Tuesday . . .

La dentista

We started our day at the dentist.  Dra. Monica Sanjur was great -- spoke English, very friendly, has her own office, just her and her assistant.  We got rather wet, but we got good cleanings at a great price -- $40 each.

Then was the market at the BCP.  (You'll recall that the Boquete Community Players was the theater and event center where we attended church on Sunday.)  Every Tuesday morning, they have a market there with local vendors of a variety of items -- jewelry, cosmetics, handbags, produce, books . . . and FOOD!  We got some BBQ pulled pork from a gringo selling a variety of pig meat.  We also tried arepas, a Columbian item; a corn meal pancake with cheese inside.  Yum!  Another gringo was selling "genuine NYC conies" -- he said he and his friend had been sitting around talking about what they miss the most from the states and conies was near the top of the list.  Hubby also got a chiropractic adjustment for $30. 

Tuesday market at the BCP

Usually, at 10:30 during this market, they have an expat meeting with speakers addressing various topics of interest or concern to the local expats.  Unfortunately, this particular week, there was no meeting scheduled.  But that's okay -- the market was great.

We spent the afternoon looking at properties in the Valle Escondido development, the lovely spot where my youngest was soaking her feet in the creek in an earlier picture.  Beautiful houses in a gated community with golf course, restaurant, fitness club, pool, etc.  Ralph, who showed us around, was great because he was very honest with us about the bringing-a-family-to-Boquete experience.  His family has lived here for a couple years, but his wife and kids are now leaving.  It just wasn't for them.  He's debating what to do about his very successful security business he has here.  We then picked up food at the market to cook dinner in our casita.  But you know what they say about the best-laid plans of mice and men . . .

My Panamanian dinner -- about halfway finished

About 5pm, a wicked thunderstorm came through.  Wicked because it was directly on top of us.  In fact, if the casita didn't actually get hit by lightning, it struck within a few feet of us anyway.  It was LOUD!!  All my years of living in the meteorologically volatile Midwest, I'm not sure I've ever been in a storm like that.  We laughed at each other jumping at the thunder crashes.  And then, the electricity went out.  This meant no TV, no internet . . . and no stove.  No home-cooked dinner.

So we went downtown again to El Sabroson, a local spot with Panamanian food.  Great rice . . . kind of fatty beef, although hubby like his chicken . . . fried bread and empanadas (Panamanians like their fried food) . . . typical fries . . . and our new favorite soft drink: Kist fresa.  Dinner for all four of us was about $9.

Silliness in the square

By now it was dark and we still had no power at the casita, so we hung out at the square downtown for a while -- because other than the restaurants, the grocery stores, and the hostels, there was NO PLACE open anywhere in town by 7pm.  Fascinating.  Small town life, I guess.

Today's our last day in Boquete.  Gotta think through what all we want to be sure to do before we take off tomorrow . . .