Variedad

                     

             One thing I really like about Panama is its uniqueness.  It's such a small country with variety of all sorts.  There is a variety in people, land, wealth, fashion, food, etc.  In the city you can see the variety everywhere you go.  For example, the huge high rise penthouses literally next to a slummy neighborhood existing today.  It's a wonder when those poorer hoods are going to be bought up by some rich companies to build the next tallest skyscraper in Latin America.  Or with the look of the people....you would never really say to someone, oh, you look Panamanian because that look could be White, Black, Moreno, Chinese, anything really.  Or wealth here in Panama....Justin and I are staying in Paitilla, one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in all of Panama and we literally walk around and feel like the poor folk getting passed by Porsches, Jags, and for the most part Range Rovers that speed by in Punta Pacifica.  Fashion, ah, this is a fun one....Justin and I like to notice the women here, mostly the common women, not really the wealthy ones like to wear clothes that look like that have to literally squeeze their enormous butt and waist into pants about 4 times too small.  I don't know, obviously aesthetically it looks ridiculous but comfort wise???  OMG, I'd die.  I think the term camel toe might possibly have been invented here....lol, ok, I am being incredibly harsh.  Some women, especially walking around Paitilla and Multiplaza mall have amazing taste in fashion and style but I really think they probably fly on their private jet to Italy and New York every few months for shopping trips.  Yea, it's like that!  LOL

 

 
                     Another thing we noticed, now that we are in Panama City of course is the variety in food.  We've been having a field day here cooking so we haven't been out too much checking out the restaurants but there is definitely an International flair here and it's fun to check out all the options we have at our fingertips.  One thing I appreciate is the amount of Japanese places they have.  Sushi Express and Sushi Itto are all around town.  Though this is a chain, being able to escape to a place that has wasabi and curry flavors is amazing.  We even splurged at a nice Japanese Sushi Restaurant for Justin's 24th Birthday called Matsuei.  Other than that there are a lot of options to always keep it interesting here.

 
                               This past weekend was full of social networking and party events.  It's like our social calendar went from empty to way too much to do in one night to be able to handle.  I'd say we tired ourselves out Friday and Saturday nights leaving our Sunday pretty tired/hungover.  It's a small world down here in Panama especially with expat events and parties.  They all seem to know eachother here and really like to drink.  Saturday night at the Super Gourmet in Casco Viejo there was a party and it was pretty tame until one of the guys, a friend of the owner brought out two bottles of Jose Cuervo and was feeding shots to everyone from an 80 year old Scottish woman to some Panamanian Cougar women.  They were freak dancing in the corner and having what seemed to be a very fun drunken dance party. As surprised as you may be, I did not partake in either the tequila shots or the dancing....I know, I know, this isn't the Mara you might think you know but I really don't think that getting that drunk in a foreign country in an area with some iffy streets still is a really good idea.  I'm not saying I didn't rock out later in the night but then was not the time nor the place.  Anyway, enough explanation, I turned into my super bitch mode/motherly character and told the guy to STOP with the tequila shots, and that what he was doing was irresponsible because those women were obviously blacked out and over served.  He apologized and took care of it.  I saw them later get into a car with a DD and it was a happy ending as far as I know.

 
                     Anyway, from there we had an awesome night meeting up with Dave, Dan, Meredith, and Jacob at Luna's Castle.  Luna's Castle Hostel is opening up most likely next weekend a bar downstairs in what looks like to be a Cavern Pub.  It's really nice with a huge bar and dark lit lighting.   We hung out there for a bit and then rocked out later on Calle Uraguay in a few clubs.  Lots of dancing, drinking and laughter.

      As I said, Sunday we were pretty spent so we didn't get all too much done but are currently working on a Business card (Justin and I realize how essential that is when you are out meeting people...DUH!  LOL), as well as setting up more meetings with some realtors and future business prospects.  Things are going really well so that's positive news.  Time is getting down to the wire and of course we are nervous about getting things started but we have a lot of faith and our enthusiasm and excitement are being recognized by everyone that we meet.  That positive reinforcement is helping out immensely.  We have classes here in Panama City until Thursday of this week then plan to head to Boquete for two weeks.  We are going to live the mountain life after having a month at the beaches in Bocas and two and a half weeks here in the City.  I hope all is well back home!  Besos a todos! 

