September 25, 2011

The law in Panama states that a tourist visa is good for 90 days. Many with no residency status leave the country and go across the border to Costa Rica just before 90 days have passed, stay for 72 hours, then come back, which renews their tourist visit. The last official in charge of immigration extended the time limit for a tourist visa for 180 day to the delight for all those that needed the country every 3 months. Well, what typically happens here, happened and that particular official was kicked out of his job and someone else’s friend wa appointed. Since the law was never actually changed, no one knows what is going on now and confusion reigns. Is it 90 days or 180 days now?
Corruption rules here. Getting stopped for a traffic violation is rare, yet when you do, the fines for a ticket I guess are extremely costly. However, police pay is very low, so the easiest way to get out of a ticket and the most cost-effective is to offer a small bribe. Paying $20 vs over $200 makes both the cop and the violator happy, providing you don’t mind giving a bribe. Corruption rules. Very sad, but it seems to be part of the culture in Latin America.
We spent the day today at a small village in Panama. It was only 35 miles from us, but a LONG drive due to poor roads. After crossing several what they “called” bridges, we were glad to get out of there before a downpour began. There were several places you couldn’t have crossed with bad weather.
Beautiful, beautiful outdoor scenery. Mountains, lush growth, amazing clean air. Wonderful. A Peace Corps volunteer teaches at the school shown in the attached pictures. Grades up to and including grade 6 are all taught in the one room. The people in the village were hosting us today in hopes of getting enough donations to buy ONE computer for the school. Again, like most places, you teach a child some technology skills and a little English and they can hopefully get a job. You just forgot how absolutely gorgeous this country is once you get outside the city. The people in the village were just as nice as can be. The ladies of the community prepared a lunch for us (pictures attached). Soup was really great. This was the first time in 15 months that I had long pants on. Not because it was cold, but because I was afraid once you got outside the city the mosquitoes would be horrible. Didn’t see / feel a single one, probably because it was early enough in the day and it wasn’t raining. On our way back home, we stopped along the side the road and picked some limes that were growing wild.

September 16, 2011

Really, you gotta love being away from what you think is normal. It really makes life so interesting. But you need to see it as interesting or you would lose your mind. Last night, our electricity went off at 12:00. We do have back-up power supplies for our computers, but they start beeping every second when there is no power. After a half hour of beeping and crazy dreams about everything, you finally realized what it is. So, Wayne had to get up and shut down everything to turn the loud things off. Got up this morning only to find out the electricity came on and went off five more times. But, thankfully I was able to get online and thought all was well. Then, we continued to lose power three more time prior to 10:00 am. So, as long as we laugh when it happens, we are ok.

But. of course, all of this was ON TOP of the school losing their internet connection at noon yesterday, right when I was starting a class that was set up to use the internet. The school has a lot of back up lesson plans. I know this happened way too often last year (almost daily). So, even though it was the first time in three weeks, I was still annoyed. Found out it was almost the entire community. Never did come back on before the end of school. But, when we were out walking about 6:00 pm, we passed by a manhole with a bunch of men around it and looking into it. Two guys were down inside working with wires. Hopefully, they were able to fix it. Oh, well

THEN, the most incredible thing happened this week. Our deed for our condo (which was supposed to have been done around June 1) is still hanging around on some bureaucrat’s desk to be registered. We found out that ALL DEEDS in Panama have a hold on them. The crazy government decided a NEW WORD needed to be put in all deeds and they can’t decide where to put it or how to get it done. So, EVERYTHING has STOPPED. The WORLD has stopped because of ONE single word. Yikes, but like I said, you better laugh!!!

So, my new school has all tile floors. That is customary here, because of the mold and humidity problems you have in Panama. Needless to say, the tile gets dirty with 200 kids walking on it all the time. The janitors are always mopping. One came into my room yesterday and I did say in Spanish (successfully, I thought) that my room is not dirty. She proceeded to mop anyway. Then, just a few minutes later, another lady came in with her mop, looked at my floor and started mopping. Really, I have no comment about that story. Make your own conclusions.

Wayne and I took my headmaster (my day off – remember I am only working four days per week this year!!) to the slums to show him around and tour the facility our church sponsors there in hopes of establishing an opportunity for our students to serve. Karen Hordinski from CHCA really instilled me that “service mind set” and I wanted to bring it to a new country. I am trying to bring many of her ideas here. I love her passion of “selfless” service. Anyway, this country needs that mindset. The “classist” mentality here just doesn’t see service to your fellow man as important.

