Why Panama?

Dear Friends and Family,

For those of you who are interested in our day-to-day life as expats in Panama, my very own blog, Our Life in Panama, is born today. I know some of you still think we are nuts for living here, as in, OMG .... it's a third world country run by the likes of Noriega! Others of you have visited us and have seen what we see: a slice of heaven with great weather, a stable government, and a throwback attitude that somewhat resembles the U.S. in the 1950s. The rest of you are just curious about what we find to do here all day. So, for all of you who have expressed either interest or concern, here goes: the first "Our Life in Panama" post!

First of all, I would like to thank Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and California Governors Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger for giving us the opportunity to live here in Panama: Al Gore for inventing the Internet so we can pay our California bills online, Gray Davis, who handled his historic recall with a great deal of grace, and his subsequent replacement, Governor Terminator, for giving both Dan and me the final impetus to retire. Since I was appointed by Governor Davis to run California's Department of Aging and Dan ran the anti-recall campaign to try to prevent the whole recall debacle from happening, we were, to put it mildly, ready to change our lives after the recall became a reality. Not that the Schwarzenegger team was mean to me, but when you spend a whole year without anyone asking for your advice or input .... it's time to go. And Dan, after 32 years as President of the California Professional Firefighters, decided to change his emphasis from politics to training. He is the current Administrator of a large apprenticeship program that trains firefighters in California.

Long story short, when we make a change, we make a BIG one! A much needed five-week vacation in Panama in early 2006 turned into a full-on property search. After putting 1,500 kilometers on a Toyota Yaris rental car and exploring every inch of the Pacific coastal area of Panama, we settled on the one development project that, at the time, required passage over the most god-awful road in the history of roads to find. But find we did. And it felt right. I must admit though, after we wrote the deposit check for the house we now call home, I woke Dan up in the middle of the night screaming, "We can't do this! Call the bank! Cancel the check!" Like always, he talked me down. Like always, he was right. Well, sometimes he is wrong, but never about money.

I have to warn you. If you read my blog entries, I sometimes ramble. On the other hand, give me a break. I don't work anymore and I have a hard time doing crossword puzzles in Espanol.

That said, let me give you a snapshot of a typical day for us. It's Saturday. I slept in until 7:00 a.m. Dan, of course, was up at 5:00. We had coffee, watched a few birds in our yard and almost ran out of time before heading to the beach in our new red Kawasaki for low-tide sea shelling. Our first encounter out of the driveway was a chance meeting with the National Police truck ... followed by an big entourage. Our Panamian Minister of the Treasury, Alberto Vallarino (like a Tim Geitner for you U.S. folks) and the President of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli, were pulling out of Senor Vallarino's driveway and were out for a leisurely drive in Senor Vallarino's green Kawasaki. THANK GOD I was dressed for the occasion, in my INC conservative black bathing suit and my Sacramento Kings ballcap. We waved; they waved. We went to the beach. We have no idea where they went. I swear, this is not unusual. When we first moved here, we did not know that we lived down the road from the previous President, Martin Torrijos. And we did not know our neighbor, Senor Vallarino, would end up as a major candidate for President in the last election. Dan says it's our destiny. We just cannot seem to get away from politics! Anyway, in my observation, Panamanians are very civil in their political alliances. And they don't seem to hold grudges. Or if they do, they keep it from the press better than their U.S. counterparts. Former opponents from different political parties seem to end up as trusted appointees after the election dust clears, as is the case with Senor Vallarino, who is now serving in the administration of President Martinelli. And get this, according to a recent article in The Visitor, they are both fans of American pork and beans. Talk about a bond!

Political encounters aside, the rest of our Saturday was relatively mundane. Lunch, pool time, and checking out the "haps" at the on-premises hotel and beach club took up most of our afternoon. Oh, and we did drive the Kawasaki down by the river to pick a few ripe Mangoes. Helicopters are still coming and going around here, picking up dignitaries as I write. Music is still blaring from the wedding reception at the hotel. The bar was so busy over there, we couldn't even get a drink! Lucky for Senor Dan, I make a mean long island iced tea. Well, Senor Dan is calling. He needs a refill. Oh, and I need to make a dinner reservation. Life here is so dang hard. I just cannot fit it all in. Chao! (I don't know why they say this in Panama ... but they do. Go figure.)