IT's THE WEEKEND

So this is the end of Week 3....only seven more :-) Unfortunately I have to leave work early again today to finalize my shower fixing. I just pray that they actually will fix it today. I had more written but don't have it with me so it will be uploaded on Monday when I come back to work. Until then, enjoy your weekend!!

love,
Dominique

And the Saga Continues…(june 27)

So this morning I woke up with the intention of going out for my now routine morning jog but in true Panama fashion it was raining so I couldn’t. Moreover, in true Dominique fashion I was awake at 6 a.m. and could not go back to sleep so I just did some laundry and read my book. Actually I first woke up in the middle of the night thinking I’d been asleep for awhile when it was really only 1 a.m. I transferred my clothes from the washer to the dryer and then laid back down. Back to the saga, we were having maintenance come to the apartment to “fix” the stove this morning so I had to stay around to let him in the house and go to work late. At first I was afraid they would arrive on P.T. (my version of CP time, but Panamanian time) but he was 15 minutes early. We exchanged pleasantries and I explained to him our problem (in Spanish). He got right to work and fiddled around for about 30 minutes before coming out of the kitchen saying we have a serious problem. He said the stove is many years old and he was not able to fix it. He continued on to say it could take a day or two before it was fixed. By now, Yolanda and I are quite fed up with this foolishness because we haven’t been able to cook anything since we moved here on Friday because the stove/oven do not work and you can only do so much in the microwave. In fact, I don’t even really have any food to cook in the microwave and neither does she so that was part of the reason why we went out to dinner last night. But I’m writing this before I go to work so we’ll see what happens when I tell the housing department about the latest chapter in this mess. To be continued…

So they are supposed to be delivering a "new" stove to the apartment this afternoon...praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Buen Provecho (june 26)

Tonight Yolanda, Michael and I went out to dinner to this wonderful Italian restaurant. We walked around for a few minutes in search of good cuisine, browsing the menus of various restaurants in the neighborhood before finally settling on this spot. From the salads to the dessert, the food was absolutely delicious. My main entrée was this spaghetti in white sauce with shrimp, oysters and spinach. It was seasoned just right and definitely pleased my palate. For dessert we all chose something different and passed the plates around to try each other’s choice. I had tres leches, Yolanda had ___ and Michael had this chocolate mousse cake. I think mine was the best of the three but Yolanda’s was a very close second. The service was prompt and polite which made the evening even better because we’ve grown accustomed to the Panamanian version of “CP Time.” They are very slow and not the best at customer service. For example, we went to a fast food joint and they would not take the next person’s order until the previous person’s order was completed and out the way. Of course, this completely destroys the concept of fast food but that’s just how they do it down here. The rest of the day was drab: went to work, worked, came home, lol. I didn’t get home until around 6p.m. so as soon as I walked in the door we were leaving for dinner. One good thing that happened at work was that I arranged for a ride to take me to work every morning for free so that will be much better than paying for a taxi. I also was able to assist my supervisor on a repatriation case. In that I had to interview the lady and the interview was in all Spanish because that was all she spoke. I was proud of myself for not getting too lost or stumbling too much. Some of it I did not understand but she simply repeated herself and we continued in the conversation.

Canoeing/Hiking in the Rainforest (june 24)

