Life In The Tropics.....

The sound of hammers banging up against a metal roof was our alarm clock yesterday.  Our neighbors are still fixing up their house since they sold it, and the work begins at first light which is around 6 am here in Panamá.  Since it was so noisy we decided to get away from the house but didn't go too far just to the pool for a lazy day in the sun.  Our first thought was to take a trip into the city to take care of a few things we've been putting off.  But when we realized it's pay day for the locals we knew the stores and streets would be packed with Panamanians trying to spend money so we'll keep that trip for another time.

 Here you can see the old roofing just setting on the house
next door to us

A view on our morning walk

Spotted this horse on our morning walk

Living in the tropics is different since life here is very much indoor-outdoor style, which simply stated means that we hear and see what the neighbors are doing, and vise versa. The locals live with their front doors wide open with no screens, so if their TV or radio is on, we hear it.  When Mamas yell at their children the whole neighborhood knows.  If Papas watching a futbol game, we hear that too.  Chickens run freely everywhere as do dogs and children. 

So if you're one of those people that doesn't want to hear music, talking, kids, dogs, chickens, birds, geckos, frogs or life happening outside your house, Panamá may not be the place for you.  In the mornings we take our cup of coffee outside to our outdoor living area.  We usually eat most meals outside and even take some showers out there too. 

Tired of eating chicken and fish we bought a package of salchica or hot dogs last night for something different.  Clyde fired up the grill while I gathered together the condiments, chips and salsa and headed out to the gazebo.  A while later I hear my mild-mannered hubby sputtering about something to do with the hot dogs.  Turns out that each hot dog was individually wrapped in plastic which he didn't realize until he put them on the grill when the plastic melted into the meat.  He tried to pull it off  but thought it would be safer to start over with new ones.  And the brand was Hormel which we thought came from the U.S. but they must be packed differently for Panamá.  Most food items here are individually wrapped like cookies, candies and crackers and I've even seen large marshmallows wrapped that way.  Perhaps it's due to the high humidity and that way things stay fresher.

Individually wrapped hot dogs!

Who would have guessed?



Former fireman Clyde seems to prefer using an ax instead of a machete for cracking open coconuts.  Maybe it brings back the joys of breaking down doors on burning buildings with the ax, and just gets his adrenaline pumping.  We enjoyed some fresh coconut water right from one of our own coconuts for the first time.

Coconut ready to drink the water with a straw

and later cracked open for the meat



And my handsome, hunky Gardener trimmed the hedges and plants to look pretty once again along with mowing the lawn.  This guy works pretty cheap and even gets to sleep with me his one-and-only mango-resa (since I am a Theresa)  here in mangoville......along the gringo trail.

A view from our front door

Another view of our yard

This is Venus our FEMALE Dobie

hiking her leg up to pee

I wouldn't mess with her!