First couple of days!

May 8th, 2008- A New Beginning
4am came in a hurry this morning. I felt like I was walking around with a 50lb rock attached to my back as I was preparing to load the truck for the quick ride to the airport. It’s amazing how quickly the last two weeks have come and gone! Once loaded up Brenna parked the truck and joined me in the airport for check in with Copa airlines. I must say that the service I received from Copa was first class even though I was in the “back”…the cattle car so to speak. I had 4 checked bags which consisted of 2 roller boards, one of which being just over 70lbs, an 8’0 surfboard bag with three surfboards in it, and a fishing pole carrier with 10 poles in it. Not a light load to say the least. Let’s not forget the camera case and backpack for carry-on baggage as well. I was greeted with a smile and a “Is all of that yours”….yes I replied and “sorry” with a returned smile. The young lady behind the counter obliged in checking in all of my baggage and charged me $50 for the surfboard bag and $30 for the fishing pole carrier and that’s it! I was amazed to say the least; I have paid far more with less baggage on other airlines and will remember that treatment in the future. Once through checking in Brenna and I went downstairs to the 24 hour coffee shop in baggage claim and got a cup of café’ before my trip through security. Interesting place Washington D.C., the cashier was absolutely rocking out to Tupac at the counter! Ya never know what you might see or hear these days. During our 15 minute conversation over coffee is became clear that things would get a bit teary eyed now and they did. I took a comfortable and common route during these times and tried to stay “strong” in her presence all the while reassuring her that things would work out for us in due time. We walked up to security and said goodbye, although she stayed within eyesight until I boarded the people mover and the doors shut. Once threw security we spoke briefly and said our “goodbyes”. Upon boarding we spoke one last time before the familiar “ding” and the orders to put electronic devices away. I complied and said goodbye one last time. Shortly after we taxied to the runway and the Boeing 737-800 roared to life racing down the runway. After reaching a cruising altitude we were served a cheese omelet and potatoes for “desayuno” or breakfast to most of us. Now roughly 2 hours into the flight we are approaching the Caribbean Sea for our “over water” leg of the trip. El Capitan has informed us we will be flying over Cuba and then skirting Nicaragua and Costa Rica before reaching our destination of Panama’ Cities Tocumen International Airport. Our arrival time is 10:30am which is roughly 4 hours and 20 minutes in the air. The time in Panama currently is the same as central time or 1 hour behind east coast time. I am told I will be picked up by “chino” who is a friend of Chad’s at the airport. We then have to pick up some necessities only found in the gateway to the America’s city before making the 4 and a half hour drive to Tole’ and Chad’s place. Emotions run rampant between the sadness of leaving my wife behind and the excitement of the adventure ahead. I am blessed in many ways and one of them is having the most incredible support group in my parents and mother-in-law, and lest not forget my wife of course! Friends and family are priceless and in times like these it becomes even more apparent. The journey has begun and the anticipation of things to come is the catalyst for why we do what we do.