Amor, Mara

Skyscraping

It's weird how quickly a lifestyle can change.  At this moment I'm dancing around a gorgeous luxury two bedroom apartment on the 12th floor overlooking Bahia Panama in Panama City.  Just three days ago Justin and I were in Bocas del Toro completely content with our lives day to day in our tiny apartment on Calle Sexto y Avenida D.  We were right by the airport, a 3 minutes walk to the main street, a 20 minute walk to the beach, a 7 minute walk to Spanish by the Sea Language School, and a 5 minute walk to Mondo Taitu (our part time promoting job for a hostel bar).  Being in Bocas for a month was like living in Paradise.  One thing I do know though is that it's hard to be really successful in a place like that where water, internet and phones work "sometimes."  Inconsistency is what people living and working there deal with often.  I'm sort of a patient person but near the end of our month stay I was really looking forward to coming back into civilization.  We met some amazing people that I am able to call my friends there and will surely be back but I don't think that is a place to set up shop to become successful in the business ventures that Justin and I are looking to get into.
    We've put on our thinking caps here in Panama City and I can tell already Justin and I have transitioned into "GO MODE."  We now have secure fast speed internet and are getting a lot more done with our business idea in the real estate service industry. We are able to focus and do research toward our idea in an air conditioned apartment with a wonderful kitchen to cook in and a beautiful terrace overlooking the ocean to escape to for some inspiration.  Staying in my parents condo is nice not only because we don't have to pay rent at the moment but also it's a good feeling to stay here and fix all the little problems that the condo has contracted after only two months of being occupied by tenants.  Helping them out with these little things I think gives them a better feeling like the work that needs to be done will be done right and with me to give an honest opinion of the process for them to breath easier being so far away.
    Today we checked out a language school that we are going to attend for two weeks.  We took a taxi to Spanish Panama, located near the Einstein Head off Via Argentina (they don't have addresses here so that's why a landmark is always necessary in Panama).  The school is in a brand new building in a really cool part of the city.  We are pumped to take classes together again.  It’s such a fun way to learn where we can poke fun at each other and make learning a lot more entertaining.  Thankfully with Justin’s inquiry skills we achieved an amazing deal for semi-private classes of just him and I.  So we’re going to do two weeks of intensive Spanish together here in the city. 

     After that we plan on heading to Boquete for a few weeks and possibly connecting with my brother Evan and his girlfriend Tiffany to go on some hikes in the mountains in between our continued Spanish study.

    Sorry for the lack of creativity in the blog.  It’s not that I’m uninspired, I’m just tired.  This is more of a boring diary entry of the past few days.  Anyway, it’s an acknowledgement in a way of the excitement that I’ve had all day for the next two weeks here in the city to not only stay in this nice apartment, but also to study Spanish and work on Justin and my business plan.  We will be busy busy!  : ) 

Justifying Leaving

      It’s the little things that I will miss the most about Bocas del Toro and our island life.  But there are a few things that I won’t miss that I can laugh about when remembering our day to day life on Isle Colon….Numero Uno, “Weed, weed, weed, Coke!”   Ok, this definitely needs an explanation.  I did not smoke weed or do coke while here but there is one dude on the main street that rides around on his bike bombarding tourists or gringos saying loudly in his island accent “weed, weed, weed, coke.”  Justin and I would laugh every time actually quite annoyed at how many repeat offers we would get from the same guy.  I mean really if we don’t want it the first time we probably don’t want it the hundredth time.  He never got the picture.  We never bought weed or coke.

      The lack of stable water in our apartment was another thing that I won’t miss terribly.  We lived on the bottom floor of a new complex of four apartments being built.  Near the end of our months stay in the apartment the water situation turned from being on about 70% of the time in the beginning to being off about 70% of the time.  We got used to having a nice little island stench all the time…. But not being able to clean the dishes after a big meal or flush the toilets kind of created a nasty little bug problem…

     Ok, and for the sake of not bitching in too long of a rampant, I’ll just list a few of the other things that I will not miss too much about island life

3. Taxi cabs who seem to be on a mission to run people over on the streets

4. The rock gang of little kids by the airport who like to throw rocks at people walking by

5. The stench of sewer smell that permeates the air after a rainstorm

6. The scary little girl that worked at the Chino near our school (She freaked Justin out every time lol)

7. And last but not least the constant refusal of boat tours every single day.  We’ve already been on one and don’t need to go again!     

          Other than these little things, I’d say Bocas del Toro is going to be a place I’m going to miss incredibly.  I have to bitch just because near the end it’s these little things that made it bearable to leave our paradise.  It really was a fabulous month.  We had beauty at our fingertips, a wonderful little home (even if it wasn’t perfect), a part time job for an awesome place with awesome people, a language school that turned into our second home, and each other to laugh with, cook together, and experience the culture of Bocas with. 

