Some people may read a daily devotional to enhance their prayer life. Me, I jump in a cab. And today’s ride certainly qualified. We had to go downtown to see our lawyer to start the immigration process for me. I felt like I was starring in a James Bond chase scene. Not only was I terrified with the cat and mouse game the driver appeared to be playing with other cabs, cars, and trucks and again, with no seatbelts. Thankfully, the ride home was very uneventful (still no seat belts). Ok, so the law says you only need them in the front seat, that doesn’t mean they have to rip them out of the backseats. And to think of all the money I spent going to King’s Island to ride the “Beast” and be scared?
We ate at the mall prior to going downtown. At noon during the week, the mall was packed! It was more like Kenwood mall on a Saturday afternoon, but more crowded. The food court had long lines at every vendor that sold fried chicken, as most of the vendors did. Longest line was at KFC. Guess what? We ate at a place that sold salads and there were no lines. This country is nuts over their fried chicken. Heard a funny story that after McDonald started their franchises in Panama, they quickly went bankrupt. Panamanians apparently did not like hamburgers. Then some wise investors took it over, started selling fried chicken and the franchises took off. Now they still sell fried chicken along with their usual menu items. The people here love their fried chicken for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Another interesting thing I saw at the food court was a lady nursing her baby right next to us. And she was certainly not being discrete about it at all. Guess the kid was hungry. I also saw a lady standing in the middle of a grocery store and nursing her baby, too.
Anyway, the upcoming immigration process just might be the end of me. It honestly doesn’t sound like fun to jump through all these silly hoops, while always waiting for the next official. Wayne gets his “cedula” in a couple of weeks. But AS SOON as he receives it, he has to get it authenticated by the government (IN THE SAME OFFICE) to make sure it is real. GOOD grief. They hand it to him only to have him hand it back to them to make sure it is real??? So tomorrow, I have to go file something or the other to get a “folder” ready for my immigration papers. The lawyer was trying to tell us how to get where we are supposed to go. I asked the darnest question as he was giving these crazy directions. I asked “what is the address”? He gives me this crazy look??? Like, really??? An address??
Ok, this is a crazy, crazy place to live, but so far, I love it. Life is just so interesting. I feel like this is a place that I can really make a difference. A news story in the paper today (the lawyer told me) stated that just 22 percent of the people of Panama have ever used the internet. They need English lessons, they need tech training. At least those are two things that I know. Life is interesting. It is NOT boring. Our lawyer talked to us for over an hour and a half. They do not charge by the hour. He charges by the job and gives you his time. He sat with Wayne for three hours when he was waiting in line to get papers signed. Again, such a fountain of information to sit and talk with someone who was raised here. This is one really cool place to be. So far, we love it.
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