another week

WOW  it has only been 2 weeks since we arrived yet it feels like we have never left in the first place.  We have slipped right back into the easy living and slower paced life of Boquete.  They are saying that we brought the summer with us as the weather here is changing - we have had a couple of days without rain at all and many days of sunshine and a few showers.  The wind has started coming from the north bringing the feeling of summer.  I have a hard time saying it is summer as for over  a year now it has only been summer for us. 
This week we attended 2 more classes of Spanish- some of it is sinking in and more of it is just gibberish.  If you thought that learning how English works you should try being over 50 and learning how Spanish works.  Nouns, Verbs, Masculine, Feminine - YIKES it is just too much.  But Itzy is making it as fun as she can and as understandable as is possible.  But still some of the best part of the evening is sitting with Ann and Rick at Amigos and laughing at ourselves!
The house we are sitting had gotten new skylights and they were leaking more and more.  I contacted the homeowners and they said that someone would be here the next morning- yeah right this is Panama and no one ever shows up the next day- but I was wrong and at 8 AM a guy is looking in the screen saying he was going to work and surprisingly the leaks seem to have ended. So I can put away the buckets and bowls hopefully for good.
Wednesday morning as I was lounging on the couch asking myself just why had I woken up at 5 AM as it was now 8 and I was ready to go back to bed and suddenly the door opened - yes it was locked.  In walks the maid.  Our information was that she was going to be here the previous Wednesday so was totally unprepared. We had stuff strewn all over since we both had books and papers from studying Spanish the night before.  I am still in my nightgown and feeling like a real slob.  I started grabbing everything I could to make "neat" piles and clothes to get in the shower etc.
Boy was this gal great - the bedsheets were stripped, all our laundry was done, everything cleaned top to bottom-too bad she did not cook too!! She worked for over 6 hours and her pay $18.  It is hard to comprehend the low of pay for good workers.  The gardener was here yesterday and he makes $10 for his work. He uses a weed eater to do the little grass there is, pulls weeds, trims up the bushes etc.  He was here around 4 hours, you do the math as to his hourly wages..

Thursday was one of 3 national holidays - all involve Independence from one country or another for Panama.  They celebrate Nov. 3 and 4th with parades, marching, bands, flags and banners.  The parades involve school children who march with drums, a few horns xylophones.  Their uniforms are fabulous.  Then there are the native dresses that take yards of material and the girls have wonderful hair accessories

These parades go on for hours - with the same banging on the drums and hardly any change in the music.  Today each school stopped at the table where the dignitaries sat and did a short performance- this could be a dance- special music etc.  Each wonderful to watch.

They all got the message to wear Red that day - funny I did not get the memo.  There are some gringos who complain about the disruption to their day.  How wrong can people be ? Panama is to be commended for honoring their heritage and continuing to teach their young people time honored traditions. Each school has its own band and every school in the area is demanded to perform. 
This is repeated on  Friday as well.