Day of Birth Observing

My geographic bachelorhood was significantly energized by, predictability, the Upstairs Neighbors. After a lively series of FaceTime calls with first my soon to be visiting buddies and then the First Friday Family call we convened on the beach for a typically superb sunset social hour. Since I was without transportation, the Upstairs Neighbors provided a ride to Sunset Pizza for the weekly immersion in what is definitively the best pizza in Panama. The Sunset Pizza owner learned that today was the Upstairs Neighbor’s birthday so he was treated to a special dessert, even before the signature Sunset Pizza gelato.

Birthday Boy with his Sunset Pizza Treat

The gelato marked a special moment. The usual gelato serving guy, a very quiet young Panamanian, knows how much I covet the Oreo flavored gelato. He saw me come in for pizza and as the Oreo flavor was almost gone, he secreted it. The host told me that I had a treat waiting for me and revealed that, unasked, the gelato guy had saved me a serving of the Oreo. This was so cool and I profusely thanked the guy when he sheepishly provided the hidden gelato. So, my Friday reputation finally resulted in a positive outcome.

Friday Sunset Crew

And the Sunset

Pizza Time!

Saturday was the day of the Upstairs Neighbor’s actual birthday and, as luck would have it, also included a scheduled beach event. I wrote last year about Johnny Fiesta’s, a hole in the wall type bar down the beach that hosted a memorable expat gathering last year where my Favorite Panamanian’s church boyfriend was disabused of hopes in that arena. Unfortunately, upon our return this year, we learned Johnny Fiesta’s had closed with manager returning to California.

Singer at Coco Loco

Our Fun Table

Earlier this week we received an invitation to come to Coco Loco which was the new name of the same location, now being managed by a German expat. That invitation announced an expat (and friend) as going to be singing at Coco Loco. We arrived this afternoon to find the bar had been moved to another location within the establishment and the place was much cleaner than pervious experiences. The new bar location allowed the beach breeze to flow through making it much more comfortable. Since we had a birthday boy in our group, I didn’t allow him to buy a single beer. In a major departure from usual circumstances, he made a gallant effort to stay with me beer for beer.

With his Woody

The Coco Loco Crowd

After the third iteration of this, he passed the car keys to his wife. Although I snuck a couple extra beers in, he made valiant attempt to keep up with me. It was a very fun afternoon listening to the music and reconnecting with the gathering group of expats. They mostly came from the other end of the beach where the bar was located and were significantly Canadian. Given that, Americans weren’t highly esteemed but we rangered on. The singer proclaimed there would be a trivia contest later where the winner had to name the movie that the song he sung came from. The Upstairs Neighbors, aware of my movie addiction, immediately enlisted me as their designated ringer. The song came up and I recognized it as coming from Toy Story but in a major surprise, that turned out to be one of the three movies the birthday boy had seen in the last twenty years, so he had the answer and was declared the winner. He won a Woody doll which led to lovely crowd to kid him about being gifted a “woody” for his birthday. You have to be our age to understand just how funny that was.

Our Designated Driver Getting us Home After Coco Loco

So, while the absence of my Favorite Panamanian has dimmed my lights to a certain extent, the Upstairs Neighbors and a bunch of Canadians have done their best to fill the void. I was impressed with Coco Loco and decided while there that it would be a perfect stop in a Las Lajas pub crawl. In a bit of fateful timing, I have veteran pub crawlers arriving on Tuesday and have worked up a tentative itinerary for the first ever Las Lajas pub crawl while they are here. I really shouldn’t be left to my own devices like this.

Today's Sunset

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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 her single days in Brooklyn; Czech Connection – Czech couple who’ve become good friends along with their daughter (the Czech Shadow); 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 (whom I miss more than I can ever explain); Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Upstairs Neighbors – American couple and great friends who live in condo above us in Panama; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course