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.

The Trip Down South pics

1. Me outside Mi Ranchito (the restaurant we went to for lunch on my first full day here)
2. Michael and Diane. Michael is a new hire to the Dept of State working in the Economic Section and Diane is a secretary in the Political Section
3. My plane leaving Cleveland to start my trip to Panama (6:25 a.m.)
4. A funny shirt I saw in a store in Newark

My house

The pictures in order from top to bottom are:
1. Living/dining room 2. Balcony
3. Front yard/Street 4. Laundry Room
5. Backyard 6. Stairwell
7. Front Yard 8. Living Room
9. Kitchen 10. Kitchen
11. My bedroom 12. My bathroom
13. Master bedroom 14. Master closet
15. Yard/Neighbor's house 16. My bedroom2

Human Trafficking (june 13)

So the Lifetime movie was based on human trafficking and it kind of made me upset. On the one hand I say that it is corrupt, wrong and despicable on all sorts of levels. Every human being should be treated as such and not as a piece of property to be bought and sold or critiqued like a piece of meat. Those who do it should be punished and jailed in the seemingly endless attempt to rid the world of the entire industry. However, on the other hand, I must realize that I am looking at the situation from an American point of view and that is not the only nor right way to look at it. In some countries and cultures, things such as involuntary servitude and prostitution are legal so who am I to say you should not do such things as human trafficking when obviously those “inalienable” rights have no substance in those places. It is unfortunate that the world has such twisted people out there who think it is okay to buy and sell people like they are meat. On the car ride home from the movies, one of the passengers said she blames men and if they would keep their “little men” in their pants the problem would be solved but it is not just men who are perpetuating the problem. In the movie, one of the main coordinators of the trade was a female and she had no qualms about hoodwinking the young girls and arranging their shipment to the hungry, waiting men. In the movie, starring Mira Sorvino and Donald Sutherland, statistics scrolled the screen saying human trafficking is the most profitable international industry (something like that) next to drugs and something else. Okay so I just messed up that statistic really badly which makes my point moot, but the point is human trafficking is and has been a lucrative business that does not seem to be slowing. And you know the sad thing is that the majority of the transactions are occurring here in the United States! Yeah, the good old US of A so you cannot even say it’s those dirty people across the ocean or in third world countries because it’s not. It could be your next door neighbor, your doctor, your boss, you never know. And the girls…you never know who they are either. You know what, a book I just finished reading touched on human trafficking as well. Hopefully this recent attention to the sad topic will bring more light to it and eventually bring about its demise.

1st Night Out on the Town (June 13)

