New Residency Program Offered.....

The government of Panamá just issued a new order making it easier to obtain permanent residency to live and work in the country.  Up until now foreigners had few options and those that didn't fit into any category had to remain "permanent tourists" living on a tourist visa.  The problem with this choice is that the individual would have to leave Panamá every six months for a few days, then return to set their visa status. 

We live her on a "pensionado visa," which means that we have income coming from a pension or social security outside of Panamá to support us.  We are not allowed to work in the country which is just fine with us.  Other people live on a "person of means" visa which means they invested a large sum of money into a business, bank CD or property here.  There are a few others but those are the two most common visas, until now.

On May 16, 2012 the government issued Order 343 creating a new category of Permanent Residency. In this category permanent residency is offered to foreign nationals from specific countries that maintain friendly, professional, economic, and investment relationships with the Republic of Panama.

These individuals will be able to start a business or obtain a work permit with the status of permanent resident, as long as they're from one of the approved countries.  The intention of the government is to ease their shortage of qualified workers and help keep the economy growing.

The following countries on the list are allowed to apply.

• Germany
• Argentina
• Australia
• Austria
• Brazil
• Belgium
• Canada
• Spain
• United States
• Slovakia
• France
• Finland
• "The Low Countries"
• Ireland
• Japan
• Norway
• Czechoslovakia
• Switzerland
• Singapore
• Uruguay
• Chile

In order to apply a person still needs to involve a lawyer and provide the following:
      1.  three passport sized photographs
      2. document that explains the purpose of requiring the permanent residency
      3. Proof of how much money you have in the bank by showing a bank statement from the  past month that reflects an account balance of no less than four digits, or that demonstrates your income that's acceptable to the National Immigration Service.

      4.  An identification card from your country

Dependents will also be allowed into the country as permanent residents but other requirements are needed.  For the complete article translated from the local newspaper by Don Winner, see the link below.
But before you pack your suitcase remember that Panamá is a Spanish speaking country.  So to obtain a job here one would need to be fluent in Spanish.  And also remember that minimum wage is low here, around $1.75 an hour in Panama City.  So I have to wonder if foreigners coming here will be enticed with high wages to make it worth while, or not? 
Just remember things do move slow here and the kinks still need to be worked out, but it's a sign that things are changing.  As for us we'll just keep enjoying retirement and lazy days under the mango trees.....along the gringo trail.

http://www.panama-guide.com/article.php/20120521191423780

Through The Looking Glass......

Once upon a time in a far away land called Chame, there lived a beautiful princess named Mangoresa.  The princess and her Knight in Shining Armor lived in a cement castle surrounded by gorgeous gardens and fabulous fruit trees.  Her prince tried to make the princess happy but she was saddened when giant bugs would make their way into her humble abode, since there was no glass in the windows.  But one fine day in the merry month of May that all changed.  The local glass company sent two dark complected lads over with sheets of glass.  They placed the glass and frames into the window slots so the prince and the princess can live happily ever after.  So why then is this fair maiden still unhappy?  Because the young window installers failed to put screens into the windows.  How then can this fragile, fair maiden frolic happily around her castle with bugs nibbling on her sweet, mango flavored skin? 

Alas, the young, hard-bodied window installers shall return to the castle mañana armed with screens in hand.  These will shield the damsel in distress from the colossal creatures crawling around the crevices of the creaky castle, making the perfect princesses' pout perk-up into a pleasant smile.  The fair young maiden and her pleasing prince will then live happily ever after, plodding along their path in Panamá...along the gringo trail.

Land Of Giant Bugs.......

They always said "things are bigger in Texas" but I'm starting to think that things are bigger here in Panamá, at least the bugs.  This place is beginning to look like some movie set where unusually big creatures fly and crawl around.  While sitting in our friends living room recently I noticed something flying around on their balcony that I thought was a bird or bat, turns out it was a big moth.  And they say they've seen an even bigger one than this so I think I need a bigger fly swatter.  This critter was the size of a man's open hand and posed nicely for photos on their glass slider.  Earlier in the week we came across this huge beetle on our walk.  It was dead, but huge and Clyde just happened to have his trusty camera with him.  Later on he posted it on face book to share with the world.  Another ex-pat named Dick saw the picture and had to post pictures of a dragon fly he came across near his place in David, Panama.

One Big Moth on a glass door at night

We came across the dead beetle on our
morning walk

Picture sent to us from Dick Kesterke
near David, Panama

Another View of this critter

This was not a huge bug but
was able to capture his picture

For the past few days I've been seeing the world a little lopsided wearing only one contact lens.  My right eye has been bothering me for several weeks now, feeling like I had something in it or it was scratched. So on Friday I found an eye doctor in Coronado thinking there'd be a good chance that someone there spoke English.  Inside the little shop called "Optica Boyd Diaz" the doctor and his wife both greeted us in English.  After asking me a few medical questions he examined my eye on which he found a scratch and instructed me to not wear the contact in that eye for five days.  He also sold me some eye drops and told me to come back for a recheck in five days.  The visit and eye drops came to $38 and we were on our way.

