No GPS Required: Report From Our Fourth Visit to Panama

(With indirect reference to last blog post on Panama -  http://yousurecantalkbaby.blogspot.com/2012/06/how-to-break-your-gps-and-other-stories.html.)

So, we had a short trip to Panama planned for May, including a much-anticipated visit to Contadora Island one of the famous Pearl Islands (Las Perlas) of Panama.  We had everything all set up and it was perfect.  Then in April, as a result of my ongoing and somewhat lazy job hunt, I suddenly got a job offer.  A really good job offer: full-time and 20k more than I was currently making at Jackson Hewitt, back to straight-BA work (no more being a manager to the world's most dysfunctional team of testers!) and in the health care insurance industry (no more boring tax software!).

But there were 2 problems.  The job was in Tampa - at least an hour from our lovely little city of Sarasota - and the offer was contingent on my NOT taking this already-scheduled & paid-for vacation.  I was livid.  And seriously considered turning it down.  If they don't want me badly enough to deal with me missing a total of four measly work days then FUCK them! was my thinking. 

Well, my wonderful husband David - who said he was willing to eventually move to Tampa (and would find a job there, he'd been wanting to leave his current company/position for a while) - talked me off the ledge (as he often has to do).

Reader, I took it.

And in rescheduling the trip we were able to coordinate our visit with my dear friend Andrea who (along with the Panamanian man she married about 6 years ago) has been our connection and inspiration in regards to that country.  We had to give up Contadora Island (too complicated to meet up there around Christmas given an unreliable ferry schedule) but it was worth it.

So we had 3 days/nights in the mountain town of Boquete just me & David and five blissful days in a rented beach house in Portobello, on the Caribbean side of the country, with Andrea, her husband, and a bunch of his family members.  The second half of the trip included Christmas Eve and Christmas, which was perfect.  A few photos below:

Especially ironic how well the trip worked out, given that my sparkly new job for which we rescheduled totally didn't...by the time December rolled around I was well-gone from that crazy place and thank heavens!

My favorite part of the trip (aside from the spontaneous and awesome snorkeling we did the day after Christmas), was when I described the route I took to get us to Portobello which necessarily didn't follow our directions because we were coming from the regional, not the international, airport (which are sort of strangely no where near each other).  Alfonso (Andrea's husband) said "you drive better than many Panamanians!" and I felt proud.  I was a proud Panamanian-wannabe, with no need for a GPS. :)