The Story of Frankie Ruiz...the Parakeet

On November 6th, Frankie Ruiz joined our small family.

The hot shower system in my bathroom was not working. (Since we have two bathrooms in this apartment, Eric and I have each claimed one.) The landlord and an electrician were called in to fix the problem.

Eric and the two men were talking on the balcony, and as they came inside the electrician noticed a pinching pain on the back of his leg. He turned to look and found a tiny green parakeet hanging from his jeans. The bird had his wings clipped, so it was unable to fly; and we are in the 13th floor. How the bird arrived in our apartment, and moreover on the man's leg, is a mystery.

Eric and I spoke with neighbors and put up fliers about the missing bird. However, after about two hours of playing with him, we took the signs down. We fell in love. The landlord said that it was a blessing on our home. (Though, looking back, we think that he might have brought us this "blessing" in his pocket - how else did it get here???) Eric named him Frankie Ruiz, after one of his favorite Salsa singers.

Being good parents, we quickly bought Frankie a home - a four foot tree that we placed on the balcony. But when he began to wake up with the sun - and decided that he would scream and sing in order to wake us up too, we moved him inside. He received a new cage filled with toys. But it didn't stop there for Mr. Ruiz; he now has his own room. Every night he retires to the guest bedroom, where he can sleep quietly and have some privacy.

He is probably the most spoiled bird on the block.

Having him is actually pretty good baby training. When we first put him in his new room for the night, he was cawing and crying. I wanted to go in and get him, but Eric kept saying, "No! You have to let him get used to falling asleep on his own." In the morning, if I haven't heard anything from him, I peek into his cage to make sure he is breathing. We have even felt the urge to rush home after being out of the house all day, to check on him and spend time with him before bed. Plus all he really does is eat and poop...it is like having a very tiny green baby.

Our grand vision is that in seven months, when it is time for Eric and I to move back, that Frankie's wings will have grown back and we will release him into the wild. However, each apple, banana or pepper treat we give him makes me more and more aware that he may not want to go. Where in the wild will he find two grown people that cater to him, feed him, clean him, play with him - where will he find his own bedroom and food in the fridge that was bought just for him. Our little Augustus Gloop may get a little too spoiled for the wild.

For now we will enjoy our time with him and will probably continue to spoil him. I am curious to see what lessons about life, love and ornithology Frankie will teach us. I am also curious to to see what other "blessings" will appear in our house the next time the landlord comes to visit.

The View From Up Here

After only a week of searching Eric and I found our new home. It is a two bedroom, two bathroom, two balcony apartment with a pool on the roof! Lucky us! It is kind of noisy – we live above a main avenue - but we have managed to drown out the noise through sun bathing and swimming in the pool.

We are living in an area called Bella Vista on Via España. Bella Vista sits between El Cangrejo and Calidonia – it is almost like living in between two worlds. Cangrejo has a lot of North Americans and students - it has bars, restaurants, and a young/busy vibe. Calidonia is much more…gritty. The buildings are more run down, not many stores – many look closed down, there are “projects” and the streets just feel empty. I think that it is a happy medium – we are close to the action and are close to “the people”. We can take a cab to a cool restaurant or get some criollo food a few blocks away for $2.50 (a full plate – no joke!).

We have an amazing view of the city from our back balcony, including the view of the ships waiting to cross the canal. And we have a great view of the skyline (which actually resembles Manhattan). The odd thing is that the skyline is eerily dark at night. The culprit is all of the empty apartment buildings. As the story goes (and people here love to tell this story), Colombian cartel members come to Panama to launder their drug money through real estate. They invest in large apartment buildings/condos, to legitimize their dirty money, but many let the work drag out or just leave the buildings unfinished. One of the first things that you notice when you arrive in Panama City is that there is construction everywhere! There is a new condo being built on every block. The skyline during the day is impressive – which apparently is one of the reasons that the government allows for these corrupt investments (the other being that they don’t mind pocketing some of the money themselves – or so we are told). At night, the skyline changes – it is dark and empty looking.

So that’s that. Here we stay, in our little Bella Vista home. You are all welcomed to visit and check out the view (but not at the same time, in fact, January is booking up…but we are free in March) – we have a bedroom and a pool towel waiting for you.

Barack Obama Won!!!!!!!

I am so proud of our country!

I cried.