Andiamo!

So the plan was to get back to the boat with my visiting “mystery guest”, take on some diesel and go sailing for the next week or so. That was the plan.

As usual, things don’t go as planned, particularly for me. Turns out Aretha, who had been somewhat constipated before I left for the states had taken a serious turn for the worst. So much so, that we had to put off any trips until it was clear that she was going to get better. She did appear to be be back on track last weekend. But since then, she’s gotten worse. She’s severely distended, and hasn’t eaten in days. I’ve been giving her laxatives, enemas, anything to get her going again, to no avail.

On top of that, Andiamo had several issues arise simultaneously that have made the past week rather difficult. Although I’ve managed to resolve the major issues, I find the boat is still not quite where she should be.

But at this point, my main concern is Aretha. Today, she was in an incredible amount of pain, vomiting up what looked like bile, and just generally a mess. There is a visiting vet who comes out to Bocas a couple times a week, and has checked her out. He looked at her this afternoon, and said he had to take her with him to the hospital in Changuinola. So tonight, Aretha is at a hospital awaiting her fate. I’m not optimistic, but hopeful. For most of her 15+ years, she’s been in almost perfect health, save her car incident that cost her an eye. You’d have no idea how old she is by looking at her. It’s really upsetting to see her in this state.

The vet said he’d do his best to save her. I can only hope. This ol’ cat’s been around me for more than one-third of my life.

While I was stateside a month or so ago, I got wind of our upcoming 25-year high school reunion coming together in the first week of October. I wasn’t really hip on the idea of coming back stateside just for the reunion. But then again, flights have been pretty cheap from San Jose, and I would need to get some parts that I ordered that didn’t make it to me on time last month. Oh yeah, and my friend Pam, was basically threatening me with a painful death if I didn’t show up. Even now, I’m still a little afraid of Pam.

So after making some arrangements for someone to babysit Andiamo and the cats, I was off to San Jose yet again. I was going to be laid over one night there before catching my flight up to Florida. GC Mitzy, got a break and managed to score a killer room at the Radisson, and a free ticket on TACA, so she was heading to San Jose for yet another jaunt. We figured we’d get some good poker in right at the Radisson before I caught my flight out. We managed to get there on a tournament night, so we got to play a cool tournament for a mere $30 buy-in. I was happy with my playing, but died out on the 2nd to last table. Mitzy did better than me, but also fell out just before the final table. A fun, albeit unprofitable night of poker.

Next morning, I was off to Daytona. It was basically going to be a long weekend trip to make the reunion, pick up my parts, do a quick visit with the niece and nephew, and head on out.

The first night of the reunion was quite nice, it was held at a riverside bar/restaurant. Since our class was so small (only 72 seniors), we didn’t expect that great of a turnout. Only maybe 1/3rd would make it. There were several classmates that I literally hadn’t seen since graduation, so that was really cool. A few surprises too, all good.

One of the things that I was a bit concerned about (not too much) was the fact that my marriage had ended since the last reunion. Mahi had been to the last two reunions, and had gotten to know many of my classmates. I was sure that there would be lots of “Where’s Mahi?” questions, but wasn’t quite sure how I’d deal with that. The questions did come, but it was ok. Nobody pried.

Interestingly, I’d somehow been able to regain some major lost youth since the last reunion, and it showed I think. In 2002, I was just on my way out of the very stressful life I’d had the previous 8 or so years running my internet company in LA, and to say that it took its toll is an understatement. Physically, I was a wreck back then. I weighed over 30 pounds more than I do now, my skin was a mess, I was ridden with migraine headaches, ulcers and all kinds of stress-related health and emotional issues. I was feeling closer to 50 than 38.

The past 4 years of cruising on Andiamo and basically switching to a life of virtually zero stress has given me back ten years. I have never felt better health-wise, and it was flattering and nice to see that other people noticed as well. Particularly people I grew up with and hadn’t seen in awhile. I was also impressed at how well so many of my classmates had turned out.

The next night, was the “banquet”, held at the Hilton. The turnout was a little different this night, some people that didn’t make the first night made the 2nd night, and vice versa. A couple of our former teachers also made the 2nd night. One of the teachers, Bill Hunter, who always makes our reunions, was especially good to see. Recently on Facebook, I cited him as one of the people who changed my life. To give a quick explanation about this: Back in senior year of high school, he was my english teacher. He was a harsh critic of writing. He was extremely difficult to please, and graded you accordingly. Though I wasn’t doing particularly well in school, or even his class for that matter. I did learn quite alot from him about writing. In our mid-term exam, a huge chunk of our grade was placed on an essay that we were supposed to write about something we had discussed in the previous semester.

