Aloha

Hello one and all... I have been getting less and less interested in my writing lately, as you can tell. So...I will not be writing for a while. Steve and I'll be going home in May for a few weeks. Bonnie and Sylvia are graduating and I have lots of face time to try to make up with family and friends. I may re-start the blog some time this summer. We will be back in Panama early June and it will be for an undetermined length of time-- this is our life for a while.
For now, aloha!

Bastimentos Boat Races

Saturday afternoon we boated over to the second annual Isla Bastimentos Boat Race weekend. The purpose of the event? ---to bring the entire Bocas del Toro community together for a fun weekend of water sports and raise money for the local community.  Picture the leeside bay of Bastimentos Town, also called Old Bank-- a turqoiuse blue pool about 15 feet deep, with star fish on the bottom. On shore are many concession tents and colorful flags. In the water are numerous boats of all kinds, many selling drinks and food. People bring flotation toys and blow up mattresses and anything they can use for fun in the water.  The boats gather in the center of the bay and the races happen in a circle around this, which makes it really fun to watch. In addition to motor boat races there was cayuco jousting, lumberjack log rolling, kayak relay races, cayuco paddling contest, diving for dollars, greased pole climbing, and blind dinghy races. The weather was beautiful and it was the place to be on a balmy weekend. (for more info and photos just google).

picture taken from second level of Jampan houseboat

Red Frog staff having a great time



 friends on the dock dancing



coming home into the marina- large boat is
the Akula, a british yacht

picture taken on hike yesterday- I am drawn to scenes that feel like abstract or still life compositions

breaking water on the point

(Steve and I decided to take a little mid day hike yesterday to break up the work day and enjoy the fine weather. These are a few of the pictures we took).

I'm off to patch some holes in a wall then meet our project construction manager and gardener to discuss landscaping for a newly completed house.  Hope you all have a wonderful week! 

more pictures

adolescent sloth hanging out in small palm tree at marina

sloth in tree 

sunset over Bocas Town, from deck at Cosmic Crab restaurant

bird  on beach

jungle meets sky

seaweed on sand-
effortless abstract art

friendly bird at local restaurant

that's my post for today-- I'm really tired and picures are so easy!

everyone loves pictures

dear Addy age 14 months-- no explanation needed

pool workers Hans and Laki (they came all the way from Maui to help out) blowing gunnite cement onto the rebar frames

this is how pineapple grows-- cut the top off and plant it and it takes about
18 months to grow a bunch of new pineapples fromthe old top--
this is the first baby

these are beautiful beach days...
crystal clear water, waves you can see through, really fun body surfing

the big lump is a huge sloth we saw when we were walking
in the jungle last week

a medium sized boa constrictor hanging around a tree by the hostel-
this one had just shed its skin

little time to write today, but knew you would enjoy seeing what I have been up to!

Reconciliation

Reconciliation. What a sweet word that is. My first memory of it, as THE word to describe a radical coming together and forgiveness, was in the context of the South African experience. I hope my use of the word offends no one, as I know this situation does not approach the years of suffering and lack of hope of Apartheid, yet what happened in our marina is a much milder form of that same human condition of separation and judgement.  And the resolution of our little problem here also comes under the heading of small miracle.
Yesterday I was feeling badly that I had exposed what was going on at the marina, as though I was telling tales out of school. I was incensed over the whole thing and also I felt it was a part of my experience here and I didn’t want to gloss over it. Well, ironically,perhaps my expression of my feelings in this blog gave me some permission to talk more freely about it with others and not to adhere to my usual northern European reticence about discussing such things (idle gossip, you know). At lunch I brought it up with a marina resident not directly involved and got his take on it.  He gave me a little piece of the history that I personally had not understood. He also told me that things were starting to settle down a little bit. And I tentatively suggested to him that maybe the marina residents group just needed to get a little rebellion out of their system and were now ready to just go with the flow of the rules. He thought so. And then I dipped my toe in the water of “what if?” What if the Dockmaster talked with the couple that had been ordered to leave (and who were now starting to leash their dog) and felt out the possibility of reaching a new understanding- a recognition of this experience as a mutual learning and a first time of enforcing the rules. Perhaps then there could be apologies all around and the page could be turned back (let’s rescind the order to leave) and ahead to “we all have figured out that we value what we have here and we want to make it work.”  Hmmm, he said, and nodded.
Anyway, I ran into the Dockmaster 2 minutes later and asked if that might be a possibility. And he smiled and said he really would like to do something like that.
The next I heard about it was later in the evening. We were at dinner at the beach and this couple was there. They were all happy – and apparently that’s what happened. The Dockmaster is no longer perceived as evil incarnate-- in fact has started some real friendships--and everyone gets it that the rules are for real. Each of us had our own little part in making it happen. I think the thing had run its course, there was a softening and opening, and everyone helped each other get the last little way. Who could ask for a better miracle?

