Halloween in Boquete

Halloween isn't really a Panamanian event - they save dressing up in costume for Carnivale - but a lot of the gringos enjoy the holiday. Eight of us went to the Bistro Boquete for their Halloween dinner - dressed in a variety of costumes. Becky wore a feathered mask and Doug wore a jester's hat!

There was a DJ and some music after dinner and some dancing. Then our group headed to another restaurant that always does a Halloween party - Amigos. Amigos was really decorated up, pumpkins, lights and even a smoke machine. The band was way to loud to sit inside, but fortunately the rain let up and we could enjoy their outside patio and see all the other costumes. Some of them were really elaborate.

We saw a lot of people we knew (and recognized) and there were probably others there we couldn't see for their costumes!



It was a fun way to celebrate Halloween!

Happy Birthday, Doug!

We celebrated Doug's birthday at home with a group of six neighbors - Andy and Tracy, Fene and Marilyn and Richard and Cheryl. The menu was simple - pizza, salad, birthday cake and ice cream ....plus lots of wine!

Being Panama, nothing is simple! We have three good pizza restaurants - Il Pianista (closed for the month of October), Papa Ricco's (closed on October 15 with no notice) and The Wine Bar. So, after a scramble, the Wine Bar was the default choice and Marilyn and Fene picked up the pepperoni pizzas. Becky made the green salad and Tracy, our resident cake magician, made the cake.

Cheryl helped decorate the table and when she arrived she had a special birthday hat for Doug to wear! It looked great with his new "Loudmouth" golf shorts!

We enjoyed the pizza and Tracy presented the cake - ultra chocolate and decorated for a golfer! There were three VE golf balls nestled in some frosting "rough"! And it tasted soooo good!

As we were just enjoying the cake, the door from the garage opened and in walked Bob and Dana Applegate! Dana is a singer and performer and her husband often produces local events, so, to Doug's surprise, Dana came to sing a special, sexy "Happy Birthday!" to Doug, ala Marilyn Monroe. It was really a great surprise and Doug enjoyed every minute of it! The rest of us were all in on the secret so we could really enjoy watching Doug!

It was a fun party and, best of all, the birthday boy really had a great time!