Okay. I know. I’ve been away for a while. It happens. Usually this happens because I’m having more fun than is strictly legal in a lot of places. That is certainly the case for this delay. Count yourself lucky to have been denied my benighted prose for a few days. Well, back at it. Great Aunt’s annual beach adventure concluded yesterday. We should have looked closer at the calendar when she planned her trip because Carnivale in Panama started on Friday which meant lots of people in the condo, disturbing her calm, hours long stay in her happy place (the pool). She was actually excited about the nine inches of snow she’ll get on Tuesday because she’ll have the best tan in town. Okay, I guess.
At The Airport Yesterday
Carnivale
also means clogged streets and an immense police presence on the highways.
While this can cause frustrating hold ups, my Favorite Panamanian says it’s important
because Panamanians like to party and this protects other drivers from those who
have partied a little too hard. My big sister saw this first hand when we drove
her to the airport yesterday. She’s now an accomplished international traveler
and had none of the anxiety she had last year on her first solo trip. Scheduling
her trip back on Super Bowl Sunday was also a bit of a mistake. As stated
above, we’ll look at a calendar for next year. 
Great Aunt's Final Sunset in Panama
The
Seis Amigos are all in residence at the condo again which meant a lot of partying.
Friday night we drive into town for a very entertaining pizza dinner. The
Panamanian Friend’s son and his girlfriend also came along and might have been
a little surprised at the antics of their much older fellow diners. They were
great “kids”. Chow Mein the cat made his usual appearance and pointedly informed
me that he doesn’t like milk, even if it is from some of the best gelato. We were
joined at the dinner by one of Panamá’s larger bugs (and that’s saying something)
which had my wife semi-freaking out. For some reason she didn’t appreciate my suggestion
of creating another pizza topping out of it. 
Friday Night Dinner
After
dropping off Great Aunt at the David airport yesterday, we returned to the condo
along with my mother-in-law, Tia Loca, and Tia Loca’s son to celebrate a birthday
and Carnivale. When I mentioned earlier in the week that I wanted the Seis Amigos
to join me for a mini-Super Bowl party, it typically evolved into a condo-wide
party at the condo’s social area. I mentioned earlier that the condo had filled
up. That included the usual bunch of teenagers, sans parents, who come to hone their
embryonic beer drinking abilities. Far be it form me to criticize, especially based
on my own history whenever my mother went on vacation, leaving Great Aunt and I
alone in the house for two weeks (what was she thinking!). I mention the kids
because they habitually occupy the social area after the sun goes down and play
their assorted drinking games and insuring everyone in the complex knows they
are enjoying their freedom. 
The Bug, About 10 Inches Long
They
were in for a bit of a shock last night as the adults took over the social
area. The Panamanian couple of the Seis Amigos donated their television and I tuned
in my trusty super-streamer to watch the game. It worked beautifully as the sun
set just as the game got underway. The kids, their “club house” seized, flitted
around the edges. There weren’t many people attending who understood or wanted
to understand the game of American football but, as I mentioned above,
Panamanian love to party. Everybody brought some food down and there was a
young Panamanian girl wearing a Kansas City Chiefs shirt and rooting desperately
for them (I blame Taylor Swift for that). It was the first condo wide party I’ve
attended and it was a huge success. I haven’t enjoyed a super bowl as much since
Atlanta blew that 28-3 lead. Some things can never be superseded, although watching
football while hearing the surf crash nearby was more than cool.
Super Streamer Moves to the Beach
Super Bowl Party
 |
| Birthday Girl |
 |
| And A Couple More Sunsets |
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; Seis Amigos
- two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger
sister; Wingman
– my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s
mom, of course
No comments:
Post a Comment