We have widgets on our computers for the temperatures in the states. We know the temps for Cincinnati and Panama. Can’t believe you are experiencing such “low” temperatures. Granted, perhaps those numbers might kill mold, but we are outside walking in T-shirts and sleeveless tops and being able to swim in the pool anytime day or night. I will fight the mold for good walking weather any day.

September 10, 2011

Just more pictures that were mentioned yesterday.

Check out the cactus growing in and around a large tree as well as the adorable children working in the lab!

September 9, 2011

We did the tourist thing last week.  Went to some place with a nature center that is actually pretty close to our apartment.  Sometimes we “forget” we are still newbies to the area and don’t actually look for things that are typically Panamanian.  So you see a few pictures from there. One is cactus actually growing on trees. Really??? Who would have thought???  It was totally strange. There was a “petting zoo” sort of. You could pet starfish in a big open pond.  No pictures, sorry.  I am totally ceased to be amazed by some all of the nature around me.  How it is so different from what I am used to.  Then feeling a real need for a beach, we hopped over to a restaurant for lunch that was 15 minutes away. Now, you wouldn’t actually swim in those waters but they were pretty to look at.

One picture is of the parakeets in a palm tree very close to our place. I have seen it several times when the parakeets are swarming the tree. Apparently, it happens right after a big rain.  I thought parakeets were only in Walmart stores?  Didn’t realize they really were out wild in nature!!  It is such an amazing sight to see. I have gone to the tree several times with my camera, BUT I seem to spook them when I approach. When it is dry, they are never there.  I really have no clue where they might be during the dry periods or just why they are there after a rain?? But, I actually borrowed this picture from one of my friends on Facebook.  He had the opportunity to capture it through the tinted window of his car and the parakeets apparently didn’t notice him.

I attached some pictures of my “babies” in my computer lab.  They are 3 year olds. Actually, a couple of them are two (soon to turn 3).  They are the darn cutest things on earth in their little uniforms.  They talk to me in Spanish (like I might understand them).

More flower pictures. Really, we are totally amazed by the flowers around here. I am not that kind of person (as you all know), someone who actually looks at flowers??  But, they totally amaze me.  You get so used to flowers that you have seen for 60 years.  Then you see more of God’s creations and it totally amazes you.   Why flowers are created in such a way can only be part of His great plan.

September 2, 2011

Attached are pictures of flowers around here. We are noticing them this year. Last year, I think we were with the “deer in the headlights” look all the time and didn’t see the beautiful flowers. They change season by season. They are just so delicate and beautiful. Season by season just means wet / dry / kinda wet. Speaking of wet, I just mopped my floors. Wonder if they will ever dry. Our apartment is never hot. We turn our air conditioning on only to try to get the humidity out. Being built out of cement and on the 2nd of 5 floors, our condo just doesn’t ever heat up. We could have our windows open almost all the time except for the humidity. If we ever finally own the place, we want lots of ceiling fans. However, the process to purchase is totally frustrating and beyond SLOW. The bank, deed office, etc. put these 90 day restrictions on various things, except just about nothing happens in 90 days. Everything expires and the process begins all over again. You would “think” that there would be competition within the process and things would move faster, but not so. This IS a third world country. Oh well, that makes things interesting (oh yes and TOTALLY frustrating).


Also pictured is Wayne in front of the Hotel El Panama. What is interesting is that when his aunt visited Panama just after he was born, she had a picture at the same place. The hotel had just opened and was, at the time, the most exclusive hotel in the country of Panama, perhaps in all of Latin America. It maintained that top spot for many many years. Our church had their annual combined service there last Sunday, so it was fun to go explore. The hotel is interesting in that the hotel lobby at that time had no walls, windows, or doors, one of the first in the country like that. In the past 60 years, they did have to put walls around the business area. It also touted the largest swimming pool in Latin America in its day.

Well, Monday was the first day of school EVER at my new school. I can’t even begin to describe the excitement that morning. All the founding families were there, all 180 students had their parents bring them, (well, six rode the bus that day), and it was absolutely a blast. The kids were perfect (because no one knew anyone). Granted since then, they have turned into real kids. They got comfortable, which is a good thing.

Me, I am having a blast in the BEST computer lab in Latin America. Now, it is a fabulous lab down here, but it would be just another “brand new” lab you would find in America. But, in Panama, it is really something else. People are constantly taking tours of the school and the lab is the high spot. The kids get their iPads eventually and then those will be cool. I am totally overwhelmed with learning new things, but that is as much fun as it is frustrating. I have taught everything from 4 year olds to college, and beyond. I love it. But this week I got my first class of 20 - 3 year olds. They were with me for just 20 to 30 minutes. I felt like a train wreck when that was over. And remember, if they “could” talk, they were speaking Spanish. But oh my, how adorable they looked. All in their little MET uniforms.

