December 9, 2012

 

Above pictures are just a few of the summer flowers (summer being December through March).

We went to a wonderful Christmas concert this afternoon at a beautiful church sitting on a hill. No a/c, so all windows were opened and the fabulous dry season breeze came blowing through.  Looking out the windows, you could see the tops of the palm trees and jungle in the background.  Still seems strange to me sitting there in my sundress and sandals listening to Christmas songs!   And to hear songs that had “snow” in them???   But we got to the concert at 1:50 (it was starting at 2:00).  But, there is no problem in Panama  getting someplace on time and finding a great seat, since the general population runs late and seats were certainly available.  It did get pretty full, but we got our pick of seats, just because we were on time!

Speaking of immigration, I was told by someone to get as much done as possible right now.  I was warned that about a year before the next election, people in government offices stop working.  Yes, they are still on the job, just that they don’t work.  In Panama, the presidential terms are 6 years and they you can not run again. So, once someone gets into office, they hire all their friends/cousins/family/ etc for all the positions.  So they all know that when the current presidential term is up, all will be fired for the new family members, friends, etc..  Therefore many just essentially stop working.  One friend said he went for an appointment at immigration at 10:00 in the morning and had to wait until noon to see someone, since there was a birthday party going on and all office activity just stopped!!

I had one of my “ah ha“ moments on Friday. I had to go to a new lab for a simple test.  But I maneuvered to the lab via the car, found my way, found the lab entrance, got through the paper work by myself and made it home. Granted, in the states that would just be one errand to check off the list for the day. But, here it is an adventure and when successful, you feel like you really accomplished something!

It certainly seems like the dry season is coming early this year.  Weather is incredible. Lower humidity, wonderful breezes and fluffy clouds in the sky.  Wow!!  We should have about 90 more days of this. This is the time to come to Panama.  Generally, the dry season doesn’t begin for a couple more weeks, but it appears to be early this year.

December 2, 2012

 

December 2, 2012

The pictures is just all the "green" along the street.  Remember, it is December!!!

 

Christmas season is upon us.  Wow, just seems really strange.  Wearing shorts and tank tops just doesn’t seem seasonable.  Our church looks beautiful with all the decorations.  We finally put our little 4 foot tree up today but still……  doesn’t seem like Christmas, since it is 90 degrees outside in the middle of the afternoon.  Not a lot of outdoor decorations like in the states.  The mall is exactly like the states, though with Christmas music, decorations, etc.  But not the light displays that you see in the states.  No constant TV ads like in the states. Hum, maybe there are, just that we can’t grasp the language enough to know what they are saying.

I have to get my passport renewed. I ran out of pages for visa stamps.  I am within a year of renewal, so figured I might as well just go ahead with it, while at a point in immigration where it makes sense to do so.   Went to the store to get my passport picture taken.  Pointed to the example photos in the “book” that said USA passport.  Went through the process, paid, took them home and they were totally wrong.  Ahhhh…I do believe I have mentioned customer service before (or the lack of).   But, thankfully when I went to the embassy, they had plenty of vendors outside the gates of the embassy taking photos!  They did a super job. Getting my passport renewed so far seems like a piece of cake when you are out of the USA.  In ten to twelve days, I go back to the embassy and pick it up. 

Today, going to church, there was road race for runners.  In our little city (community) in which we live, there are lots of races, but this one was on the main highway (one of two roads going to one of only two bridges going over the canal, so it can be busy).  This is a two lane highway (fast driving when there is no traffic, which usually only happens on Sunday morning).  But people were running on the road (with no shoulders), sometimes two or three abreast on the highway.  Talk about gutty people.  The way the locals drive that would be totally scary.