Marina Madness

It seems that most of the foreigners who come to settle in Bocas del Toro are extremely independent , as well as adventurous and self-reliant. That’s a good thing, because you would never survive here for more than a vacation without those attributes. Now, if you also arrived here by guiding your boat over the ocean by yourself, you probably feel pretty capable and like you want to call your own shots. Many boaters who live in this off- the- beaten path paradise, on islands off of islands, also have a little bit of a crazy streak. This can mean lovable eccentricity, creativity and generosity, and it can also venture into the realm of varying levels of social dysfunction.

Well, there are a few residents here at our marina that have been skating along the line between independence and the above mentioned dysfunction (no, not THAT kind).  The marina, now 20 months old, recently enacted some rules to make it a more consistently pleasing place to live for all of the marina residents. These are kindergarten -type rules such as: keep your pet on a leash and under control at all times, clean up after your pet, no storing of personal belongings in common areas, no solicitation on the docks, etc. Seems pretty simple, but there are a few of the more than 50 residents that disagree with the rules and have been expressing their way- past- adolescence angst loudly  over the past several weeks.  They insist that these rules infringe on their ability to have an open, warm and welcoming community.   

The rule that they really hate is that you have to keep your pet on leash at happy hour. Seriously!!  They feel they should be able to have their pets wandering freely at happy hour, nuzzling and licking whoever they want to. Sorry, to me this is just gross. I don’t want to wonder what that warm wet thing between my knees is while I am sipping drinks with pieces of fruit and little paper umbrellas in them.  What if they slobber on my hand as I am about to grab a chip with salsa? Will the owner have some hand sanitizer at the ready so I can continue to shove food in my mouth with abandon?

To protest the rules, one of these dissenters is having his dog leave piles in the middle of the dock and lift his leg on the utility poles.  Another resident moved his meat smoker so that it blocks easy passage down the dock. Then there is the couple that is broadcasting on VHF that this marina is a terrible place and who would want to live here, blah blah blah—but, of course, they don’t leave because really it’s the best marina in the province. These are, I hate to say, old hippies and they look like old hippies.

Now, I love old hippies- in fact, I am married to one. However, lots of old hippies have aged into mellowness and wisdom rather than approaching the world with a chip on the shoulder and a semi-paranoid belief that all authority is suspect, except your own. They seem to want to enjoy the beautiful surroundings and new dock, but they want it their way, with no regard for the facts that they do not own the marina, they did not create it, they don’t have to maintain it, others live there, too, and they do have a choice to stay or to leave.  They seem to be choosing to stay and to make others want to leave. 

Well, leave they will--verbal warning, written warning, then out of here—that’s the sequence of events in the real world.  So hopefully they will move on to other places to try to make their lives work better than they did here. Who knows? Maybe they will find a little marina without rules and live happily ever after. I hope so. Meanwhile, I am sick and tired of the whining and (yes) name calling. Come on!! Most of us left junior high at least half a century ago!

