I’ve been watching Heels games via FaceTime and my parents’ tv. Here are a couple of screenshots from the end of the game. Yes, that’s Mom. 🙂
Category Archives: Month Three
Addie’s here!!!
Addie flew in from Atlanta last night, and she got to be the first one off the plane!
My parents, and my Dad in particular, have been working tirelessly to get together all the paperwork necessary to get our sweet girl down here to us. Beth, our friend and vet who I’ve referenced several times in the blog, was also key in helping us to understand the process. One of the more stressful parts was that everything had to happen within 10 days of her flying down, so there was little room for error.
Addie’s vet records had to be sent from two different vet offices in Raleigh to a vet in Asheville. My dad then took her to the Asheville vet so that vet could fill out this official USDA form saying she was healthy enough to fly. That form was overnighted to NY to the USDA headquarters or whatever for their approval. It was overnighted back to my dad. Dad and I then wrote up an affidavit for him to sign and have notarized. He then drove to Raleigh after spending some time on the phone with the Secretary of State’s office to be sure of exactly what paper’s needed to be notarized and what needed to be apostilled (I had never heard of it either – basically internationally accepted notarizing). His new BFF at that office had the health form apostilled quickly, so he drove back to Asheville that same day.
After all of that, he still had to get the right size crate that was flight approved, buy flight approved hardware for it, make sure the appropriate bedding was in it, tape all of her stuff to the top of it, write all of our info on it with a Sharpie, then, b/c he loves her and us, he drove all the way to Atlanta so she could have a direct flight!!! He had to get her there about 5 hours early just because that’s what Delta insists upon, and the poor dog wasn’t allowed to get out of her crate during that whole time even though Dad offered to stay and walk her before she boarded the plane. This is her in the Delta cargo area. She looks happy enough! They let her keep her favorite raccoon toy with her (they put it in the crate after the photo)!
In the crate in Delta Cargo at the Atlanta airport
Phew! So on our end, we had to turn in a form at least three days prior to her arrival asking for home quarantine. We also had to figure out how we were going to manage to get to the right part of the airport between 9:10 pm (her arrival time) and 11 pm (closing time) so we could bring her home last night. The best way I know how to do anything that involves the government or any kind of red tape is to call our friend Jorge. He knows everyone, he’s charming, and he knows how to get things done.
Of course Jorge just happened to know a woman who I understood to be someone who worked in the customs department at the airport. I imagined a younger woman who just happened to be the one at the counter where we would need to go. Jorge also has a neighbor with a big van that Addie’s crate would fit into. Great. Ready to go.
When we got there, Jorge told me that this contact of his actually works with Presidents and diplomats that visit Panama. She’s kind of a big deal. She’s around 60 or so and was pretty intimidating. While Eric waited with Jorge and his friend, she ushered me past security and to a window where I (nervously) exchanged my passport for some kind of security clearance. All the while, she was yelling at people to get things done and read the emails she just sent them and generally being completely in charge of everything. I was just doing my best to understand her accent.
She eventually took me to a room that smelled a little like dogs and a little like plants that said something about the department of quarantine….something…where I was asked to sit on an old leather couch. Occasionally people came in and out to watch parts of the baseball game that was on. I spent most of the time responding to WhatsApp messages from Eric who seemed to be freaking out wondering where his dog was, but was actually just really really bored and/or jealous because he wasn’t playing super fancy airport person with me. The long and short of it is that after about 40 minutes, I found out that Addie’s plane had come in early, but didn’t have a gate, so they had had to wait. But the second they got to a gate, she was rushed straight to me, thanks to Jorge’s friend. I still don’t know her name. We were treated as total VIPs. It was amazing.
Seeing Addie for the first time was so exciting, although I didn’t get to enjoy it for long because I was on Important Lady’s time and we were always in a hurry. We took Addie out to the boys then went back upstairs to retrieve my passport. Jorge then informed me that I was supposed to give this woman a big tip – I was thinking like a Southerner and wondering what kind of thank you note and gift were appropriate! – so I “slyly” handed her a good sum of money and thanked her profusely. Had we not had her and Jorge, I have no idea how we would’ve managed to get Addie out of there.
Eric quickly got Addie to some grass, then allowed me to take a few pictures to show my parents that Addie had arrived safely.
Then we headed HOME! She took about 30 minutes to check out the apartment, to figure out all the many doors to the balcony and how that worked, and to catch up on her water consumption.
This morning I took her for a walk around 8:30 our time, and it was already pretty hot. She was panting pretty hard when we got back. I think we might need to get her hair cut so she can withstand the weather here! At least there is plenty of cool floor for her to lay on.
And anyone who knows her will not be too surprised to hear that she immediately took to placing pieces of food all over the apartment. She even has some carefully “hidden” in the carpet. Perfect.
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Accidental Double Date Weekend
On Sunday Eric decided he wanted to go for a drive. Not really something we ever did in Raleigh, but we’ve been so happy to have our little Yaris after 8 weeks or so of walking and metroing and taxi-ing that it’s been nice to get out a little further. He let me choose the destination, so I picked Ancon Hill (Cerro Ancon), which is the hill with the Panamanian flag on it that we can see from our living room window when we look towards the Canal.
