
registration book. And he said we now only had to wait. At 5:45am a mini-bus
pulled up and off-loaded about 40 guys. They immediately formed a queue at the
front door of the ferry office. When the office opened at 6am they all started
receiving number cards for boarding the 20 person ferry. By the time we figured
out what was going on the line had grown even longer with locals. Fortunately
the Bocas local that we knew had figured it out before we did and had a spot
mid-line. He got us numbers 40-43 so we ended up on the 3rd ferry
boat. Here their called “Lancha”. It was a classic Panama experience. You just
have to go with the flow and hope you know somebody!
.
The island was just waking
up when we arrived at 7am. Streets were mostly empty except for the wandering
dogs. We took a traditional stroll right down the middle of main street………because
it’s awesome to be able to walk in the middle of the street! That’s something
the kids especially miss when in SF. It’s funny what they notice and enjoy : ) We
found a tiny little eatery where we had a traditional Panamanian breakfast
bread: hojaldre. It’s just a thin piece
of fried bread.
The kids were all fired up to get to our place so we headed over there. The office was closed, of course. On the way we spotted a restaurant attached to one of the nicer hotels on the street. They had just opened so we parked all of our luggage on their deck and had tasty breakfast. Our waitress was a friend of Alisa’s, of course : ) She was super happy to see us back and made us feel at home.
The office manager of our
lodgings knew we were to arrive early and called Alisa at 8am and invited us to
check-in. That is the classic Bocas hospitality that we’ve grown to love! By mid-afternoon on our
first day here all the girls friends had gathered to welcome them here.
At the end our 1st
day here Malea said, “I want to live here for another year. No, 2 years!” I
totally get it. In many ways this feels more like home than home! In SF the
people are there for work or school or some other ‘practical’ reason…..including
us! But here in Bocas, especially among the expat community, people are here
because they love it! And that creates an entirely different outlook on life. Even
though this can be a difficult place to live the people here are living the
lives of their choosing which creates a sincere, genuine & contagious joy! It’s
a joy that resonates with us as we absolutely love being here!
By the
next day they were having sleepovers. Alisa & I were having dinner dates
with our friends. Within 3 days we had bikes for us. Multiple birthday parties
have been attended & a World Cup Gathering. We have had a gaggle of girls over
here almost everyday jumping off the dock, riding the crocodile and lobster
floaties & fishing. It’s been just over a week of non-stop activity.
Malea had to throw in the towel last night when invited for another sleepover.
She opted to stay home with the folks for a chill evening. Xiara is our social
butterfly and is going strong soaking up her Bocas-based friends.
As I continue to think
about the differences between our lives here and SF the idea of time arises.
Here, there is more time. I attribute this to there being less obligations.
Granted it’s summertime so the kids are out of school, but even when we lived
here full-time and the kids attended school full-time……there was still more free
time. We have wonderful friends in SF, but there is no way we hangout with them
nearly as much as we hang with our friends here. Everyone, including us, simply
has too much stuff to do. Every nook and cranny of our lives is scheduled with ‘things’.
And though the things seem like useful things, it leaves little time for
spontaneous gatherings. Bocas is the land of anything-can-happen! It’s totally
refreshing. Coming here for the summer is a wonderful reboot & inspiration
that we hope to carry with us wherever life leads….
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