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 an odd sense of having nothing to talk about!
December was quiet in our house, but very noisy outside our home. The people around us were drinking and carousing, lighting firecrackers, and playing music until surprisingly late hours every day of the week. Since we don't drink or carouse, it felt a bit insular, and I think I suffered some culture shock watching the world over-indulge while we under-holidayed.
Hot on the heels of the holidays, which extended through January 6 (King's Day), January for us was houseguest month, tropical cold month (ah-choo!), and Spring cleaning month (or post-holiday and guests-coming cleaning month). Much to do on our To Do lists.
Accomplishments, though quiet ones!
Office Space: We transformed the largest bedroom - which would be the master bedroom except that it looks onto the neighbor's ugly corrugated tin roof, into a guest room and an office space. We removed a twin bed and designed a desk that Ameth (our do-everything man about the property) built for us. Now we have charging stations, two desks, space for a file cabinet (when we find one), and great lighting compared to the dining room table.
Our Bedroom: We chose to use the bedroom with the best view and soundscape of the babbling brook, but it had the most uncomfortable mattresses I have EVER slept on. Also, the decor was so blah-beige; it was a downer, man! So, over three major shopping trips in late December and early January, we perked the place up with new mattresses, cotton sheets, a linen spread, a bamboo blanket, and new pillows; except for hemming the new white sheer curtains, the transformation is almost complete and very happy to our eyes, our joints, and muscles.
Appliances: We had both our microwave and toaster/convection oven go out in a two-week period, which required two separate trips to David - since we didn't know the second appliance was going to die so soon after the microwave's demise. Apparently, they were both about 15 years old and had lasted so long because the house had seldom been in continuous use as a rental. So, our good friend Ameth made two trips to David to take us shopping, and we got new appliances. You might ask why I couldn't just use the stove and oven - indeed, it should have been possible. BUT, the range and stove are gas appliances, and gas makes me nervous, having always been an electric kind of girl. The gas tank next to the oven/stove is a bit nerve-wracking; leave it on, and there might be no way to cook by morning, plus you might be asphyxiated!
Additionally, I have a hard and fast rule that ovens are not to be turned on if the temperature is over 72 degrees so as not to heat the entire house in an already heated environment, and 72 degrees happens by 10:00 am daily, and the temperature doesn't go below that until after 10:00 pm (though the wind might make it feel lower). So, no big ovens, and that's that! The microwave is needed because that is the safest way for Miguel to cook - all heat is contained, all explosions are contained, it turns itself off when the time runs out if he forgets and wanders off, and it is pretty forgiving.
New microwave right after Christmas, check!
Toaster, Convection, and more oven: Apparently, the toaster/convection oven in place was about 15 years old from when the house was built, though I didn't realize that countertop convection ovens were available that long ago. When we moved in, I learned the wonders of having a countertop oven, and a quick one at that - I can bake dinner without heating the whole house! And, I can do it in less time than I would have in the big oven, with only a few minutes to pre-heat! The new one has five settings, not just two: In addition to toasting and convecting, I can bake! I can turn on the broiler and crisp the top without moving the shelf! It air fries, so I raced to the grocery store for french fries, yucca fries, onion rings, and frozen pizza to dress up - whoo-hoo! Coolest thing ever - especially with just the two of us (or three, when we also feed Ameth). Everything cleans like a dream with silicone baking pans and low spatter due to low oil. Life is gooder!
Tile Clean-up: We have a lot of tiling in this house. Tile floors in every room and on all of the balconies. Tile bathrooms - everywhere but the ceiling! Tile counters, tall backsplashes, window ledges, and kitchen floors - with white grout! This has effects I had never considered before. Like the echos - there are no secrets in a tiled environment. Whispering does not help. Glassware is short-lived. Coffee and white grout do not get along well. We only have two cereal bowls and three dinner plates due to the dangers of tile counters! One solution is that Miguel chose some aluminum glasses/cups that cannot smash if he sets them down too hard - very handy - we found them at the dollar store.
A more significant issue for my sensibilities is that the grout was a mess, and the workers who did the reddish-brown lacquering of the cupboards also lacquered well up and over the tiling and around edges - with a red lacquer that clings like poorly applied, sticky fingernail polish. Untidy! So, every time I boiled water for cleaning the hummingbird feeder, or some other project, I would use the hot water and a toothbrush to scrub the grout and work on the over-lacquer. An hour or three here and there over three months, and finally a bottle of fingernail polish remover for the toughest-to-remove lacquer spots, and I got the worst of it before our guests arrived. I felt pretty accomplished, though no one noticed the crud that wasn't there, of course!