This was by far the best day of my two weeks in Panama. As normal I work up around 6 a.m. and ate breakfast/read my Bible. Today Yolanda and I went on a tour to a Panamanian rainforest. We left the house at approximately 8 a.m. to reach the meeting point by 8:30 a.m. because we did not know how far it was from the apartment. It ended up only taking 10 minutes so we were quite early. The meeting place was a park so we were able to pass the time watching children play basketball and enjoying the morning walkers. We met up with the others going on the tour (a total of 28 people) and boarded the bus. At first we were both skeptical about how the bus would fit all of us but it ended up working out, though it was quite snug. The bus ride took one hour. We went through many winding roads with one lane each way that were very small and didn’t even look they could fit those two lanes but somehow we made it safely. We had to stop at the National Park’s Office to check in and pay our entrance fee. While there we also quickly used the bathroom and oh man, I should have taken a picture of that but I left my camera on the bus. It was small, dirty and far from sanitary- made you feel dirty even walking in there. Then the sink…yeah we’ll just say I’m glad Yolanda had a hand sanitizer in her purse. We reached the river soon after entering the park where we met the Embera tribe members who were going to guide us on the tour. They were all men and dressed in only a single cloth to cover the genitals. I felt like I was walking through a National Geographic magazine lol! So we board these two motorized canoes, each holding 14 people. It was a little wobbly walking into the canoe but no one fell out and nothing flipped over. The ride was actually smooth and serene. To see nature at rest, untouched by man was very relaxing. It makes you wonder what the world would be like without noise, pollution, and all the other evils of man. Well, we soon found out. Anyways, we dropped off our food with some others of the tribe at this port then continued on to the “beach.” Real quick, at the port, the ladies of the tribe received the food and all they had on was a bra-like beaded thing and then a skirt. The older ladies wore nothing on their chest and of course the young ones/babies did not have anything on except a skirt. So we reach this so-called beach that is nothing but land where the water has receded. It’s full of rocks but it’s something I guess. The children played around in the water and the adults sat around talking. Mind you all of this was in Spanish and my brain did not really feel like trying to understand/translate so Yolanda and I just kept to ourselves and then went down to the river bank to stick our feet in the water. Then began the interesting part. We started hiking through the rainforest on this path. At first I had on sandals but I quickly realized they would not provide much support for me in the mud so I changed to my tennis shoes. Well then we reached a part where we had to wade across the river to reach the other side of the trail. Sooo, I took off my shoes and put my sandals back on bcuz they’re waterproof and right after crossing the river I put my tennis shoes back on. However this didn’t last long because we then reached another river crossing. By then, I was tired and didn’t feel like taking off my shoes again so I just walked through the water with them on. There goes my tennis shoes! This hike…took about 25-30 minutes to complete but it was well worth it because at the end of the trail was this beautiful waterfall. Everyone quickly disrobed and got into the water to enjoy nature at its finest. The pool beneath the waterfall was very cool but pleasant. At first I wasn’t going to get in but then I said, how many times am I going to be in a rainforest and at a waterfall?! So I got in up to my shoulders because I didn’t want to get my hair wet. Yall know how women are about their hair! Yolanda didn’t bring a swimsuit so she stayed on the side watching/waiting. We stayed there for quite some time then had to make the long trek back to the canoes. We rode the canoes back to the village where we’d dropped off the food. There we met more of the Embera tribe members and ate lunch. As you can tell by the pictures, their village was quite elementary in terms of buildings but quite advanced because they were very stable and protective. In fact, they had little kitchens/stoves inside the huts which amazed me because the huts were made out of wood but yet not burning. The food was served in the leaf of a plantain tree and we had fish and platacones. Platacones are fried, green plantains hammered into the shape of a thick potato chip. For a frame of reference, they are eaten like french fries at meals. They also had sliced pineapples and watermelon to eat. The food was DELICIOUS! The fruit was so juicy and ripe!! Again, I was glad Yolanda had her sanitizer even though it couldn’t truly get rid of all the germs but I was kind of cleaned while in the waterfall. One of the Embera men told us the history of the tribe and its coming to Panama. Afterwards they performed a few dances for us with some of the men playing music. There were small stalls set up with their handmade figurines, mats, jewelry and other items. I didn’t buy anything but they all looked very nice and well-made. We had to leave then because the sky looked like it was about to open up and pour. By then, Yolanda and I were exhausted and ready to get home to a warm shower and our beds. It was around 4 o’clock when we got back into the tour bus to begin the 60 minute bus ride back to civilization. I stayed awake for the first 20 minutes or so but then quickly knocked out. I don’t think Yolanda made it out of the national park awake and I tried to take a picture of her while sleep but she was sleeping on my shoulder so I couldn’t move without stirring her. She said she wasn’t the most outdoorsy type so she was more than ready to escape the wilderness. Neither of us really knew what we signed up for with this trip but we were up for the adventure however by the end of the day we were both ready to get home! Wet and tired we dragged into the apartment, took showers and fell asleep. I am truly glad I went and it was well worth the $55. To me it was like going to an amusement park because they normally cost around fifty dollars so the price was just right. Now, had it cost more, I probably would not have gone and/or would have been upset for spending that much money on the trip. This weekend I was able to experience much of Panama’s culture with the music last night and the nature excursion today. Though I may not be making money down here, I truly can say I am glad I went through with this internship!

