It’s the most important concept for me; always was; always will be.

PEACE IN THE WORLD

This simple concept promoted with great music around the world just has to move you! please take time to listen! You will be happy you did.

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It IS Time to think about our planet!!

Goodbye General Motors

I am a fan of Michael Moore but even if you are not a fan he makes some really valid points in this letter and has some great suggestions for what we, the country, can do to turn GM’s failure into a positive for the future.

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This is clean and too much fun! When sheep herders get bored!

Trust me on this one!

Click & Enjoy

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Spanish Word for Each Day

Many of my friends are aging like fine wine and me and the idea of learning a new language is a bit overwhelming. We started before we left the US and tried some night classes at the high school. Although they helped, not as much as I had hoped. I thought all those months of Spanish I took to graduate college might finally kick in and have some actual use at last.  Since it really didn’t magically happen like that; after all many years have passed since then (it just seems like yesterday) I take all the help I can get. Here is a great link to a site that will send you for free a word a day and they pronounce it for you to make it easier. Sign up for the feed and it will come to you automatically each day.

Remember you will need Spanish here and as I tell the polite clerks in the store who apologize for not speaking Spanish: No problemema . Es no importante  usted habla Englais, esta Panama, es mi problema por habla Espanol y estudio todo los dias por entender.  Gracias por ayuda.

Just goes to show that anyone can learn it just takes a little longer for me than it used to. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just understood. Almost every problem we have had since we moved to Panama could have been prevented with a better command of the language. Most of us exercise our bodies; think of this as exercise for the brain – it’s good for keeping us young and you will use it somewhere if not here.

For today’s extra word and just so I know you are out there please look up the meaning of apprender and drop me a line with it used in a sentence. Give it a try!

Hasta Luego

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For all my surfing friends out there; here are some absolutely awesome photos from Surfline.com.

Thanks Daniel for passing this link along. Anyone who appreciates good photography will love these! A picture is worth a thousand words and now I understand “green room” as it applies to waves. If I was just a little younger…. Anyway what a great non violent high adrenaline extreme sport that always challenges your personal best!

Also here is a video I made of my son Daniel and his friends surfing in Bocas Del Toro.

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This writer has a good journal with photos of diving Coiba. Isla Coiba is the do not miss ex prison colony Island where the snorkeling and diving are spectacular!

Check it out here:  Coiba Dive Journal

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This version of Exiled MTV’ s reality show is close to my heart since it is a hometown girl sent to Panama for her “coming of age” experience.

As always give it a look and let me know what you think.

MTV Exiled in Panama

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Many of you have asked what is the best way to travel to panama? As requested; here are the travel plans to visit us.

If you are coming from Florida we have hired these professional boat captains to sail you here

from Miami – wind and weather permitting.

There is a one bag limit and be sure to bring your sun screen.

Let us know if you have any questions.

Directions for flying to Panama

Since David, Panama is closer to Punta Pena, Bocas del Toro and Boquete the best way we have found to fly to our areas of Panama is to fly to San Jose, Costa Rica and then grab a short flight on Air Panama to David, Panama. If you want to fly to Panama City – American Airlines and Copa Airlines have direct flights from many hubs. The thing to remember is it is almost a 6 hour drive from Panama City to Boquete so for us it makes sense to fly through Costa Rica. Watch Spirit Airlines and even consider joining their $9 club for specials to Costa Rica. Get a flight that arrives into Costa Rica in the afternoon unless you want to do some site seeing in Costa Rica first. The reason for this is they only have one flight and only on M-W- F to David, Panama and it leaves at 11:00 AM Costa Rican time which is one hour behind Panama time. Panama is EST with no daylight savings. The challenge is you usually cannot catch a flight to arrive early enough to San Jose to be able to transfer and catch the flight to David.

Since the flight to David is also an “International” flight the same rules apply – arrive approximately 2 hrs early to the airport.

The airline you will use for this is : Air Panama @ www.flyairpanama.com/

There are many hotels around the San Jose Airport and most offer free shuttle service. One place we stayed at the Best Western Irazu – they are

online: http://www.crica.com/hotels/irazu.html

It’s a bit far from the airport but has a free shuttle, free happy hour, casino, pool, and restaurant with free breakfast – it was $100 when we stayed there. As a bonus we never had to even exchange money as they took dollars. If you want to explore a little in Costa Rica this is a great location to go from and they will exchange your money in the hotel.

The second time we stayed in Costa Rica the young woman at the information booth at the airport gave us the name of a place called Hotel Brilla Sol it is 5 minutes from the airport and also offers free shuttle. Their number is 506-442-5129 or 506-430-5878 rooms are decent with hot water and a nice little garden restaurant at the hotel. It has a casual and friendly atmosphere.

