Nothing has changed that much since I wrote about 'settling in' to my flat last month. I'm still working from the fold-up desk and garden chair, still don't have a bank account and still can't sleep through the traffic noise. But I met another English woman yesterday who lives 14 floors above me, and her news that some sun will start to reach the balconies in another month or so cheered me up immensely.
My lack of bank account is now in the hands of smile, my UK internet bank, as they tell me they do not have any email address and so my prospective bank in Panama will have to send their reference request by old-fashioned post. Even if the reply arrives (mail here being highly unreliable) the process is likely to take a couple of months, so I continue to get by in cash. I get some strange looks paying in cash - I think people suspect me of money-laundering - and it's difficult to know how much to carry as I still need to make lots of purchases for the flat (including the desk and chair). I am quite astonished that an internet bank does not have an email address!!
The humidity has risen further, to an average 90% over the last couple of weeks, and apparently will stay at this level and above until December. So I have an on-going battle with mould. Mouldy jeans, shirts, underwear, shoes, bags, and twice in the last two weeks I have had to drag the corner settee away from the wall to wipe off the mould growing up the back of it. It really is a most unpleasant climate.
On the good side though I have started to make a few friends. The first Sunday of every month sees an 'introductory bird walk' in the Metropolitan Park; I went along this weekend and met a few nice people. Then a chance remark by one of the staff manning the building's reception area led to my discovering an English couple living in the same block. Over a couple of glasses of wine last night (and I now have a corkscrew on loan until mine arrives!) I learnt that they had experienced many of the same issues as me, but having been here a year longer they had found ways around some and learned that they could live with the others. It was encouraging. Although it seems that the only answer to the mould issue is air conditioning and frequent inspections and cleaning of possessions.
The final bit of good news was that the container with all my stuff in is getting closer to Panama - it is now in Mexico! I'm not looking forward to adding more leather shoes, a leather jacket, a wet suit and a hammock to the list of things that have undergo weekly mould inspections, but I will be so very happy to have my clothes, my kitchen stuff, my music, my books, etc.
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