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.