The view of Ancon Hill from our window (on the left) – you can kinda see the flag at the top to the left of the radio/cell towers.
The hill is 654 feet tall and overlooks the city. It was under US jurisdiction until 1997 as part of the Canal Zone. They say it’s not uncommon to see sloths, white-nosed coati (photo below), armadillos, tamarins (squirrel-sized monkey things), and deer on the hill. I wanted to see a sloth. We didn’t see anything. They say orchids also grow on the hill, but it must not be the right season for that.
Anyway, my plan had been to drive as far as we were allowed up the hill because the path up is actually just a road. However, we were stopped by a guard and told that it was too late in the day to drive up because it was dangerous for the folks who had walked to have cars flying around corners at twilight. Understandable. He told us it was a 15 minute walk to the top, which I doubted when I looked up at how far we had to go. I wasn’t dressed for a hike – I was wearing a skirt, but hey, this was one of the dates I had planned in the book of dates that I made for Eric for Christmas, so why not, right?
Huecos de muerte (holes of death) even exist on top of the mountain! Dangerous when descending at night in the dark.
People with bubble butts crossing?
Posted on a closed gate…with part of the gate on the side torn open and clearly intended for hikers to pass through.
After maybe 20 minutes at a brisk pace, we made it to the top – sorta – where we then proceeded to climb a ton of stairs to reach the real top…and from there there was a big hill up to see the Panamanian flag and another view. Lots of levels. Anyway, we had perfect timing. We arrived just as the sun was setting.
Looking down on Casco Viejo (the old city) and the Cinta Costera (Coastal Beltway)
Not a bad place for a picnic.
Looking out on the Canal
My first view of the Miraflores Locks!
Look! It’s the flag!
We asked two police officers to take our picture with Casco Viejo in the background and didn’t realize until later that in the two photos we held opposite poses. It made me giggle.
As we descended after taking all of the necessary photos, we heard an animal scurrying around through the trees. The 8 year old little boy who was walking near us told me that it was probably a coati (or gato solo or…this thing has a million different names). They look like this:
Pretty big for a rodent, huh?
I wish we had seen it, but nope. No luck. We got to the bottom happy with our little outing, our unexpected little adventure. Eric then made a great dinner using a new vegetable (to us) called a ñame.
You say potato, I say ñame.
It really is like a softer, mushier potato, kinda. Maybe less starchy? I’m not sure. But when you peel it, there’s a kinda peachy-colored…um…skin maybe(?) underneath that is really pretty slimy. You don’t have to take that part off I don’t think, but I did. Then you get this really white color underneath that. But if you let it sit for much time, it’ll turn peachy-brown, kinda like how apples turn brown if you let them sit after you peel or cut them. Very interesting. Eric boiled the pieces in chicken stock. It was pretty good! We ate it with hamburgers. Yum.
The next day, so yesterday…last night I guess, we tried chayote for the first time. It looks like a wrinkled green pepper on the outside:
But on the inside it’s solid, more like an avocado without a seed, but full of water. Not juicy though. Hard to explain. Anyway, I cooked one of these with an onion and some fresh oregano that our Spanish teacher, Marianela, brought us yesterday, plus a little salt and pepper. It really doesn’t have much taste on its own, but it picks up the taste of the foods around it. Here’s what it looked like:
Chayote, onions, oregano
Chayote, onions, and steak
I’ve seen recipes for stuffed chayote, kinda like a stuffed pepper, with cheese, and also they often cut it into little cubes and mix it with hamburger meat and onions. I can see that being pretty good. My nutritionist (a series of visits mandated by my GI doc) has given me all kinds of do’s and don’ts, so we’re experimenting with new foods while trying to accommodate my new diet. It’s interesting. We’re learning a lot.
And while I’m on the topic of food, remember that typical Panamanian place where we kept going when Katie was here that was near our old apartment? The one where the owner, Neli, was trying to set up the young Canadian guy with her daughter? Well I finally took a picture of our dinner from there. We still walk up there from time to time because it’s so good.
Oh! So the managers of our building have hired people to paint the edges of our balconies, so we’ve had ropes hanging down the sides of the building for about two weeks now. Since the place is all glass, you never know when you might have a guy hanging outside your window looking in and painting. It’s pretty strange. Plus, I can’t imagine doing that job! I get dizzy just standing on our balcony sometimes. Check this out:
No way would I do that. I don’t think those ropes look very thick or strong, and it looks like he’s sitting on a scrap piece of plywood. No thanks.
Today we had a new maid start working. Her name is Miriam and she’s from Perú, but she worked in Italy for a while, so she speaks fluent Italian too. She’s really nice and much less intimidating than Marta. We’ll see how it goes. I’m listening to my relaxing yoga type music and trying to be at ease with someone being in my house. I need to be calm enough to get enough food and water in me to go to my second capoeira practice tonight. And THEN…
WE’RE PICKING ADDIE UP FROM THE AIRPORT TONIGHT! Please say a prayer for safe travel for her! She should get in at 9:10 pm. Our friend Jorge, the cab driver we met here last year, is taking us. He has a friend at the airport who is going to help us with getting the paperwork done, so hopefully we can get her home safely tonight. I’ll keep you updated.