I wrote up this essay at 6 AM that morning, and turned it in. Just spat it out. He gave me a 100. The only 100 in the class. This gave me the first confidence I’d ever had that maybe I could do something in writing. Ironically, due to some other major issues I was going through, I failed the class with a 69 (the only class I failed), and had to take it in summer school to get my diploma.

Fast forward 20 years, and I saw Bill Hunter in 2002’s reunion. At the time, I was still involved in an internet company and also running a liquidation business. After I told him what I was doing, he just shook his head, and said, “that sounds awfully boring Tony. Are you sure that’s what you really should be doing with your life?” It kinda jabbed at me, but deep inside, I knew he was right. And that was one of several subsequent inspirations and/or motivators that has me doing what I am doing now to some extent.

Anyway, I took the opportunity to tell him this, and he was very gracious about it. He indicated he’d like to check out some of my writing (which I asked him to do), and we’ll see what kind of feedback I get from him now.

The reunion continued well into the night, there was a gator game that night, so some people were distracted by college football. But still, in the end, it was a good time. The overall good time was marred by an incident that occurred at a bar later that night, when my camera was stolen right off the bar. What sucked about it, was all the pictures I took from the reunion and my previous stateside jaunts went with it. Damn…

I made it back to San Jose, albeit a day late because of a missed flight, and met up with someone who flew in from Europe to spend 2 weeks on Andiamo. A blast from the past if you will.

But that’s another story…

Ok, so after being back in Bocas only a couple of weeks, I already started finding myself to be a bit itchy. Bocas had a shrunken on me a bit since I’d been gone, and I found myself rapidly wanting some new stimulation. I also found myself itching to play a bit more poker and perhaps parlay my recent successes. I decided to head out to Panama City to hang out there a bit more. GC Mitzy and I had a great time there during our road trip in July. And I decided that it would be worthwhile to head out there again. After booking a rather last minute flight and hotel, I was off.

This time, though, I had a new contact in the city. I met Ceci and her lovely daughter Michelle in Bocas before I headed to the states. Ceci was gracious enough to give me her contact info and offered to meet up with me and show me around next time I was in the city. I gave her a rather last minute call the day I was leaving, not expecting much. She said my timing was perfect, and she would meet me after checking into my hotel. Great!

So after flying in, and a little hotel snafu, Ceci met up with me. We were both hungry, and of course she knew a great sushi place. After munching out on sashimi and rolls, she got the idea to show me a part of the city called Causeway Amador. It’s a really cool waterfront stretch of land that’s loaded with restaurants, parks, and nightspots. We went to a place known for its music, and had some drinks there. It was a nice time, and she was a most gracious hostess. We agreed that we’d meet up again before I left.

After being brought back to the hotel, I went to a nearby casino that Mitzy and I cased out for the poker room. The poker room was busy, and there was quite a wait, so I decided to hold off playing until the next day, thinking that the poker room would be open during the day. While walking through the casino, I saw a girl named Sami who was working at the door of one of the lounges Ceci and I was going to check out, but decided against because the cover was a bit high. She remembered seeing me and was quite friendly. After chatting a bit, she invited me to go with her to a place called Sahara on Calle de Uruguay.

Being it was almost 3 AM, I was a bit apprehensive, but then decided what the hell, I can sleep in the morning. So off we go to Calle de Uruguay. We got to Sahara and the place was still rocking. There was a live band that sounded great, and the place was PACKED. I was a bit surprised by this, but found it refreshing. We hung out with Sami’s brother, played a round of pool, and she proceeded to introduce me to all her friends. It was nice meeting up with locals. A short time later, Sami said she got a call and she had to leave, and asked me if I’d be ok. I said no problem, knowing that catching a cab back to the hotel would be easy and cheap. After saying goodbye, I continued hanging out and chatting up with the rest of the people she introduced me to and more. It was fun, the music was great, and for all I know it stayed rocking well until after 7 AM. I left about 5:30 after showing some signs of wear.

Next day, I got a wakeup call from Ceci. She said she was going to have her hands full through the day, so wouldn’t be able to meet me until possibly later in the day. I said no problem, considering I was planning on playing poker that day anyway. So after catching a rather late breakfast, I proceeded to find my poker heaven.

No luck, all the poker rooms were closed until at least 6pm. So I spent the rest of the day wandering around Via Espana, checking out the casinos and then back to the hotel where I watched some HBO. I ventured back out in the evening, and ended back up at Via Veneto where the poker was supposed to be the best in town. It was definitely a higher end level of players, but I wasn’t too intimidated. I did notice, however that many of them didn’t put all their chips on the table until well after the game started. In most poker rooms, this would not be allowed, but here, for some reason it was. So lots of guys went from having $100-200 in chips to $800-1000 in chips. Hardly fair, more like they were out to buy out the other players. This is a term where in cash games you outbet the other players so overwhelmingly there’s no way they can stay in the hand unless going “all-in”.

