Welp, if you haven’t heard, we’re heading back to Panamá! And this time it was ERIC’s idea – no, seriously.
If you paid attention in early 2016, you probably noticed that we spent a lot of time at the beach. A specific beach, actually, called Punta Chame. We first went there in January with Eric’s brother Ray and his wife Jennifer. Eric had been wanting to try kiteboarding for a while, and in Jennifer, he finally found a buddy who was also up for it. Five trips to the beach later, Eric was absolutely hooked on kiting and I was hooked on being a kiter’s wife. Long story a little shorter, Eric got kiting gear for Christmas and we’re looking forward to summer in January again!
Punta Chame is about 90 min from Panamá (the city) by car, but since it’s on a long peninsula, it’s much closer by water. You can see the city from the beach on a clear day. The population is about 400, and nearly all of the visitors go for the extreme sports, namely kiting. The biggest and most commercial thing in town is a sports resort called Nitro City. Aside from that, there are a couple of kiting schools, an adorable B&B run by a French couple (so there’s awesome food at their restaurant), a little hotel with a small restaurant, and a convenience store. That’s about it. Maybe 30 or 40 minutes away is the beach town of Coronado with its fancy resorts and beach houses, 3 grocery stores, and any other shopping or restaurants you’d want.
We’ve rented a house from January 23 through March 31 with enough room for visitors. Just by a plane ticket and we’ll pick you up and give you a place to stay! The house appears to be about 2 km down the road from Machete Kites, Eric’s kite school. Eric has been in touch with the head of the school, Itzick, so he knows we’re coming back this year. We were also excited to learn that Eric’s former teacher Nino, an early 20’s guy from Austria, is already back for the season. It’ll be fun to already know a few folks. I’ve also talked to Itzick about working around the shop or at their little bar. He’s very laid back, as you might imagine, so he just told me, “we’ll find something for you to do.”
Eric will still be working – please dear God let the wifi be reliable – and I will be studying for a personal training test. When I left my civil rights litigation job in August of last year, I didn’t know what I wanted to do next. Actually, I still don’t know what I want to do. I have been interested recently in the idea of health coaching though, and getting certified as a personal trainer is the first step on that road. Will I actually ever work as a personal trainer? Highly doubt it. But if I’m still interested once I pass this test, I may go on to the health coach certification. I’m completely up in the air on this one, but I’m enjoying getting back into anatomy and physiology after years of being away from biology classes.
I’ve been working as a contract attorney for a document review firm since August. Unfortunately, their security precautions prevent me from being able to do that from home – or rental home, as the case may be. The nice thing is that I can easily take the time away for our trip.
I’ve been dealing with some pride issues since I left my litigation job. While I was really stressed out and rather depressed from all the horrible things that go on in the prison system, I was also very proud of my work. I enjoyed telling people what I did and spreading awareness (for whatever that’s worth) of my clients’ struggles. Now, the cases I work on are huge and corporate and not my own, so I don’t quite know where I fit. After 6+ years as an attorney, I am facing a question that many lawyers struggle with – do I actually want to practice law? I’ll let you know if/when I figure it out. In the meantime, I am very grateful for a flexible job that does not follow me home. I am incredibly blessed to make my own schedule to some degree, and to take off two months to follow my kiteboarding husband back to warmer weather. So while I battle my pride, I’m hoping to dive into studying and enjoy being a bartender – or whatever it is that Itzick comes up with for me.
We already have one visitor booked! Eric’s cousin David will be coming to stay with us in February. I encourage each of you to consider taking an impromptu trip to our little secluded beach (and Panamá City).
Eric’s cousin, David, dressed as Dasher for the Christmas Eve murder mystery. David, I just wanted to use the most recent pic I had of you! 🙂
Very cool. I look forward to seeing all the pictures! Does capoiera fit in at all?