Since my contacts are mono-vision, one eye takes care of reading while the other see distances, leaving me lopsided wearing only one.  But with a strong dislike for eyeglasses I'm stumbling along only being able to see close up wearing my left lens only.  But around the house I started putting my glasses on but blocking my left eye since it has the contact in it.

Woke up on Sunday around 8 am to the sound of loud latino music pounding from our neighbors house across the street.  It was a dreary rainy day, the kind that makes you want to crawl back into bed and stay there a while, which we did.  Due to the dampness it dropped down to a bone chilling 83 degrees in early evening which actually did make us chilly.  Did a few things around the house and tried to watch a movie in the evening over the music still blasting.  They finally turned it off around 7 pm maybe because they put the smaller kiddos to bed.  Although the music became annoying after a while, during most of the time we did enjoy it and I found myself dancing around the house. 

Today I was up at 6am since the windows are supposed to arrive, and Panamanians usually start work early in the morning.  Hopefully the rain will hold off until the windows are installed so they don't drag dirt into the house.  But since a large porch surrounds the house, the installers will be under cover for most of the job anyway.  At the time we ordered the windows they said two weeks until delivery and it's been just about that now.  Perhaps next time the neighbor is blasting the tunes we'll be able to close our windows if we choose to block out some of the noise. 

Hopefully a little glass will come our way today in the form of windows to keep out the giant bugs here in Panamá.....along the gringo trail.

Gettin Artsy Fartsy....In Panama

"If it doesn't move.....paint it," used to be my motto years ago when I was managing a craft and fabric department back in New Hampshire. But after I stopped working in retail management and life got in the way, I stopped doing decorative painting and crafting.  But I kept telling myself back then that someday when I retired I'd have time to paint again.  So for twenty some years I hung onto the paint brushes and craft paints waiting for the day.  My painting supplies traveled from New Hampshire across the U.S. to New Mexico, then to South Texas and now across the ocean to Panamá.

Skillet Art!

Old Wok repurposed

Call me crazy, but I am going to
put this at the end of our street!

Big Bug on the Table!

The plant is still in shock but

the planter looks nice!

Look out Venus,
she's painting everything!



Last week I painted silly designs and pictures on about six rocks.  Yesterday I painted an old skillet and an old wok that were left out in the gazebo of the house we bought.  Clyde wanted to name our street Mango Street for obvious reasons and also since there's a song by that name.  Since there are no street signs throughout most of Panamá, we knew no one would care if we named ours. Besides the sign will be on our property but near the road.  So today I made a "mango street" sign and even put a few painted mangoes on it.  After that I still had some paint left on my palate, which is a plate covered with aluminum foil for easy cleanup.  So I headed outside to decorate six flower pots sitting on the front porch.  Dots, stripes, squiggles and other odd shapes can be seen all around the property now is a rainbow of colors.  The dog kept looking at me as if to say "come one step closer with that paint brush and I'm outta here." Personally I thought she'd look pretty with multi-colored polka dots covering her brown and black fur, making her a dober-dalmation, but guess she didn't agree.

Yesterday for the first time since we've lived here, I ventured out alone.  Since we're having more plumbing problems Clyde had to stay home waiting for the plumber, who never showed up.  But I drove myself to the gym for an extra long workout, then hung out at the pool chatting to a women that lives there.  From there I headed into Coronado for some leisurely shopping at Machetazo.  I browsed through the shoe department looking for some badly needed sneakers, but didn't find any to my liking.  Shopped for some make-up, nail polish and a new pair of sunglasses along with a few groceries before heading home. 

Clyde called while I was shopping to ask me to pick up some orange and lime jello and cream cheese for a mango mousse recipe that our former dental hygienist in TX sent him.  Gelatin is not too common here but after visiting two different stores, I did manage to find the flavors that he needed.  Cottage cheese is different here too as it's probably made from the local white cheese that to me has an odd taste.  They do sell the Philadelphia brand of cream cheese, but since it's imported it cost more.  The mousse turned out good with lots of mango taste!  And it was nice to have a day of retail therapy,  shopping with no male distractions.

Another online friend, Juli sent him a recipe idea to cut up a pineapple and cook flattened chicken breasts in between the pineapple skins to allow the juices to permeate through the meat.  On the side with this he served veggie and pineapple kabobs for a yummy dinner.

Chicken cooked in
Pineapple Planks

Pineapple Kabobs too!

Mango Mousse



An update from a recent blog about our Panamanian neighbor waking us up at 6am working on replacing his tin roof.  They took off the old tin, replaced the carrioles underneath and then put the old tin back on.  The old tin looks worse now after being mangled off and thrown around by a crew of men.  This is typical Panamanian style with no explanation to us foreigners as to why they'd do this.  Perhaps since he sold the house he's only doing what he has to do, and the new homeowners can worry about the rest.