Anyway, I ended up hanging in the games and doing just that, having to go “all-in” a few times to stay in the deal. I won a couple of times, but unfortunately I also lost and it cost me. The poker room manager didn’t seem to say much about what I pointed out to him regarding the other players and their rather shady strategy. He just shrugged and said that they come in there all the time, so there’s not much he can do about it.

After a disappointing run, I decided to call it a night for poker. A little poorer, but also a lot smarter. I ventured around the casino a bit, there was a great salsa band playing on the main stage, and lots of friendly locals. After a few drinks, I decided to venture out back to Calle de Uruguay where I was the night before. I’m glad I did, because I had even more fun that 2nd night. I stayed there well until after 5 AM, met some great people, and decided to head back to the hotel and try to get some sleep. Didn’t succeed to well on that either.

The next day, I got another wake-up call from Ceci, and she offered to pick me up and take me to lunch with her kids, and even take me to the airport for my flight back to Bocas. She picked me up a short time later. I met her kids Giancarlo and Alex. Alex is 6 and a bit shy. Giancarlo is 12 going on 30. A real funny and smart kid with a sarcastic side you don’t see in most adults. Ceci took us back to the Causeway, to a great Parilla restaurant (that’s a latin-type grill restaurant) that’s right on the waterfront. After a huge lunch, Ceci was nice enough to take me by a mall to pick up some much needed cat litter for Andiamo. She got me to the airport with time to spare, and made me promise her I’d call her next time I was in town. Which I of course agreed to, I’d be stupid not to!

So, after a short flight I was back in Bocas, refreshed from a VERY eventful and entertaining weekend in a city I’ve really come to like.

This year is blasting by at a breakneck speed that I’m finding pretty hard to believe. Sure, it’s been an eventful year so far, but come on!

The past couple of weeks back in Bocas have been pretty tranquilo, once I got Andiamo out of the marina, that is. Unfortunately, the marina management left much to be desired, and there was simply no limit to their bad attitude and downright poor service. Having been in several marinas over the past few years, my time at Marina Carenero has been by far the worst. The ironic thing is, that I wasn’t even there most of the time Andiamo was docked, being mostly stateside during the time. I was basically given three days to get Andiamo out of there, and I certainly did so. I’d say more about it, but I think you get the idea.

The cats handled my absence ok. Lucy was a bit emotional about me not being around. In the first week or so I was back onboard, she followed me EVERYWHERE. You can almost see the relief on her face when she saw I was back. I felt really bad, because I know how much Lucy craves company. Aretha didn’t seem to mind me being gone at all, though she has told me in her own way that she’s glad I’m back. So all in all, the cats and Andiamo (despite lots of messiness), fared out ok while I was gone.

Getting back to the anchorage felt good. And despite some tribulations with Andiamo, the boat’s doing ok. I’ve been trying to stay out of the “Bocas” scene lately. If anything, because I just find it to be a bit boring these days. Apparently Bocas shrunk a bit while I was gone. Eveline, who’d been my partner in crime has been working at the other spanish school in Costa Rica, so I’ve been hanging out with different people in the interim. But for the most part, laying low, staying onboard most nights watching the DVD’s I acquired back in the states.

Since getting back, I’ve been knocking out projects and improvements left and right. I brought back quite a bit of new gear for Andiamo, that should make life a bit easier onboard. Which is always a good thing. Still have a few more things and repairs to knock out over the next couple of weeks. Hopefully, by end of the month, Andiamo will be in primo condition to do some sailing, which will be nice for a change! After a short trip I’ll be doing first week of October, I’ll be meeting up with a “special guest” in San Jose. The plan upon getting back to Andiamo is to provision the boat, and head out for a good week and a half of sailing along Panama’s coast to the Rio Chagres.

After that, the plan is to move on from Bocas for at least awhile. Course points to Cartagena! More news as it develops.

And so, my foray stateside has come to an end, almost exactly a month to the day later. Had a great time hanging out in LA, for the longest time since moving from there I think, and visiting Florida.

The best part was getting reacquainted with old friends and family, and meeting and making lots of new friends too. It never ceases to amaze me how much I really like making new connections with people wherever I go. That happened alot on this jaunt, and interestingly, in my own backyard for a change, rather than on some island or remote central American locale. Pretty refreshing.

I’ll probably chronicle all the comings and goings in a future post. I did keep a bit of a “mini-journal” of my visit, so I’ll see if I can make that into some kind of coherent piece.

Right now, I’m in San Jose, Costa Rica. flew in yesterday, and thanks to GC Mitzy, I’m set up at a nice hotel on the outskirts of San Jose. Mitzy will be flying in this evening, and we’ll be spending the next three days hitting some poker rooms and doing some kind of sightseeing. Then on Wednesday, I fly back to Bocas, where Andiamo promises to be very messy, no thanks to Aretha, but I’ll worry about that later.

