In an actual sense as well as Great Aunt arrived yesterday, taking her first vacation in years. There is no one on this green earth (at least here in Panama where it remains that color) who can deny that she wasn’t in need of a vacation after the past year. She and Soxfather were planning a trip here together last year when he was felled. We drove back to David yesterday to prepare for her arrival. Cantankerous Friend joked with me on Facebook about why I hadn’t partaken in the shopping with my Favorite Panamanian which I chronicled in my last post. He knows the answer all too well as I despise shopping on a very basic level.
He
would therefore have been laughing yesterday as I spent the whole day trailing
behind my wife as we bought all the “needed” items for the condo to insure my
sister’s enjoyment. I kept reminding her that we had to leave space in the car
for Great Aunt’s luggage which she blithely assured me that she would make sure
everything fit. Meanwhile Great Aunt had smartly spent Wednesday night in a Boston
airport hotel; which facilitated the early morning flight call on a snowy day.
We arrived in David to find a text from her saying she was on the plane
awaiting takeoff.
Arrival in David
I
sent her a detailed list of the different steps she would have to take to get
on the plane and then make her way in Panama City to the domestic flight to
David. Meanwhile I was in the seventh pit of hell shopping all day. Comically
we ran into our new upstairs neighbors in one of the first stores we hit. My
wife’s counterpart had accompanied her on the Monday shopping trip and had
successfully dragged her husband back to David to further explore all the
avenues my Favorite Panamanian had opened up for her. I shared a look of
commiseration with my counterpart. 
Dinner at Terra with my Wife's Family
In
the late afternoon we made our way to the airport to await Great Aunt’s
arrival. She had a bit of adventure in Panama City where a long line at the
immigration and customs counters caused her to almost miss the domestic flight.
. It was so cool seeing my big sister walk through the door dragging her
luggage. She was very excited to finally have a stamp in her passport. The
domestic flight ended up doing a touch and go at David with the pilot claiming
there were high winds that caused the need to lift off and circle one more
time. Both my wife and I looked outside where there was virtually no wind
blowing at all. It wouldn’t be a trip to Panama without some adventure inserted
Beach This Morning
My
Favorite Panamanian volunteered to sit in the back seat, shoehorned in amongst
our many purchases for the day. That meant Great Aunt was exposed up close and personal
to the “delight” of driving in Panama, not for the weak of spirit. I tried to
take it easy on her. My Favorite Panamanian’s family met us at Terra Ristorante
which we identified as one of the two restaurants in David that offer a gluten
free menu that my sis needs. The other one was a sushi place so my selection
was fairly immediate. My wife’s family wanted to welcome my sister to Panama and
we had a fabulous dinner. We’d never been to Terra before but it had the best
pizza I’ve ever had in Panama. We’ll be back.
Great Aunt with her Morning Coffee
A
quick drive through the center of David to show my sister the church where we
got married and we ran into a festival in the central square. We stopped in a
yet another supermarket on our way back to Las Lajas to secure more gluten
appropriate foodstuffs. All this meant a fairly late arrival in Las Lajas. After
we unloaded everything and showed her around the condo. I then took her out to
the dark beach where she could see the panoply of stars without the usual light
pollution of Rhode Island living. She was properly amazed this morning when she
walked out of her room to see the day time view. She’s currently in what she
calls her “happy place”, the pool.
Beach Walk this Morning
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RECURRING CHARACTERS:
ABFA – Amazing Best Family
Athlete - my daughter
in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter
#3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel -
second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue
about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut
Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor
of the big river; Curbside Girls – close
friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which
grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of
course); FBR - First Blog Reader -
first granddaughter; First Friday –
celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene
Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene,
NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend
since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife –
her US sisters, my wife is the 3rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew –
son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia
member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends
of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin
Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we
have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate– high
school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the
Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather -
my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course
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