So towards the end of the day I received a note from my roommate to call her. At first I couldn’t reach her because my phone wasn’t working and I thought I’d done something incorrectly but then I realized the system was down so I used the office cell phone to call her. So she told me the Embassy was sponsoring a movie night at the local theater to watch this movie about human trafficking and wanted to know if I wanted to go. Of course I said yes, anything would be better than coming home at 5:30p.m. and having absolutely nothing to do. So I arrived at the Embassy and she, along with Diane (lady I went out to lunch and shopping with my 1st day) and I went to Diane’s apartment (right next door) before heading to the theater. Because traffic is a beast here we walked the distance from her apartment to the theater. Now, normally I would not mind walking because exercise is good for you and it truly wasn’t a long/hard walk. However, I was wearing these brown high heels that I’d been standing in all day and they are certainly not the kind of shoes you wear for long times or for walking long distances. I clearly did not have any other option but to grin and bear it so we walked the 20 minutes, in the Panamanian equatorial heat, in the heart of rush hour traffic with smog, grit and overcast skies threatening to open up and downpour on us at any moment. Drivers in Panama are very aggressive and do not care about pedestrians – no right of way here – and so you must truly be careful anytime you are walking. Oh, let me not forget that I was carrying my large umbrella, work folders, lunch bag and purse while wearing a long sleeved button down blouse. The saving grace was that I had on a loose, flowing skirt so there was some air circulating but that was also a hindrance because I had to make sure the wind wasn’t whipping it up or it wasn’t getting twisted while I was walking. Nonetheless, we made it to the center and had dinner at Bennigan’s before the dinner. Yes yall, they have a Bennigan’s here lol. Of course the menu was in all Spanish but they had pictures for some dishes to help. I had this Cajun seafood platter (and yes Ariana I finished it all lol) that had salmon, shrimp and crab cakes atop a bed of rice. It was quite appetizing :-) Unfortunately we had to eat in less than 15 minutes because the food took forever to come and the movie was about to start. We went to this movie theater that had leather seats that reclined. Yes, in the public movie theater, where tickets normally cost $6, the chairs recline so you can prop your feet up and truly relax while enjoying your movie. But that’s not the best part. You can order food from Bennigan’s or the other restaurant in the center and they will deliver it to you in the movie theater so you do not have to get up and miss anything. How bizarre! Americans would eat that up! The movie was pretty good. It was a Lifetime movie that in true Lifetime fashion was extremely long but had a good message. Being the movie analyst that I am (I can’t help it, I get it from my dad) I was talking the whole time (quietly to myself of course) and critiquing the movie, the acting, etc. I’ll have more on the human trafficking topic in another post. All in all, it was a very fun evening. I met one of Diane’s friends who is volunteering with the Peace Corps and is stationed here in Panama for 27 months. She taught me a lot about the organization because I did not know much of anything about the program and its purpose. She worked in a US bank for eight years before giving that up to join the Corps…yeah…making all that to barely making $30,000/year. Giving back to your country and helping humanity, that’s what we’re all here for anyways…right?! I thought tonight was going to be my first night getting a taxi but one of the Embassy employees ending up bringing us home so that was great. I can’t wait until this weekend when we go out and have some more fun and get a chance to see the city! Oh man I almost forgot…I saw a prostitute tonight walking the street corner. I could not tell if it was a male dressed as a female or a true female but apparently in Panama prostitution is very legal. In fact, there is a special type of visa that companies can apply for to bring females into the country specifically for prostitution. I’m telling you… if it ain’t one thing it’s another.

3rd Day of Work (june 13)

Today was pretty uneventful in terms of work. I went to the main Embassy building to finally receive my badge and for a security briefing. I met some of the other interns who hopefully we will be able to hook up with over the course of the summer. On the way there from my building I had a very lively conversation with my driver and another Embassy employee. Of course the entire conversation was in Spanish so that was great and I understood all and they understood me too. They said I spoke very well and that with continued practice and conversation like that I would definitely be fluent by the end of the summer lol. Anyways, they gave me insight into some Panamanian foods that I have to try while here. They also told me about some of the clubs to go to, Ladies Night (Thursdays) and Open Bar Night (Fridays), about the good restaurants and other spots I should visit as a tourist of the country. It was quite interesting. I also took some good pictures during the drive of the countryside and certain points in the city so stay tuned for those pics as well. At work I shadowed the officers/clerks while they were interviewing applicants for visas and learned so much. There are so many different types of visas that it would probably take weeks to truly learn all of them without reference however I’m sure with repetition and practice it could come even quicker. From my basic surface level knowledge before starting this internship, I knew it was hard to obtain a visa but I did not realize the full extent/scope of the process. There are a lot of documents required, a lot of money required, a lot of time required. Each application costs $100 and if for whatever reason you get denied you have to pay that amount all over again when you renew the process. Now mind you, the average wages in Panama are $10-15/day so that’s around $450/month (on the high end) and if you have to drop $100 on an application there is not much left. God forbid you have children or other living expenses. For some, the application can be denied simply because they do not have the original of a document required upon submission of their packet. It is not sufficient to have the copy of the original because you must have the original and the copy. Others may get denied if there is suspected terrorist or negative activity related to their name. They may not even know that something negative is attached to their name but if it pops up in the system then the officers are obliged to revoke the passport/visa from future travel. I finally received my computer ID and password so tomorrow I will be able to log in and access the Internet/computer…praise God! It only took 3 days but patience is a virtue, right? Actually, I had a good conversation with the IT lady who gave me my computer access. Again, a convo in Spanish so as yall can see I truly am trying to improve my skills by forcing myself to speak in Spanish and not English whenever possible. Of course, when I get hung up, I revert back to English but at least I’m trying. I spent much of my day scanning documents into the computer and inputting data into the database and that was pretty much my day. Unfortunately I was not able to accompany the supervisor on the jail visit today to Colón even though I wanted to because he said this was one of the worst prisons and I wanted to see it. Call me demented I don’t care :-)

What'd we do without Technology?!