Comment from: Mick [Visitor]

Hi Tony. Good to see you enjoying your travels. I finally sailed my boat down to Rio Dulce about 4 weeks ago. It is at Susanna’s. I’m back in Cancun and planned to visit this week. Due to Felix, I’ll go next week!!
Cheers
Mick

09/04/07 @ 08:32

My last week in LA was relatively tranquilo. Chris went back a couple of days into the last week. I used the time to get some shopping and downloading done to equip Andiamo for the next few months. I managed to meet up with my now ex-brother-in-law Craig for a couple of dinners. Tria also proved to be a worthy pal to hangout with. She started getting a bit busier because the new semester at CSUN was starting to kick off (she’s a college professor), so that made our meetings a bit scarcer and shorter towards the end of my stay.

I met up with Angela a couple of nights, which was good fun. We had dinner in Marina del Rey one night, it was so nice to be back in my old turf. Back when I lived in LA, I spent TONS of time at the marina on my first boat “La Dolce Vita”. I find myself missing those days sometimes. She lives close by the marina in Culver City, and she had never really been at the marina. So I took it upon myself to show her around.

Also managed to meet up with Teresa, who’d become a good pal since we met on Myspace last year. She’s going through a few tribulations with her life, but still manages to handle everything with a smile and great aplomb.

My sister Judy and her kids got back on the 26th, and it was nice to see them again. It didn’t feel like they were gone for about 3 weeks, but indeed they had. They had an amazing time in Italy and told me all about it. Judy also took lots of pics and there was much family gossip to get caught up on. I managed to hang out with the kids for some quality time, which is always something I really look forward to. The kids are getting older now, and that means in a few more years, they may be tied up in their “teenage” lives and not be into hanging out with their cool Uncle Tony. Then again, I can try to keep things interesting for them, we’ll see what happens with that.

So, some notable highlights of my LA stint:

1. Meeting up with Eveline, my Bocas buddy, and hitting the food scene around LA

2. Hearing from and meeting back up with Tria, a very cool chica who I met in Bocas, only to find out she lived LITERALLY 2 blocks from Judy’s house.

3. Getting caught up on all my fave LA pleasures, including: In-n-Out; Sushi (lots of it); Jamba Juice; Indie103 radio; Cool LA dive bars in Hollywood, downtown, and Thai Town; watching obnoxious industry types (and laughing alot); driving in LA; the awesome climate; Sunset strip; Melrose; La Cienega; hanging out in Marina del Rey, meeting up with all my LA pals, old and new,

4. The vegas junket with Chris and Miguel, a great long weekend of fun, and healthy debauchery (hehe)…

5. Hanging out in Santa Monica with Chris and Becky, another great pal who’s always a joy to meet up with.

I flew back to Florida a couple of days later. I was only there for a couple of days, so I had to scramble a bit to get the rest of my shopping done, and other stateside stuff that needed to be taken care of. I managed to meet up with Paul and Janet and the kids in Orlando one last time, and a surprise meeting with Jackey, a chica pal I first met up with in Utila when she was down there to do her scuba instructor training. She was in Florida doing some scuba instructing, and met up with me in Orlando on my last night in before flying out. We hit an all you can eat lobster place I know in Orlando and had a great time hanging out.

The flight back to San Jose went off without a hitch, and thanks to GC Mitzy, I got hooked up with a great hotel room for my layover in San Jose. Mitzy talked me into changing my return flight a couple of days so I can meet up with her in San Jose. She won a free trip to Costa Rica from Taca, and she said she had a surprise. Who was I to resist, so I did so, and met her the next day. I was thinking we were going to hang out for a couple days in San Jose and maybe get some poker in. Which we did on the first night she was in.

But then, she hit me with a surprise a 2 day whitewater rafting trip on the Rio Pacuare! Now that was a surprise. So the next morning after she came in, we woke up bright and early to meet the bus that would take us to the whitewater rafting site.

The next 2 days were filled with AWESOME whitewater rafting, ziplining, and staying at an amazing riverside lodge that literally had a rushing waterfall going right through the property. It was good fun, and the people were pretty friendly. And it was a nice side of Costa Rica for me for a change.

After the trip, we had one more night in San Jose, where we played some more poker, I won more money, and ate some nice seafood at a local spot.

When i got back to Bocas, I honestly felt like I’d been gone for 6 months. It was nice to be back on Andiamo, and the cats were pretty relieved too.

I’ll be posting a complete update of my time in the states shortly. Lots have been going on, lots of side trips and road trips, and getting acquainted with friends, old and new. It’s been a really fun time so far.

Back in a bit!