Important to note when planning the hotel is that San Jose is a great hub if you are planning to spend a day or 2 in Costa Rica but the airport is actually in Alajuela so if you are just stopping for the night then it is quicker and less expensive to lodge in Alajuela. The airport in Costa Rica has a great information booth and they are helpful with lots of brochures and info.

After you have arrived in Costa Rica from your carrier you will take the flight #691 on Air Panama leaving at 11:00 AM and arriving at David Panama at 12.55 PM (your lose an hour). On your return flight you will take Air Panama flight #690 to Costa Rica leaving at 10:30 AM arriving in Costa Rica at 10:30 AM. (you get your hour back).

It is easy to get to the airport in David in time to make the return trip in one day as long as you can book a flight out of San Jose any time after 12:00 noon.

You can usually get into Miami airport in time to miss rush hour traffic if all goes really well. As far as other international airports we haven’t had the personal experience to advise at that end.

For our Florida friends: We also used a parking service close to the airport in Miami that was much more reasonable than the airport and safe and convenient. They are online or their number is: 954-584-1589 http://www.unitedairportparking.com/ Most large airports have a similar service that makes it affordable to park nearby which we always found comforting. Knowing your vehicle is waiting for you when you arrive is the next best thing to having a chauffeur.

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Now more than ever Panama is the right place to protect your nest egg!

While much of the world is experience economic meltdown aftershock and reeling from the recent financial debacles created by poor decisions on the part of  – oh well – we know what happened or do we?

I research daily for answers to how the US and the world go into this financial mess and in the end I remained convinced of only one thing.  That happy fact is that at least we in Panama are in the right place at the right time!

I often refer you to articles from the Panama Guide as I believe Don Winner does his research writes the news as objectively as possible and while I don’t always agree with him; I admit he is knowledgeable and thorough.

Check out what he wrote recently about the reasons that Panama Real Estate investment is still going strong.  If you would like more information on investing in Panama or the retirement lifestyle options here just give a call on skype: lifeisgoodpanama.

As a consultant for the largest Real Estate Company in Central America, I am confident I can help and anxious to prove myself and the value of a brand name in a foreign place. 

CENTURY 21 GOLD BOQUETE

has been here in “downtown” Boquete for years and also has offices in Bocas Del Toro and David. Choose a name you can trust with the procedures to protect your investment and we will take care of you just like you were at home. For investment in your future, a second home or as an affordable retirement option we will help you  feel at home here to! Join us and so many others who have decided to choose Panama.

Check it out here for a great get in early opportunity

in Bocas Del Toro

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Panama is a healthy place to live. The one thing about what people refer to as a “third world country” is that there is almost no fast food! What a concept. While it might take longer to shop and cook here than in the US we never lack for healthy foods and we take pleasure in cooking together as well as calculating the cost of our delicious home cooked meals.

In Boquete and in Panama in general shopping is a multiple stop experience that we do together (like most everything ) with lots of chatting as you go around and we always run into people who want to pass the time of day. First to the farmers market, across the street to the grocery store, again down the street 2 doors for the bulk store for cheap cases of beer in recycleable bottles, back outside in the street for fresh fish and shrimp from the back of a pickup truck, across the bridge for delicious organic lettuce and then down the road to the fresh chicken and egg store. It helps to spread your money around a bit anyway.

I make our own whole wheat bread since fluffy white bread is what is mostly available here and we always have delicious vegetables. Fresh chicken breasts can be bought for $1.15 per pound and fresh fish for $2.50 per pound. Often we opt for roasted veggies for a quick and healthy meal that costs about $2.00 to feed both of us. We haven’t found great pizza here so have perfected our own “white pizza” topped with fresh veggies and since bananas are so plentiful we always have banana bread on hand for a treat. Fruits are whatever is in season from paypaya to pineapple, oranges and my new favorite cherimoya.

Panama has a host of healthful herbs for home remedies (see this article at 9 80 magazine online but if you get sick the Doctors here are very inexpensive and highly qualified so no worries. People are now beginning to travel to Panama for low cost medical procedures both the necessary and the optional procedures.

Outside of Panama City the air is clean and since many people do not drive cars there is very little exhaust or noise pollution.

Here in the mountains of Boquete with the streams and the mountain air it couldn’t feel any cleaner. This time of year it is 75 – 80 with lots of sunshine and windy part of the day.  As they say here in Boquete “the valley of eternal spring”.

Fresh air and great food has become a priority for us as it has for many of you and if you travel to Panama you will find plenty of both to make it easier to maintain your health.

I have a new favorite site created by Dr. Nicole Sundene on holistic health. Dr. Sundene is a Naturopathic Physician who has teamed up with a small group of other highly qualified health specialists to offer great advice for your general health, natural health remedies and dispel some of the myths about alternative medicine. Do yourself a favor and check out her great site at Kitchen Table Medicine.

As always please let me know with your comments what you think and how I can give you the information you are looking for in Panama.

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