Our Panama Adventure At the Beach
My husband, Jerry, and I are ‘those people,’ who came to Panama for vacation and exploration and on our first visit bought property. We came to Panama in 2005 with the idea to have a look around and see if this country could be a possible new home for us. We immediately fell in love with the country and the people. We toured the Caribbean side from Bocas Del Toro back to Panama City and from the City down the Pacific coast to Buenaventura and back. Coronado was the last stop on our three-week exploration and we knew, just knew that this would be our new home. We worked with Coronado es Vida and chose a beautiful building lot and picked our model home. We actually bought our lot on a ‘hand-shake.’ We worked with Sr. Roberto Eisenmann and after our hand-shake, went home, put our house on the market and sold and closed within 40 days. Then it was back to Panama to make good on our handshake and start the building process.
Our experience with Coronado es Vida was absolutely terrific. We certainly learned a lot about the differences in our cultures as we went through the building process. Not only did Coronado es Vida act as our contractor, Roberto and his family and staff, were always available to help us whether it was for advice, for a local reference, and especially for friendship. We count ourselves extremely fortunate to have found Roberto and Coronado.
Today the beach community in and around Coronado is vibrant and thriving with activity. However, rewind to 2006 and Coronado was home to as few as only a dozen expatriates. When you made a trip to El Rey supermarket and heard someone speaking English it was customary to chat them up and find out who this new English speaker was and where they were from. If you started to tell a friend that you met another expat in the store they would most likely say, ‘…oh I met them, too.’ That’s how few English speakers you would run into back then. Today a trip to El Rey may offer a mix of up to 50/50 of Spanish and English speakers.
There were so few expatriates here in Coronado and not one of us spoke Spanish at the time. We were always searching for information about what was going on in the community. I met Jamuna Burry in April of 2007 and immediately liked with her. Sometime around July Jamuna came up with the idea of starting a Community Newsletter. Jamuna started the playacommunity website from a grass-roots movement and has created an extremely valuable resource for both residents and people exploring the possibilities of living in Panama. Today the playacommunity site boasts over 17,000 hits monthly and is the place to find out what’s happening in the Pacific beach community.
There are so many events going on in and around Coronado and the number of expatriates living in the area must now be in the thousands when considering the areas of Chame to Buenaventura, and Altos to El Valle. There is a strong social group in the area, CASA (Coronado Area Social Association) that meets the first Wednesday of every month at the Rincon Del Chef. From trips to the horse races, tours of the Presidential Palace, and the Annual Beach BB-Q to fundraisers for local children and organizing special holiday events, the Social Association is a great way for newcomers to the community to network and get involved.
The Playacommunity holds a monthly ‘Playa Mixer’ at various restaurant venues, with Rincon del Chef’s location being the mainstay during the ‘high-season.’ The Mixers are a wonderful way for new people to meet their neighbors and new friends and for residents to catch up with existing friends and for business owners to network. The Mixers always offer great door prices and give-aways and oftentimes there is live music and dancing.
A local restaurant, Picasso’s, hosts a monthly Go Organics Market where fresh organically grown vegetables, coffee and chocolate can be purchased. Also in the mix you can find hand-made jewelry, healthy doggie treats, vanilla infused rum…just to name a few of the fun items that may be offered at the Go Organics Market.
There is so much going on in Coronado and so many interesting and talented folks from all around the world living here that I always tell my clients, if they find themselves lonely and bored in this community…..well, it’s them.
Here we are, nearly 6 years later and our Panama Adventure continues. We are still thrilled to call Coronado home. While walking our dogs on the beach yesterday and watching them frolic in the sea and run up and down the beach, with the sun shining and waves lapping on the shore, I smiled and looked at my husband, he was smiling, too. I knew we were sharing the same thought…how thankful we are to be ‘those people.’
Written by Kaye Ashbridge
