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!