ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER MISSION COMPLETE (DRIVERS LICENSES!)

Running an errand in Panama that consists of visiting government buildings is draining, but thankfully, Ray and I were in good company with Luis today.  Luis is a Panamanian that started his own business in 2012.  At one time he was a bellhop for the Sheraton hotel in the city, then he drove a yellow taxi, and then a client that used him exclusively for driving him around the city helped him start his business.  He basically will do any tasks you might need such as shuttle service to and from the airport, tour guide here in the city or as far west as Boquete, shipping packages, and even sending dogs and cats to the US (he was to do this after he dropped us off today).  But today, he was our Spanish speaking liaison to help us get our drivers license.

Ray and I, so far, have been very successful with the referrals we have been given by other expats here in Panama.  Our attorney, insurance broker and now Luis are all very personable, knowledgeable and TIMELY.  The latter is mostly unheard of in Panama.  It is mañana (tomorrow), or if the party starts at two pm, Panamanians show up sometime that afternoon.  Luis called us this morning at six forty-five waiting for us in the lobby.  We were to meet him downstairs at seven am.  We jumped into his van ready for the day to start with high hopes and energy as well.  He told us he thought the day would be done at around two pm (we were thinking five).  We shared with him our stories from the past two days, and he was surprised at how long we spent at the Immigrations building.  He stated that for part two, it is usually just going to have picture taken at the office.  We told him that our file was in the basement, and if we had waited until Tuesday, Heidi would have spent the two and a half hours at the office on Monday without us but she needed our passports, and then it would have just been a matter of us getting our picture taken Tuesday.  He then understood why we were held up for so long at the office, and it was interesting that he brought this up, because I could tell he didn't want to step on any toes or say something negative about someone else.

Our first stop was at the US Embassy.  Luis parked the van at the bottom of a hill, we had copies made of our passports and drivers licenses ($1.25 for four pages), and then we walked up the hill to the building.  We had to leave our cell phones in the car (or they will take them from you and put them in a cubby).  My purse was scanned, and it came back suspicious.  Did I have a cell phone, earphones, anything electronic...?  No.  Let's look through the purse, and there we saw my Bose earpieces, so those came out and went into the cubby.  My purse was scanned again.  See this on the tv screen? Something is registering electronic.  Back into the purse we went, and when we unzipped the pocket, what do you know?  My remote control for my hearing aids was in there.  hahahaha  Who would have thought?  They confiscated Ray's keys and the remote and gave us a number to hold onto that matched the cubby.  Once up the hill, we bypassed a line of Panamanians outside waiting to do some other task, and walked to the window to pay to have our two drivers licenses from VA authenticated.   We needed an appointment for this (which we made online a month or so ago), and our appointment was at eight am.  We paid fifty dollars each for this and filled out a form with our name, passport number and also drivers license number on it.  We waited to be called to window thirteen at eight thirty where we pledged that all was correct on the form, and Lauren signed the papers.  She was going to give us a map of how to get to the next stop, but we told her we had Luis.  Better than a map!  We got our things out of the cubby and at eight forty five Luis drove us to the Immigrations building (oh no!). But we stayed in the car parked illegally while he ran into the building and had those forms stamped.  The forms were stamped two dollars, but we charged two dollars and forty cents.  Go figure.

Next building we stopped at was one that held the Department of Authentication office.  We arrived at nine am.  We were Number twenty one, and the sign showed fourteen.  At nine twenty, our number was called, and we left the forms for three hours to be authenticated (they were marked 9:15).  They needed to authenticate Lauren's signature from the Embassy.  But what was amazing or unusual in this office was that a nice woman came out to check the line, and she brought someone else out to work at another window (to move things along).  In the same building, but downstairs, Luis waited in the bank line (we offered to step into the Jubilado line, aka retiree line, since it was so short, but he said we were too young and laughed).  Here he had to pay the four dollars for what we had just dropped off upstairs.  Following so far?  When we left the parking lot, we paid one dollar and twenty eight cents for parking.

Now we get to go get our blood type done at a clinic down the road.  We arrived at nine forty, paid ten dollars each, and waited for our names to be called.  We were told to go to the "segundo puerta en derecho", and I actually knew she told me to go to the second door on the right.  The phlebotomist was very nice, did not wear gloves, took our blood, and we waited twenty minutes to find out that I am O+ and Ray is A+ (neither one of us knew our blood type).  While sitting there though, Luis showed us a great feature on our Iphone (enabling turning it off differently), and we chatted a little more about the day going so well so far.

Luis had luggage and boxes to ship to Boquete, and since we were driving right by the office that he needed to take these parcels to, he asked if he could run in and take care of it.  Of course.  We would not have known if this stop was a part of our day, so he probably did not even need to ask.  He could have made something up.  Ray used What'sApp to text our daughter to tell her our whereabouts, and now since we had two hours to wait for the signature to be authenticated, Luis drove us up Cerro Ancon.  This is one place I have not been to in the city.  It is a six hundred fifty four foot hill overlooking the city.  It was named after the first ship that went through the canal.  Our friends, Clyde and Terry, tried to take us up there on our last visit, but it was closed.  Today, we made it to the top and walked the perimeter.  Luis showed us where the pretty black frogs with bright green spots like to play, and we took pictures.  By eleven fifteen we were on our way back to the Authentication office.  We arrived at close to twelve, and we were told we were too early.  Three hours would be twelve fifteen, afterall.  Then, Luis walked up to the desk again.  This time he was told that "my boss has to sign the papers, and she is not back from lunch yet."  Okay, at least he was honest.  And he is not allowed "back there to look for the file".  Luis says that at twelve thirty he will ask for the supervisor.  Then the POWER GOES OUT.  Great.  But alas, the man now seeing the people waiting, and the lights being off, decides to go to the back, and he finds the file!  Parking this time:  one dollar seventy three cents  Luis tells us that the three hours part now used to be three days of waiting and then two days and then one day....now it is just three hours.

