Tropical Easter

Once again, we are wiling away the hours of Easter here on the beach. Easter, for me, ranks way down the list of favorite holidays, after Christmas, Thanksgiving, 4^th of July, New Years Day, Memorial Day, Arbor Day, etc. etc. That being said, when we get the Seis Amigos together for a weekend long celebration, Easter has a chance to rise in the rankings. Friday got off to a slow start despite the energetic presence of Tia Loca. I had just started the weekly First Friday Family Facetime call when the power went out (again). With the power out, so was our wi-fi signal and internet. We’ve had a bunch of outages over the past couple weeks, usually lasting only a few minutes. This one lasted for eight hours. This adds some challenges to our living arrangements since we also lose air conditioning. You may have heard, Panama is hot, so lack of AC, especially with the incipient humidity of oncoming rainy season, is a big deal.

Easter Dinner Last Night

We followed our standard operating procedures, connected the fridge and one lamp via extension cord to the generator fueled common area down the hall. We spend a lot more time here than other residents, so we were ready for the powerless state. The condo complex was as full as I’ve ever seen it because of the holiday weekend but none of the other residents, other than the upstairs neighbors, had extension cords. I felt a little guilty looking out at the beach and seeing a bunch of people hanging out there in the dak, looking up at our condo and wondering why we had lights on. My devoutly Catholic Favorite Panamanian was doing her usual Easter church time which started on Wednesday. Her devoutly less Catholic husband stayed home for the sunset, which didn’t depend on electricity. We had a plan to go into Las Lajas for our usual Friday pizza and meet my wife there when church released her. We learned the power outage affected a fifty-mile swath of the province so we didn’t think the pizza place would be open. We were wrong. We didn’t learn that until much later when my Favorite Panamanian showed up at the condo with a couple pizzas, wondering what happened to us. Without the internet we had no way of communicating so couldn’t tell her of the change in plans. She in turn, was waiting at the pizza place for a long time (I thought church and her usual post mass socializing was the reason for her delayed return).

Friday Sunset

We set up at the dining room table for a game of Uno Flip with my wife, Tia Loca, their mother, and I. My mother-in-law had never played the game and we spent a long time explaining what each of the cards meant. She acted a little confused, which I think was an act, because she won two of the first three games. I related this to my son later via text and he claims his abuela is a hustler, because of her penchant for winning card and dice games when the family gets together while professing not to understand everything. The rest of the family quickly chimed in on the text chain, confirming his assessment. After the game I threw a spare mattress out in the living room where it seemed a little less oven-like than our bedroom. I was asleep for about an hour when all the lights, and blessedly, the air conditioning came on at 1230am. We probably wouldn’t have played the very fun card game if the power hadn’t gone out so it wasn’t a real defeat.

The Very Crowded Beach

As Packed as I Ever See it

Sunset with Upstairs Neighbors and Tia Loca

Saturday was a beach day for most of us. My Favorite Panamanian was back at church for a few hours but Tia Loca and I renewed our mutual boogie boarding partnership. We were joined by the Panamanian Couple of the Seis Amigos and before I knew it we were surrounded by boogie boarders as many of the other condo residents joined in the fun. I’m guessing they’ve noticed, in the past, how much fun the old gringo was having in the waves and showed up with boogie boards of their own this time. It was akin to having a boogie boarding club. There were a couple of young kids, same age as the FBR, who were out in he waves with me and because they were so light, really successful. It was a truly fun, if exhausting afternoon. This was followed by a catered cookout hosted by the Panamanian couple of the Seis Amigos. We set up in the condo common area and feasted on way too much barbecue. The Panamanians brought a number of desserts which typically included a lot of fruit, so, off limits to my sensitive palate. The Upstairs Neighbor rode to the rescue though. My picky eating habits are well known and she knew I would be out of luck at dessert time, following the consumption of all the dead animal flesh. She prepared a cookies and cream cake that was one of the best pastries I’ve ever tasted.  It was so good, with my insistence she share the recipe with a certain Panamanian of my intimate acquaintance. (Note I failed to mention to her that Panamanian had prepared a chocolate pie for me, safely hidden in our upstairs fridge). The sunset ceremony that followed with Tia Loca and the upstairs neighbors (minus my church bound wife) was also fun as Las Lajas rose to the occasion with another epic sun departure.

Saturday Barbecue

The Guys Table

Easter saw the beach as full as it ever gets around here with a number of small kids trying to see how much sand they could transfer from the beach into the pools. I truly enjoyed the noisy charging around as it reminded me of the time with the three granddaughters. Speaking of those worthies, the BRS and BR3 were at their other grandparents’ house chomping at the bit to start their Easter egg hunt. They were waiting for other cousins to show but had accomplished a detailed reconnaissance out the window to identify targets. Meanwhile the FBR was gracing our nation’s capital. My daughter and she accompanied Wingman for a weekend trip to DC to assist his father with some health issues and were able to put in some tourist time while there. It was nostalgic to see the FBR cavorting in the same places her mom and uncle had when we lived there. Not to be outdone, the Panamanians held an Easter egg hunt on the condo lawn. I’m think a lot of chocolate wasn’t used as it would have melted in the heat. I’m of the opinion this bunch of kids didn’t need any assistance for additional sugar to fuel their depredations which was a lot of fun to watch. Even if it further emphasized missing the three absent granddaughters.

BR3 And BRS Easter Egg Prep

Success!!

Easter Sister Hugs

Riggins Cornered

FBR in D.C.

With a Shout Out to Great Aunt

My Favorite Panamanian was freed from church on Sunday and spent the entire day preparing a huge ham dinner to share with the Seis Amigos and some of our new friends from down the beach. I was called upon to prepare the sweet potato dish and had acquired enough mini-marshmallows to meet the ABFA’s strict guidance in that area. I really missed a working elevator as we had to shuttle the makings down the stairs on repeated trips. My wife also hadn’t anticipated the condo common area, where we would eat, would be exposed to direct, tropical sun as it sank on the horizon. Undaunted, she summoned the condo caretaker to position a couple large umbrellas to provide shade while I was sent upstairs again to retrieve a fan from our condo. This was the first meeting for the Seis Amigo with the Canadian contingent from down the each but any awkwardness was soon abandoned. What looked like an awesome sunset was viewed from our dinner table after the umbrellas were retired. It was a very fun time that extended well into the night after the food was done with. It is tough to be away from family at these times but I’ve come to think of these really good friends we’ve made down here as my surrogate family. They feel that close. The Panamanian Couple as well as my wife and I were, predictably, the last ones standing as the night deepened. My counterpart and I decided it was our solemn duty to finish off his beer supply last night since they were returning to Panama City today. I’m not convinced our wives were on board with that decision, but they accepted our “state” with their usual grace. Last night as one of the best times I’ve ever had here, and that’s a high bar to reach. It was all due to the singularly excellent people I was blessed to spend time with yesterday. My Panamanian family.

New and Old Friends at Easter Dinner

Sunday Sunset Seen from Dinner Table

The Rest of Saturday Sunset

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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 3^rd 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