Thanksgiving is not a holiday celebrated by most Panamanians…. however, because we live in Boquete among many US expats, there were many restaurants in town offering a Thanksgiving Day dinner. Also, many turkeys in the store. We went to Big Daddy’s Grill, for dinner with all the sides. While it wasn’t exactly the same as what we’d have with family, it was familiar and oh so good. We had thought about making our own turkey dinner, but propane was nonexistent at this point due to the protests. (Propane is used for our stove, hot water and dryer).
On Friday, (after Thanksgiving), we took a bus to David. This cost us $1.75 per person. The trip down (which took about 1.5 hours) was in a converted school bus. They filled up every seat and then packed as many as possible into the aisle. Luckily, it was a nice day outside, and with the windows open, it wasn’t bad. We went to the Rey Grocery store, which is significantly larger than our stores in Boquete, and realized they had less selection than we did in our small town. Shelves were bare. But we were excited to have the opportunity to leave Boquete for a few short hours. While in David, we went to numerous stores (grocery, electronics and one similar to Target). Late in the day, tired and ready to head home, we went to the bus stop. After about 30 minutes, our ride came and (yeah!!), it was a big “luxury” bus…. the kind you’d ride if you had a big group renting a bus in the USA to a special location. Yes, we had to stand in the aisle for most of the trip home…. but it felt luxurious.
Back in Boquete, it was getting dark, and we decided to stop at the grocery store to see if they had anything new. We typically go to the store every time we’re in town even if we don’t need anything. Well, this Friday night, I was tired, and I told Pete I’d wait at the entrance while he did a quick loop around the store. He was back in less than a minute and told me he thought they had chicken in the meat section. We haven’t had chicken since arriving in Panama. It was one of the first meats to be gone from the stores when the protests started. Anyhow, not only did they have a full case of chicken, but they had boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a grown woman get excited about chicken breasts…. but OMG…. this was fabulous! I purchased the maximum amount, which was $20 of breasts (approximately 5 lbs).
I had so many plans for the chicken…. stir fry, and pasta with chicken/ sun dried tomatoes to name a few. And then very early on Sunday morning, we received the call that no one wants to get. Pete’s Mom has a massive stroke at home in Texas. And just like that, our life took an unexpected turn. I had our travel to TX booked by 9AM, and a ride found from Boquete to David airport by 9:30AM. We left our home about 1PM Sunday and after many layovers, we arrived at the TX hospital by 5PM on Monday afternoon. His Mom was moved to Hospice Monday night, and she passed on Tuesday evening. I was so thankful we had managed to get there while she was still alive.