So tonight my roommate and I were trying to figure out what exactly did people do prior to today’s technology? Of course she and I are getting, if not already there, stir crazy because we do not have internet access here in the house. We do not really know our way around the city and because it gets dark so quickly after we get off work we have not managed to venture out. Thus, we come home and pretty much do nothing all afternoon/evening until it’s time to go to sleep. So we were trying to figure out…before cell phones and text messages and emails and internet and computers as we know them…what did people do for fun? A few ideas we came up with were cards, reading, quilting, and having tea. We both agreed that back then society operated under a slower cadence of life and therefore taking one hour to drink a cup of coffee and two hours to get dressed was normal so there were not as many hours in the day to even worry about occupying yourself. Oh yes, we also were thinking about those who had servants or hired help because they certainly did not spend their time in the yard or cleaning the house so with what did they really occupy their time?

If you have ideas or comments, please feel free…

2nd Day of Work (june 12)

Today I must admit I was a little homesick. I was frustrated at work because I still did not have my computer ID and could therefore do no work. I took a tour of the building with the HR rep who’d been my main point of contact prior to coming to Panama. That was decent. I stood behind and shadowed the officers while they interviewed visa applicants and issued or denied visas. That is always fun/interesting because you never know what the case may entail. I ate my lunch around 12:30 p.m. in my office because I was hungry only to find out that everyone goes to lunch at 1 p.m. and so I was alone in the office reading a sports trivia book that whole hour while they were gone. I was given some work on the computers using another employee’s ID so that helped the rest of the afternoon pass by quickly and when I finished the work she let me stay on for the last 15 minutes before 5p to check my email – first time since I’d arrived to Panama I had internet access. I was very happy to get in touch with the rest of the world as I tried to quickly scan my inbox and even go to facebook to see what’d happened in the world while I was away for those four days. You never realize how much you depend on technology until it is stripped away from you. So anyways, I could only use it for a few minutes because my ride was outside waiting for me but it was long enough to receive an upsetting email about a job offer I thought I’d already secured. So that just put a negative twist on my entire day regardless of the good work I’d done on the job. I immediately came to my house and was so distraught I turned on my cell phone to call home. Yall know my cell phone works everywhere so I was able to quickly get the signal and connect with my family back home. I spoke with my mom and dad for a few minutes so I can only imagine what my phone bill will be like next month lol. However I needed to hear a calming/recognizable voice because I have been so out of touch down here. No internet in the house nor at work. No cell phone and yall KNOW that thing is hooked to me like white on rice and I do not go anywhere without it and am always on it. I have been on four other internships prior to this one and I attend school 1000 miles away from my hometown so I am definitely used to being away from friends/family. However, this is a new experience all of its own and will take some getting used to. Perhaps once I get my internet access at work I will feel better because I will at least be able to send emails regularly, update my blog, maybe access AIM Express, etc. Moreover, my phone card does not seem to work so I used my roommate’s last night but don’t want to use up her minutes so until I can get to the store to buy one like hers I’m stuck. To top it all off, our kitchen has these little ants and they got into my box of croissants that I just bought and hadn’t opened so I had to throw it away. I’m going to ask the HR lady about an exterminator tomorrow when I get to work and hopefully they’ll be able to take care of this because I don’t do bugs. To make myself feel better I bet you know what I turned to…you guessed it…ICE CREAM!! I fixed a nice bowl of cookies and cream, set in the kitchen talking to my roommate while she fixed her dinner and felt much better after about 30 minutes. Later on, she and I watched Crash on my computer and analyzed it while we were watching it and then set around afterwards talking about race, prejudice and stereotypes – enlightening conversation indeed. By then I was sleepy so I just laid down without reading any of my book and went to sleep.

