Yesterday I completed the first part of the trek to get my US driver’s license authenticated so I can get a Panamanian one. It’s a multi-step process, at several locations. We didn’t get everything done yesterday because my appointment at the first stop (the US Embassy) was at 2 p.m., and one of the other locations closes at 4 p.m. So we will finish the process this afternoon. Marianna is leading me through the steps, thank goodness! I’d be totally lost without her help.

The US Embassy, where I went to authenticate my US driver’s license, was a trip, in itself! After parking the car, we met with an officer who checked my appointment receipt and passport, then asked us to wait in a line. This area was near the street. When gave us the go-ahead to proceed, we walked about 40-50 yards to a small, separate entrance building (kind of a glorified guard shack), and another guard checked my appointment receipt and passport again. Waited a few more minutes in line, until we were permitted to enter.

Once inside, we went through a metal detector and left this small building, went outside, and entered the embassy building itself. My receipt and passport were confirmed a third time, and we had a seat in the waiting area until my name was called and I went to the cashier’s window.

The cashier looked at my passport, Panamanian ID, and US driver’s license, then gave me a form to fill out. After completing the form, I returned it to the cashier’s window and paid the $50 fee. More waiting, then my name was called again to one of the other windows. There, I had to raise my right hand and swear that the information was true and correct on the form I filled out. The form was then given to me to sign, and the agent also signed it.

That was it for the embassy – then it was on to the next stop. I went into a bank at a second location and paid them $2 for something (not sure what), then gave Marianna another $2 and she went somewhere else down the hall to do another step. Then we went to the Foreign Relations Ministry (still at the same location), and Marianna processed the from from the embassy.

This afternoon I will go to a clinic to get my blood typed (blood type is listed on the Panamanian driver’s licenses) and go to the agency that actually issues the licenses. Getting a Panamanian license is not a simple thing, at all!

After we were finished doing the driver’s license things, I had Marianna drop me off at the Multiplaza shopping mall so I could look for an umbrella, and perhaps a new swimsuit. This mall is really big – its footprint is perhaps half again bigger than Quail Springs mall in OKC, and three stories tall. Very upscale, with all the name-brand stores and boutiques, plus a huge food court and movie theater on the top floor.

Psycho Bunny shop

I saw this little shop that struck my funny bone – the Psycho Bunny. It looks like a boutique casual attire shop, but I loved the logo and the quirky name.

I found a nice red compact umbrella that opens and closes with the push of a button (very powerful and quick to open and close, but a little disconcerting at first), but had no luck finding a plus-size swimsuit. I didn’t see any directories at all in the mall, just information booths with people who answered questions. When I asked, one person pointed in the general direction and said the name of the store, but I didn’t see anything that looked or sounded like what she said when I went that way.

By that time, I was tired of walking, so I just called for an Uber and went back to the hotel. My Uber driver was a busy guy – one passenger got out of his car at the mall while I got in, and when I got to the hotel, he had another fare waiting for him to take them somewhere else.

After we finish with the official license things this afternoon, I’m planning to pack up, check out of the hotel, and take the overnight express bus to David (a six-hour trip, but I can nap on the bus), and then on to Boquete tomorrow morning. Looking forward to leaving this big, crowded city and get to the cooler mountains!

I didn’t do much yesterday – stayed at the hotel and did stuff on the computer. I downloaded a VPN (virtual personal network) application, which masks my computer’s location and allows some web pages to load when they’re geo-blocked, due to me being in Panama.

This morning I ate at La Luncheria for breakfast. Scrambled eggs, an hojoldre, pineapple juice, and coffee. Again, almost more than I could eat. Total cost: $4.35. Hojoldres (pronounced o-HOL-dress – the “h” is silent, and the “j” is pronounced as an “h” – confused yet?) are very similar to Native American fry bread, and are great with honey (which they didn’t have, but it was still good).

After breakfast, I got a massage at the hotel – it wasn’t really a deep-tissue massage, but it was very relaxing. Then it was on to visit the Panama Canal at the Miraflores locks.