Panamanian Music Festival (june 23)

WOW…another fun-filled day! The day started off pretty drably. I did not sleep very well and thus was wide-awake at 6:46 a.m. I tried lying for a while after the alarm (which I forgot to turn off) went off at 6 o’clock but by 7:00 I just got up and decided to be productive. I moved all the chairs then swept and mopped the whole house. The 3rd bathroom unfortunately has this WICKED odor that we cannot figure out. So I mopped that and it helped alleviate the smell somewhat but Yolanda’s gonna clean it out more so hopefully that will help. There are still some spots on the floor that I could not get up from mopping but oh well at least the floor is clean. So now on to the funny part. After cleaning I decided to make myself an egg sandwich (the Euclid Drake’s know what I’m talking about because we love them). Our stove is a gas stove and I’ve NEVER had to use one before. So I turn the knob and it starts clicking…but no flame or heat. Okay, am I doing something wrong?? I try again and still no heat. So I try calling home to ask for help and of course no one answers. So I just decide to have a bowl of cereal and forget about it. But I need the stove so can someone help me out!? Do I need to hold a match over the burner while it is click click clicking?? After cleaning I went out with Diane (political secretary) while she ran some errands. We also stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few items. Around 6:30p we hailed a taxi to take us to this Music Festival in Casco Viejo which is the Old Part of Panama where the city originally was centered. Of course, it was raining so the atmosphere was kind of miserable and dismal even more so because it was dusk/nighttime. The first pavilion we went to was playing salsa and reggaeton. The group performing sounded pretty good. It was hilarious because we saw Panama’s version of a crackhead dancing in the rain to the music. She was all by herself and GETTIN IT! Look at the attached pictures to see her. A little while later this old man started dancing with her and he too was quite funny! We then went in search of the jazz pavilion. On the way we came across the Música Típica. Unfortunately, this pavilion was in between changing bands so there was no music. However, in that plaza we did see some old buildings that seemed important but we couldn’t really tell because it was dark. One building we saw was this cathedral that was said to be the oldest in the Western Hemisphere (I think I got that fact right). Anyways, we eventually made it to the Jazz pavilion but it was indoors and already packed with people so we could not enter. Coincidentally, Michael called right then saying he was at the salsa pavilion so we went back there to meet up with him. By then the rain had stopped so it was more pleasant, yet still muggy. We hung around listening to the salsa for a bit longer before walking in search of the world music pavilion. This was also indoors but without a/c and therefore quite uncomfortable. The music was interesting/nice. After leaving there at 8:00 we went to dinner at this quaint restaurant. The food was appetizing and inexpensive. I had a glass of red wine, salad, catfish and a baked potato. We got dessert to go (slice of caramel walnut pie) and headed home. Michael paid for the meal again so that was a blessing from the skies. I went to sleep early because I had an early morning ahead of me.

Moving Day/Retirement Party (june 22)

Today we moved into our new/final apartment. It’s in the heart of downtown and right next door to the Embassy. Unfortunately that means it’s even farther from the place where I work but I’m going to try arranging a ride with one of my coworkers so I don’t have to pay for a taxi each day. The apartment is nice. It’s very spacious but unfortunately I got stuck with the small bedroom again. This time we did rock/paper/scissors to decide who got the master bedroom and I LOST! I was so upset…but it’s okay this room is still nice. The only bad thing about the room is that my freaking shower does not work! After a long night of dancing all I wanted was to come home, clean the shower stall and take a nice, relaxing shower before getting into bed. However…when I turned on the shower to rinse out the soap/bleach no water came out of the showerhead! So I tried turning it off and back on again and still no water! Of course it’s the weekend so I don’t quite know what I’m going to do but I’m calling someone to get this worked out. Back to the story…In true Dominique fashion I rearranged everything in the room and brought a chair into the room from the living room. I kind of feel like an elder with my rocking chair that I sit in at the end of each day watching the children but lol, it’s not a rocking chair and it only faces into my room not the street. Anyways the pictures from the apartment are forthcoming. Fortunately because we were moving I got to leave work at 3p.m. instead of waiting until 5 o’clock. After the move Yolanda and I went to a retirement party for one of my coworkers. We were able to walk there from the apartment as it was only 3 blocks away (not city blocks). We heard the loud music and festivities as we were walking up the street and were pleasantly surprised because we didn’t know it was going to be that kind of party. Nonetheless, we had a great time!!! At first neither of us wanted to dance because we were acting kind of shy but by the end of the night I was on the floor the whole time. They had some food: plantains, rice, cucumber & tomato salad, pork and ceviche. The plantains were cooked in this honey-like sauce that was really good. For a frame of reference, imagine yams at Thanksgiving in the cinnamon/honey sauce…yes, quite tasty! Ceviche is a kind of fish…don’t quite know what…but it’s also a very good and common menu item down here. You can eat it on saltine crackers. It wasn’t a full buffet to make you stuffed but good food nonetheless. The dancing was SO MUCH FUN! Now yall know I don’t really know how to salsa or anything…but I was funkin the heck of it lol :-) All in all it was a very fun evening out and I’m glad we went.