Meanwhile, I had bought some white grout/mescla to re-grout the deeply dug-out and stained area around the sink, and while I was out in the garden one afternoon, Ameth came in and did the sink counter re-grouting. NOW, I need to order some sealant from Amazon to even out the rough spots and some stains I couldn't get out, then protect my good work! For some reason, no one seals tile or grout in Panama; there is no such product here, even for construction. There is a strong acid that people use to whiten grout and remove stains, it even strips off your fingerprints, but the USA definitely has products that need to be imported into this tile-centric country; just type in "tile sealant" on Amazon, and see the variety of products missing from the consumer buyers-scape here!
Gas Stove Soot: Remember I said I am an electric woman? Gas stoves make a tremendous amount of soot - at least the ones I have run into here. Granted, I don't think this one got cleaned regularly, so the build-up probably got baked on over the years and between infrequent renters using it, but, UGGGGG! I did a bunch of research on the internet and bought ammonia so that the fumes would loosen the soot and baked-on crud. I set aside one of the outdoor sinks to seal up and soak the stovetop burner thingies for most of the day before scrubbing each of them over an hour to get the fume-loosened crud off; not a complete success, but much better from a crud standpoint. Everything within 7.5 feet of the cleaning area got black with the soot. Crud was everywhere. My clothing was unsalvageable. Why do people like gas stoves?
While the ammonia fumes were loosening the crud, I used other crud-loosening agents to clean the knobs and the outer body of the stove and oven and turn it back to white - another major endeavor, and a success! I didn't tackle inside the oven or the warming oven underneath the range where most units have a drawer for cookie sheets and pot lids - those are icky, but I don't use those sections, so they can wait - perhaps forever! I lined the top of the stove with aluminum foil - I knew there was a reason to own a roll! The unit looks like someone cares about it again, at least from the outside. Don't open the oven door!
Produce Aisle Dome: Another improvement I made is to encase our produce aisle in a fine mesh dome to control the bugs. An attempt to eliminate bugs in the tropics? No - that would be magical thinking. My goal is to distract the bugs. Those inside the dome are few, and either entranced by their hoard of fruit and veggies, or trying to get out. Those outside the dome are trying to figure out how to get in, and are totally engaged in the endeavor and not bothering me. Win-win for ME!
Most of the little bugs that drive me crazy are fruit flies - the other bugs get bored and go out the open doors to sunnier pastures, literally. With a small fridge, the amount and size of the fruit around will have to take up counter space, and with doors open all day, there is not much I can do to stop the bug traffic (screen doors are a rarity here, but blustery winds are typical). With the dome, if I wave the air around while placing it, most of the flies get out of the way, reducing the number inside the dome, but the mesh means that those outside can still smell the sweet goodness - so the flies outside sit on the mesh trying to figure out how to get in until they give up. If you don't feed them, they don't stay, I say! But, distracted, they don't buzz around me, either.
Bertilda: The day before Miguel's family arrived for a visit, Bertilda came to the gate while I was futzing in the garden and told me that she needed a job and would like to help me with my beautiful house (she said this in Spanish, and I understood!). Faced with a heavy-duty cleaning day of mopping two levels of tile floors, washing windows, preparing bedrooms, cleaning bathrooms, and other heavy labors, I welcomed her help. She worked like a power ranger, and between the two of us, we got through the most essential items on my list and squeezed in lunch, thanks to Ameth running up to get take-out from a local Panamanian food place. Bertilda is only sixteen but has a one-year-old daughter that her parents can care for on Saturdays while she helps me to clean. She previously had a job cleaning for the owners of a restaurant, where she cleaned the business, then they drove her to their house, and she cleaned the house; they paid her $15 for a 10-hour day, but she said they shouted at each other all the time, and it was the shouting she couldn't stand, so at last she quit, and that led her to my gate the morning I needed her most. So, Bertilda is going to come on Saturdays, do the heavy work around the house that I find difficult and Miguel doesn't like, and if the job list runs out before the time runs out, we work together in the yard - she loves the flowers just as I do. Since my Spanish is less than rudimentary, and her English is similarly small, between Miguel and Google translate, we get along with words, but the connection is deeper than language. Miguel and I were able to re-home the Android phone we bought last year when we needed a Panama phone during our scouting trip; the re-homing happened just as her family's single cell phone was dying, so now she and her parents have a working phone again. She got to have pizza for the first time - her family has not been able to afford the extravagance of pizza, and there are no fast-food joints in Boquete, so we sent leftovers home for them to try, too. Next week, hamburgers - another mystery for Bertilda! I am thrilled to have help in this great-big hard-surfaced house, and Bertilda is delighted to have a quiet job with perks like working for people who actually like each other and her!