1. Mondo Taitu sign

2.Me, Justin, and Dave (Mondo Owner)

3. Me and Ronan (my Spanish Classmate at our BBQ)

4. Reike and her friend at Mondo

 

      We just arrived in Panama City after a long night bus ride.  I’m currently sitting at the pub table at my parents condo in Paitilla.  Air Conditioning, nice sheets, a nice kitchen, two bathrooms, a balcony, etc….Basically we’re getting a taste of luxury for a few days.  It should be nice. 

    After a day of recovery it’s back to the grind.  I’ll be continuing my language study as well as working on a business idea that Justin and I have been conjuring up.  Things are great!  I’m happy, we’re happy : )   I hope all is beautiful at home…Love, Mara

A Few Little Memories

This blog post is to mostly just put up a few pictures that I stole from Justin and Elisa when I didn’t have a camera…

Spanish by the Sea BBQ

Our first week here in Bocas del Toro we had an awesome BBQ, gorging ourselves on delicious grilled meats and salads.  There are about 20 or so students at ours school from all over the world.

 

 

 

Adrian, one of the teachers at Spanish by the Sea on grill duty.  Bacon wrapped sausage, burgers, kabobs, hot dogs, baked potatoes…

Basically a heart attack waiting to happen!

 

 

 

Koos, Elisa, Me, and Justin…3 hrs a day for 5 days

 

Chili Cook Off at Wari Wari

 

Wizard Beach Trip/Bastimentos/Old Bank Town

 

Earth Day Beach Clean Up help by the Smithsonian Institute

 

 

Great turn out early Sunday morning (8am) for the local beach clean up.  Tons of trash and recycling we picked up.  It was a really good time sweating for the beauty of the land as well as the beach that is in walking distance to town.

 

 

 

 

The people we’ve met and the little things we’ve been doing each day to keep busy have been really special.  Helping out the community for the beach clean up was something Justin and I really enjoyed doing and actually wish there were more organized activities in town to get involved in.  If we planned on staying longer we’d definitely consider organizing something but we’re in talks of leaving in a little over a week.  I’m already getting a little sad thinking about it because it’s amazing to think of all that we’ve done here so far in such a short amount of time.  It’s off to new places, people, and adventures!  Who knows, we may end up staying or coming back to Bocas…it’s really a pleasant little town to settle for a bit.

Island Hopping and Funny Money

I'm not sure what my reasoning for not writing very often is.  I guess I could try to make up some excuse like I am super busy saving the world but that isn't exactly the case.  It's not the other way around either though, which I'm sure my parents are pretty happy to know.  On this small island there are many temptations to go out every night with beautiful beach island bars having really cheap specials.  With that said, Justin and I have only been out twice in the two and a half weeks we've been here in Bocas del Toro.  We’ve taken our Spanish class very seriously and have realized that we work really well together in a school setting.  Also, since money is VERY tight, paying for language school is not something taken lightly and showing up to class with our brains not fully functioning is not in the cards.

Two weeks went by quickly and we really loved our experience at Spanish by the Sea.  The set up is great, the teachers are really cool, and we feel very welcome there all the time just hanging out with everyone and getting to know the other students and teachers at the BBQ’s and such.

This week I’ve decided to cut back on a bit of my class time and take one hour a day of private lessons.  In the past two weeks we covered SO MUCH material that I feel like some self study and one on one practice will be more beneficial to me than continue with a group setting where you can’t spend as much time needed on certain subjects that don’t come as quickly to you.  I start today with my teacher Adrian.  He’s very energetic, fun, and very good at getting you into learning.  He’s from Costa Rica and doesn’t miss a chance to mention anything about the Costa Rican culture……Pura Vida!  : )  Anyhow, I’m excited to try private classes because I think the dynamics of learning the language will be a lot more intense.  Justin is taking off of classes this week to catch up on the grammar and vocabulary.  He’s doing self study with all the material we received. 

After two weeks of living on a very tight budget, not going out to eat ever or going on any of the boat tours of the islands, we’ve (meaning me ) have become a little frustrated since Bocas is most famous for their restaurants and beautiful islands.  Justin knows the owners of Mondo Taitu here on the island because they are the same owners of Luna’s Castle in Panama City, where he stayed for 3 weeks a few months ago.  They are three very cool guys from the San Francisco area.  We’ve taken on a part time job there promoting their bar a few days a week.  It’s fun and only a few hours a day four days a week.  It’s a very chill place so I find it nice where I don’t have to grill anyone about coming to the party.  Pretty much a lot of people end up there anyhow since it’s one the the most well known bars on the island.  We use this money to buy food and sometimes use it for our fun money to go out and do things like the boat tour we just did this past Saturday.

