Mike went on fishing excursion with Wayne & Rod early Sunday morning with hopes of catching some great fish. Which they did!!
I, on the other hand, hand had a lazy morning, drank my coffee on the front porch while watching the cows, birds, and Melvin and Fisher (our hosts wonderful dogs!!) run around the yard. I then updated the blog.
But the real fun began about 11:30am when Melinda (expat from CO) came over and, with Christine (our host), the 3 of us sat on Christine's back porch and painted our nails, both toes & fingers. We chatted, drank left over champagne from the baby shower so it wouldn't go bad (LOL), and just hung out until about 1pm "ish".
The plan was to pick up Eden and her friend and head down to Arenal beach where we would hang out some more waiting for the guys to come in. Just as we arrived, Mike called to let us know that they were over fishing off Isla Iguana and would be in in about a half hour. Amazing that cell phones work that well when you're 20 miles off the mainland coast!
When they came in they were sure hauling a cooler full of fish! They caught Sierras, Pompano, Pargo. And, Mike had a 30lb Dorado on the line that got away. So a very successful day for the guys!!
What was so great was that right there at the beach restaurant, we gave the owner, Michael, a bunch of the fish to fry up and they did in no time! Everyone said it was scrumptious and I actually had a bite and confirmed that it was a very mild tasting fish.
By 5, we all headed home for a quiet evening at our respective casas after a fun filled weekend!
Monday morning I actually set my alarm so that I could have time for a quiet morning before heading out to my very first Spanish lesson. I was very nervous because I certainly don't like feeling or sounding stupid. Mucho Tonto!!! LOL
Mike & I are having individual private lessons 3 times a week while here. Mike is considered an Advanced Intermediate! So proud of him!! I'm considered a Low Beginner. Hahahahaha!! That I am! By the time my class was over my head was pounding!! So much new information and I was concentrating so hard and feeling abundantly inefficient! They told me to get over it to relax and have fun. I was so glad my "first" class was over!
Mike was supposed to have his class right after mine but we were able to tag along with our hosts to go into the bigger town of Las Tablas, so Mike rescheduled for Tuesday morning. And, off we went mooching another ride rather than having to take the bus.
We were dropped off in front of a nice restaurant for lunch but neither of us can remember the name. After we finished, we walked the main shopping streets of town and meandered in and out of the stores. We found most of the items on our shopping list and I even found a nice Christmas decoration to hang up at "home" so I could feel like we were in the spirit! Most things were less expensive than in Boquete, which is what we were told would be the case.
Our biggest success was getting my iPhone setup fixed. We had each bought a prepaid $20 plan that included 1GB of data service including each phone being a Hot Spot. Somehow my phone never got connected correctly. The woman in the store spoke minimal English but we were so impressed with her friendliness and patience with us. So between Mike's Spanish and her English we were able to express our questions.
She came back with my phone and told me it wasn't "their" problem but a problem with the phone. I had my doubts as everything was working just fine when it was set up in Panama City when we arrived on November 11. So I shut down and rebooted and VOILA it worked! She was all surprised but happy and I was ecstatic!!
After meandering and wandering around some more, we decided we would like to have a cold one in a place that was a little more inviting than a local cantina. After walking around a bit, Mike spotted the 777 Casino and off we went. Sure enough not only did it have a full bar, it was air conditioned!!! We've been enjoying the warm sunny weather but in town there was no breeze and it was quite humid. We plopped ourselves down and my choices were chilled red wine (vino tinto) or white wine with ice. White wine with ice it was for me and Mike had an ice cold beer. A nice way to kill some time!
We did a bit more shopping and found a good bakery that had been recommended to us and began walking our way back to the Super Carne (grocery store) where we would meet up with Christine, our host, for a ride back to home in Pedasi. Some more groceries and we were on our way back. A good successful day for us! Not so much for Christine & Wayne. Long story that I won't go into but suffice it to say that selling a car for someone else here in Panama is not that easy!!
Tuesday morning's yoga class got "cancelled" by us girls due to too many life things that needed to be done. Mike went off to his first Spanish lesson here and I hung out at home. It had clouded up and everyone was praying for rain.
I did the calculation to see what ALL of our expenses had been for the first month in Panama. And we didn't hold back on doing the things we wanted to do - massages, teeth cleaning, dinners out, fishing, sight seeing, Spanish lessons, etc. A whopping $1,800 for EVERYTHING!!! So excited that all of our research turned out to be true! Living on our Social Security IS doable and then some!!
By the time Mike got back, it was decided that Mike would go back into Las Tablas with Wayne to keep him company while trying to get their friend's car sold to a young man from Panama City. I, on the other hand, HAD to do homework (la terea), which I did all afternoon!
A late afternoon walk on the beach with the girls was just the ticket after studying hard. Nice to be able to clear the mind, get some much needed exercise, and talk about stuff.
The guys were home by the time we got back and having a cold one with snacks on Christine & Wayne's back porch. So we joined them and had a wonderful home cooked meal by Christine (lentl soup with ground beef and home baked wheat bread). YUMMY!! Thanks Christine!!
Today the clouds hung around and the rain held off until I was at my Spanish lesson. Mike on the other hand, walked in the pouring rain! We don't seem to mind the rain when it's warm outside and you can still enjoy being outside under cover.
A good Spanish lesson was had by me and Mike. Lunch back at home. And, we decided to spend the afternoon doing our homework so that tomorrow we can play. The skies have parted and the sun came back out. We plan on walking into town this evening for dinner at The Patio, a new place for us.
Tomorrow Mike will be riding down to yoga with us girls and hanging out at Eco Vaneo, an ecological hostel across the road, until we're done. Mike & I will then kick around down there and maybe take the bus further south. Whatever, we'll figure it out and just don't worry, be happy!!
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