Once I arrived in Panama city and deplaned I immediately felt the rush of humidity and the smells that remind you there is no place like Central America….feeling lucky for having been seated near the front of the cattle car I was able to beat the rush for immigration….4 minutes it took to get through. Off to baggage claim where it is not uncommon to wait a really long time for extras like surfboards and fishing poles only to again be surprised to be in the baggage area less than 20 minutes total! I grabbed a push cart and loaded up my 2 roller boards, surfboard bag, fishing pole carrier, camera case, and backpack and headed for customs line. This ought to be quite interesting I thought to myself. One gringo with 6 bags huh… I unloaded everything onto the x-ray machine and sent it through. On the other side the customs agent smiled and said “have fun”….Amazing what a good smile and attitude can do for you. I waited outside for about 30 minutes for Chino to arrive in Chad’s truck and we were off. Chino informed me that we had to make 2 stops before heading to Tole’. No problem I replied having no idea what I had gotten myself into. The first stop was easy enough once we found it about 30 minutes later and on to the second stop which was the import office for some items that Chad had shipped from the U.S. The items were there and ready to go on the palate, only we waited for 3 hours before a lady to come outside and look at the items and sign one piece of paper….O.K. Gracias’ , what?. That’s it. Day one in Panama and the lessons of patience are beginning already. A challenge it will be. Whatever I thought, off we go to Chad’s. The afternoon turned to evening, then came dusk, and eventually darkness fell upon us about 2 ½ hours from Chad’s. It is important to note for those who have not travelled at night in Panama, or most any other Central American country for that matter; there are no street lights and rarely much in the way of reflectors as well. Combine that with 18 wheelers blasting down CA-1 in the pouring rain with lightning strikes in the distance, and well there you have it and adventure in itself. I challenge everyone to think about that the next time they get upset because they are cut off on the road. Try imagining an 18 wheeler in the oncoming lane with another passing him flashing his brights at you so you slow down and he can get back in the proper lane!
We stopped in Santiago to fill up the big Ford diesel at $4.08 a gallon which topped out at $121.00 even! Ouch! On the way we were again and about an hour later we made the left turn onto the broken and forgotten old CA-1 towards the coast and Chad’s. As per the norm we all cracked a cerveza’ upon entering the old highway and gave the cheers’ “Salud Amigo”. 20 minutes down the beaten path and we pass Chicho and Bartolo’s casa. Chicho and Bartolo are brothers and have been fisherman in Panama as long as most can remember. The two are an interesting pair with Bartolo being the elder and Chicho being the bigger specimen. As usual Chicho yelped out a “chucha madre” which is a somewhat harsh phrase, yet comical in its own right with these two. I replied with a nice Gringo Que’ Paso Amigo. Our greeting, over just as quickly as it started left us bouncing down the last km of road before Chad’s. Once up the hill I found that Chad was asleep at 9:00pm. Another lesson in this area is you rise with the sun and fall shortly after it on most days. Many a night will be over at 8pm in the near future. I think it is a healthy prospect and look forward to the change. Chino whisked up a quick Bisteca’ (steak) for us and then I was off to bed.
Day 2-
Day two started around 6:30am when I woke up and was greeted to Chad saying “I thought you were going to sleep all day”. Ah, welcome home! Chad then let me know that he was heading to David and I went with him to try and accomplish a few things. Amongst the 5 hours or so we were in David, I did manage to get a Panama Cell Phone, some stereo speakers for the computer, and a pocket digital camera for photos. Amazing as some things are quite inexpensive here for example a basic pre-paid Nokia cell phone cost $25.00 and the car charger $6.00! What a deal, and the minutes are not bad either. We also checked out some prices on tools that will be needed next week likely. We are also waiting on a cement mixer to arrive from Costa Rica and it should be here “tomorrow”, although my guess is Friday of next week.
On the way home we ran into some fairly strong rain which cooled things off nicely and made the ride more comfortable. Back at the casa’ and off to the computer to inform my business partner of a few of the happenings and to fill him in on the expected timeline for the next week or two. Spoke with “Negra” who is Chad’s main construction guy about the plans for our project and things appear to be behind schedule yet acceptably so. Chad whipped up a nice dinner with fresh broccoli, rice, and a nice piece of hamon’. I had to have a Seco and Lemonade of course. Seco’ is vodka type liquor made in Panama and is fantastic and refreshing when mixed with Lemonade. After dinner it was a nice quiet evening with just me and the computer…hahahaha
Day 3
Well day three started bright and early with me waking up at 5am and could not go back to sleep. Oh well, up and adam and café’ to get the day started. Today we were able to take a couple of workers up to the property and have them machete’ the area where the foundation will go as well as a place for materials. We now expect the cement mixer to arrive Monday or Tuesday and will also buy most of the power tools then as well. Chad’s bobcat is waiting on a hydraulic part so we got some road workers to agree to come up to the property on Thursday with a backhoe and clear a materials area and also cut out for the foundation. They also have access to some rock for our road nearby and are expecting a “roller” in a week or so that will be able to press the rock for our road. All in all a decent day of accomplishments and I took an hour or so this afternoon to take a dip in the pool and have a cerveza. I had company in Maggie who is Chad’s golden retriever and Lucy who is his Rottweiler. They are a blast and love to swim in the pool when it is hot. Around 5pm the Juvia (rain) arrived in full force and shortly after several very close lightning strikes with the last one being within a quarter mile and out went the lights. This is the first time I have been at Chad’s when the power has gone out without a quick reset. It has been out for about 4 hours so far and the rain is steady. The sound on the metal roof is “tranquillo” (relaxing). Tomorrow is Sunday and the workers have a day off leaving Chad and I to go fishing for a couple of hours with poppers for snapper and roosters. I was amazed at the preciseness of the workers with machete’ today and equally impressed with how fast they cleared about 10,000 square feet of 4’ grass. Tomorrow is another day and one I am looking forward to.
Day 4
Well, again this morning I woke up to rooster’s at 4:45am and rolled out of bed around 5:30am. A quick cup of café’ and down to the boat to go fishing for a little while. The popper fishing was slow but Chad managed 2 small cero mackerel and Chicho, Chad, and I put about 20 small snapper in the boat for dinner the next night or two. The surf was BIG, a good 10-12 feet solid and cracking on the reefs out at Silva Adentro and Silva Afuera. I saw an impressive 3 wave set go through in a place I have not seen surf before. I wish I had my board with me to catch a couple this morning as the surf was better than the fishing for sure…hahaha
I will update again in a few days.

Curtis