I have a horrible memory

I keep forgetting to bring in my hard drive to upload my recent posts...I'm going to try to remember for tomorrow. Everything is great though :-)

Flag Day (June 14)

So these pics are a little old but I forgot to put them up the same day (they're also a lil dark):
1. Dominique in front of the American flag
2. Michael in front of the American flag
3. The Ambassador's house's land/property (part of it)

Hiking/Canoeing Trip to Panamanian Rainforest & Chargres River

Note: I apologize but the pics do not go in chronological order of the trip
1. Women of the Embera tribe performing a dance
2. Men of the Embera tribe playing music for the women
3. Embera children with the children in the tour group
4. Some more men of the Embera tribe
5. Sign saying: Thank you for your visit
6. Embera men playing music to welcome us to the village
7. Hut being constructed
8. Hut already constructed
9. The hut's kitchen
10. The end of my lunch, I thought to take a picture after I'd already started eating. The food was served in the leaves of the plantain tree
11. The waterfall (Poza de la Quebrada)
12. Yolanda...she didn't want to get in the water
13. The waterfall
14. The terrain we had to climb over/under/through
15. Sign welcoming us to the Embera village
16. Me in front of a smaller waterfall we saw on the way there
17. The other canoe (14 ppl in each canoe)
18. Pictures of the village from the river
19. Yolanda making her way down the trail (she was trying to enjoy herself lol, luv ya roomie)
20. The waterfall
21. Yolanda & I in the tour bus on the way to the Chargres River
22. The entire group
23. Boarding the canoes
24. The back of one of the Embera men (I was intrigued by their "outfits")
25. Another mini waterfall seen on the way to the village

Salsa Dancing a no go

So we didnt go salsa dancing because we found out we were moving into our new place today and had to go home and pack. Perhaps next Thursday...

I've Moved (june 22)

I am moving into my apartment today...the one I was supposed to be in from the beginning but wasn't ready...so my new home phone number is:

507-227-6258

It's so Hard to say Goodbye (june 20)

Today I went to a going away party for one of the Embassy employees who'd reached the end of his tour. At first I didn't think I knew the guy but upon arrival I saw it was someone I'd met the first week - an Omega man to be exact! lol...leave it to me to find a Bruh in Panama :-) He was from NY but I cannot remember exactly where he pledged. Nonetheless, he had this huge going away soiree at Bennigan's on the Amador Causeway (that strip of land I said was created during the Canal construction because they had to dump the land somewhere). It was outdoors on their covered patio and the night was so beautiful with a gentle breeze blowing. I took some pics but left the camera cable at home so you'll get those tomorrow. All in all it was a fun evening to a fun day. Today at work we also had a celebration for one of the retiring employees. We had pizza, cake and ice cream. They also were making frozen strawberry daquiris. Now mind you, earlier I'd seen a bottle of Smirnoff sitting on one of the lady's desk and I thought it kind of strange...but I didn't ask about it. I then realized it was for the daquiris we had at the going away lunch. Would this EVER happen in Corporate America...NO! lol...gotta love the Panamanian way! I mean, I didn't want to take a cup...but everyone else was drinking it and there weren't any other beverages and I didn't want to seem rude for not drinking along with them...riiiight! I'm going to the nurse tomorrow because I have this wicked cough that won't go away. I think it's because of the heavy smog. We heard from the housing department that we're moving into our new place on Saturday. I'm excited because it will be closer to the heart of the city and easier to get around. However it's further from my worksite and I will have to try to get a ride with someone on there way in so I don't have to keep paying for a taxi. Hopefully that'll be easy. Hasta mañana!

