June 19, 2011

I usually don’t have any problem “leaving”, but I really hate to be “left”. And that is what life is like being an expat. People are always leaving. The beauty is that new people are always coming, but it is tough to say good bye to friends. The last day of school was this week. There were several leaving. It was a good year. I wasn’t challenged as much as I like to be challenged, but the school was great, the teachers were great, the kids were great. All in all, it was a good experience. Looking back, I can’t believe the year is over.
I spent Thursday afternoon with a friend who has lived in Panama for many years. Interesting, as I discovered several thing about the working culture. It seems as though the country almost rewards laziness and irresponsibility. If you are fired from your job, you get a great severance package. If you quit, you get half of that package. You can be just a totally irresponsible worker and it is difficult to get rid of you. Someone said you had to miss six Mondays in a row before they have grounds to fire you without severance. Granted, the severance packages appear good, but the salaries are so low that they really aren’t that much.
A few of us walked to a local “fonda” near the school on Monday for lunch. Fondas are little restaurants run by the locals, usually in a simple small building or shack. You are “taking your stomach in your hands” to eat at one, though. On the way, we noticed a few trees growing up right in the middle of the sidewalk. Looks like the road had been torn up to lay some pipes yet, when they got to the sidewalk, they must have just dug under rather than cutting through the sidewalk and repaving it. So, eventually the sidewalk collapsed. Then, a few weeds must have started growing in the mess, yet no one ever bothers to pick up or dig them out or even repair the sidewalk. Needless to say, over the years trees have developed. Anyway, the food was absolutely delicious at the fonda and CHEAP. Yet, you are still taking a risk. There are absolutely NO HEALTH codes, no inspections to make sure food is prepared safely, at these places.
So three days of vacation are over. Like every summer break, time FLIES. Most everyone that goes to the states has already left. This place really clears out so quickly. With only 6 weeks of “summer”, people scatter almost immediately.

June 12, 2011

Can’t believe we have been out of the U.S. for almost a year now. Can’t believe my year at my new school is over now. What a year it has been, too. We often reflect on everything that has happened and how we have tried to live in a new culture, with a new language and everything just so different. Friday night, there was a great party the school had for all the teachers leaving. It is so interesting that at CHCA where the 20, 15, 10 year awards are given and there are several of them. Here, there is about a 30 percent turnover each and every year. A 5 year award is something, while a 10 year award is rare. There are only a few at the school who have made Panama their home for life. The young teachers come for a 2 or 3 year adventure and then head off to other places. Some of the teachers have taught in several other international destinations as missionaries. Seldom do you find a teacher who was born, raised and still living in Panama. Of course, at this school you have to have perfect English skills, so someone born and raised here probably wouldn’t have them unless they were raised in the Canal Zone. Many people we have met were born and raised in the Canal Zone, left for college, marriage and career in the states and are now returning.
Another interesting thing is the “talk” at the end of the school year. At CHCA, people are always asking each other if you are going “anyplace” this summer for vacation. Here it is “When are you headed to the states?” People scatter within days of the end of the school year. Many stay away for the 6 weeks we have off before returning. The question is never “Are you going?”, but “When are you going?”. Some missionaries need to go back to raise support, others are young and head off to visit their families. Just an interesting mix.
We are anxious to return to the states for a couple weeks as well and see our families and friends. We “wonder” if we changed? How could we not after an experience like this and taking a step of faith by stepping outside our comfort zone.
I certainly hope the Midwest gets some good weather before returning. A couple of my younger kids at school were just terrified about going to the states this summer. All they have seen on American TV down here has been tornado related and they are just scared to death. Nice that here, there is no worry about tornados or hurricanes. I guess we are too far south for the hurricanes, and obviously no big changes of weather for tornadoes. Earthquakes are still a question. We certainly don’t have the number of them that Costa Rica has, but like in Ohio, they “say” there could be a big one eventually.
Now, we have to figure out how to deal with the humidity when being gone for a while. Folks that leave for six weeks come back to mold. Apparently if you park your car and don’t get in it for 6 weeks, you can find mold on your steering wheel. Two weeks apparently isn’t an issue, but six can be. Stuff (just about anything) grows like crazy here.