IM BORED! (june 11)

So I came home from work today around 4:30p and quickly realized I was bored. I did not bring many books here with me but there are only so many books I can read before I get tired of reading. I brought some DVDs but for those who know me, I hate watching TV and there’s only so much of that I can take before I get tired of movies/television. I have my music on my computer/portable hard drive but there is only so much music you can listen to without doing anything else, or even while doing something else (i.e. reading) before you get sick of listening to the same songs because sometimes you’re not in the mood for certain types. There’s only so much solitaire and minesweeper you can play before you get tired of that. See, this is why I will not retire anytime soon because I prefer an active lifestyle. I prefer to be out and about doing something, seeing something, working on something…SOMETHING! I feel even more constricted here because I do not have internet at the house, my cell phone will cost me an arm and a leg to use and I only have one calling card, I don’t have a car and it gets dark here quickly (think 6p daily) so I cannot just go outside alone. Moreover, I am in a foreign country and do not know my way around nor do I know how safe the area really is so I would not want to roam by myself anyways. Taxis are quite cheap so I may ask my roommate if she wants to go into the city tomorrow after work just to see what’s out there and available for us. I noticed a Curves gym right up the road and I may try to get a membership there but the only thing with that, we are moving in about two weeks so then it won’t be right up the road and will then cost more to get to from our downtown apartment. Maybe I can just workout daily without getting a membership. AAHHH!!

1st Day of Work (June 11)

Monday, June 11, 2007 was my first day of the internship. Though I am a morning person and love having early morning classes and the like, I am a very hard sleeper so I always set multiple alarms. My first one went off at 5:45 a.m. and I actually woke up rather easily with just that one so by the time the second one went off at 6a I was already out of the bed. Our ride arrived at 7:30a to drop us off at our separate destinations. I had to go through two security checkpoints prior to entering the office. At the first I had to go through a metal detector and leave all electronic devices in a locked cubby locker thing. I was kind of leery about doing that because I was leaving my $100 portable hard drive and my $125 digital camera that I’d just bought, along with my house keys because they have an electronic gate opener. However I prayed about it all day and lo and behold they were still there upon my departure. At the second checkpoint, I had to leave my passport and get a visitor’s badge until I take my picture and receive my official employee badge. Not as leery but still wish I didn’t have to leave my passport anywhere. Regardless, I went into the building and met the Consular General. She introduced me to a few people before handing me over to another employee who then introduced me to some more people and set me up at a desk. Unfortunately the computer system was down and I could not receive my user name/login id so was out of luck the whole day. Fortunately, I was taken out of the office within the first 30 minutes for my first assignment. I WENT TO A PRISON!! Part of the American Embassy’s job (well the Consular Section) is to visit American citizens who are in Panamanian prisons. The one we went to had four American prisoners and after waiting what seemed like an hour for them to come out of the cell we finally interacted with them. The four men were in for various crimes ranging from murder to drug trafficking and for various sentences from five years to twenty years. All but one spoke English and Spanish so communication was fairly easy. They all seemed in good spirits and the visit was uneventful. A surprising thing I learned about the Panamanian penal system is that as soon as you are arrested you are placed in prison. Even before you have been charged, even before you have been sentenced, you must go straight to prison. In fact, one of the prisoners was waiting for his trial date. ¡Qué interesante, no! In all, the round-trip took about four hours, including a 45 minute – 1 hour commute each way. Immediately upon my return to the Consulate I went out to lunch with three other employees. We went to this Chinese restaurant that was very good. It was funny because in the middle of our meal this lady came up to us and was like, hey you’re the guy from the Embassy, thanks for giving me my visa last month. Apparently this was the owner or someone important in the restaurant because we were given two full plates of shrimp wantons as dessert at the finish of our entrees. I guess it pays to work in the department because folks remember you for helping them out. However, the flip side could be quite dangerous if you denied their visa application and they see you out somewhere on the street. Let’s hope we don’t reach that point! So anyways, after lunch I came back to the office and learned how to review/approve immigrant visa applications; an interesting yet simple process that requires a lot of paperwork and can take multiple years to complete. For example one application was initiated in 2004 but was just approved today, three years later. Continuing on in the day, I received my list of duties, learned about some of the different paperwork required for visa applications, made some copies (the obligatory intern assignment regardless of what company you work for) and read over a few documents. By then it was 4:00 and because the computers were still down, my supervisor made an “executive decision” and said he would take me home then because there was nothing else to do and he was leaving for the day. So, my day went rather quickly in terms of being in the office and doing “work” but was an enjoyable day nonetheless. It appears I will enjoy the internship and the people with whom I work. The main thing that will be an adjustment for me is the slower cadence of life and of work. Things in Panama do not happen at a rapid pace and people have a less strict sense of time than in the United States. I know I will have to pace myself while working to avoid being bored/idle. This was a lesson I learned (the hard way mind you) during my first internship (2003) and will definitely have to apply here. One of the ladies with whom I work told everyone they should only speak in Spanish to me because I am trying to improve my skills so we shall see how that pans out. While at the prison I did speak in Spanish extensively with the guard and then also with one of the prisoners because he did not speak any English so that was fun. I’m sure the learning curve of vocabulary and speed will be sharp however I welcome the challenge, I mean hey, that’s why I wanted to intern in a Spanish-speaking country!