The horse on our walk
this morning

Good God!  Look at the size of this dead
beetle I found on our walk.



A local man came by earlier today selling fresh shrimp and fish from the back of his truck, so Clyde ran out to buy some.  For $12.00 he bought a pound of shrimp and over a pound of fish.  So right now the shrimp's on the barbie and I'm waiting to eat it.  This is the first time we bought fresh shrimp since we've lived here. 

Time for dinner on the gazebo and then to relax under the stars as another day comes to an end......along the gringo trail.

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!



Close To Home.....

Stayed close to home for Mother's Day after Saturday was spent with friends sipping mango-ritas and eating fish tacos with chips and mango salsa.  A sweet end to the meal with magnificent mango cake topped with cream cheese frosting. 

On Sunday we took care of some long awaited planting around the house.  Clyde had been wanting to separate some of the over-grown plants into decorative planters on the porch.  And he also planted some seeds for cucumbers, Serrano peppers, squash and a pineapple crown. 

Our dog entertained us by chasing lizards in the flowering hedges that run the fence line.  At one point she came out chewing something so we assume that she caught one for a snack.  She manages to self-exercise herself by chasing huge lizards around the property when she's not eating mangoes off the ground.

Later in the day we drove into Coronado to check out a sale on granite at one of the local stores that friends told us about.  We picked up three pieces of granite for future kitchen counter tops, and one for the master bathroom plus the pieces for the back splash, a total of 24 feet....all for $320.  Granite was never affordable in the states but since it's much cheaper here in Panamá I just had to have some put into the house.  So now Clyde has another thing added to his to-do list.  First he has to rebuilt the kitchen cabinets and put in a new sink before he can add the new counter tops.  And as for the master bathroom that has nothing but a single sink hanging on the wall now,  it needs a counter to be built plus two new sinks. 

The leftover mango-ritas made great tasting frozen sorbet last night for dessert, after a dinner of chips and mango salsa.  Moving slow today since it's been raining all morning.  Time to get dressed and head over to the gym for our Monday workout.  The flowers and plants are growing rapidly as the tropical rains blanket them with love.  Time for us to get our sweat on, burn some calories and build some muscle.....along the gringo trail.

Happy Mothers Day......Dec 8th.....

Although it's Mother's Day in the U.S. here in Panamá it's celebrated in December.  Thirty-one years ago I had a very special Mother's Day as I went into labor.  The doctor's determined that inducing labor would be a good idea since I was past my due date and having contractions, although they were not regular. But because it was a holiday the hospital in Brooksville, Florida was under-staffed so they told me to go enjoy Mother's Day and come back in the morning.  As I plopped down on the hospital bed not happy that the wait had to continue, my water broke.  As I sat there in a puddle the nurse said they couldn't be sure that was amniotic fluid, and I'd be just fine going home and waiting to deliver in the next day or so. Desirée Leigh was born the next day on May 11th but sometimes her birthday falls on Mother's Day.




Being the sarcastic critic that I am, to me Mother's Day was invented by the Hallmark Company as a way to sell more cards.  Or some florist may have created it to guilt people into spending outrageous prices on flowers for Mom.  So instead of guessing I decided to research it and here's what I found.

Mother's Day was officially started in 1868 by Ann Jarvis, and was originally intended to reunite families divided during the Civil War. In 1872 Julia Howe who wrote  "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," organized the first official Mother's Day in New York City and Boston as anti-war rallies.

Several other celebrations popped up through the years here and there, but it wasn't until 1914 that President Woodrow Wilson declared Mother's Day a national holiday in the United States.

Fifty country around the world celebrate Mother's Day at different times throughout the year. Here in Panamá Mother’s Day was started by the Rotary Club on May 11, 1924. According to Alonso Roy, a Panamanian historian, the first celebration was a success as stores were full of people buying gifts, and people crowded cemeteries bringing flowers to their departed mothers.

Panama changed the date of its Mother’s Day celebration in 1930 as a result of a national debate over making the Catholic celebration of the Immaculate Conception a national holiday. This was opposed by those who did not want to turn a religious holiday into a national holiday. The solution to this dilemma proposed by then-deputy Aníbal Rios was to move Mother’s Day to the 8th of December, the date of the observance of the Immaculate Conception, and declare Mother’s Day a national holiday.
The celebration of Mother’s Day in Panamá has not changed over the years. Panamanians bring presents to their mothers, cook traditional dishes, or take Mom out for a nice meal. 

Because Panama’s Mother’s Day is celebrated on the same day as the Catholic celebration of the Immaculate Conception, many communities have a mass and a procession through the streets of the town in which families participate.

In Panama just like in the rest of the world, Mom rests on this day while her husband and children do the dishes and housework and look after the smaller kids.

As an American living in Panamá now I have two days a year to celebrate Mother's Day, this one and December 8th.  So I'll just have to take it easy, relax in the hammock or sit by the pool, not much different from any other day in paradise.....along the gringo trail.