Off to the Sertracen building to get our drivers licenses whoop whoop!  Luis needs to finding parking so he instructs us to jump out of van and get on the Jubilado line here (now we can take a shortcut).  Ray and I walk up to the window clueless, but we manage to hand our passports over.  Luis shows up, and here the woman behind the counter looks over every paper and verifies every number that we have written down.  She makes copies for twenty cents.  We go inside the building to get a number.  But first another woman verifies all the papers and numbers we wrote down hours ago at the Embassy.  We are given number sixty two, and the sign shows forty four.  I ask Luis why we cannot be on the Jubilado line.  So we go back outside to the first window, and there she gives us another number.  Once again inside, we can now go right up to the woman at the computer (who looks very young, since she has braces, and we find out she is nineteen).  The brakes are put on, because our Pensionado Visa cards do not have an expiration date anywhere.  Three women look at my card, they look at what to check off on the computer, and then they believe us finally when we tell them again that this Visa does not ever expire.  They take Ray to another computer, and we (or Luis translates) are asked weight, height, address, phone number, allergies to meds, donor for organs (Ray was not asked this, so his license says no), and then our picture is taken.  Why bother putting on makeup or doing hair if it is not for another seven hours later to get that picture taken!  Off I go to wait for my eye test.  At this window, you look into a screen and you are asked (I understood a little bit) what numbers are on line b, what directional sign is in column c, what are the numbers in the colored boxes (I could spat out the numbers in Spanish woo hoo) and a fourth thing.  I made sure I gave Luis the numbers in English so when I spoke them in Spanish, he could make sure I said them correctly.  Finally, the hearing test.  I had my hearing aids turned up.  We were told to sit at the computer, put our passport number into the box, and put on the headphones.  Mine were falling off my head, so I tried to use one hand to hug them tightly to my ears.  There is a lot of background noise in the office (on purpose?).  With  the other hand, I had to use the mouse and click on the right box or the left box depending on what ear I heard the sound in.  I never heard sound four.  Or really sound ten.  I missed two out of ten.  Ray did tell me later that most of the sounds were deep, but there were some that were high pitched.  But we PASSED!  Now for the final window.  We paid forty dollars each and sat.  Then at two pm, our names were called, and we now hold Panamanian drivers licenses for the next four years!

Once Luis dropped us off at the hotel (we had lunch in mind, but since we spent time at Ancon, we decided to just keep moving along for the drivers license), Ray and I went to The Upper Crust to regain some energy.  While in the mall, we went to Panafoto and bought a computer printer, scanner, copier machine.  There we could read the labels, and we found an employee right away to get the printer we had selected.  In Panama, once you find a product, you do not take it off the shelves and go to the counter to buy it.  Things are done differently (you think?) here.  After choosing the printer, we went to the cashier to pay.  Then we went to the next counter to receive our item.  And finally the box was opened, we were shown the ink cartridges and instruction manual, the product was taken out of the box completely, it was unwrapped and untaped so we could look at the inside of the copier, and then it was all sealed up again.

It really is true that in Panama you might have two or three things you want to do that day, but you should always plan on accomplishing one.  And be happy with that one thing that was done.  And as I watched Luis' approach to each task today, I thought about Ray and I running in errands in the States.   Even though he and I had plenty of time to get things done, we certainly did not have time constraints (if it got done, great but if not, we could try it again another day), but it always seemed like we were in a hurry.   The only time I saw Luis pull a fast one to be the first on line was when many of us got on the elevator to go back into the Authentication office.  He stayed back, let everyone on the elevator, and this way he was the first to get off and the first to pull a number.  He did not look rushed, he just knew we would then be five more places behind sitting and waiting if he did not get out first.  Little did he know we would still be waiting for that green file!  So I guess this is why it is good we have nothing else going on right now!  This week taught us a little more about patience, too.  I have a lot more practicing to do!  What has been wonderful is that Ray and I had a plan for the week, and all pretty much worked according to plan.  And he wants to go get movie theater popcorn again for a snack tonight to celebrate our accomplishments this first week in Panama!

Dept of Authentication and Legalization 

Bank on first floor with Dept of A and L upstairs

Medical and dental clinic along with acupuncture

One stop shop for a doc (Chinese office)

Top of Ancon Hill (Cerro Ancon)

Port and to the right we could see the Miraflores Lockes (Panama Canal)

Luis catches a pretty frog

After I play, Ray holds him.

New Cinta Costera bridge behind Casco Viejo (old Panama)

Here we are!

Panama City

Wildlife