August 27, 2011

WOW, the past two weeks have been crazy. I am working only 80 percent now (trying this retirement thing out), but I have put in six day weeks with 10 hours a day at school, then more at home. The opening of a new school is just plain crazy. BUT, it is totally fun. Today, we had our inauguration for the school. It was really interesting. We met in a nearby theater for a very formal invocation. The Panamanian Minister of Education was invited for this event. She is well known for being extremely late, then sending someone in her place. So, we were told that it is suppose to start at 9:30 on Saturday morning, but it may not start until 11:00 or so. BUT, she was there right on time. She was referred to as “Your Highness” (well, that was the way it was translated). Several people spoke. Some were in English, but most were in Spanish. When the Minister of Education spoke, it was all in Spanish and I was really sorry I didn’t understand it, since she seemed to be a very dynamic speaker. I was told later that she really hoped our school could help the public school system in Panama and give them guidance and advice. Afterwards, we walked over to the school. NO ONE was allowed to walk ahead of her. There was a very strict protocol and it had to be followed. So, very interesting. After a month of in-service, I really can’t WAIT for the kids to come and to actually start doing what I love!! (which is teaching). I have been working with teachers and instructing them how to use their iPads and Smartboards this past week. Most are really so new to all this technology. It is really fun.
I don’t know what else has happened. I have been so focused on school. Our weather has been incredible for about a week. I guess that when there is a hurricane in the Atlantic, then our weather is wonderful because the power of the hurricane takes all the moisture / energy from our area. So, now that Irene has moved away and up the East coast, we are back to more tropical weather with rainy afternoons.
This is a great story. A good friend of ours has been driving the past many months illegally with his “state side” license and his tourist visa. That is perfectly OK providing you have your tourist visa which is good for 3 months after entering the country. But he has been getting a different immigration status and really is illegal. But, even after being stopped several times, he never got a ticket or anything. Then, he finally got his Panamanian driver’s license this week. But, when he was then driving a day later, he was stopped and given a ticket for NOT wearing his seat belt. Now, there are many drivers who drive and pass on the shoulder, take left turns on a red light, run red lights, and on and on and on. And he was given a ticket for not wearing his seat belt. Oh, well.
Perhaps, I will get back to normal and try to update weekly. Can’t believe how much fun this job is NOW (granted the pay is still HORRIBLE). But I really need to learn Spanish. An international school is so different from an American-style school in a foreign country. Never knew that before.

August 14, 2011

Wayne decided we needed a bank account at a second bank. So, for weeks he has been gathering documents and papers, copies of everything imaginable, signatures, papers, etc. He has gone to the back in April and gotten tons of forms that needed to be filled out. So, yesterday was the big day. He was expecting to go to the bank and take hours to probably accomplish nothing. And it happened. Nothing was accomplished. The papers he picked up in April have been changed. He has a whole stack of new papers now that have to be filled out and signed. Plus more documents he never heard about before. However, once they accept your papers doesn’t mean you get an account right away. It could be still weeks before it can be approved. There are so many banks in this country. Seems like there might be some competition?? And as I mentioned before, you walk out with a terrific headache, but no toaster or any free gift like you do in the states.
Yesterday was the “fun” day of our month of in-service. A bus hauled all of us teachers to a beach for the day. How fun was that! After a zillion years of teaching in the Midwest, we never went to a beach for inservice. What a terrific group of teachers! This is really an international school. So many countries were represented. Probably the only common characteristic is that the language of the school is English and everyone could speak English. Just about almost everyone knew a 2nd, 3rd, or more language. On the way there, we stopped at a roadside stand and most got a chicheme, a corn-based beverage mixed with water, sugar, and cinnamon. Panamanians tout the drink for its nutritional properties. Sounds terrible, tastes great. Like a milkshake made with corn and not fruit.

Funny story though. Our director (headmaster) is really trying to overcome the Latin America “being late is a perfectly ok” attitude. He stressed so much yesterday the bus was leaving promptly at 8:00 am and they were waiting not a second more for anyone. So it worked with the teachers. Everyone was there before 8:00. BUT (again it is the culture), the bus didn’t arrive until sometime later.
I have my first iPad workshop this week to help the teachers begin to think of how a one computer device per student program can work. I am in hog heaven doing those things. We actually get to teach the kids in their world, not ours. Love learning all these new technologies and how it changes education.