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Three great highlights of my day: My morning hike, my afternoon surprise call, and another great dinner with Barb and Murray.

Do the words “stroll” and “jungle” sound a bit incongruous to you? They did to me and made me laugh when Barb said it this morning, “We’re just going to go for a stroll in the jungle.” It was absolutely amazing. Here are some photos, thanks to my surprise caller who helped me install them in my blog.

Well, that’s as far as I’m going to get today. And this is progress thanks to a very unexpected call from my friend Simon Karvelas in Greece. I was very pleasantly surprised when Simos called me today and said, “Christine, I see you are trying to set up a blog.” He had seen my attempts launched on Facebook. The operative word in the previous sentence is “trying.” He continued, “You forgot; setting up websites is one of my jobs.” Oh my, yes, I did forget, and here he was like an angel offering to help me. Simos spent a good two hours with me to help launch the blog at a much better level. I obviously have lots of room for improvement, but at least I was able to get a better grasp.

One thing I could not figure out this evening is how to post a video. That will be lesson number two from Simos. Stay tuned.

Had another lovely dinner with Murray and Barb this evening. We prepared ribs, but the “low and slow” prepping method suggested to me by my master-grilling friend, Tim Stasinoulias, doesn’t quite fit with the 7 p.m. bedtime of my hosts. So, the ribs are still prepping, and this evening we had instead shrimp with fettuccine and a parsley/almond pesto. Ribs tomorrow, at least for them. I’m not sure where I will be tomorrow. Stay tuned.

I marvel at the technology that made the experiences of this day possible. Out of “nowhere” I get a call from a friend across the globe offering me help. In seconds I receive cooking advice from a friend in another part of the world. I receive news of a very ill friend at home who is recovering beautifully from a sudden health challenge. I end the evening with a sweet-dreams call from my lovely husband. Thank you.

January 5 My friend, Mary, said, “In the movies, the luggage alway shows up.” And that turned out to be true for me. Six days! That’s a record for me. Our luggage was lost once in Greece, but it came the next day. Mine finally arrived yesterday morning. Barb drove me to the David Airport to pick it up. I knew it was a big ask for her to do this because driving here is a bit of a nightmare. Too much traffic and two few traffic controls. I played navigator with the GPS, and Barb said the swear words. She was very assertive and did a great job. I would not want to drive here.

Then we came to her house. I am here for the previously agreed upon three days that I had to be out of my apartment. It was part of my rental agreement with Gloria.

I am so enjoying my time with Barb and Murray. They have a beautiful home here in Palmira. It is one of the highest areas of Boquete and very windy, but beautiful. Murray captured a scorpion last night and saved it in a jar to show me this morning.

Barb is an avid hiker and took me this morning on a lovely hike with the dogs. We walked through a pine forest and a dairy farm. Of course, I didn’t have my phone with me, but I promise to take a video tomorrow and post it soon. I also want to capture their home here and, or course, Barb’s beautiful greenhouse.

After our hike Barb and I went into town for a pedicure ($16…thank you very much) and then did our grocery shopping.

I cooked dinner this evening: a puttanesca with fettuccine and sauteed salmon. Barb doesn’t cook much at all, and Murray cooks the basics; so, they were very happy to have me cook for them, and I was happy to do so. They assured me that I can feel free to do so anytime I want. Looking forward to that. I love the sound of the wind here, the roosters crowing and the dogs barking. I feel like Alice who has walked through the looking glass. I have such a full, beautiful life at home and another one here. It’s magical.

January 3  So, I’m starting this blog because a lot of people don’t like Facebook, I don’t know Instagram, and I’m tired of repeating myself.

My flight here was challenging. I was supposed to arrive in David, my final destination near Boquete where I stay, on 12/30 at 5:00 pm. Instead, I arrived on 12/31 at 9:00 am. I missed my connection in Chicago because my flight from Milwaukee was delayed due to airplane mechanical issues. We had to de-plane there, wait an hour and board a different flight to Chicago. Because of that, In Chicago, I missed my connection to Panama City. So, I was re-routed to JFK with an overnight flight to Panama City, and then on to David. I finally made it, but my suitcase did not. Thanks to technology and WhatsApp, I was able to stay in communication with my Boquete friends who were making the 45-minute drive from Boquete to David to pick me up. When they arrived at the airport, we filed a claim with Baggage Claim in David, and they said the bag would be delivered to my friends’ home.

Today Copa Airlines sent a follow-up text saying my bag was delivered to my friends’ house. It was not. We continued to communicate with them, and just a short time ago, I received another message from Copa saying they found my bag – in Milwaukee!! It should be here soon. I am so happy they found it.

So, my place here is very nice. It is a studio apartment. It is an attachment to the main house, which is owned by Gloria. The kitchen is tiny, but I’ll make it work. The rent is only $450 a month (as opposed to the $1100/mon. last year), so I’m going to make it work. I’ll try to attach a video or photos here. Not sure how to do that yet. Gloria and I are hitting it off quite well.

I’ve been able to connect with a few friends: my friend, Barb, and my knitting group. The knitting group had their movie day yesterday, so I went to that. We watched an old Bette Davis movie called Now, Voyager (1942). Although quite comical at some points due to the 40s drama, it was really quite good. Very risque for its time and insightful regarding mental illness and conditioning, although they didn’t call it that.

I walked into town today to buy a few groceries. It’s a three-mile walk, perfect for my daily routine. Barb has agreed to do a longer walk with me once a week. While in town, I stopped at my friend, Cathy’s house to say hello, and while standing outside, a truck pulled up with my friends, Carmen and Emilio. It was nice to see them, and we plan to get together soon. As soon as I have clothes.

It was nice being in the town center again, visiting my favorite grocery stores. I took the bus home, crammed into the Volcancito minibus with the locals. Not much concern about Omicron here yet, although I did not see a single person without a mask anywhere. The one change from last year is that there are no longer temperature monitors at the doors to shops.

So, I have all the food I need for a while. I’m getting my to-do list together, which includes the all-important pedicure on Tuesday. Shaving my legs was usually a first-day chore, but…no razor. So far, my chin is not out of control. Thank goodness I have light-colored hair; I might be mistaken for wildlife. I also have not put a comb through my hair in four days.

The weather, of course, is perfect. It is 72 degrees with sunny, blue skies and blooming bougainvillea everywhere. I saw my first Motmot today at Gloria’s feeder. That was a treat.

I have been asked to join two spiritual study groups here. They are both starting up after covid breaks, so I am hoping they may join forces and become one group. I shared with one group leader the program I have been doing through the UU church I belong to in Hartland. The program is called Soul Matters. I have had some great discussions with my group at home. Hope it works here.

I’m looking forward to my suitcase being delivered soon because it contains my calligraphy pen. I miss my morning routine of coffee and calligraphy.

So, that’s it for today. I’ll try to keep up and learn how to attach videos.