 

 

 

We had such a great time going out all day island hopping spotting Dolphins in Dolphin Bay, playing around on Red Frog Beach, as well as Snorkeling around the reefs on Isle Solarte with beautiful Coral and some stinging jelly fish.  We had two characters on our boat joining us as well.  Jesse and Jason, who are wild Canadian guys traveling around together added some hilarious entertainment.  

So far promoting is going well, school is going well, and Bocas is still the life.  I guess I’m still not much in the blogging mood because I have so much to catch up on but I thought I’d just put a little something up.  Maybe I’ll feel inspired sometime soon.  I have to go study.  Sorry to cut it short.  I miss everyone!  : )   

Bluff in the Buff

We're really starting to settle here in Bocas. The town is small. There are only a few main streets that are known by the gringos that hold the "higher end" restaurants and coffee shops. We live about three blocks away from the main street which basically means we live in no mans land for the gringo community. Our set up is awesome with our apartment being one in a cluster of four apartments in the back of a very well respected woman and her family's house. The woman and her sister are very helpful and someone from their family is always up in the front of the house to say buenas and wish us well on our day or welcome us home each night. I feel safe here, I feel happy, and for the first time I feel like I'm really living in a different world, getting to know how people live in less developed countries.

Alright, I said I was going to talk about adventures this blog. We've had some really cool ones so far. I think Playa Bluff, a beach six miles from town was so far the best adventure. Justin and I, last Thursday after class decided to rent bikes from our school and take the dirt/sand/pot hole paved road to the beach from town. People were slightly surprised when we said we were planning on biking there because of the conditions and the distance but at that point we were ready for a bit of a challenge. A challenge it was but worth it in the long run. Justin has this really strong desire to find an amazing sunset. I think us living on the MV Explorer for three months and seeing incredible sunsets over the big blue gave us both this obsession with light/colors/natural beauty. Well, Playa Bluff is on the East side of Bocas and a sunset over the water wasn't exactly what we got. Alright, I'm jumping around here...let me get back to where I was at. Bike ride! Ok, so it felt amazing to hop on a bike and get behind a moving vehicle after so much walking we've been doing day to day. I loved speeding down the road covering so much more ground than my measly little legs could ever do. It's an exhilarating experience sharing the road with the taxi diablos that zip through town like their getting chased by the cops. About a mile and a half into the bike ride was the first bit of terrain. Moist beach sand isn't the easiest to trek through but with the ocean next to us and palm trees swaying, the sweat drenching down our faces didn't so much matter to us. The rest of the 4 or so miles were quite hilly with some stretches of smooth paved parts but for the most part we were winding through sometimes foot deep of potholes filled with mud while dodging large trash trucks almost swiping us by everytime they sped on by. It was mostly beautiful scenery til we encountered, after climbing a pretty steep hill a huge plot of land that was filled with burning trash. It was absolutely disgusting. During the day I was freaked out driving my bike through, but the way home was a scene from a scary nightmare.

We made it to Bluff, after about an hour or so...we stopped a few times to take some pictures obviously. It was a really fun ride and difficult at times, (exactly what we needed). We searched for a spot on the beach.....which is easy to do when you are the only couple on a famous and gorgeous beach. After the long ride we were so excited to go into the water. Well, after getting about knee deep I realized if I was ready for the end, ready to meet my maker, I would have dove in all the way but something in my brain told me I've got maybe a little more time in my life before I do something stupid like that and get myself killed in paradise in Panama. I guess Justin didn't have that same feeling. I watched him for a good 5 minutes fight the ginormous waves that continuously wanted to sweep him in one by one. The way the undertow was too, I can't believe he stayed in as long as he did. Now, I don't worry that much but honestly, I've never been a lifeguard, I'm not the best swimmer, and know that if I had to go in there and save him, there was NO ONE around to witness or help. I was freaked. Thank god he had enough sense to come in when he did because he looked extremely exhausted after that bit, almost like he was just wrestling a bull.