June 5, 2011

Today is our 35th wedding anniversary. And what was cool is that after church and Sunday School, we ran off to a barbeque put on by my new school (school next year). They know how to throw a good party. We have one occasionally,, which is really fun to get to know the new people. But we had a map (a map is really strange down here to say the least), but the party was at building 9A. Wayne, being the brilliant navigator that he is, came in from the “other” end of the street. So we passed three building that were marked with a “9“. We had no clue which one it was. Finally had to call. The correct “9” was at the other end. So the addresses went from 63 to 8 (next door) then 9. Then they changed numbers until there was another 9. WHO numbered these houses???
We went to the high school graduation last night for my current school. Our school had 21 seniors graduating. It was the first graduation that I have gone to in 15 years that attendance wasn’t required OR that I had to wear a cap and gown. Interesting to say the least. Some things better, some worse , but many the same. If only I could take the best of both, there would be a great graduation!
Wayne went to the cable office on Friday to cancel our cable at the “old” place. We have cable at the new place, but needed to cancel the old service. Unfortunately, the cable office had not a single person that spoke English. They used the computer and the Google translator to try to manage their way through the transaction. Wayne got really worried once he got home fearing that the ”correct” message just didn’t get across and that he had cancelled the service at the new apartment. Dealing with the cable company in the states is bad enough, even if you are all understand English. So one of our “Spanish “ speaking friends told us Friday night she would meet us there Saturday morning to make sure everything was done correctly. Arggggg, the frustrations of living in a country where you can’t speak the language.
Just a week of school is left. Time is flying.

May 29, 2011

We skyped with our Sunday School Class from Cincinnati last week. That was fun. It was during the regular Sunday School time. But someone asked us what we missed MOST about Cincinnati, other than family and friends. Right away we said Sunday lunch at Chipotles. Guess we went there pretty much right after church every Sunday and we really do miss it. But Wayne and I were talking about it some more last night. We really miss the wonderful public libraries that Ohio has. We probably went to the one in Sharonville once or twice a week just to browse all the books. Public libraries don’t exist here. There is one by a branch of Florida State University here, but I am younger than most of the books in that library. Most everyone here swears by the Kindle. I guess litter free streets would be something else we miss, plus “more” sane drivers. It will be fun to visit the states this summer and see what is different. A few people told us to not go back for at least a year, because once you do, the honeymoon is over. That is left to be seen!
We were at a party last night and I was lamenting over the fact that we have no gas, therefore cold showers (cold is relative down here). Found out that the real Panamanians do not like hot showers. I guess hot showers are just a gringo thing. Anyway, you run out of gas here and it takes a couple of days to get a replacement cylinder (no gas pipe supply), meanwhile no hot water heater, no stove, no oven, no clothes dryer which are all run by gas. Gas is cheaper than electricity, though.
Heard a funny story this week. Apparently some diplomas are being issued for a bribe at one of the local universities before all requirements are met. Someone “got on” to the fact and started an investigation. Then, interestingly enough, the documents office burned down and the guy in charge would not allow the “bomberos” (firemen) to investigate. Sounds pretty guilty to me!

Well Memorial Day is tomorrow. Off to work I go. No celebrating here!

May 23, 2011

How interesting is THIS? We lost the electrical power at school this week and life went on as NORMAL! No one got freaked out, no one seemed to care other than the fact the A/C was off and it got pretty warm. But teaching and education went on. Makes me remember in the states when all the rules and regulations have to be followed and we all went to the “safe” place in the gym where 400 teenagers were trying to knock each other down, while things “could” have been going on as normal, just without lights. And not one of the kids here said, “Will they send us home early?” Doesn’t happen here. No way could you get all the taxi drivers, etc here early to pick the kids up. All buses are these little private “school” busses. Many taxi drivers. Many parents. Very few kids drive to school. Just a few seniors is all.
We were walking the other night and right in back of us, a nanosecond after we passed under a tree, a mango came crashing down from a tree and landed with a loud thump. It was the size of a grapefruit and probably a little heavier. Mangos are everyplace, everywhere. There are some 15 varieties of mango in this city. Apparently, mangos cause many problems with allergies, especially if you are allergic to poison ivy. Even touching the leaves is bad. The pollen can be an issue as well. It causes a lot of respiratory problems. Beautiful trees and great fruit. Although some people can’t even touch the mango, they can eat it without any problems, as long as they don’t touch it with their bare hands or allow it to touch their lips.
Went to a gathering the other night at an outdoor restaurant. Dogs were allowed. Ace had a blast. But, what interesting people we met. One couple sold their house, put their stuff in a storage unit, bought a RV and have travelled for a few years now. (Guess they flew down here, though). Another couple from Austria lives on their boat and have sailed across the Atlantic several times. Me, just looking forward to an apartment with two bathrooms!
It is soccer season here. But May, being the rainiest month, means most of the games are cancelled since it pours about 2:30 every afternoon. Kids have had every game cancelled for the past three weeks. Finally, it is drying out some and make-up games mean there is a game nightly. They play on the Kiwanis Field (pronounced KEE WAN NEES in Spanish, sounds so dog gone funny to me!). Sport seasons are backward from what I know. American style football season begins about now. I certainly wouldn’t want to be in those uniforms in this heat.