But not so fast! I called for an Uber driver when I was in my room, then headed to the elevators to meet him. Just after I punched the elevator button, the power cut off for just a quick second, then the lights came back on – but not the elevators. So I’m on the fifth floor, my Uber driver will be here in two minutes, and I don’t really want to trot down five flights of stairs.

I called the front desk, and they said it would be about five minutes before power was restored to the elevators, and they let my driver know the situation. It was actually more like 10 minutes before the elevators powered up. I could see on the Uber app that my driver was still there, driving around the block several times. I finally got downstairs and thanked him for his patience. Next time, I’ll wait until I get to the lobby to call Uber!

Welcome to the Miraflores locks

There’s a nice visitor’s center at the Miraflores locks, and my new resident visa got me a sweet discount on admission. For non-residents, the cost is $15, but as a resident, I got in for $3. Just viewing the ships is free, but the ticket gives you admission to a movie about the canal, as well as several rooms with exhibits depicting its history.

The first ship we saw coming through the locks was a car carrier named the Valiant Ace. I think they said it could carry more than 4,000 cars. Notice in the first photo how high above the walls the ship is, and in the second photo, how far down it is.

Valiant Ace before lowering

…and after lowering.

The next chamber

The canal lowers the ships 27 feet in eight minutes. Somehow, I expected to see great gushing streams of water when they released water into the next lock, since it flows at the rate of 3 million gallons per minute. Nope – you could just see some gentle ripples from the 100 inlet holes in the bottom of each lock, and it’s all accomplished using gravity – no pumps at all. Pretty amazing engineering feat from 104 years ago!

Big ship passing through the new locks

The canal expanded to include a third, larger set of locks about two years ago. This set is 60% wider and 40% longer than the others, to accommodate larger ships. The ship in the photo just above is going through the new locks in the distance.

Another container ship from Hong Kong came through while I was there, and I shot a video of the gates opening. If you want to see all the photos and videos, go here.

Since I’m finished with my residency requirements and don’t deal with getting my driver’s license authentication until Monday, I have several days to do some sightseeing and relaxing with no set schedule.

Today I took my very first Uber ride and headed out to the new Biomuseo (biodiversity museum) a few miles down the coast in Panama City. I had never used Uber before, and was pleasantly surprised how easy, cost-effective, and efficient it was. I had heard that you could request an English-speaking Uber driver, but didn’t see anywhere on the app where I could select that, so I just went for it.

The first driver who took me from the hotel to the Biomuseo was an older man, and he didn’t speak English at all. But I got on my Google Translate app and could converse with him a bit. However, the ride was a little bumpy and I had a hard time typing the correct words unless we were at a stop light. I managed, though, and he was very nice.

The young man who was my Uber driver on the way back was just as nice, and he spoke a bit of English. One of the first questions he asked me was if I liked Trump. I told him I wasn’t interested in politics, and didn’t trust any of them. 🙂

Biomuseo building

The museum is very new, and I think half of the exhibits are still being installed, but the parts that were open are very impressive – modern, interactive, and artistic presentations. The focus of the museum is the geological and cultural history of Panama and the preservation of the plant and animal life it harbors.

All in all, a pleasant, low-stress day….

Introductory poster

Biodiversity display

Animals of the region, past and present

More animals

I’m not one who routinely takes photos of their meals, but I had to make an exception this time. About a block from my hotel is a little café called La Luncheria. I had their special lunch after getting back from Immigration yesterday – a choice of meat and three sides. I had chicken curry, black beans, potato salad, and white rice. It was delicious, and more than I could eat. The cost was $6 – a bargain!

Tasty lunch!

And a couple of doors down from the café was a bakery. I brought back a HUGE apple strudel with raisins and cinnamon for later. It was almost too big to fit in the take-away box, and it was $1.50.

Apple strudel for dessert

I’ll have several days to go sightseeing, before I get my driver’s license taken care of on Monday afternoon. Stay tuned……