We didn't go into the water again that day. Well, maybe for a second to wipe off the sand but it was definitely a relaxation period for the next few hours under palm trees while we waited for the "picturesque sunset." We had a great time chatting, napping, and practicing our Spanish while the sunny day turned into a beautiful dusk. The light was tender and sweet for a good while and quickly went from a shadow under the trees into bitch black blindness. I'm not sure if I just couldn't adjust my eyes after squinting all day from the sun or if it really was just THAT dark but I started getting the ibby jeebies being out there, just the two of us, on a beach, having to trek back home through a snake and spider invested jungle path. I don't know if I showed my terror to Justin as much as I was scared but I was REALLY freaked out. Luckily with me, I have this ability to talk to myself and literally get myself out of terror by just thinking everything is going to be ok. That took me a good five minutes but once that was up I really embraced the darkness. There was a quiet peacefulness that shot through my bones and the terror turned to serenity. We stopped our bikes, looked into the sky and the stars turned to spotlights illuminating the holes in the road saving us from toppling over on our bikes. The ride back was full of giggles everytime another chunk of mud would fly up into my hair or onto my white shorts.

Once we hit the firey trash dump I felt like I was in the scene of a movie set from a horror flick. I could smell the dump approaching and see the smokey air haze in front of us as we rode the hill to the path along the dump. With perfect timing as we approached the land fill a guy walking along the road appeared out of the darkness. It was almost like he was cued....I'm surprised I didn't scream and crash my bike into the sharp rusty metal fence that lined the narrow bumpy road in between the fill. Justin and I just had to stop and take in the scene for a few minutes once we neared the end of the path. There was broken old toddler furniture mixed in the road looking VERY creepy in the scene. Another great cue by the director of God or whoever was the ginormous sized cockroaches finding their way to my feet as I parked the bike. It was really cool if you can take something like that. : ) Maybe I'm crazy but I thought it was really fun. It's also really sad to see that the people of Bocas are not into protecting their environment by burning such horrible amounts of trash right along the beautiful water where many locals and tourists swim.

We made it back with incredible exhaustion. It was definitely a long day but one to remember in the Bocas adventure stories. Everyday we've done some sort of new thing while still trying to maintain a lot of our day to studying our Espanol. In my next blog maybe I'll just talk about some of the other cool stuff we've done with a little less detail. It's been some pretty busy times here in Bocas and I think I can speak for the both of us when I say that living by the beach is really different and such a cool experience to try out.

Clase de Espanol

We're into a few days now of our language classes. In our beginner class we have Justin, Me, this girl Elisa from Newport, Rhode Island and this guy Koos from The Netherlands. It's a really unique school being half a block from the beach and all outdoor classrooms. We sit in our classroom named the Solarte, have a fan blowing full blast onto us while we go through our ejercicios y vocabulario. It's quite a nice tropical set up. Our main professor is named Melina. She's from Canada but her Spanish is fluent and look is very Costa Rican (She rocks some sweet dread locks and is tatted up quite nicely). She is also in charge of running the school and organizing the activities. Unfortunately, Justin and I are on a pretty strict budget and most of those activities are a bit out of our daily spending. Monday (Butterfly Gardens), Tuesday (Scuba diving Certification Course $225), Wednesday (Panamanian cooking class $10), Thursday (Salsa dance lessons $5), Friday (BBQ-Free drinks but bring your own food), Saturday (All day Catamaran Tour $33), and Sunday (Local beach clean up). Of all seven activities I think we're going to only do the BBQ on Friday since we can bring our own food as well as the beach clean up on Sunday because that is the beach we've been to most and actually were talking about how we should organize a clean up.
Even though we're not going to do much of the organized activities we're filling our day each day with so much to do. Spanish all morning, internet, lunch, some sort of outdoor activity, buy food for dinner, cook and hang, study and homework, then either reading or a movie before bed. It's so weird how you can be on a Carribbean Island where most people get lost in doing nothing or drinking beer all day and feel like you wish you had more time in the day. Each day is LONG, yes, but I have to say I enjoy it so much and LOVE waking up in the morning. Also knowing I have SO MUCH to learn is something that gives me anxiety. I wish that this damn vocabulary was just ingrained in my brain and I just need a little sprucing up but that definitely isn't the case. I have so much to learn and I think Justin and I know this is going to be a process. We're helping eachother out and luckily we haven't gotten on eachother's nerves yet for anything. I think we are on the same page with making the most of our time here in Panama as well as with taking courses.
With that said, I know it won't be impossible and once we leave Bocas after a month it will be good for us to move to a smaller town that is less touristy. I am thinking a homestay is going to be necessary after this. Ideas Ideas Ideas, we shall see. I'll keep this update short and sweet. Next blog I will explain more about our adventures and lifestyle. We're off this afternoon to the Botanical Gardens with the couple we hung out with in Panama City. Ciao for now....Mara