November
12h, 2012
I
have also posted my blog at WorldPress, but I will continue to post
at WorldPress and on blogger also for a while and see how it goes. I
find WorldPress a bit easier and more flexible so I may end up
staying there.
It's
Monday, not that the day of the week makes a big difference these
days (except for Spanish lessons that have resumed now). I thought we
would stay home today for a change, but someone with a car that might
interest us is coming to town so we can take a look at it. Every day
seems to be something we need to do. I'm still not very organized
either. Maybe if I could manage to have a shopping list in a certain
place where I could find it, I wouldn't forget things and I could
organize our days better.
I
keep forgetting it's only been ten days since we all got here. It
seems every day we have a list of things that spills into the next
day or two because I wear out before we get to the end of the list.
Can we get a butter dish so we don't have to use an eating dish for
the butter? Dang, I forgot oregano again. We really need a medicine
cabinet or shelves or something for our toiletries in the bathroom.
Ma wants dresses, with sleeves. Where is a good place to buy clothes?
Does anyone even have such dressed or do I need to buy a sewing
machine? Where do they sell sewing machines? What do you mean we are
out of onions? When do we get to chill out and do all the things we
planned to do here?
I
have been trying to slow down and put some fun things into our days
now. Saturday we took a walk in the woods and explored the beautiful
area across the street. Yesterday, I did a bunch of computer stuff
that I'd wanted to do for a while. We are starting to get a system of
chores in the house, sharing the cooking, washing up, etc. so no one
has to do a large amount. I know we are making progress and this is a
process that doesn't happen overnight.
Panamanian
houses are built differently than houses in the US. Ours is cement
walls covered with a tin roof. The rooms have thin, lightweight drop
ceilings, and above the ceilings is mostly open space between the
ceilings and the roof. Sound carries! It's almost like there are no
walls. Ma doesn't have good hearing and she loves to watch TV, so now
that we have figured out how to get some US English channels there
has been a lot of TV in the house at a fairly high volume. I don't
like TV. There are people hollering from that box in the living room
and I have no interest in anything they have to say, especially since
the easiest news channel for her to get is the F channel. Blech. I
want to study and write and do my own thing and I can't concentrate,
so I do much better on the back patio.
There
are advantages to the back patio! I was out there last night
listening to the sounds of the night. What is this? VIDEO LINK I
am still amazed at the variety of birds around here. It seems I am
always hearing something new and different. Our neighbors invited us
over yesterday for a tour of their yard. They told me they have many
many birds that visit when they cook outside because he usually
tosses them any leftover rice or other treats. They also have humming
birds and when the feeders are full, there are many of them in the
yard. Now I need a humming bird feeder! I was really interested to
see everything they are growing too. The little things I thought were
red peppers grow on a small tree, and there is also another kind of
bean/pea that also grows on small trees. There was a lot of more
familiar things too, though I don't know all their names in Spanish –
avacado, rambutan (same family as the lychee I had in Florida),
papaya, pineapple, yucca (he says you need to cook it with pork),
tomatoes, peppers, plantains, and probably many other things I've
forgotten. He has the equivalent of an empty lot next to the house
which he uses as his garden, and his property backs up to the woods
across the street so it's a really beautiful place.
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