Possums and People Pleasing

Well, for a Sunday off, I have been working a lot. First of all, there are three different houses that have guests arriving today. Part of what I do is I visit each house prior to check- in to make sure that everything says, “welcome- you are going to have a great time.” First, I want to eliminate unpleasant surprises for guests, such as caymans (small crocodiles) swimming in their pool (only happened once). And even though the house may have been cleaned less than 24 hours ago, you never know if some birds left tokens of their presence on the porch floor, or if a bunch of palm fronds dropped onto the patio, etc. Second, I put out the cushions for the outdoor furniture, make sure everything is in place inside and out, and just make sure the house is inviting and looks and smells clean. It is one way I monitor the performance of my staff. And it makes me feel good to know that things are as nice as we can make them. If the guests are staying for a week or more (or if they are a VIP) I also leave a welcome basket with Abuelo rum, pineapple juice, guava jam, yucca chips, a few other local treats, and some fresh cut flowers. I buy the items once a month and keep them in my kitchen cupboard, put the baskets together with a handwritten note, and cut the flowers along my way. I usually use fresh ginger for bouquets because the flowers are plentiful, very colorful and last for several weeks.

Usually, this pre-rental check is a fun thing for me and takes just 15 minutes to complete. Today- NOT. One of the houses had a funny smell to it. I looked around and sure enough, there were a few small stains on the ceiling of the laundry room, and a very sharp odor, indicating possums in the ceiling. The possums are funny little animals, unlike the big possums in a temperate climate. These little guys are about 5 inches long with longer tails, they hop around like mini kangaroos and can squeeze into surprisingly tiny spaces. And they are not shy around humans. Last year we were here sitting on the veranda looking out at the ocean. Steve had found a big bunch of bananas that day and had left them on the porch floor. While we were sitting there 3 possums hopped across the veranda, right under our feet, to get at the bananas. YIKES!  I do not like rodent- like creatures. I am sure I shrieked loudly. And I do not want any guests have to deal with them. This is a sporadic problem in about 4 villas here-all of them located at the edge of the jungle. We find and plug the entrance hole and then repair the ceiling, but this process takes 3 days or so, therefore not time to complete before the guests arrive. So we upgraded and moved them to a bigger better house at no additional cost to them. We are in the people pleasing business, after all. They come here to vacation and we must do what we can to hold up our end of the deal.

I had a simply wonderful day yesterday.  I went back over to Bahia Roja to check on their plans to rebuild the 3 houses that burned down. Right now those 3 families are doubled up with other families. If they cut wood from the mangrove it will take them several years to rebuild. If we can help them get the building materials they hope to rebuild within 6-9 months. Ideally each house will be ~ 15 x 20 feet, with treated wood flooring and walls (termite proof) and metal roofs—estimated materials cost $5000 each. The Red Frog Foundation hopes to raise $10 k to help them with the cost of materials and transportation. If you can help, please send your tax-deductible contribution to Red Frog Foundation, c/o Joy Clem, Treasurer, 960 Springoak Way, Stockton, California 95209. Put Bahia Roja in the memo line. (Sorry we aren’t set up for online donations).

At the end of my work day, all of the staff got together for a farewell lunch for Magjuly, who is going on maternity leave until the end of May. I cooked Panamanian food for us- sautéed beef, frijoles, rice, beet and potato salad, beer, pineapple juice, and coconut bars for dessert. We met in the crowded little office and had a wonderful time. Most of them have a rather ribald sense of humor and know how to make fun out of nothing (telling stories and jokes that one wouldn’t dare tell at work in the U.S.). I feel very connected to each of them and really enjoy our teamwork—I am very lucky.

Janelis, Licinia, Enilda, Aurelia, Onecimo, Javier, Kadir, me, Magjuly, and Anselmo

I finished the day with a long swim and some body surfing. It was so lovely and warm and relaxing! Steve is at a Subway meeting in Florida until Tuesday so I am "batching" it this weekend.

Well, all for this week. Have a good one, each of you! I know it may be hard to read about fun in the sun when it’s so cold up north, but I have to tell you I DO miss the cold and snow. Think “crisp, invigorating, definite seasons.”  You don’t have nonstop rain or chronic mildew or crocodiles in your hot tub! You are in the most difficult  part of the winter so do remember to do something really fun this week to keep you going!!