Pictures from our window at the apartment. Also we went to lunch with friends from church Sunday to the Fish Market. Our boys said they saw a program on TV about Panama and the Fish Market. Downstairs was a large fish market with all sorts of fresh fish (just caught) for sale. Upstairs was an open air restaurant overlooking the ocean. Pretty cool.

May 13, 2011

We had Field Day at school this week. Actually, it was one of the most fun Field Days I have ever had. Maybe it was just the mix of kids from 4 years old to seniors in high school. But Wayne and I were in charge of the water slides. They got a couple of huge inflatable water slides from a local company. They were to have them up and ready to go at 8:00 am. So, our first group came to play exactly at 8:00. Absolutely nothing was ready. Ninety kids waiting to play and nothing to play on. The recreation company just started to inflate the first slide at 8 am. While waiting, we were reading all the “warning notices” on the slide (In English by the way). Absolutely nothing was being followed. The electric cords used to power the fans to blow them up had the grounding prongs removed from the plug, so they could easily be plugged into an extension cord that was also not grounded. Wires were everywhere, hoses were in a tangled mess. It was a comedy of errors. So the first group missed the water slide completely. The second group came and waited in line for their turn. Eventually, both slides were inflated, but water was needed. However, the workers must have felt like they deserved a break, so they stopped to eat and drink!!! Finally one lady (who thankfully spoke Spanish) went up to them and reminded them these kids were waiting! How funny. All the rules written on the side of the slides were totally ignored when the guys from the company assisted with getting the kids on and off the slides. But, the kids had a blast and not a single one got hurt. They all survived without any the rules and regulations being followed.
The big news of the week was that after ten months, I finally got my Panamanian driver’s license. We went to the license bureau (which is NOT a government agency, but actually a private enterprise) and the process went pretty smoothly. Can’t complain about that trip. However, the large parking lot in front was full and Wayne had to wait about 10 -15 minutes before somebody drove out. It was amazing how many people that visited the driver’s license bureau didn’t drive there. Now, I just have to get the guts to actually drive around here.
Apparently, when shopping here you are not allowed to try on white tops. Stores are afraid that if you get makeup on them, they won’t be able to sell them. However, almost all stores have a no return policy. What to do?
And Peanut Butter. The librarian read a book to the kids about peanut butter and jelly. He asked the kids how many liked peanut butter. Only the Americans in the school raised their hands. So, he continued to ask all the classes during the week. Absolutely none of the Panamanian or Latin American students said they did. Guess they wouldn’t survive in America! Stores here sell very little peanut butter, the ones that do sell only very small jars. Thank goodness for PriceSmart (our Costco). There you can get the big jars!
Here is another great short story. One of our neighbors left the country for a period of time. His house burglar alarm (5 minute siren) kept going off every half hour or so for a few days. It was driving all of the neighbors nuts. We found that we could sleep in our back bedroom and not hear it, but otherwise, the dog-gone thing went off all night long. So, someone who was to watch the house finally came by and disarmed it. BUT, it was connected to some Panamanian alarm company that was “suppose” to call them and check it out as soon as the alarm went off. I can only guess that the monthly monitoring fee wasn’t very worthwhile.

May 10, 2011

Unfortunately, being in paradise doesn’t mean you never get sick. Apparently, the germs down here don’t die and they love new people to attack since you aren’t immune to anything yet. So this week was my turn. Fortunately, we have avoided major bugs since getting here, but one finally got me. On Saturday, I headed off to the “Doc in a Box” place in our neighborhood, which was another Panamanian experience. Only had to wait for about 5 minutes to see a doctor and during that time met another new friend in the waiting room. And luckily this new friend was bilingual! The doctor, as sweet and nice as she could be, knew very little English. So after finding out I had a bad case of bronchitis, my new friend came in and translated for the doctor and I. Walked out with a fist full of prescriptions and a doctor bill for $12.75! Some things in Panama cost more than in the states, but medical care doesn’t appear to be. Went to pharmacy next door and with my game of charades (since they didn’t speak English), got my prescriptions filled . Wayne and I also this week went to a dermatologist for our annual skin cancer check. What an experience that was. He brought us into his office, chatted with us, personally asked us all the questions you normally have to fill out on a form prior to seeing the doctor, checked us out, then talked with us again, all without running out to see another patient or two. I have been told that the doctor experience down here is totally different from the states. Even, that many doctors give you their cell numbers so you can call them personally if you need to. The last few days have proven that to be true. His English was perfect and his bedside manner was even more so. He is considered one of the top dermatologists in Panama and still had time for us. Now, if we had to have gone to the government Social Security doctors, the stories would have been quite different and likely we would still be waiting to see a doctor.
Climate changes are here too. Neighbors have mentioned that it is the hottest it has ever been. We have not complained about the weather ever here, until now.