I joined an online Expat group called InterNations before we left, and they have a pretty healthy chapter here in Panama. We had planned to go to an event at Trump Tower on Friday night – over 130 people had RSVPed! – but Eric wasn’t feeling well, so we bailed. We’ll make it over there at some point, and there will be other InterNations events. I wondered, when we were thinking about going, what language do you use when you start conversations? The website is all in English, but people post in Spanish sometimes, and everyone posts the languages they speak on their profile. I guess you start in English and just see how it goes? Or maybe you start in Spanish b/c you’re in Panama? I’m not sure. Sounds awkward. I don’t do awkward well, although I’m doing a lot of it here.
I guess I managed to not write about my trip to the bank on Friday. As an aside, I’m constantly afraid that I’m going to write about something twice, so please forgive me if I do. I do actually sometimes go back and read what I write to make sure I don’t do that, but you never know. Okay, aside over. So I was super nervous about this trip to the bank. Everyone had been saying that all these banks hate dealing with Americans b/c the US has made it such a pain for Panamanian banks to work with us b/c of whatever paperwork they have to do and blah, blah, blah. But we really need to get a bank account. So there’s some pressure on me. And Eric’s frustrated, and rightly so, that I’ve put off going for a little while. Oh, and PS, I have to manage all of this in Spanish. And everyone has told me that Panamanians don’t care at all about customer service, so they’re usually not super nice about stuff like this. Great. I’m super excited about that cause I NEVER take it personally when people are mean or even lukewarm to me.
Well, as it turns out, the worst part was finding the stupid bank! It was in the Albrook Mall, which is just a few stops down on Metro. Unfortunately, once you get off Metro, you have to navigate the biggest mall in the whole world. Pretty sure that’s accurate. After about 25 minutes of wandering and getting more and more nervous and sweaty-palmed, I called Eric, told him I was at the Delfín (dolphin) and that I couldn’t find the hipopotamo (really? you can figure that one out). Did I explain earlier that the whole navigational system in this mall is based on sectors that are named based on the giant animal statute in the middle of that sector? So the poor bank, this professional institution, has to say on its website that it is in the mall near the hippopotamus entrance. Ridiculous. So Eric guides me past the dolphin, the pinguino, the carousel in the food court, the rinosaurante or whatever, and finally, I see the hipopotamo…and the bank.
And this is where you find out that the story is pretty anticlimactic b/c the guy at the bank was completely nice. Of course they allow Americans to open bank accounts! My Spanish was pretty killer, if not completely grammatically correct, and we managed to talk through all of the requirements for us to get a bank account. I was out of there in 10 minutes.
Iglesia – Parte 2
We went back to the same tiny presbyterian church yesterday. Eric was frustrated with me for being a little late. We showed up at the apartment at 3:06 or so instead of 3:00 when it was supposed to start. The Lees, our new missionary friends, were already waiting in the lobby. The first Panamanians, however, including one of the lay pastors, didn’t show up until 3:47. The last of them to show up – the pastor who preached last week – got there at 4:12. Eric was keeping careful watch over this…I suppose in preparation for next week. The good news, I suppose, was that we had more than 6 of us there this week. I think there was a total of 12, including the 18 month old who ran around, screamed, wiggled, laughed, cried, and whined through the whole thing. Here are a few photos.
Michael Lee preached this week. It was good to hear that even after all of his time in Costa Rica and Mexico, his Spanish wasn’t perfect. Or maybe that was disheartening…I’m not sure. Either way, I could certainly understand his sermon a lot better than last week’s because it was a lot slower.
After the sermon, I had a good little chat with a few of the women that I hadn’t met before. One was a lawyer, and she explained a bit about how law school and practicing law worked in Panama. The other women asked why Eric and I moved here and were glad to hear that our main reason for being here was for me to learn Spanish. They were very encouraging, and I found their accents easier to understand than some. Maybe they were just speaking slowly for me. Either way, Eric noticed that things were going well and encouraged me when we left.
We’re supposed to have Bible study at another apartment nearby on Wednesday night. The Panamanian pastor, Pablo, specifically said it would be from 7 to 8 pm. I have no idea how to interpret that time. It’s at an American’s apartment though, so I guess I’ll be there at 7 and we’ll see how it goes. I’ll make sure to eat dinner beforehand though!
Dinner last night was at a Chinese place. It’s always a little funny to eat one kind of non-US restaurant in a different country that’s not the US. Is ethnic an okay word to use for food? Or is that bad? I specifically phrased that sentence so I didn’t use the word “ethnic” for food b/c I wasn’t sure. That’s why it was such an awkward sentence. Anyway, we ordered Chinese food in Spanish and actually did pretty well for ourselves. Always good to discover a good Chinese restaurant in a new place. Now if only we can find the cheap place near home that delivers…
Oh, so apparently I didn’t do a good job of following up about the bugs, and one friend said she was desperate to hear the end of that story. We thought that the last I told you was the end of the story, but Diana, thanks a lot, I think you jinxed us. We keep finding wings all over the bedroom floor, but no wormy bug things. This worries me. Today one wormy bug flew in through the window, so we took the half-busted vacuum cleaner to the window sill and tried to suck some of them out of the track where the window slides back and forth. Eric almost let the whole vacuum slip out the window and down nine stories when a lizard popped up on the side of the wall and scared the crap out of him.
In short, the bug saga continues. I’m ready to move to our new place. Not that we have one yet, but the one I’m imagining doesn’t have flying worms. Shocker.
Now, you didn’t ask for this, and it has nothing to do with Panama, but my niece Laine turns 5 on February 1 and had a ninja bday party this weekend. It was apparently the most amazing thing ever, and I’m going to forever regret missing it. It took place at a karate school of some kind called White Tiger, or something equally awesome. There was a ninja demonstration, a lesson of some sort, some kicking and punching, a zipline, and Laine got to cut her cake with a sword. For a girl who is completely obsessed with the TMNTs (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for those of you who aren’t children of the 80’s), it must’ve been heaven. Indulge me by pretending to care about the following photos.
