TOWN CLEAN UP IN PEDASI

Some of Liz's little helpers, who gave her a hand (and a smile) separating recyclables at the Pedasi town cleanup.

In case you missed our last post, we'll sum it up: we love this place.

A quaint town of 2,500 of some of the friendliest people you'll meet in Panama, Pedasi is a place where city folks go to slow down and old folks go to die, slowly and happily.

Quiet streets, gorgeous views, quality bakeries and restaurants, a short bike ride to wide, empty beaches--no wonder U.S. News recently named it one of the top places in the world to retire.

Who knows. Maybe we'll be back in a few years...

If you see trash, pick it up--that's what the mayor said.

Hanging with Pedasi's Mayor Ricardo Barrios

While many of the people who live there take pride in keeping their community clean, a few holdovers and passers-through haven't gotten the message, as noted by the cans, bottles, food wrappers and other kinds of trash littering the ditches and empty pastures along the roads. 

But, this being a great community with very active citizens, they were doing something about it. A local Spanish school, together with the mayor's office and the local Girl and Boy Scout troops, was holding a volunteer town clean up while we were there (we found out by googling "volunteer Pedasi," as outlined in our Tips for Volunteering).  And of course, we were only too happy to join in and happily demonstrate our expertise in the area of trash clean-up. Plus, we got to meet the mayor!

Perfect opportunity for a little 1 of 7. 

The entire Pedasi clean up crew.