MarieElaine

This is so sad!  What a horrible accident.   If she had been wearing shoes, would the outcome have been different?

LOL!  Wonder how many votes he'll get with this trick on his resume?

I am one of those who moved because of the cost of a pensionado.  I moved to Medellin like a lot of folks who are leaving chiriqui.  A brand new 1 bedroom condo can be had for $35K U.S. in Sabaneta.  Larger units are equally as cheap.  Like Boquete, Medellin is in a valley so land is not cheap and lots are small.  Unlike Boquete there are 2 million people here and, if you stay away from trendy expat areas like Poblado, you can stretch your dollar pretty far.  I never had a chance of owning a home in Chiriqui but, if I choose, home ownership here is a lot less expensive.  Like the previous comment about Chiriqui, I may spend the rest of my life here.  Love it!  Highly recommend it!

The same Chris from Big Daddies?

"Clumping" is important to we cat people!  All contained in one place, just lift the clump and continue with your day rather than spending a half hour or more looking for the "bombs" in the yard or picking up steamies on a walk.  LOL

Hence the reason they are having a "fair" instead of distributing through their usual sources?

I love the pictures with the smiley faced children of Casa Esperanza and find it hard to believe that only 15 people put that event together for these children.  Putting all the other societal issues aside, my focus when I lived in Boquete was the children.  The children are the most affected by their parents poverty and giving them "options" as they mature is one of the focuses of Casa Esperanza.  I now live in Medellin because the cost of pensionado was too much for me to afford and border hopping became a no-no.  I miss the children of Casa, their unaffected attitudes made me smile.

Casa Esperanza is a Panama wide organization funded partially by corporations that supports the children of the local farm workers for free.  They pick the children up, take them to school, feed them two meals a day (many times this is all the food they get) and take them home.  In addition, they help with homework, teach English and provide arts and crafts and sports to occupy their days.  They even have volunteers who teach music.  Education is the focus.  Roughly 250 children ages 4 to 18 enroll every year.  

Each Casa has to rely on the community to fill the gaps of their funding.  There are many volunteers who work with the children but money and food is desperately needed.  If you have a bumper crop of anything please consider dropping it off at their facility in Boquete, left at Multi Bank, 2 stop signs and on the right partway up the hill.  This is a wonderful and safe organization run by local Panamanians that deserve all the help they can get.

There are other charities in Boquete that also help the indigenous where they can with food and a lot of churches adopt families to help them get by.  I know of individuals who have adopted families and unselfishly provide what assistance they can.  God bless them all.

I often wondered if a rape crisis center would change anything in Boquete.  Something affiliated with the police and the government offices.  When I spoke to others about this when I was there they suggested I would be putting a target on my back.

I had the pleasure of meeting him when he was in Boquete.  A very intelligent and informed individual whose dedication was evident I think to everyone in the room.  I wish him the best.

Beautiful!!!!!  Thanks for sharing.

Are prescription drugs still being held up by customs in Panama?  I had trouble getting my blood pressure medication because of their scrutiny for "fake drugs" when I lived there.  Is this still an ongoing issue?

Some drones do not contain cameras.  I bought one for my Grandson.  Real estate companies are now using drones to video properties for sale from the air as well.  The big question is, how does one tell if the drone is harmless or is scoping out your property for a break in?

Jimmie is adorable!!!!!  Hope someone snatches him up.

Is this the doctor that runs the mission clinic in Volcancito?

I agree Uncle D.  I believe Colorado has increased tax revenue significantly after legalizing marijuana.  Also, the quality is controlled so that nothing harmful finds it's way into anyones body.  Now, if they would only start taxing and controlling the worlds "oldest profession" we would reap in more tax dollars I am sure.  LOL

Like Judi and JIm, I too cut out meat (I still sometimes eat poultry and fish) for health reasons.  Doctors wanted me to control my colitis with steroids and inflammation controlling drugs but I wanted to find a better method.  I experimented with food and found that I felt much better not eating red meat and eating more veggies.  While I do occasionally still have a flareups based on more emotional issues, I am so much better and do not take any drugs.  While I am not sure about Panama's red meat, meat in the U.S. is full of antibiotics, hormones and steroids which I think contribute to a lot of digestive issues.

Does towing the deluge out to sea actually solve anything?  I hope they come up with a better solution for the pollution.  Glad somebody is doing something though.

Big Daddy's also has a veggie burger that is quite good and you can get veggie pizza anywhere they serve pizza.  I like La Posadas.

Panama is a little behind the times on this one as most of the rest of the world has legalized it for medical purposes.  It is about time.  I know my late husbands chemo would have been much more horrible without it.

My temporary home in Medellin (airbnb) is next to a university and it is noisy.  When a university comes to town so do bars with loud music which I deal with almost nightly here.  While the progress is wonderful, be prepared for an influx of young people.

Funny, I live in Medellin and found the quality of the shoes to be much better than Panama.  I think the leather goods come from Argentina.  Because the quality is better, the price is higher.  There are Payless stores here if one wants cheaper shoes and the prices to me seem comparable to Panama.  Just my take on this subject.

I swear by boric acid as well.  You can buy the food grade by the bag full at the Finca Marta table at the Tuesday Market.  Just sprinkle a line around your house/garden/patio and the ants are gone in an hour or so.

You may want also to speak with Betty Grey as she has a very large trout and tilapia pond that has been very successful.

Latin music was well represented at the 60th Grammy Awards.  It was nice to see!