Holiday time begins

Today is the first day of a prolonged holiday season in Panama, five months more or less. November 3 is the anniversary of the separation from Colombia, the holiday for which began at noon yesterday, and tomorrow is Flag Day. Just for good measure, Friday also will be taken as a holiday. Then next Wednesday, November 10, is the anniversary of the first call for independence from Spain, whereas the actual independence from Spain came on November 28. As this year that date falls on a Sunday, the holiday will be the following Monday. So all banks and government offices are closed for at least five and half working days this month. And most workers, including ours, get the time off with pay. The really big days are today and the 28th, when parades will clog up all thoroughfares. Drums have been drumming for weeks in preparation, and thoroughfares were clogged the preceding two days for the suspension of banners throughout town. 

Then December 8 is Mother's Day, a major family holiday and time of celebration in Panama. It falls on a Wednesday, but you can count on most businesses being shuttered on Tuesday and Thursday as well to allow time to travel to wherever madre may be. Following are Christmas and New Year's, in honor of which the entire country essentially shuts down for an indeterminate period of time.  In fact, the holiday season runs right into the big International Coffee and Flower Fair, a major Boquete event in January. Come February, it's the season of Carnival which, if memory serves, occupies a major portion of the month. With little respite, we move into Holy Week, with Good Friday a national holiday, and then Easter, following which people gradually return to work.

We're ready for it, however, as lots of work was accomplished in October, to which the bank account will testify. Back in July, I contracted for a three-wall, built-in unit for the computer room: desk, book shelves, file drawers, and cabinets. The slated completion date was November, and I budgeted accordingly. So I took on, in October, the rebuilding of the orchid casita which was rotting down because we originally couldn't find treated wood. Steve jumped right on it and I paid a major portion of the $1400 cost, only to have the cabinets come in early to the tune of $3600. Additionally, the generator and the pool pump broke and all sorts of insurance, corporation fees, and taxes fell due, precipitating a raid on the savings account. So it really doesn't matter that the country is shut down for the foreseeable future. We're not having any more work done for a while.


Because she and Barry were without guests at their B and B for a day or two, Jane and I trekked to David yesterday for major grocery shopping. Another friend has described stocking one's pantry here as "foraging for food," not because there's no food to be had but because it's spread out between half a dozen stores or more, none of which can be counted on to have what you're looking for, even though they may have had it in the past. We hit Pricesmart first, but followed up at three more grocery stores and two pharmacies, picking up a couple of items at each. With the traffic, the lack of customer service, and the parking propensities of the Panamanian populace, it was the usual Monty Python skit material.

Our trip was slowed considerably, too, by road work. The government has entered into a multi-million, three-year contract for four-laning the road between David and Boquete. Lots of money is being poured into the province of Chiriqui, particularly into the Boquete area. Ostensibly, this is for the purpose of promoting tourism, but the cynics among us suspect baser motives. Huge swaths of land allegedly are owned by politicians, including at least two former presidents, as well as by members of the rabiblanco, Panama's ruling class, so some speculate that big things are envisioned in the way of development. The current road admittedly is dangerous, and the improved amenities that will accompany its completion are not to be denied. Many residents are delighted by what surely will be an increase in property values. On the other hand, there are fears that Boquete will become a yuppie-fied mountain enclave along the lines of Aspen when quick and easy access materializes. Much of the opposition is based on the amount of ecological destruction which will occur, some of which already is evident. Whatever the motivation of the government and the ultimate effects, the road is now a reality; and it doubtless will change the face Boquete.

My time continues to be consumed by the Bid 4 Boquete event and increasing activities of the garden club. Larry finally finished painting the exterior of the house and is taking a long break before undertaking the interior. After all, it's football season. (Heartbreaking loss by the 'Noles last weekend.) 

When I was in the U.S. in June, I bought a new computer which came with Windows 7. This has caused me no end of grief as everything displays differently and it is incompatible with a number of operations, namely my camera's photo editing and storage program and my Skype microphone. The "Help" tabs give directions based on earlier versions of Windows, so I'm really out in the cold. One thing I can't seem to do is access my photos from this blog site. I've solved the microphone problem only within the last week, so who knows how long it will take to come to terms with photos.

Speaking of prolonged, vexing problems, I finally got to the root of Felipe's skin ailments last Friday. Based on the advice of three different vets, he was treated for fungus, bacterial infection, and mange. Twice. I've been bathing him every week and preparing home cooked dog food. His skin would improve just enough to make me think I had hit upon the solution when suddenly it would flare up again, then get better, then flare up. Last Friday when I was bathing him I noticed some teeny brown specks in the suds. I had noticed them before but assumed they were flakes of skin or scabs. This time I isolated one and had a look at it under a magnifying glass. It was far from clear but definitely had an insect appearance. I washed him in an anti-parasite soap and applied Revolution and, Bingo!: scratching has ceased and all redness is gone. Research indicates that they were dog lice, which apparently are not all that common here. Miraculously, they haven't spread to Chyna and Trudy. They have no interest in humans, I read, which is fortunate inasmuch as Felipe spends hours on our bed and sleeps under the covers at night.

Overall, the weather is improving although it has been raining yesterday and today. But the rainy season essentially is over. We hope.