Brandy

Does anyone know where to get a soil test in Boquete?  Does anyone know whether they even test soil here?  Thanks!

 Alto al Crimen is not a "dead horse".  It is quite alive and well, quietly serving the ENTIRE community: homeowners, renters (both long- and short-term), visitors and tourists.  It is not a "members-only" exclusive service, but is available to everyone.  I would hate to think that, as a tourist in Boquete, I would have to pay $80 for access to a bi-lingual emergency hotline operator for the two weeks I was here. 

I am not tech savvy enough to know how to highlight portions of other posts, but I do think a response to Bud's questions is in order.

I am so very sorry for your loss.

The Boquete Knitters and Quilters is a tri-cultural (we have ex-pat, Latina Panamanian and Ngabe-Bugle Panamanian members), tri-craftual (we have knitters, crocheters and quilters) organization that creates baby quilts, blankets, caps, sweaters and booties for our neediest, tiniest neighbors.  We also supply chemo caps to the Obaldia Hospital in David, as well as donate finished items to their newborn nursery.

We are so grateful when people tuck yarn into a suitcase and bring it down for our use.  We especially love Lion Brand Homespun, Lion Brand Pound of Love, Red Heart Soft and Caron Simply Soft, but we have thus far managed to use virtually very yard of yarn we've been given -- even unraveling worn out afghans for the yarn!  The yarns we prefer are available at WalMart, Joann, Michael's, and Hobby Lobby, and are acrylic -- strong enough to be beaten on a rock in the river.

We also have a Paypal account: BoqueteKnitters@hotmail.com.  Every nickel we raise goes toward the purchase of yarn, batting, fabric, thread, buttons and bindings.  And every finished product keeps a child wrapped in soft warmth -- and our love.

We invite you to drop by the Fundacion pro Integracion (Handicap Foundation) in Alto Boquete where we meet, to see us at work and to admire our work.  Every Friday afternoon between 1 and 3 PM.

The generic name for Benadryl is diphenhydromine.  Ask for "Diphenhydromina".  It is available.  Or has been.

I am devastated!  This is indeed a tragedy.

The Boquete Knitters and Quilters is a multicultural organization.  Our members include USA expats, Canadians, Brits, Latina Panamanians and Ngabe-Bugle Panamanians.  We thoroughly enjoy sitting together and working for a common cause.

The Boquete Knitters and Quilters will be holding their third Great Boquete Soup Fest on Friday, March 18, from 11:30AM to 2PM at the BCP.  For a suggested donation of $10, guests receive a bowl and spoon and a dessert ticket.  They then can go through the room and sample 18-plus different delicious soups before settling on one (or more!) to enjoy before having a dessert.  Beginning at 1:30 PM, take-out containers will be available for $5 each so that you can choose one or more soups to take home and enjoy later.

All funds raised are used to purchase yarn, fabric and quilt batting, with which they create baby blankets, caps, sweaters, booties and quilts.  These items are taken to two local public health clinics which serve the indigent residents in Boquete.  They also donate items to the newborn nursery at the Obaldia Hospital in David, as well as chemo caps to the Pediatric Oncology Department there.

The Boquete Knitters and Quilters was started seven years ago after Brandy Gregory learned that often Ngabe-Bugle mothers bring their babies in to the clinics for newborn checkups carefully and lovingly swaddled with newspaper -- because they have nothing else to use.   So she invited people to join her weekly at the Fundadores Hotel to knit soft, beautiful baby things.

When the group moved to its current meeting place at the Fundacion Pro Integracion (Handicap Foundation) in Alto Boquete, some of the Latina Panamanian ladies there were intrigued, as knitting is not part of the culture in Panama.  They asked to learn how to knit, and The Knitters were delighted to teach them.   They joined in knitting for the Ngabe-Bugle babies.  Later on, several Ngabe-Bugle ladies asked if they might also learn how to knit.  Of course the ladies were delighted to teach them, too!  And now they have members of all three cultures: expat, Latina and Ngabe-Bugle who sit together and work together for their common cause.

The Quilters joined the group about three years ago.  They meet on Mondays in each others' homes, where the sewing machines and cutting tables are.  And they make stunning, colorful quilts by the dozens!

A few months ago the Boquete Knitters and Quilters began sponsoring a series of Great Boquete Soup Fests which allow local cooks to show off their soup-making skills while donating to a good cause.  People can come, sample as many soups as they wish and then eat their fill of their favorites.  The next soup fest will be held on March 18 at the BCP between 11:30 AM and 2 PM.

To learn how you can join or help, please contact Brandy at TNRNMSG@YAHOO.COM.

If you enjoy knitting, crocheting or quilting -- or want to learn -- the Boquete Knitters and Quilters invite you to join us!  We meet on Friday afternoons from 1-3PM at the Fundacion Pro Integracion (the Handicap Foundation) in Alto Boquete.  It is located about 2KM south of SuperCentro Ivan, next to the under-construction Policlinica.  We have both needles and yarn available, with which we create baby things to donate to the clinics in the Boquete District, as well as to the pediatric oncology department at the Obaldia Hospital in David.

I have seen some misleading information put out on another forum on this site, and I feel the need to address this.

First, the Ten Commandments are not the "Christian Ten Commandments".  A quick check in Wikipedia clearly shows "The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue, are a set of commandments which the Bible describes as having been given to the Israelites by God at biblical Mount Sinai. The Ten Commandments are listed twice in the Hebrew Bible, first at Exodus 20:1–17, and then at Deuteronomy 5:4–21. Both versions state that God inscribed them on two stone tablets, which he gave to Moses."

Exodus and Deuteronomy are both books of the Torah which was written centuries before the birth of Jesus.

Exodus 20:1-17 reads:

And God spoke all these words, saying,

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.”

Deuteronomy 5:4-21 repeats:

The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, 5 while I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said:

6 “‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

7 “‘You shall have no other gods before me.

8 “‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

11 “‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

12 “‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

16 “‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

17 “‘You shall not murder.

18 “‘And you shall not commit adultery.

19 “‘And you shall not steal.

20 “‘And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

21 “‘And you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.’

In the 22nd chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew, there is the story of the conversation between Jesus and a lawyer.  It reads:

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

If one compares the Ten Commandments from the Torah to the two commandments spoken by Jesus, one can see that "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" is a summary of the first five commandments.  And that "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" is a summary of the last five.

As to the definition of the word "neighbor", Jesus, quoted in the tenth chapter of Luke's gospel, tells the following story:

Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

A particularly significant point is that the "one who showed...mercy" was a Samaritan, an enemy of the injured man, not like the priest or Levite.