November was a crazy month for Panamenians - the first week was the "fiestas patrias" in the city and throughout Panama. Independance from Spain, Columbia and recognition as a country from the world. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE celebrates. Stores shut down. Schools go on break. People stock up on booze and food and head to the beach. And celebrate.
Two weeks later, another holiday comes around - more patriotic holidays and more celebrations. The beach was crowded, music is blasting, and the roads are full of cars and people. We also had our neighbors keeping us up with their Reggaeton music ALL night! Actually it turned out to be neighbors of the neighbors with a DJ sound system cranking the music with lights and everything. Ugh.... they can certainly know how to throw a party.
Read more about it in detail here:
After the patriotic holidays, comes Mother's Day on December 8th. Another national holiday and one I really enjoyed. Went out with friends to our dear friends new restaurant in San Carlos: Mama Mia. They've only been open a week and boy, I'm spoiled by their pizzas and wine. I've also tried Grappa for the first time. I think Jose Cuervo will always be my friend... grappa and limoncello sidekicks.
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| Grappa |
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| Limoncello |
But with Mother's Day aside, the malls, the shopping centers, super markets, and pretty much everywhere you go - Christmas trees, decorations, candy, and nativity scenes line up the shelves, aisles, floors and ceilings! In fact... I even made a bet in September that a mall being built (Westland Mall near Arrajián) 30 minutes away from Coronado will open before Christmas. The mall has one store open - Madison Store and it opened November 8th. Yae! I won. A bottle of Johnny Walker - and it better be black (blue label too much plata). Or is the red better? Hmmmm.
My kids are still in overload and worried about Santa knowing where we live. Well Santa knows everything and of course he knows (wink, wink). Chris and the kids bought our tree and decorations for the tree. I went and bought house decorations and stockings. Total?: Under $100. Not much, but we don't have a ton of room.
Well we both went to Machetazo (kind of like Target on steroids). The new store opened in Coronado a couple of weeks ago. What a fantastic idea! We love shopping there for groceries, toiletries, home basics, and now, Christmas stuff. I did cheat and went up to Seattle to buy my video games - thanks to my micosoft buddy. Here an Xbox game goes for $60-80!! Ay Caramba! The big thing this year for our kids are the 3DS, piano, games, barbies, and crafts. I'm still playing the naughty and nice game and have 14 days to use this as my ammo.
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| Kami and Lincoln's stockings |
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| Our 5' tree $30 |
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| Home made decoration for $20 |
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| Outdoor mat (which is inside) for $3 |
Christmas will be different this year - we are staying in Panama. This year we have no advent calendar (oops!) and so we just make do. I just did not see any at the stores here. The big things all stores have is the nativity scenes. We also have sun, heat and palm trees. No snow, coldness or rain. I think the temperature makes it feel non-christmasie but that in itself is cool. We are wearing shorts and tank tops and going surfing instead of boots, leggings and sweatshirts and going skiing. LOL
We have been here almost 4 months and we are still having fun. We have enjoyed the weather immensely! We have surfing every weekend. We have new friends to celebrate the holidays with. And actually, I think its these new friends and families from our PCIS school that has made this adventure easy. Now as I type this, the kids and Chris went surfing. I'm getting ready to watch my Sunday football and finish a painting.
Until next week - Feliz Navidad.
- Lita
