VIVIR EN LA PLAYA HOA WEATHER REPORT COSTA PEDASI COMMUNITY NEWS

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1 VIVIR EN LA PLAYA COSTA PEDASI COMMUNITY NEWS Issue #28 February 2018 If anyone would care to contribute we would be very glad to receive submittals relevant to our new lifestyles here in Panama. Please feel free to share your experiences, tips, sightings, and announcements of interest. If you would like to be removed from our mailing list just us to let us know your preference. If you have photos of events or happenings in the area that you would like to share, please them to: HOA Hello to all and welcome to Issue #28 of the Costa Pedasi Newsletter. We hope you enjoy what we have to share with you, and remember, we are always looking for contributions. We also appreciate all of your comments and suggestions and consider every one of them. So keep them coming! Our development is looking very beautiful, with the clean gatehouse, neatly mowed vacant lots and all of the dry season flowers in bloom. Come see for yourself you will be pleasantly surprised. Thanks to Jeff Jansen and his crew, the water system is functioning better than ever. We have experienced only a couple of very short interruptions and the issues were remedied almost immediately. Also thank you Jeff for making arrangements to have the pot holes filled. This sure makes driving thru the development a lot easier. The Architectural Review Committee (ARC) approved the home plans for Lot #47 (The Ortell s), so we are looking forward to that construction to begin soon. As are they. And as always, thank you Mel Kenyon for the newsletter and her sidekick photographer, Neil Kenyon. A big thank you to all of the Pedasi residents for working together to continue to improve our life and lifestyle here in Costa Pedasi. WEATHER REPORT Rain, rain go away, come again another day. Yea! It finally has. Every seven years, Panama gets hit with an El Nino situation. This was the year for it. According to some locals, January had more rainfall than they have seen in 40

2 years. February has brought the strong dry north winds again, and the rain is gone, for now anyway. The winds do not die down very much in the evenings, but this makes for a very pleasant time to sit outside, enjoying the stars or dining alfresco. IT IS WATERMELON SEASON What better way to spend the day or evening with a slice of watermelon for dessert, or better yet with a Watermelon Margarita. Here is a recipe for a great afternoon refresher. Watermelon Margarita Because of the sweetness of the watermelon this margarita doesn't need much sugar, so one glass has only 105 calories. A little bit of fresh lime juice brightens the drink and adds a welcome tanginess. For a special touch, rim your glasses with sugar and garnish with lime wedges and watermelon balls. Ingredients 2 teaspoons sugar 1 lime wedge 3 1/2 cups cubed seeded watermelon 1/2 cup tequila 2 tablespoons sugar 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice 1 tablespoon Triple Sec (orange-flavored liqueur) Lime wedges or watermelon balls (optional) Place 2 teaspoons sugar in a saucer. Rub the rims of 6 glasses with 1 lime wedge; spin rim of each glass in sugar to coat. Set prepared glasses aside. Combine watermelon and next 4 ingredients (through Triple Sec) in a blender; process until smooth. Fill each prepared glass with 1/2 cup crushed ice. Add 1/2 cup margarita to each glass. Garnish with lime wedges or melon balls, if desired. Enjoy.

3 PEDASI NEWS Get your water pistols and cannons ready. Carnival kicks off this year on Thursday, February 8 th. The town and surrounding areas are starting to gear up for it. There are things happening already in town, with a pink bubble celebration on Sunday the 4 th, accompanied with the mandatory fireworks. Fenosa continues to improve their service and we have had minimal power outages. They are now posting outages for maintenance with notice and duration so you can plan your day accordingly. A good reason to go explore some new little village, take a drive across the mountain road or whatever you come up with. After all, aren t we all here to enjoy our lives? Live it up! And we all realize we need a bit of exercise along with all of the fun that we have, so some our CP ladies go to Zumba twice a week. Which is a lot of fun and good exercise. Walking on the beach is also a fun and energizing exercise to help keep us on the healthy trail! Speaking of trails, we also have some horse folks out there who enjoy their horseback riding! There are numerous activities out there for all interests Zipline anyone? There are numerous activities out there for all interests. Part of the beauty of the year round wonderful temperatures! Come on down would love to see you. There are a couple of lady groups in town, one the Free Spirits Ladies Group. They get together once a month and try to do an activity. Going for lunches at the various restaurants, doing a day trip to Isla Iguana or Playita. There is also a women s group (www Wine, Women, and Wonder) who do craft activities monthly. No talent required, just a fun night of bonding over wine and appetizers. Not to be outdone, by the ladies, there is talk of a men s breakfast club in the works. One fun activity this month was the Free Spirits Ladies Group which held an Ugly Formal Dress night. One caveat, the dress should be bought at Cheaper. Dinner was held at Tortugas, and prizes were awarded. This brought out some outrageous dresses and hats and way too many laughs. A fun night with some of the ladies from CP in attendance: Naomi Kaskie, Dee Jansen, Lynda Tarras, Bette Ortell and Melinda Kenyon. Melinda won three prizes and Naomi two. Then the ladies all headed off to Smiley s too meet up with the men. Think John was tipped off as he also had prizes to award to us. Melinda won the ugliest dress here and somehow Jay Kaskie also won a prize, for the Ladies Ugliest Dress. What!

