Funny moments, observations, and lessons learned.

• Roosters do not only crow first thing in the morning. Don't get me wrong, they do crow in the morning, but also at every single other time in the day. And night.



• Everyone owns roosters. Even us.



• Chickens are usually not couped up. They are everywhere. You see them waltzing down the street, in your yard, on your front step. (See picture above).



• If you accidentally (or intentionally) kill someone's chicken, you must find its owner and compensate them for their loss. It is about $3 for the chicken itself and about $2 for the egg production that has been lost.



• One of the top causes of accidental chicken loss is road kill. Go figure. Don't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Please.



• You can pretty much buy anything in single servings in Panama. It's probably because so many people in this area would not be able to buy an entire carton of eggs, so you can buy them individually for $0.15, which means the person being compensated only $2 for their lost egg production is actually getting ripped off. The other day I went to buy garbage bags. The man asked how many I needed, while pointing to the packages of ten. I answered 1. So he proceeded to rip open the bag and handed me one. Ummm, I guess I'll take ten then.



• Panamanian vehicles have e-brakes too, so check that is it off before trying to drive a vehicle inconspicuously through your neighborhood.



• While trying to knock oranges out of the orange tree in the backyard, don't stand directly underneath it, remember - you are relying on gravity to get them down.



• Don't barter a price then hand the man a bill that he has to give you change for. It's just bad business.



• Roll up your windows when driving to areas with coffee fields, you often have to drive through a free 'car-wash' where your vehicle is doused with pesticides and fungicides to help preserve the economy.



• In a country that has coffee as a main export lacks the good stuff itself. A tiny voice in the back of my head reminded me that my Dad claims McD's black brew isn't too bad. So there is me yesterday in David, tearing across the street to get to McDonald's for a fix.