First of all THANK YOU to all of you who been responding and calling and keeping us posted on what’s happening back home and with you. We LOVE hearing from all of you!!!!! You guys are great.
WOW. So much has happened over the last week or so.
Opened a bank account. Heard nightmares about the process and that it took a minimum of 10 days before the acct gets opened. I also heard if you beat them at their own game and bury them in documents they will pretty much do whatever you want them to. They LOVE, LOVE paperwork and getting out that little stamp and stamping everything. Goldie, you are right, they actually have to step back and take a breath in between all the stamping. We went into the bank on Wed. They took copies of every page of our passport and our drivers license (Still a US license….we haven’t attempted to get a Panamanian one yet). That took about ½ hour. Returned the next day and 2 hours and 15 minutes later, we had an account. We brought with us the required documents: Passport, driver license, letters of recommendation from 2 people in Panama (we had 3 people willing to do this for us. Go figure!) and a utility bill. The bill could be for anything and in anyone’s name. Seriously! So we got the electric bill from the lady we are renting from. Then we also supplied them with things they didn’t ask for and their eyes rolled back in their head and they shouted with glee. Police records, letters from our banks back home and birth certificates. YIKES, I hope we don’t give them any bright ideas and now they will add those to the requirements.
Some funny stuff about Panama
1. “No necessary, no necessary!” Just go ahead and try to put a seat belt on in the back seat of the car. It’s not the law so if you are in a car with a Panamanian they will literally put their hand over the buckle and say ‘NO necessary’. I mean really for them to obey a REAL law like having to use seat belts in the front seat is like asking them to give birth to a goat. So when someone takes it upon themselves to do something that is not the law…well that’s just f*cking stupid.
2. You can catch a buzz at the grocery store…FOR FREE. Since they sell booze at the grocery store, they have a cute little chica at the end of the isle giving out sample shots of various ‘deals of the day’. We happened to hit on VODKA day. Hello, is this paradise or what! She had 8 different flavors and you could literally stand there and have each and every one. They were REAL SIZE shots too, actually closer to a shot and a half! I had my 2 and while I shopped Wayne held down the vodka fort with some other gringo and went through a good portion of the flavors.
3. The locks of the Panama Canal are fresh water, not salt. Go figure. So the locks are filled with fresh water when a boat comes in in order to lift it up to the next lock. The entire transit through the locks requires over 50,000,000 gallons of water. Once the boat is on it’s way, the lock dumps it’s fresh water into the ocean. It gets its fresh water from surrounding lakes. There can be 40+ boats going through the canal per day!!! That’s a lot of friggin water. Ok, so I asked a dumb question….won’t the lakes run out water at that rate. Since Panama gets 200+ inches of rain per year, not likely!
4. A security guard will stop you at the bank entrance and make you take off your sunglasses and hat if you are wearing one. In most cases he also does a metal detection. At some banks you can’t wear shorts.
5. Panama is the only country in the world, due to it’s ‘S’ shaped configuration of it’s land, where the sun rises in the West and sets in the East.
We spent the weekend away with some great people Friday night that we met on line before leaving the US. Mary and Goldie. We were in Altos del Maria which is up a mountain from the first place we stayed when we arrived. It was AMAZING. The company was too much fun as my head wasn’t right for a good 24 hours after!! Or maybe that was the wine!!! Great conversation, great food, wine and a view to die for. OH MY GOD, the view was incredible and as luck would have it, we got an amazing storm that came thru. We were in the clouds so we were in the storm. It was very cool. Next morning we could see for miles and miles and miles. On a really clear day you can see both oceans from where we were. (is that right Mary and Goldie or did I just make that up?? I know we can see one because I saw it.)
Saturday we went into the THE CITY or HELL as I like to call it. Thankfully this time wasn’t so bad. We didn’t get lost going in, thank you Mary and Goldie. We did some boat shopping. Then headed to a different part of the canal than we’d been before. Because we had The Woo with us we didn’t do the museum but did see a HUGE ship come through the Miraflores Lock. Amazing. We will go back without the dog in the car.
Sunday we enjoyed an AWESOME breakfast with our friend Barbara that we met in Coronada when we first arrived. We had hoped for a Sat. night pool party but it got rained out. Tis the rainy season!!!!
So much more has happened. Bought a boat….or are in the process. Once it’s a done deal I’ll post more. It’s a wee one but will do for now.
Firmed up a deal to rent a house RIGHT ON THE BEACH starting Sept. 1 for 6 months. If anyone wants to visit, this will be the time!!!!!! Will post more info. As we get closer and can get some pictures taken.
Happy SUMMER everyone!!!!!!!!!!!
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