Cleaning Day (june 10)

So today was pretty uneventful. I did not sleep well because I kept tossing and turning. I went to sleep around midnight once my roommate arrived and got settled in. I woke up first around 6 a.m. and then I woke up like every 30 minutes after that, it may not have even been that long of an interval between waking up. Eventually after laying in bed staring out the window I just got up around 8:30a and went downstairs. For those who know, I don’t sleep very much when at school, like 5-6 hrs at most each night and I’m good off that amount. So that’s probably why I tossed and turned all night because I’d received too much sleep. Also, the darn bed is a TWIN! Lol…as I said before, I have not slept in a twin in like 2 years…oh well, I’ll get over it. So I woke up, listened to my gospel music and read a few scriptures in my Bible to get my mind right. My roommate came down around 9:30 a.m. and we set in the kitchen eating breakfast and getting to know each other. Her supervisor called and offered to take her grocery shopping so I tagged along and picked up a few items. Of course he and his wife gave her a tour of the city along the way to the store so I enjoyed that again. His talkative wife gave us plenty of information about the city, shopping, Panamanian ways of life, etc…she was very helpful. We stopped by their apartment which was also very nice and in the heart of downtown before continuing to our home to put up our groceries. I was a little pooped so I took a nap for like 1.5hrs then came downstairs to clean the kitchen/house. For those who know, when I get into a cleaning mood I truly clean. (Andrea don’t you miss me!) So I first swept the whole kitchen, office and lower bathroom. Then I cleaned all the dishes they’d left for us so that when we wanted to actually use them they would be clean and ready. Then I continued to clean every countertop/surface in the kitchen with this diluted bleach (Ajax) that I bought. I wiped down all the handles, cleaned the microwave, stovetop, refrigerator and all the shelves in the cabinets and pantry. In the midst of the cleaning my roommate came down and said she would’ve done it but I explained to her that I’m kind of anal and have slight OCD such that when I start cleaning I usually go the whole nine yards so not to worry about it. After cleaning the kitchen – oh by the way this morning before leaving the house I cleaned my whole bathroom because I hadn’t the chance/energy to do it yesterday – I cleaned the bathroom. Now, I didn’t clean the shower stall because it had some dead bugs in the drain area but I did clean the toilet and sink. I still haven’t figured out what the spray hose behind the toilet is or how to use it but whatever! lol I think for dinner tonight I’m going to have a Boca burger and fries and top it off with some ICE CREAM! I’d been going through withdrawal because I hadn’t had any ice cream in awhile so I was very happy to buy some today at the store. Well I’m going to eat now…hasta luego!

