Seattle to Panama

Panama Protests and Rainy Season Sympathies - October 2023

I was thinking of celebrating the one-year anniversary of moving into this house in Panama with a Home and Garden edition of this blog, but life happened. This is the Rainy Season in its drippiest form. We have been trying to make up for the drought's effects during

September - Our First Anniversary in Panama

Happy Anniversary!  It does not seem like we have been in Panama for a year.  Perhaps that is because I am used to four distinct seasons that mark the passage of time, but it doesn't seem like a year.  And yet, it feels like we have settled in

August Climate Sync

Rainy Days in August Always Get Me Down (a riff on a hit from the Carpenters, Rainy Days and Mondays https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjFoQxjgbrs).  Actually, I am not down, but I do feel a bit out of sync with the seasons.  I am not used to Boquete&

Boquete July - July 31, 2023

Hello!  Panama is green and lovely.  The northern hemisphere's summer months are a time of hit-or-miss rainy season in Panama; some days it rains, some days not; some days it rains for a good portion of the day, and some days it is summertime sunny from 06:30

What I miss - June 30, 2023

I have been busy.  The weather has been rainy - the rain did finally show up.  I have been taking photos, though there are fewer flowers and birds this season, so they are the same subjects in multiple poses and not the variety I normally have.  I thought I would

Wisdom Pays - May 18, 2023 - Panama City

Hello from Panama City and day three of our excursion to get more government paperwork done!  We had another adventure of a productive day, though we got up way too early, and by noon, we wondered why the rest of the world was still looking like the day was but

Bits and Pieces - May 17, 2023 -Panama City

Hello again from Panama City!  Today provided an interesting display of red tape and sitting in government offices.  We were advised by the Panama Relocation Tours people to hire a "fixer" concierge to lead us through the process at the Panamanian Federal Tribunal Electoral building and tomorrow at

Catching up - May 16, 2023

Hello from Panama City! I thought I would just splatter some of the exciting items of the past month, and this trip down the page for you, hopefully with enough photos to keep it interesting. Lunch!  I had a wonderful lunch in Panama City today - I told you yesterday

Waiting for the Rain - May 15, 2023

Hello from Panama!  I have been on dental work hiatus, and while regaining oomph, I had to wade through the acquisition of Miguel's monster cold, change-of-season allergies, and the asthma of it all settling into my chest; the good news is that I am starting to feel stronger

Murals and Teeth - April 11, 2023

Hello from Panama!  You might wonder what murals and teeth have in common, and the answer is only that they have both been taking my time and attention.  Murals are prettier, so they will provide the artwork for today's post.  My teeth are not worthy of even digital

Seasons Shifted; What I Noticed - Feb 27, 2023

Seasons - Rainy to Dry, Rainbows to Windy:  Over the past three months, the season shifted from rainy to summer.  You might remember me announcing that the rainbow season had begun in December, and we had an intense double rainbow yesterday, in fact.  The photos start to get a sameness

What's MaryBea been doing? Feb. 8, 2023

Hello!  I am still here, in Panama, enjoying paradise.  It has been a year since I started this blog during our scouting trip to Panama - what an adventure of a year! Where have I been? During December, I got lost in the holidays away from home - it was

Yard Birds 2 - The Tanager Family and more - Dec. 12, 2022

Hello from beautiful Boquete!  We have officially transitioned from Rainy Season to Rainbow Season, and we started the month with a double rainbow afternoon - quite dramatic for a kick-off!  The double rainbow lasted for over an hour, and cars stopped on the street to admire the view. The slow

Independence Day from Spain Parade - November 28, 2022

After a very wordy November 26, I thought I should lighten up and fill your inbox with a parade for independence.   I will try to keep the announcer's intervention to a minimum and let you enjoy the culture and the flash. People come from all over Panama to

Thanksgiving and 60-day check-back; Nov 26, 2022

Back in the olden days, in September, I had made a list of things we thought we would miss about Seattle and some things we anticipated about moving to Panama.  Since Thursday was Thanksgiving, I thought this would be the perfect weekend to review our thanks for the things we

Yard Birds - Nov. 16, 2022 - Boquete, Panama

Hello from Panama!  We are between patriotic holidays this week but deep into the rainy season.  Yesterday we had a hint of the coming Rainbow Season, which usually colors December and carries over into January - rainy in drizzly patches throughout the valley with enough sun to produce rainbows that

Panama's Mes de la Patria - Patriotic Month - Nov. 8, 2022

This week kicked off Panama's month of independence - from everyone.  This month is book-ended by two independence days, the first on November 3 and the final on November 28.  This first week was four holidays, nothing got done, the town was packed, and there wasn't

Little Learnings - Nov 1, 2022 - Boquete, Panama

Panamanian birds like to have conversations.  I can stand out on the balcony and sing or whistle to the birds, and they will converse.  There seems to be a wider variety of birds in this neighborhood than in the hotel's area, but that might be my noticing, or

Short Stories - Oct. 25, 2022 - Boquete Panama

I am short.   Let me count the ways: 1. Stair-stepping:  Panama doesn't have the same, or perhaps not as strict, standards for things like counter height and stair step height.  I high-step up the stairs as though a member of La Reina's personal guard, and I

Welcome Earthquake! Oct. 20, 2022

It is too bad that Earthquakes don't get named like hurricanes - it would be nice to be able to say, "Earthquake Isabelle welcomed us to our new home this morning at 6:57 this morning".  We were reading in bed, and she rocked the house

Bajo Boquete - Oct. 18, 2022 - The Move

Have I got a Panamanian move checklist for you!  One hundred thirty-seven items and counting.  Things we checked for, some things we should have checked for, commodities we purchased in a massive Saturday shopping trip, items we have yet to buy, stuff we are still discovering, and services to be

Boquete Oct. 13, 2022, Residency Visa Application + Internet

Another big day.  This morning, we took accumulated paperwork from the FBI (clean records), Social Security (showing we have a qualifying income), the State of Washington (more clean records and wedding license), bank records, tax stuff, passports, and a partridge in a pear tree, and we went to visit a

Boquete - Oct. 11, 2022 - New Home and Hurricane Julia

It has been 5 days since my last post. Much has happened.   We toured around the neighborhoods of Boquete on Friday with Maury, looking for the elusive rental properties that might be available before October 31, as that is the start of High Season in Boquete.  November is the month

Boquete Musings - Oct. 6, 2022

Hello!  MaryBea in the Paradise of Boquete, Panama!  Miguel is here, too, suffering from allergies he didn't know he had. Which is a lovely segue to the cost of private medical services in a country of public health.  Soon after arriving, I felt I had cracked a tooth

Boquete Gardens - October 1, 2022 - The Mystery Clump

After breakfast this morning, I went out into the gardens to the north of the hotel and I noticed a clump of greenery about 20 feet wide and perhaps 12 feet tall at its highest point.  There were two predominant leaf types - a fern-frond style to the left and