Life is Good

Nothing to report. I'm healthy. Life is good. Work is fine.

Contact Information

Address:
Dominique Drake
Consular Unit 0945
APO AA 34002

Work Phone: 507-207-7394
Home Phone: 507-317-6527
Cell Phone: 507-6430-6312
Email: draked@state.gov

It's Church Time (Happy Father's Day)

I started my day off on a great note by going to church. One of my coworkers told me about an English/Spanish church he attends that is actually right down the hill from our house (walking distance). So he picked us up this morning for service and we had a very nice time. The nondenominational church actually reminded me of the Lutheran church I attended while interning in Dayton (Summer 03 & 04) so I felt comfortable. The music ministry was done in both English and Spanish with the sermon being all English. The message was geared towards fatherhood as today is Father’s Day. The underlying lesson was threefold: we must listen to God, we must obey God and we must trust God. The scripture reference was the story of Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac because it was what God instructed him to do despite the hardship of the act. Afterwards we attended Sunday School where we learned about different passage in the book of Acts. We met many nice people at church who extended themselves to us in anyway we may need. My coworker was nice enough to take us to the grocery store to pick up a few items. Praise God I bought some ant spray for the kitchen so I pray that will deter some of those pestering rodents. Lol…yall know I don’t do bugs! I did some housework by sweeping the stairs. I was going to mop but the mop is kind of broken/dilapidated. Tonight we were invited to dinner at Yolanda’s boss’ house. It was oh so good! His wife is such a great cook, I’m going to get there one day...and seeing as how I don’t cook much now that one day is no time soon! Two appetizer choices were this blue cheese, honey and grape combination or this tomato, grape nuts, etc. combination…sounds good doesn't it! She made this homemade Sangria that was a nice touch as well. Dinner was a shrimp linguine that was seasoned just right. She outdid herself with a make-it-yourself ice cream bar with coffee, coconut, chocolate or vanilla choices and an array of toppings. Then I finished off the evening with a cappuccino. Too bad we don’t get food like that regularly. I also was able to borrow about 8 books from her to keep me occupied and lessen my boredom. The perfect end to a nice, relaxing weekend!

Crazy Shopping Experience (June 16)

Saturday, June 16 we went shopping at Albrook Mall. It was very big with two floors of stores and it spread out over many square feet. For a frame of reference, Cleveland friends think combining Mentor Mall with Richmond Mall. Tallahassee friends, think Governor’s Square Mall plus Tallahassee Mall, and maybe a little more. It didn’t have your American department stores but they had their own type of department stores. There also was this store like Marshall’s or TJ Maxx with clothes costing $0.99 and shoes costing like $2.99. It was very crazy in there. It made me wonder what it would be like living in China where there is just so many people you can hardly walk around and have absolutely no personal space – that’s how crowded it was at the mall. I didn’t buy much of anything. I found some cute red pyramid earrings to represent my sorority but that was about it. They have plenty of American eateries in the very large yet under furnished food court: Popeyes, Dairy Queen, Dunkin Donuts, KFC, Pizza Hut, Wendy’s, and of course McDonald’s. We sat at these kiddie tables, should have taken a picture because it was a funny sight. Fortunately there were a few taxis waiting outside the mall so we didn’t have to wait for one when we were done. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I watched some TV, tried calling friends who DIDN’T ANSWER THEIR PHONE (you know who you are), talked to the family and that was about it. Oh, Yolanda and I went for a walk around the neighborhood just to get out the house and get some exercise. I watched one of my favorite movies – Teen Witch – and then fell asleep.