My 1st Day in the City (june 9)

Well I was supposed to go to the airport with Diane, a secretary in the Political Section, to pick up my roommate but Yolanda’s flight was delayed until this evening so instead I went into the city! Diane picked me up with Michael, another Post employee in the Political Section around 2:30 p.m. and we went driving around the city for my first tour. Prior to leaving, my next door neighbor Carol, the Ambassador’s Secretary, came over to show me some quirks of the house. So like I said the property is gated all the way around and so when we have guests they ring the doorbell which has an intercom linked to various phones throughout the house so we can hear who is at the door and then buzz them inside the gate. How cool :-) Yeah and apparently because of the vast humidity down here you have to run a humidifier along with your a/c constantly to avoid mold growth which is important to me because I’m allergic to mold. Great, huh?! Back to the tour… so it was dark when I arrived to Panama last night so I couldn’t quite get my bearings and when Junior said we were right near the Canal I was like okay, a little drive to get there. However in the day I realized that we truly were right near the Canal. The road outside my house runs parallel to the Canal and it would take less than 5 minutes to get to the edge of the Canal. We drove through the military bases (vacated when the US troops turned over the land & canal in 1999) that are now used to house Embassy employees and other base personnel. We saw where the new Embassy being built will be located which is actually walking distance from my house but it won’t be ready until August which is when I am leaving so I have to take a taxi to my worksite. However taxis are very cheap here and you can get around the city for less than $5. So everyday I will be making a commute to work that’s about $5 each way. We drove through the edge of downtown Panama on our way towards the Causeway. The Causeway is a strip of land built as a result of the Canal’s construction. When they were digging the land to build the Canal they needed a place to deposit the dirt. This depository ended up connecting the mainland to a nearby island through a narrow strip called, The Causeway. It is one lane each way, very narrow and I’m sure very scary at night. Towards the end of the road, there are restaurants on either side along with some stores for shopping and dancing spots and there’s even a Dollar Store! (You’d love it Mo!) We stopped to eat at this neat hut called Mi Ranchito. I had clams in garlic sauce as an appetizer, shrimp in garlic sauce with yucca as my entrée and then a cappuccino to top off the meal. It was great! And to top it off, Michael treated us to lunch so I didn’t even have to pay – Praise God! We left there, drove around the pier some more to see some of the sailboats and other boats and then headed back to the city. We stopped at Diane’s apartment – which by the way had a beautiful view of the Bay of Panama – then continued onto the supermarket to buy some more goods. I am so glad she was there with me because yall know I am not domesticated and she was able to give me some good pointers on Panamanian mores when shopping. For example, you know how we have pre-packaged items like peppers or other fruits. Well, in Panama it is common practice and legal to open the package and pick out the one or two peppers you want from the package, leave the rest, and take the ones you want to be weighed and continue on your merry way. When she told me that I was like, are you serious?! but hey if it’s legal then why not. I didn’t try though. Unfortunately I spent like $100 shopping but as yall know I don’t eat much/often (Lia don’t say anything) so this will last me for awhile. They even had Boca products so of course I was in heaven with that. Prices were a little higher than in the states but Diane said this was a more expensive store than had we gone to the other markets so I kind of expected it. But I still got some great deals on fruit and other items. Maybe I’ll add a post or picture with my receipt so you can see what I’m talking about. Oh yeah, and when you get to the register at this store, they unload your cart, ring up the items for you and then bag and reload the cart. Then they even take the items to your car and load your car for you. Now, of course you tip them between $0.25 and a $1 depending on your load, but that’s not bad! I told you it’s very inexpensive down here to do things. Like, Diane’s maid gets paid $15/day and that’s considered good wages for a day’s work. Hmmm, could you live off that?! lol… After shopping, they dropped me off at my house because they had to go drop off Michael and then pick up Yolanda from the airport because by that time it was around 7:30 and her flight arrived at 9p.m. All in all, this was a very fun day and we had good conversation that flowed rather easily. Diane is a very adventurous person so she told me whenever I wanted to go out or explore the city/country to let her know and we’d plan a trip somewhere for after work or on the weekend. She’s done many of the things I want to do while here: zip lining through the rainforest/jungle, scuba diving, snorkeling, helicopter rides to other parts of country, boat trip through the Canal, ferry ride to plush island resort, etc. I foresee and fun-filled, action packed summer. Oh and cooking is her hobby so I’m sure Yolanda and I will be over her house often…or at least I will cuz yall know I don’t cook lol. Michael just started his 2-year tour here at the Panama Embassy 2 weeks ago so I’m sure he’ll want to get out and explore some as well so it seems to be perfect timing for all of us because we can learn/see the sights together.

