We are starting to flower!

Our gardener has been working at our house over the last 2 days. He is a young guy maybe 30, he has his own truck and his own crew, and he loves his job. He knows his flowers he knows what will grow in the shade and what will not. Senor Jordan (pron. "Hordan) is our guy. Although he may show up a few days or even a week late to cut our lawn and tend to our plants, we like him and our garden is starting to take shape.

He has on a few occasions told us that we shouldn't move this plant or that tree as its roots are too deep and it may not survive the transplant. Plants take time to re-establish their roots and while most will make it, some won't. With the right amount of water, fertilizer and nurturing I think any plant can survive in a new home.

Last night at a dinner party, friends of ours made the same analogy to the North American expat who has uprooted and moved to Panama. We land in the foreign country and we expect to flourish and grow and flower as we did back in Canada or the US immediately and we sit and scratch our heads as to why we are experiencing discomfort and pain. Once again Allan and I both had an "AHA" moment.

Like our garden, our palm trees and even our grass it takes time for our roots to take hold, and even then it takes even more time for us to flower. We have been living in Panama for just over 13 months now. I think and Allan I believe agrees, we are just starting to flower. It took over a year for us to figure out the right amount of water, the right amount of sunshine and to acquire a whole lot of tending loving care from friends and ourselves, but I believe we are becoming even more beautiful than we were back in our Toronto soil.

As I sit here with my windows and doors open, in my shorts and t-shirt, eating a delicious banana and drinking the best coffee in the world, I feel good about our new soil. I feel comfortable and I am extremely happy. I do miss some things about Toronto, I do at times miss my friends and my family, but the experience and the adventures and the way I feel here even on a bad day I would not trade it for my best day in Toronto.

So my advice to the new expat that has moved to Panama, give yourself some time. Give yourself the nurturing that you need. Your roots will find their place, you will find your place and if you wait long enough you too will start to flower and flourish "Aqui en Panama"

Feliz ano nuevo mis amigos,

Karyn