End of Week 1

So my 1st week working at the Embassy is officially over. It actually ended on a good note as today went rather quickly. I did some more reading on passports and obtaining US nationality which was interesting reading material. Did you know that if you are born in an airplane while flying over the USA you are considered an American citizen?! Even if your parents are from Australia…you’ll be considered an American. Who knew?! Today I did my 2nd prison visit and this one was actually a lot more fun than the first. There were 5 prisoners and we had some rather intriguing conversation. The prison was located right next to the Canal so we saw a few huge ships entering the Canal. Unfortunately no cruise ships passed through at the time but there were two PanMax which are the enormous container boats. By the time we got back to the Consulate it was time to go so that was the end of my day. I learned that Friday is dress down day because everyone was in jeans and relaxed shoes/shirts. Of course still “professional” with it but nonetheless relaxed. I probably won’t ever do it, but it was still nice to see. After work Yolanda and I went out to dinner to the restaurant I went to my first day, Mi Ranchito. It was an experience calling the taxi company and first requesting the taxi then second telling them how to get to our house. Whoo, that was definitely an experience. However we will probably use the same guy from now on because he was young, fun and prompt. We asked him about the places to go and things to do in the city and he gave us some tips so he may pick us up tomorrow evening to take us out. We’re also supposed to be going on this boat trip tomorrow so that should be fun if it happens.

4th Day of Work (June14)

I HAVE COMPUTER ACCESS!! That development was the highlight of my day as I was finally able to get onto a computer under my own name and access the internet, email, etc. Other than that, today was another uneventful day at work. I shadowed a few employees processing applications. I interviewed two of the senior consul members to find out what their job entailed. I completed some more training procedures and that was about it. My day started off well because I attended the Ambassador’s Flag Day Ceremony. Quite honestly, I did not even know that June 14 was the annual holiday but I’m sure I will remember now. I arrived a little tardy because we had to drop off Yolanda but when I arrived they had just started the ceremony so it turned out I wasn’t too late. It was an honor to hear the history behind Flag Day and then to see the raising of the flag. There were many veterans present for the ceremony who seemed very proud to have served America. It was actually kind of touching to be in the midst of so many other Americans and to be able to say, I am an American…especially while overseas when you may be hard pressed to find others like you. Of course in Panama that’s not the case because there is a very large American population. That’s about for today, nothing to exciting to report. Yolanda and I were invited to dinner at her supervisor’s house on Sunday and this Saturday we’re going to try to go to the Panama Canal for a boat tour. CIAO!

Random Pictures of Panama

Pictures in order from top - bottom:
1. They have a Mickey D's in Panama! Notice hamburguesas not hamburgers lol
2. My roommate Yolanda & I in front of the Pan City skyline
3. Amador Causeway is the strip of land in the back and the buildings in the foreground are Casco Viejo. The Amador Causeway was manmade during the construction of the Canal because they had to put the dirt they were digging up somewhere. It ended up connecting 3 islands of Panama and also serves to block silt & debris from clogging the Canal. Casco Viejo is where the President of the Country and other VIPs live.
4. The new US Embassy building that they are moving into at the end of July.
5. Another look at the new US Embassy
6. The University of Panama
7. Pelicans sitting atop a tree in downtown Pan City
8. City bus...they are colorfully painted old school buses, They are called "Diablo Rojo" which means Red Devils lol ¡Qué interesante!
9. Rough neighborhood they've advised Americans to avoid
10. City skyline (looks kinda like 1 of the pics I'd uploaded in the 1st blog)
11. Statue of Balboa (famous explorer)
12. Me in front of the skyline...kinda dark, no flash
13. Me on the way to a security briefing
14. City bus up close. The words across the windshield indicate the destination of the bus and that's how riders know the route.
15. My roommate Yolanda in front of the skyline
16. A picture of the countryside taken from my building
17. The US Consular building, where I work
18. The driveway to where I work. They put the roadblocks there to deter speeding. I said it should be included on the Panamanian driver's license test. Imagine being a van driver having to navigate that, lol...he does it everyday somehow..
19. Entrance to Fort Clayton. This used to be the US base when troops were here and America controlled the Canal, but we gave control over to Panama in 1999.
20. Gas station...gas here is just as expensive as in the States...The top number is diesel, the 2nd number is regular unleaded
21. Intercontinental Panama or Intercontinental Miramar. I can't escape the Holiday Inn.
22. American cemeterary where veterans and those who died working on the Canal are buried.
23. Ancón Mountain...
24. Bay of Panama at low tide.
25. Boats waiting to enter the Canal or those that have just exited it
26. Construction on a new house. Real estate is BOOMING in Panama City and the prices are very low. COME BUY PROPERTY, in fact a lot of Americans retire here so it's not abnormal.