The Visa Application Adventure Part 1

Is today really only December 10th? It is hard to believe considering our journey the last several days. On December 4th, we were able to get our needed documents for Panama and booked a flight to leave on December 7th in order to continue with our Panama adventure. And I tell you full heartedly that thus far, the trip to Panama has been an adventure!

Because you cannot get a direct flight from Phoenix to Panama City, Robert and I chose to fly from Mesa Gateway Airport to Las Vegas. Shortly after we got to the airport we received a notification that our flight would be an hour late. Within 30 minutes of the notification, we received another one informing us that our flight would be delayed an additional two hours. I joked around with Robert saying if they cancelled the flight, they better do it soon so we can still drive to Las Vegas to make our flight to Panama that leaves at 4:40am. 

I joked too soon and around 9:30pm we get the announcement stating that our 5:30pm flight had been cancelled. Robert and I had no other choice but to rent a car for the five hour drive to Las Vegas. We got to Las Vegas very tired, but happy we made it two hours before our plane was to take off.  Despite our exhaustion, Robert and I were able to laugh about our adventure.

The lights of Vegas never looked so good!

We arrived safely to where we are staying for this trip. We were rewarded with a spectacular sunset. 

We had dinner with some friends. It was great to catch up and also begin learning about cultural differences between the United States and Panama as a resident and not as a tourist. Monday was Mother's Day in Panama. One of the people we had dinner with is a Panamanian who described how holidays work here: you drink. This is what she did with her mother in order to celebrate Mother's Day. You also drink on Christmas Eve and all of the other holidays. It is interesting how one person described how holidays here are celebrated and will be interesting to see it for ourselves and through our  cultural perspective.

The next day Robert and I went to the bank in order to begin the process of opening a bank account; part of the requirement for our visas. As I have mentioned in other blog posts, Robert and I are learning Spanish but still have the speaking abilities of a two or three year old. This can make it very difficult to try to get things done, especially when trying to do things which require the speaking abilities more advanced than ours. We were able to start the process with some assistance from our English speaking banker. We should be able to have a bank account open within the week.

Robert and I went grocery shopping after for some small basic food items. We also got lunch at a grocery deli. This is Robert's pollo con arroz. I do not eat chicken but it looked and smelled delicious!

Today was quite the adventure for us again. We hired a driver to get us to the immigrant office in Panama City. I have fallen in love with Panama but the drivers here are almost all first generation drivers and can be scary to drive among. Pedestrians are equally as bad as they will often walk across the streets without paying a lot of attention to where you are driving. Think of it as the equivalent of driving through a university campus. Despite the driving madness and traffic, there were no accidents. 

Today we went to immigration at 8am and were in line with roughly 500 other people. after three hours and with the help of our lawyer's assistant, we were able to be out of the immigration office and meet with our lawyer.  We finished by 1pm and were able to grab a quick lunch before rush hour began in the city at 3pm.

No smoking in the ashtray

We began our journey back to where we are staying. Robert and I really like eating at Smashburger in Arizona. Look what we found in Panama City! I am not entirely sure it is worth a 2.5 hour drive (in traffic) but it was just a reminder of the American influence. There are other known American names we passed including Hooters, Subway, KFC, Nike, Kenneth Cole, and Adidas. 

Some of the buildings in Panama are amazing to see.

So far our trip as been a learning curve. I have so much respect for immigrants. I can understand why there are communities with immigrants from specific cultures like China Town or Little Havana. It is so hard to get things done with limited knowledge. You want to try to make a better/different life for yourself. It is a lot easier to get what you need when there is a community which, in general, will have some understanding of of your values and speak your language. I am lucky that Robert and I come with open minds to a new culture which in a lot of ways is very different than anything we have been around. I believe that this experience will only benefit us. After what seems to be a very long day, it is time to relax and enjoy the rest of our evening.