The driver, Gian, who took me from the airport to the hotel couldn’t drive me today, so he sent his brother Humberto, who was on vacation this week. Both of them are very nice. Humberto was at the hotel right on time, and we took off to start the official process at Immigration.

Marianna (the lawyer’s daughter) and her assistant Sharon met me there and led me step-by-step. They are dealing with several of us at once, so Marianna put me with Sharon. At one point I told her that I needed all the hand-holding I could get, because I was a baby. She replied, “No, no, don’t think of it like that. You are a fancy person, and you have people who do things for you.” So cute, with her adorable Panamanian accent! Well, I’ve definitely never been a “fancy person” and have never had “people” except for good friends, but it sure was nice to have them to keep me calm and get through the process quickly!

While I was waiting for Marianna, I felt a tap on my shoulder and someone said, “Hey, there, lady!” It was Carol from our tour group, along with her husband Larry. They moved from Kansas City to Panama at the end of June, and were at Immigration to get their permanent resident ID. They live about an hour and a half outside Panama City, so they’re some distance from me in Boquete. But, hey – maybe a weekend visit to their beach resort will be in order some day?

After finishing at Immigration, I had to bring my passport back to the lawyer’s office so she could make a copy of the new stamp they added. Then Humberto drove me to Multiplaza Mall, where I got a new SIM card for my phone and bought some snacks at the Riba Smith supermarket. People online rave about Riba Smith, and I can see why. It’s pretty upscale, and large. Of course, there are no real bargains there, but it was lovely.

Step by step, checking items off the list….

On Monday, I walked to the lawyer’s office to fill out paperwork and start the visa process.Her office is only three blocks from my hotel. That was fine – but then she sent me to get photos taken for various official documents (inside Arrocha, a pharmacy that’s like Walgreen’s or CVS). Go straight for two blocks, turn left, go one block, stop at the Subway restaurant and look up to see the Hyatt hotel. The place where you get your pictures taken is across the street.

However, the street became a “Y” intersection after one block. Do I go left or right? I can’t go straight for two blocks. So I picked one and walked for awhile. Did I mention it was about 11 a.m. and the temp was 85° and 1000% humidity?

So I walked some more and asked someone for directions to Arrocha. Got closer, asked someone else. Found it! I had walked past the street I should have turned on, and went several blocks out of my way.

Hot – and not in a good way! 🙂

By then I was so hot, my face was beet red, and my hair looked like I had just stepped out of the shower. I sat in a chair near the pharmacy counter and fanned myself furiously in an attempt to dry my hair and cool off (fortunately, it was nicely air conditioned in the store). After about 15 minutes, I felt like I wouldn’t frighten people with my appearance, and stood in line for the photos. It still didn’t look good, but it was better than it would have been 15 minutes earlier!

And then I had to make my way back to the hotel. I was completely turned around, and would have taken off in a totally wrong direction if it hadn’t been for a nice lady who gave me instructions in English and let me walk with her to the building down the street, where she worked. I asked one more person for directions after I left her, and that finally got me close enough to the hotel that I recognized some landmarks.

Day one… check!

On a side note – there was a 4.9 magnitude earthquake about 85 miles northeast of Panama City on Monday afternoon. I happened to be sitting quietly in my room, and felt the building shake pretty sharply. Some things aren’t much different from Oklahoma! 🙂

The trip to Panama City went off without a hitch. The day and night before getting on the plane was chaos, though! After the lunch at work, I started packing boxes of stuff (mostly my clay and clay tools) and packing the things I’m bringing with me on this trip (my desktop computer, laptop, clothes, pasta machine and motor, among other things). I didn’t even go to bed the night before my early (5:15 a.m.) flight on Saturday.

I couldn’t have done it without the yeoman service of my friends, especially Linette. She has helped me on numerous days to get organized and help sort out the mountain of things around my house. David came over after he got off work Friday evening and helped a bit. He was to take me to the airport around 3 a.m., so I let him crash on the couch while I packed and woke him up when it was about time to leave.

View of Panama City from the plane

The flights were on time, and my driver was there to pick me up at the airport and take me to my hotel, as planned. The hotel is nice, and my room is comfortable. The hotel is only three blocks from the attorney’s office, so it will be easy to walk there in the morning.

The view from my hotel room

When I was here in February, I took a picture of some interesting architecture. Well, the same building is squarely in view from my hotel room window! Pretty awesome – each floor is rotated 6° counter-clockwise from the one below it. I’ve heard there are problems with the building, and only 40% of it is useable because the elevator shafts are out of whack. But it’s interesting, anyway!

Great lunch at Suvlas Greek restaurant

I was so wiped out after being up about 36 hours that I ate dinner at the Burger King across the street (the Whopper tasted just the same as in the US) and went to bed at 7 p.m. last night. I felt better today and walked around a bit. I found a really good Greek restaurant nearby and had a tasty Greek yeero (that’s how they spell gyro here, which makes sense, since that’s how it’s pronounced). Delicious!

So now it’s time to get some sleep and start the visa process at the lawyer’s office in the morning. It’s really happening…… 🙂

On Friday, the other group of people I spend much of my time with bid me farewell. I have worked at J&B Graphics as a technical artist for four years. I like all the people who work there, and will miss them. It’s a small company, but they do some huge projects around Oklahoma City and around the country.

Lunchtime!

The owners, Jackie and Bob, hosted a cookout/potluck lunch for everyone in my honor. They provided burgers and brats, as well as margaritas and beer, for the event. That was very nice of them (and everyone else who brought yummy food – Autumn’s lemonade cake was to die for!), and a good time was had by all.

The whole crew

With Christi – I’m attempting to point to Panama on the map. 🙂

With Jackie & Bob