4 Lovely Ladies of Costa Pedasi at the Ugly Formal Dress Night Naomi Kaskie Dee Jansen Lynda Tarras & Val Porteus Melinda Kenyon The Animal Advocates gala was held again this year on January 20 th. This year s theme was Bone Appetit. This is a great fund raiser for this group, and was well attended by folks from Costa Pedasi. If you are in town next year when they hold their gala, be sure to include it your plans. The food is always delicious, the alcohol very reasonably priced, great door prizes and the music outstanding. Plus the proceeds go to a great cause. The Animal Advocates music bingo held monthly at Smiley s is a great fund raiser and far too much fun to miss. If in town, around this, be sure to catch it. Lots of singing and dancing, plus you can win money. As with last fall, we have seen a number of new restaurants open or reopen this month. This month we had The Corner reopen, with new openings of Moana, Liam, La Primos and Las Porrocas. Of course there is still some old haunts, like Smiley s, Terry s, Tortugas, Segretto, El Grappo, Maestra Vida, Bohemia and of course the fondas. For the size of our community there is a variety of places to choose from. The Pedasi Chamber of Tourism has been awarded its designation. Which means they are being recognized as an entity. This is great news for the town, as with this designation, will come some funding from the Ministry of Tourism. Under the Chamber of Tourism there are a number of committees or commissions: Health, Security, Culture & Events, Sports, Education (mostly around surfing, nothing scholastic), Environment and Destination Management. If one is so inclined, they can contact the Commission Chair, to volunteer their services or time. Melinda Kenyon has contact information if you are interested. One event the Chamber had this month was a drum circle held on Toro Beach, complete with a large bonfire. This was well attended by locals and expats alike. They plan on holding more of this type of function in the upcoming months. Look to the far right of the picture below, you will find The Jansen s, The Aleman s, and Melinda Kenyon. Neil Kenyon was the photographer. Jay and Naomi Kaskie showed up around 10:00 pm, missed the photo op.

5 Drumming and music at Toro Beach Photo courtesy of Neil Kenyon HAPPENINGS IN THE HOOD Larry and Kimi Cronin have joined us as full time residents, it is a real treat to have them around here more often. We would also like to welcome Bette and Shane Ortell, to the neighbourhood as full time residents. Always wonderful to have folks joining our community on a regular basis. Bette and Shane are getting ready to commence the building of their new home on Lot # 47. An exciting venture for them, as the Fosters (James and Kerry) can attest to, the Fosters are in full swing of the construction process. It was nice catching up with James and Kerry who were down to inspect the construction of their home on Lot #33. Target date for completion is December Looking forward to them as full time residents as well. As mentioned previously, the town of Pedasi have purchased a couple of new trash trucks. In keeping with our colourful little town, they are well painted and a great representation of the pueblo.

6 Kimi Cronin sharing a photo op with the trucks as they made their way through Costa Pedasi. Committee Updates Costa Pedasi Outreach Committee: The committee held their first meeting mid-january. Some exciting opportunities for our community to become involved with were discussed. Among them was the mention of the Tortugas Pedasi group. This group cleans up Garita beach area quarterly. They will be doing a presentation to us at the Costa Pedasi office late February or early March, as to how we, as Costa Pedasi residents can become involved in this organization. Naomi Kaskie is also in the process of establishing a neighbourhood watch for Costa Pedasi. We must have a minimum of 10 homes sign up. Once we get that number, arrangements will be made with Ruben Cordoba, to set up a meeting with the police. Ruben is leading this in the town, and will also act as our translator. If interested, in signing up and have not already done so, please let Naomi know. A new Costa Pedasi Social Announcements Whatsapp group has been created. The other Residents of Costa Pedasi Whatsapp group is for emergency issues only. The Social Whatsapp group will inform the CP residents of any other events, such as the meeting with the Tortugas Pedasi group, or the Block Watch. If interested in getting communications of social activities happening here in Costa Pedasi, or in and about town, send Melinda Kenyon a Whatsapp message at If not already on this chat group. If you have photos of events or happenings in the area that you would like to share, please them to: mckenyon@shaw.ca

7 GOOGLE EARTH HAS UPDATED This screen shot of the development is new on Google Earth FOOD FOR THOUGHT Anxiety s like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn t get you very far. - Jodi Picoult, serial best seller One more; Please kindly go away. I m introverting Beth Buelow, inner life coach