High Winds and Swirling Mist

Monday, Dec. 31, 2012--Banquete, Panama

All night long last night we had high winds with rather heavy rain.  By today, the winds continued, but the rain had turned to a swirling mist.  We were told this is the normal weather pattern for this time of the year.

Our breakfast at the hotel was good.  They made us hot chocolate and served us freshly squeezed orange juice and a plate of fresh fruits--pineapple, papaya, and banana.  From the egg choices we each ordered the omelette.  We ordered the omelette with ham, the waitress asked if we wanted "en toto" which we took to mean that we wanted it also with cheese and vegetables which were listed as possibilities.  We got a cheese only omelette and are not sure what the problem was.  From the bread choices, we got the hojaldras, a local fry-bread.

My San Antonio friend Merryl has a long-time friend Totsie who lives here in Banquete with her husband Winn, his mother Wanda and their dog Jazz.  Totsie and Wanda came to pick us up at 9:30 and took us to their home in the hills.  It's a very nice place with views of coffee plantations, a nice lawn with flowers, and lots of windows which allowed for steady breezes through the house.  We played with Jazz, had cappuccinos, toured their home, saw Totsie's weavings and her Japanese loom, and talked about everything from around-the-world travel, to their web design business, to living in Panama as an expatriate, to the problems related to dementia (which Wanda has and our mothers had), etc.

They gave us a driving tour of the area, and we eventually stopped at the Panamonte Hotel, a historic inn from the early 1900s where we ate lunch--burgers with fries for Wes, Winn, and me, and pumpkin soup and a salad for Totsie.

After lunch, they left to visit Winn's brother and his family who also live here, and Wes and I walked back into town.  We barely made it back to the hotel before the swirling mist began again.  We stayed inside for a couple of hours, then we went out exploring the town more.  People were active in the local park, along the streets, etc., in preparation for and celebration of the New Year.  While out, we stopped at the supermarket and bought some rum, cola and peanuts to have in the room to celebrate the new year ourselves.