January 18, 2013

It has been so long since I added to this blog. But, I love keeping it as a diary so I decided to add a few things that I certainly don’t want to forget.  Also, it is a repository for some pictures.  So, if you are still reading it, super!  If I don’t get on occasionally, I forget my password!

I had another “one of those days” at immigration yesterday. My initial immigration status is over and I am now applying for the next step.  As always, it was an adventure like no other.  We had a marriage interview 18 months ago to prove we were married and it went great.  But, now the law says you have to have another one (brand new procedure).  Our interviewer seemed to be someone who obviously hated his job with a passion.  I also had to have a professional translator (one that is certified, whatever that means). We had to wait only 2 hours for our appointment.   They are trying to “prove” that we are “really” married.  Part of the process is to ask you questions in an interview. They take me first and ask, then bring in Wayne and ask the same questions to see if they “match”?  Well we missed some questions, which is a real NO NO.  I guess we aren't married after 36 years!  They asked what color towel Wayne dried with after his shower that morning. I had no clue, nor did I have a clue what color mine was and I told them that. They insisted on a color, so I named a color of one of the stack of 5 towels we have.  I missed !!! We are not newlyweds with a beautiful set of perfectly coordinated towels anymore. Arggggg.. Then, I missed on the color of our toothbrushes.  We share an electric one, but Wayne also uses a regular one. I had no clue what color it is. They insisted I give a color. What a stupid stupid interview.   Really???   So after the "officials" review it, we may have to do the darn thing again.  But, I did get another temporary card for a year.  Like, will this visa process go on forever???  Seems like I go from one temporary card to another.  The country has a tremendous problem with illegals from Columbia.  But, we are an older couple from the US??? Really, are we  sneaking into the country and to do what?

 

Two weeks ago, I went to the US Embassy for an appointment to discuss Medicare. We could go over there and get information about whatever Medicare might be, since I am approaching that age.  The service at the Embassy was terrible, the people had no clue. In fact, I asked a question and she went to her computer, left me standing at the window for 20 minutes only to reappear and tell me what I knew already because I had looked online before.  Then, we went to a Panamanian bank thinking we would have issues with the language and being understood, but the service was excellent with an English speaking service representative. They were amazing. So, that day our expectations were certainly switched!

 

There is a beautiful food court being built in our neighborhood. It will be amazing when finished.  It has been under construction now for over two years.  In the states, it would have been totally constructed and operational in 6 months.  I asked someone (a Panamanian) what the problem was.  He said it was too many bosses that don’t speak to each other.  One says build a wall, the next week the other one says tear it down. They are already being fined for being many many months late.  Oh well!!!

 

We are now in the dry season. Our children were here for Christmas and I was so hoping the dry season would begin while there were here, but it did not.  On Saturday before they left, it rained hard while we were at an open air restaurant.  Since then it has not rained a drop.  The dry season probably started as they boarded the plane to return to the cold cold north.  Now, there will likely be no rain for 90 -110 days.  Beautiful!!!!  Very hot in the afternoon, though if you are directly in the sun. But early mornings and evenings are heavenly.  And the shade in the afternoon.  No humidity!

Ancon Hill and BYC December 2012

Beach with kids December 2012

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. 

November 17, 2012

The pictures are from Aruba.  It is less than ninety minutes from here!  So we went there for just a few days last week.  It was beautiful but just so American. 

OK, I’ve been in Panama for over two years now.  Not bad for a simple sabbatical leave that was to last for 10 months?  But, this place never ceases to amaze me. When I think I have it figured out and I have had all the experiences and then – POW – another experience hits me in my face.

Early yesterday morning, Wayne and I had blood tests at a hospital on the other side of town.  The “other” side of town is 12 minutes away without traffic, but it could be “days” away with bad traffic.  But, we were sailing along on the main four lane road thru town, because there was no traffic at 6:30 am.  We had to get there early, because the lack of caffeine was doing me in.  So, on the four lane road with no shoulders, where people were driving at 40 / 50  miles per hour (actually kilometers per hour here) and no cross streets, someone actually stops in the right hand lane to let someone out of the car!!!  Not once, but twice, plus a cab also simply stops in the roadway to pick up a fare.  So, Wayne had to repeatedly swerve to avoid hitting these guys and almost side swipes other cars!   Now, I totally understand that it is probably much safer to be in rush hour traffic, when it crawls and you have time to react!!!  We see these crazy “driver” issues on a daily basis.  Guess in our neighborhood, we have multiple speed bumps that hopefully slow cars down.  (Wayne said Panamanian drivers are either accelerating or braking, nothing in between).  Of course some drivers have realized that they can sometimes go at the regular speed and just go right over some of the speed bumps without slowing down.

But anyway, we had our blood tests done.  Made it through with our increasing, but yet still deficient Spanish.   Comparing the prices (before insurance) from the states to these prices was like … unbelievable.  A urine analysis  test, which tested for about 20 things was 7 dollars.    Plus, I had the results of our tests in my email by 3:00 pm the same day. Some tests that take longer were not there, but most were.  No more waiting days and then begging the doctor to give you a copy of your results during your next appointment that he charges you for.

Anyway, today my friend and I had an appointment for a couple hours at a spa that we had gotten from a Groupon coupon.  We were totally excited about the experience.  We have been at this spa before, knew where it was, knew it was a great place at a great price.  So, we get there 30 minutes before our appointment (again, you never know the traffic situation).  A very poorly made sign on the door said they had moved.  OK, where to ?  They gave an address, but there really are no real street addresses here in Panama.  So, we walked for a half hour trying to follow the directions.  Nothing.  Got back and looked at the sign again and it had three phone numbers.  So, we tried all three phone numbers. If someone had answered, we really didn’t know what we would say in Spanish.  But it was no issue, since no one answered.    Needless to say, we now need to fight with the agency that sold the coupons to see what happened.  Thankfully, the coupon agency is one of the few companies in Panama that is said to have excellent customer service.  Yes, customer service needs to improve here, if the country plans on developing tourism.  Funny.  In my Spanish class, we were talking about the word “Ordener”.  It means order. It is said to be a “bad” word here.  People do not like to be “ordered”.  If you use that word, people get mad and won’t do a thing for you.

November 2, 2012

The concept of “thank you”.  Having been here for going on three years now, I question the concept of “thank you” and “you are welcome”.  I have always been of the mindset to “thank” people for services provided, for help they give me, for almost anything.  Gratitude is a wonderful attitude for those that are receiving it or giving it. So, in this country where customer service is pretty limited to say the least, I really make an effort to “thank” people all the time.  I will not check out of store (even with bad service, which I generally get) or frankly anything without a “thank you” and a smile.  But, in return I have often noticed that all I get from the person is “OK”.  I suppose that I didn’t’ realize this until last week when I was checking out of a grocery store,  I  said “Gracias” and the clerk said “da nada” (which in  Spanish is “you are welcome”).  I was so shocked, because generally I just get an “OK” .  So I started asking people just why was this?  Most reflect that it may be because people just do not express gratitude here.  They really are not “trained” to respond like those of us from the USA with a simple “You are welcome”.  I find that very sad.  So, if nothing else in my time here, I will express gratitude and hope that maybe, just maybe someone will see that gratitude is a behavior that can make the world a better place.

I am trying to update my blog regularly.  It is difficult at times.  I do not want to repeat myself.  But, I am still in a “foreign country”.  There are people that just don’t realize what living abroad might look like. I totally know that I don’t.  I need to be moving to other places in the world. I just don’t want to move that far away from my grandkids, so I stay here!!!