My House (june 9)

The house as previously mentioned is GORGEOUS! It has 3 floors, is gated all the way around the property and just overall nice. Now I was a little skeptical when we pulled into the neighborhood because some of the other homes were not quite as nice but ours is quite different. It has a remote controlled gate to access the driveway & home. Oh let me add I saw a frog hopping along the driveway when we got out of the car which added to my skepticism but I got over that quickly when I walked into the house. You walk into the bottom floor which has open space under the stairs for storage and to the left of the front door is a corridor which includes the washer/dryer, a guest bedroom w/ full bathroom and then a storage closet. The 2nd floor is where the living room, kitchen, office, dining room and sunroom are located. The kitchen is very large with plenty of counter space, cabinets and 2 chaise lounges by the window. An island sits in the middle of the floor for all those cooking types to prepare their meals lol. One whole wall is nothing but windows opening to the backyard. A walk-in pantry for even more storage space. I’m telling ya, this kitchen is huge! The office has another floor – ceiling window to the backyard with two large bookshelves for the readers of the family to house their collections. The dining/living rooms are also very big with a 8-seater leafed dining table, large china cabinet, sofa, chairs, etc. A full bathroom sits off the office also. Continuing up to the 3rd floor you find the bedrooms. Oh before I go into that, let me mention there is a nice-sized balcony located ½ way up the stairwell. Anyways, there are 3 bedrooms upstairs. The master bedroom is very big – queen sized bed, sofa and chaise lounge, walk in closet that is big enough to be another bedroom, beautiful bathroom complete with a jacuzzi tub, glass door stand up shower, glass door toilet area, and two sinks. Another large balcony sits off the bedroom. Oh also, there’s these ceiling lights all around the room that are controlled by a dimmer to create a very nice atmosphere. The other two bedrooms are smaller but still a very nice size and both have their own bathrooms although of course not as elaborate as the master. Now I must admit, at first I was thinking I got here first I’m taking the biggest room, best bathroom, all the great stuff. But then I said nah, I don’t need all that so I moved my items into one of the other rooms and set up shop there letting Yolanda have the master bedroom – she better appreciate it too lol! And yall know me, I’m so high maintenance I had to make this place my own. So at first I was going to take the bed from the 3rd room and put it next to mine to make my own king sized bed because I haven’t slept on a twin bed since my dorm days but unfortunately I could not get the frame through the door…so I’m stuck with this. But what I did do…brought the dresser from the 3rd room into my room and also this mirror to go on top of my dresser and oh yeah, the TV oh yeah and this comfortable chair that was originally in the master bedroom. I figure, that room still has the sofa, bigger bed, bathroom and closet so I can have the lounge chair and TV. LOL…yall know me! So now my room is quite comfortable and me gusta mucha (I like it a lot). The closets are big and I have plenty of drawer space. Of course I was not able to pack as many clothes as I would have liked so I don’t need as much space as if this was my long-term home because then yall KNOW I would have been in that master bedroom spread out like WHAT?! So anyways, this house is very nice and when I have the capital or when I graduate and decide to rent/buy/build a house in my new city I would not mind having a place like this. The floors are tile throughout the house which requires cleanliness but that’s not an issue. All in all, the house has 4 bedrooms, 5 full bathrooms, 2 balconies, great front & back yards and huge ceiling-floor windows throughout the house. I’m living in the lap of luxury :-)

Welcome to Panama City (june 9)

