Today I went shopping. Yay! It’s been awhile since I shopped for anything other than groceries (and that is positively no fun) so today was memorable! Candace, Robert, Melanie (3 of the 5 Smiths) and I started at Claro, where we all renewed our cell phone unlimited data plan ($15) and put on more minutes ($5 for 60 minutes). Then we went to Conway, which is a smallish Macy’s. We skipped over the clothes (maybe another time) and headed up to housewares. The Smiths are trying to furnish their homes in Pedasi so they have a long list.
I checked out the pressure cookers and stumbled across rice makers. I decided to skip the plastic bag method that I learned yesterday and go with what I know so I got a rice maker. I know it’s not the Panamanian thing to do but I have enough working against me in the kitchen department, I needed a sure thing. For $30 it was worth it.
They have a different system of buying stuff here. After I picked out my rice maker I put it in the cart. Silly me. An employee came up and (very nicely so as not to startle the confused gringa) picked up my rice maker and told me to follow her. We went to a corner of the store near the sheets and sat on the floor while she pulled out all the pieces of the rice maker. I admired the lid, the plastic spoon, the inner bowl, etc. Not sure if I was supposed to ooh and ahh over this stuff but it seemed like the thing to do. She plugged it in and we checked that the heating system worked. Oooooh K. It’s all good. She initialed the UPC code and sent me on my way after repacking it very nicely just like it came.
I bought an apron (it’s a very sexy looking apron, it looks more like a bikini top and a skirt) and I decided to NOT play it safe with coffee. I got an espresso maker for the stove and a cute little pot with a pouring spout that I think is designed for heating milk. I’m not sure our next rental has a microwave so I need to learn how to make my coffee and milk another way.
Finally we were done and we checked out. I was buying a set of 4 glasses that were in a cardboard box, but inside the box they were not really separated, they could clink together. The bagger guy behind the counter recognized the fragile nature of the item and wrapped it up, box and all, so as to have more cushion around the entire package. But he left the glasses inside the box just as they were. Strange. They survived the drive home just fine. Not sure the point of that process at all.
After Conway we moved on to Pricesmart (Costco) where we stocked up on food items and I bought a pressure cooker. The nearest large grocery store is an hour from Pedasi so we felt like it would be a good opportunity to get loaded up on food and supplies. I have high hopes for the pressure cooker. So does Daniel.
Tomorrow night Luis arrives from Panama City. He is the taxi driver well known to many expats and he’ll be picking up our combined 31 (!!) suitcases and untold other stuff both families have picked up in the past month here in Boquete. We can only hope he is good at Tetris and can fit in all our new purchases AND our luggage.
Tomorrow is our last day in Boquete. We will be packing. I’m pretty sure Daniel will not be sad to say goodbye to the rain.