Postcards from Panama
A Year of Culture Shock and Adaptation
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As the house is mostly finished (with those missing cabinet exceptions and the kitchen’s final fixes), we can relax more, tidy, rearrange, and start living a more normal life (if such a thing exists!). Carnivale starts now, so "normal" is a relative word for the coming week. The folks here celebrate the end of pleasure prior to the start of deprivation (Lent) in a big way. Latinos seem to revel in their festivals (religious or otherwise!), and the roads were being blocked Thursday afternoon, and various stalls, cantinas, and displays were being erected by Friday. Six days of celebration which means parties, drinking, costumes, drinking, and general revelry, plus more drinking! Whether we partake or not remains to be seen. If we go into town, I will take my camera of course. Many of the local shops will likely either close or reduce hours, so we stocked up a little on our groceries, just in case. Fireworks every night, and lots of street noise and people everywhere is not really my scene.
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About the Book
This is Iris’s second book. Her first, Panama? Why Panama?, described the lengthy process she and Chris endured as they prepared to move to Panama upon retirement, the roller coaster of emotion involved, and the dos and don’ts of how to achieve this. Iris now picks up the thread and, with actually living in Panama, describes their first year of adaptation to the language and culture of a foreign country. At times funny, sometimes poignant, often perplexing, daily life is a cacophony of change in expectations. Herein lies the tale of one couple and their initial year in Panama!
About the Author
Retirement gave Iris the opportunity to indulge a cherished wish—to write! Her professional life encompassed bank clerking, nursing, supervising and management, teaching and counseling, time as a university professor, and lastly several years as a realtor—an olio of experience and interaction with people from all walks of life. Putting this array of knowledge to use became a new cause, thus the writing. Iris is a wife, mother, stepmother (not the wicked kind!), grandmother, lover of cats (and dogs!), happy to meet new folks, delighted to have new experiences, to listen, and to mentor. She considers herself a lifelong learner. Some of her acquired wisdom is now being recorded in her books and shared in her weekly blog www.postcardsfrompanama.net.