Unfortunately I arrived into Panama at night and was therefore unable to fully take in the country’s landscape. Nonetheless, Junior drove me around for about 1.5 hours showing me some sights, taking me through downtown, pointing out some discotecas (clubs), movie theaters, restaurants, and other points of interest. I found the Hotel Intercontinental so if I decide to go work while I’m here for the summer I know where it is, and actually it is right down the street from my worksite. Back to the tour… though it was dark he pointed out the ocean, the former US bases that are now vacant since the troops’ departure and the Panama Canal. Soo, Panama City is not that much different from your regular US metropolis. It has plenty of skyscrapers, many banking institutions (in fact Panama City is known for being a very important/large banking center), downtown condos, construction, traffic, etc. The streets are narrower than most US cities but for the most part, a seemingly nice downtown. Now, let me not fool you lol, there were some dirty/dingy areas that I probably will not frequent alone or at night, but every city/town has areas such as those. What was funny though, Junior kept pointing out all these bars and talking about going out and drinking and I’m like dude…what kind of impression are you trying to make?! Later in the conversation it became apparent why he was doing that. In one of my previous emails to the HR rep I inquired about having a mentor or someone available to show us around the city and to some of the tourist areas to fully capture the city/country. From that question they took it to mean I was a party animal (never me ;-) and that’s all I would want to do. I quickly explained to Junior that was not the intent of my question but I was still happy to locate the city’s hot spots. Eventually we made it to the house where Yolanda (my roommate) and I will be staying. It is VERY NICE and I would not mind having a house like this of my own. There will be a future post with more information about the house along with pictures of it. After dropping off my luggage at the house we went back out (yes by now it’s about 11:30 p.m.) to the supermarket so I could buy a few items. Again the benefits of working at the Post allowed me to not pay taxes on my groceries and so my total was only like $35. Oh by the way, the currency here is US dollars so that is a huge benefit and that means my US bank account is open for transfers in case you wanted to donate funds to my experience down here lol. j/k. Anyways, I picked up some essentials and came back to the house. Dropped them off in the kitchen, led Junior to the door and then had the house to myself. Surprisingly I was not that tired even though I had been awake since 4 a.m. (after only 3.5 hours of sleep and not much sleep on the plane) so I roamed around the house exploring each room. However by like 1:15 I started to feel sleepy so I climbed into bed and was soon fast asleep.

The Trip Down South (june 8)

So my 14 hour trip down to Panama began rather interestingly. I get to the airport and they tell me that I cannot pay to check a 3rd piece of luggage. WHAT?! In all the reading I did about travel to Panama, on many different websites, the State Dept warnings, etc…I saw nothing about luggage embargoes. However I had to do what the folks behind the counter said so I rearranged some things and ended up leaving my whole jewelry box behind and a few articles of clothing that were around the jewelry box for padding. Yes, that means I only have the pair of earrings in my ear (which are rather boring) and no bracelets, necklaces, rings, nothing. Flight to Newark was fine. Then, began the fun part. I had to sit in the Newark airport from 8a to 4:55p when my flight to Panama City left. So for that 9 hour layover I: read the latest James Patterson book (6th Chance – very good!), ate lunch, talked on the phone, and watched all of Akeeylah and the Bee on my computer. Next thing I knew it was time to board the plane so that whole day spent in the confines of the airport actually wasn’t that bad. The flight was rather uneventful. I was hoping to get first class (which is what my ticket was created for) however they claimed the open seats were only for Elite upgrades and I had to sit in Coach. Oooo you know I was hot about that but again, what could I do but listen to the folks behind the counter. They served us some side Caesar salad and hot sandwiches. Of course both sandwich options had meat on them so I did not eat anything but the salad but whatever; I was not that hungry anyways. Upon my arrival to the Tocumen International Airport, I met my mentor/sponsor/buddy Eugenio Pinero, Jr. bka “Junior.” He welcomed me and guided me through the customs procedures which was a very warm gesture because I surely did not know how I was going to get through it lol. Junior informed me that as Consular employees, the department in which I’m working with the Dept of State, that he can get in/out easily because of his Diplomat passport however I probably will not receive one of those. Anyways, we gathered all of my luggage, went through the last security checkpoint, and headed out to the car. Oh but let me not forget to point out that the stupid airline people completely tore a gaping hole in my new suitcase. Fortunately it did not appear anything had fallen out or was missing but I certainly cannot use the suitcase again. THANKS!