So here we are! The first few days in our cute little 400 sq ft studio condo in the middle of Bocas Town. We have roosters next door and across the street…and down the street…everywhere roosters and chickens! After a while you don’t even acknowledge them. They are just back ground noise now. There are also screaming kids all day and late at night long next door along with construction, hammering, shoveling, etc. I prefer the roosters. HAHA!
You walk down the streets and there is a hodgepodge of people! You have the locals, expats, vacationers, backpackers, surfers and hippies. We are trying to figure out where we belong because right now we still feel like we are on vacation.
We joined some local facebook groups and have gone out to many of the local restaurants and bars and have met a some pretty cool people. They have all given us some great advice. It certainly helps to meet people who have gone through the same thing we have and are currently going through. They completely understand why we wanted to make this move, the headache and trouble it has been to get here, the tips and tricks on getting our dogs here, where to look as far as living, etc. Everyone seems very friendly and even though we are stressing out right now trying to learn the language, the legality of things, how we are going to survive financially for the next 50 years, they have shown us that it can be done.
You definitely have to be an open-minded and free spirit type of person to live here. You have to be okay with living a simple life, getting your hands dirty every now and then. You have to be able to take things as they come. For instance, because we are on islands that are somewhat off grid (this island has city power and water but others do not), there is no sewer system. They use septic tanks so no toilet paper in the toilets and because they haven’t had much rain lately (they use rain catchment for water) the town right now has very little water so they asked us not to use water if we don’t absolutely need to otherwise there will be no water anywhere in town at all tomorrow. Thank goodness we found a lavandería yesterday, we at least have clean clothes to wear but today, no shower…no washing my hair…no dishes, no flushing the toilet unless needed. You know the saying; if its yellow, its mellow…
Just one week here and my lush lifestyle is no longer. It will take some time getting used to it but I’m ok living a simpler life and experiencing different challenges. The beauty of this place makes up for the challenges of living on a Caribbean island with jungles and beaches.
