My Life Is Heading South


News from Panama / Tuesday, July 29th, 2014

My friend Dan Fitzpatrick is a prolific screen writer and he lives here in Boquete.  He just posted this on Facebook so let’s join in and “Like” it.  This sounds like a great show coming up.

Dan Fitzpatrick invited you to like My Life Is Heading South

My Life Is Heading South is a half-hour sitcom following the lives, loves and laughs of the inhabitants of Posada del Sol, a shabby, run-down resort hotel/bar/casino in Belize.

One of those inhabitants is the handsome and highly successful New York day trader Manuel Gonzales who is quickly tiring of the “American dream”. For Manuel it has turned into the American nightmare.  After losing his young wife to cancer Manuel makes the decision to pack up his precious 8-year old daughter, Rafaella (Raffi) and get off the hamster-wheel life he’s been living for the past 10 years.

Manuel’s parents, his long-suffering mother Rose Manuela Gonzales and enduring father Milton Luis Gonzales live in Belize.  Rose has been insisting for years that her son come back home and bring their precious granddaughter back to them.  After the death of Manuel’s wife they feel it is the perfect time for the prodigal son’s return – and for the first time in his life he actually agrees with his mother!

Purchasing the run-down Posada del Sol, Manuel feels invigorated by his decision and starts the process of being in business for himself.  Joining the cast of characters is Maria Paula, Manuel’s 20-something baby sister and carbon copy of his mother.  Hector Jesus Vasquez is Maria’s henpecked boyfriend.

Javier (he will only admit to one name) is the hotel’s current and only desk clerk – who prefers the title “concierge”.  His idol is Cher who he emulates so that tells one all one needs to know about “Javier”.

Brigitte Lindstrom is a barracuda in Christian Lacroix.  Brigitte is a friend of Manuel’s who followed him to his little town to check out the resort as an investment opportunity, but in reality it’s to get her hooks into Manuel.  Little Rafaella is not fooled and definitely not impressed.

Corazon, known as Cora, is the hotel’s maid.  And in her own words “a damn good one”.  She’s also warm, sweet, passionate and funny in a dry way – a giver not a taker.  She and Manuel knew one another as children and she dreamed of that she would grow up one day to marry him – the man of her dreams.  That image evaporated when he married his first wife and she put it out of her mind and wished him well.  Cora also sees through Brigitte and feels that she now has another chance at happiness with the man who she thought had gotten away.

This series is filled with love and laughs along with the pitfalls of what it means to be human in every sense of the word.  There is much humanity to be found in this little town and in this shabby little Posada del Sol.