trip to David

Tidal Pool Red Frog Beach 8am Sept 25 2010

                                                                                  

Last Monday we left on the 6:30am boat from Red Frog to catch the ferry boat in Bocas, bound for  Almirante on the mainland, and then to hop a bus to the city of David, on the Pacific side of Panama. We were going there to buy  a used truck—a 1994 extended Ford pickup—2 seats in front and big enough to hold another 10 people behind the cab. Steve has been looking around the whole country for a truck for 2 months and this one seemed like the best bet and much more affordable than new. So, we (Steve, I and a mechanic named Lewis) got on the bus, which was packed with adults, kids, babies and 2 chickens. Mind you, this is not a greyhound- there are 15 rows of seats, each about 20 inches wide, 2 on each side and a one foot aisle down the middle with handles along the top for standing passengers, of which there were about 10. Mercifully, I slept for about half of the trip. About 3 hours later, 45 minutes north of David, Lewis whistles to the driver to let us off. We get off the bus and Lewis says, “Ok, we walk down that road about 300 yards and the truck should be there.” Well, other than a gas station, a cowboy roadhouse, and a few houses there is nothing out here – I mean NOTHING!! We walk in the hot sun for about 10 minutes, round a bend, and sure enough, there sitting at the left side of the road is the aforementioned truck. There is a house off the road behind it, no driveway, just a path over a foot bridge going over a stream. No one is home so cell phone to the rescue. Steve calls Miranda back at the project (Miranda is the “everything to everyone” person) to tell her no one is there. She has the guy’s cell phone and two minutes later calls us back and says he is in David buying a part for the truck and will be back in an hour. Right—someone is coming to buy your truck and you are gone when they come?! Well, seeing as it is lunchtime, we walk back to the bar, which is pretty cute—western saddles mounted on top of the bar stools! There is a TV on the wall over the bar playing a B grade American movie with dubbed -over Spanish (Chevy Chase and Sigourney Weaver, 1980s, very big hair, very bad movie) and Panamanian country music blaring over that. Fortunately, it is open air- just a big metal roof, a patchwork tile floor, the bar, some tables and picnic tables.  We finish eating some good comida tipica and Steve and Lewis walk back to the house and white truck. I put my head down and doze for a while, then start reading my book (Peter Mayle, The Vintage Caper). An hour later the sky darkens, so much that I can no longer read, and a downpour ensues. It rains buckets for the next 2 hours. I am wishing for my Bose headphones--the decibels in the place are literally through the roof, between the music, the movie, and the rain pounding on the tin overhead. About 4p a woman, who has just arrived in an SUV, approaches me and tells me in Spanish that Steve sent her to pick me up. We head back to her house, where all 3 guys are huddled over the open hood, all soaked to the gills, trying to install a new belt and thermostat. The woman then drives back down to the gas station to ask if they can bring the truck down there and get out of the rain to finish the truck repair and they say yes so then we all head back down there. I reclaim my spot in the roadhouse and watch the end of the next bad movie (the Harrison Ford and Ann Heche version of Castaway). By 5p we are out of there with significantly fewer bills in our pockets and a new old pickup, with a special ignition system—you have to spray Raid bug spray into the air intake while you turn the key in order to get the engine to fire.  That means you need another person there to start it with you, unless you have arms that are 8 feet long and you can reach under the hood while turning the key. Good deal, huh?  This story illustrates how things often happen here--which could be enough to drive an organized person over the edge. My daily mantras? be in the moment; two steps forward, 1 step back; go with it;  hang loose; embrace chaos; wine can be therapeutic; when in doubt, LAUGH.