Hydrangea / Hortensia: Miguel and I have settled into a yard care routine where he waters the yard and big planters on Wednesday and Saturday, and I water the potted plants those days, then I spend an hour or two a day weeding, plucking, fertilizing, pruning, and generally loving the plants. For some reason, probably soil content, the four hydrangea plants in the yard have always struggled, per Luly, the landlord. In the four months we have been here (we moved in around October 18), the biggest of the plants bloomed with 7 blossoms in December, but they were a sad white/green/pink color, and none of the other three plants even looked interested. I have been discouraging the bugs with tummy aches by spraying the bottoms of the leaves with soapy water, and feeding the soil coffee grounds, as Starbucks taught me, and Epsom salts, as Gramma Dorothy taught me; I found some time-release nitrogen fertilizer, and we have been consistently watering the loosened soil, so the water doesn't run off. Voila! Three of the hydrangeas have bloomed, and all four are much healthier. The tiniest one is only 8 inches across and about 6 inches high (up two inches in only two weeks), and instead of white-ish green blossoms, it has very intense blue flowers. Having lived in apartments for about 45 years, and living only a few months in the tropics, my gardening skills are principally love-based; I am so excited about this intensely blue Hydrangea I practically gush with pride and point it out to passers-by!
Guests: January was our guest month, and it was a delight to have family and friends around for laughs, new perspectives, and great food. We have two guest rooms! Both clean!!! The lovely mountain town of Boquete got shown off from the valley and the mountaintops, from the coffee fields, and our rainbow balcony. Miguel made a trip to Panama City to tour Casco Viejo (the Old Town), and the Canal before bringing family guests to Boquete. We had a barbeque carne asada and roast tomato salsa feast with all the fixings to share with Jorge, Luly, their daughter, Lucia (landlords), and Ameth. Being surrounded by good company and reasons to celebrate was a pleasure.
If you want an excuse to visit Panama, consider this your invitation. You can stay with us and spend your money on tours, or we have great hotels to recommend in both Panama City and Boquete (the most expensive in Boquete is across the street at $120 a night). Remember that Boquete town is only a mile long, so you are never far away.
Come on down! It is the best of Seattle Springtime every day, and you won't believe the coffee!
MaryBea y Miguel
Preview of coming attractions: What is changing with the seasons? Birds, flowers, fruits, weather, ex-pats... Can't you just wait?
How to find us:
Replies to blog postings via email: If you hit "reply" to this email and get a "no reply" address, use the x to knock it out, type in MaryBeaGallagher@gmail.com, and I will get your response. Quirky.
Email: Use our Gmail accounts for email - for some reason, my Comcast/Xfinity doesn't work consistently in Central America.
WhatsApp is the best route for texts and voice calls, but it is uncertain for video calls. We are officially in the Outback of Panama now, in a valley with mountains and extinct volcanos around, and the added interference of lightning and thunderstorms in the afternoons, so there are periods where transmissions will not get through. Find WhatsApp for your phone or computer at your favorite App store.
Blog Post Subscription:
- Current: Everyone receiving this as an initial mailing was subscribed by me - so you are already signed up.
- Add: If anyone wants to get on the list for the future, you can send me their name and favored email address, and I will add them, or they can sign up through Subscribe buttons on this page: https://seattletopanama.digitalpress.blog/page/2/?ref=Seattle+to+Panama-newsletter .
- Remove or change email address: Let me know if you want to be taken OFF the list or if you prefer I use a different email address.
- Otherwise: you will get all future posts as you have received this.
Past Blog Posts: Go to this site and poke around to find past posts, some as old as January 2022. https://seattletopanama.digitalpress.blog/page/2/