Princess Poopooly

My buddy Spike, from Panama, sent me this song after reading the POOPAYA blog. Thought that I would share it with all of you!

Princess Poopooly (Pupule) - words & music by Harry Owens

Princess Poopooly has plenty papayas

And she loves to give it away

Now all of the neighbors they say

Oh mea oh mya

You really should try a little piece

Of the Princess Poopooly's papaya

Princess Poopooly's not truly unruly

To pass out papayas each day

For all of the neighbors they say

She may give the fruit

But she holds on to the root

And so she has the fruit and the root to boot

One bright Sunday afternoon

It was field day in her papaya groves

But I reached the gate an hour too late

The customers were lined up in droves

So let this be a warning

Go early in the morning

And it is true you'll never rue the day

The Princess Poopooly has plenty papayas

And she love to give it away

I mean papaya

She loves to give it away

Panamanian Paradise

Juan and his cow.

In the mountains of Panama the weather reminds me of Fall on the East Coast. Cool in the morning, warm during the daytime, cool as the sun goes down and cold just in time for bed - so you can cuddle up under a big blanket. There weren't as many bugs as there are here in Oeste, but the few that were there found me. I promise you, if you don't want to get bitten by any bugs - then take me along with you. They flock to me like bees to honey. I had some big welts on my legs and arms, but it was well worth my few days in paradise. The cows, the macaw, the dogs, the river, the views, the food, the family -- made for an epic trip. Our last night in town Spike & Wendy had us over for a lovely dinner at their house, and it felt right at home. Here are just a few photos from our time away. Enjoy.

On Saturday we made a huge brunch, all with food that we had gathered from Juan's farm.



We did Yoga (and so did the Macaw)

Amoung the things we found on the farm, there were these purple bananas. They are not tasty, at all, they smell like cucumbers and are filled with a bunch of black seeds.

Our Group. Juan, Spike, Corralia, Jeni, Larry, Pat, Wendy and Me. GOOD PEOPLE.

African Mountain Man, In Panama...

Juan and his "pretty cows"...yes, he has ugly ones as well.

Wow.

Let me rephrase that... WOW.

Juan was born and raised in South Africa. He conducted Safari's in Africa, most of his clients very wealthy Americans. Due to his involvement in political rallies in his youth, he was forced to flee the country. Years prior on a Safari he had met a very successful accountant, who worked for Hugh Hefner, Van Halen, so on and so forth. He left Africa and arrived in a very foreign, wild place.... L.A. His accountant acquaintance got him a job working for Hugh Hefner...taking care of his wild, African animals he had in his backyard. Ha. Juan later became a very successful contractor in the northern L.A. area, creating quite a name for himself and making a good amount of change. Having finally decided that he was done with the rat-race and wanting to reconnect with the nature that filled his youth, he did some research and ended up in Panama. *might I also mention that slicing off all of his fingers of his left hand also had something to do with him leaving the intense American workWorld. Present day...John has an amazing farm, two in fact, with cows that cuddle him, a horse that he doesn't ride whom he only hangs out with, and 3 very funny very eclectic dogs that worship him. He has a river in his backyard and mountain upon which it runs. He grows lentils, eggplants, oranges, naranjillos, grapefruits, avocados, coffee, watercress, dasheem, sweet potatoes, and so so so much more. He makes a mean cup of coffee, so good that I won't even hold the fact that he uses a COFFEE machine against him. He lives a very simple life, in a very simple house. He loves good music and has a passion for his animals. Somewhat of a recluse, I would say his closest friends are the family which live on his property, whom I think he would go so far as to call his own. So refreshing, so delightful and such a treat. We are staying at such a special place...I still can't believe that Juan has been so generous as to share his slice of heaven with us...a loud, rowdy crowd from Oeste, who start drinking rum at noon and have no problem moving right into a home that is not our own. Though it may be a bit more than he bargained for, I think my new quiet mountain man amigo has been thoroughly entertained.


We are having QUITE the adventure thanks to Juan. These damn mountains are just so damn charming, they enchant me more and more with every clean, fresh breath that I take and the beach is seeming such a distant thought. Who knows where the next few years will take me, and in the meantime, I'm just enjoying the ride.

Juan, Larry, Jenny and Boki the Macaw.

Don´t Wear Shorts In Panama.

We are here in Panama. Larry, Jeni, Pat and Myself. It was somewhat of a mini-journey to get here, but we arrived. Surprise, it´s festival week. Town is packed, lodgings are all full to capacity, and the party goes long into the night. The festival: it´s for Flowers & Coffee. I didn´t know that flower and coffee fans were such partiers, but hey - we are in central america...any excuse to drink is fully exploited. I feel lost without my Lonely Planet Panama book - I swear, these books are as valuable as gold when you are traveling in a foreign country that is, well...foreign to you. Found a cute eclectic totally random hostal to stay in last night. It was a tad cramped, Pat and I sharing a twin bed, Jeni in a twin next to us...Larry bunking up with two guys across the hall. I party outside went long into the night, and it was as if the very festival were in our own room. I slapped on some headphones and drifted off to sleep. The ladies weren´t as lucky and had a rough nights sleep. The good thing about our random abode is that it has HOT water. I´m talking scolding fucking hot, hotter than boiling water. And if it´s not boiling hot, it´s ice cold. All in all though, I was stoked to have a hot shower - because it is COLD here. I packed for a tropical location, silly me...no pants, only shorts...but thankfully I threw a pashmina and a long sleeve cardi in my bag right before I left. We went out to dinner last night and for a stroll through town and I wore shorts. Not a good idea. I was getting stares from old ladies, young men, little children and mama´s hauling around their army of kids. Bah. Goddamn shoobie! Who knows, maybe they were staring at me because I had mascara all over my face? The mirror in our bathroom is for someone who is about 6 feet tall....standing on my tippy toes I can barely even see the top of my head.

The plan was to go horseback riding today and to the hot springs, and tomorrow to go white water rafting - though I think that plans have now changed. Pat has a friend who lives up in the mountains, about an hour or so from where we are now. She thinks he would be hospitable and let us stay at his house. It would be nice...I doubt that there is a loud drunken music flower-coffee festival going on in his backyard that would require ear plugs and a strong dose of Nyquil.