What is really going on? A lot. Robert and I have a date to move to Panama. We will be taking an overnight flight starting Tuesday, February, 3 and will be landing in Panama Wednesday morning. We will be driving to Las Vegas as there are no direct flights from Phoenix to Panama City and we did not want to have to fly with the dogs twice. This is when our adventure living full time in another country officially takes off. We will be flying with our small dog in the cabin and our large dog in cargo.
Our small dog does not like crates and hates pills. Last time we flew up to Oregon from Phoenix (a 2.5 hour flight) he tore a side of the meshing in his crate, and this was with him being sedated. This time we asked from stronger tranquilizers from the veterinarian and put him in his new carrier for about 2 hours. No holes yet though it was not because of lack of trying. He will also be in this for a significantly longer time as the flight alone is 6.5 hours.
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| He is not amused. |
Aside from the events with the dogs, we have been busy selling more of our stuff. Robert sold his vehicle and now mine is up for sale. For the most part, this is all we had left after another garage sale this weekend. People ask if it is hard to let go of our possessions. Yes and no. The stuff you see below can be replaced, including the cars. I will say I do feel somewhat vulnerable (if that is even the correct adjective) knowing that mine and Robert's lives have literally been condensed down to about 15 moving boxes and some beds. I suppose the feeling is similar to the feeling that you get when you move and you realize your whole life fits inside of a moving truck. This feeling is also liberating.
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| All of the items we did not sell. |
The hard part about this trip is all of the goodbyes I have to say in person. I have been fortunate enough to become close with a small handful of wonderful people in Arizona. As I write this, I think of a friend whom I have been going on regular walks with at a park. She and I have talked about pretty much anything and everything. The other day as we were walking, we stumbled upon this:
Could this have been discovered by me at any more perfect time?
I also got the cell phone I will be using in Panama. The current one I had is evidently unable to recognize cell phone towers outside of the U.S. and would apparently not be able to put in a SIM card to use it; I got a new one. No phone number yet. Once I get into Panama I will need to pick a cell phone carrier and get a SIM card.
Down there you generally use prepaid phone cards. I have been told that $15 gets you unlimited everything for a month. It is a simple process as there are an abundance of little kiosks in and outside of stores that allow you to update your phone. You can also get them at many checkout lines. Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and the like do not exist in Panama. Their cell phone carriers include Movil, Moviestar, and Digicel. Like the U.S., there are supposedly better carriers than others.
The remainder of our time will be spent with family and friends and watching the Superbowl. The Super Bowl is the big championship game for American football. I am rooting for the Seahawks simply because I am from the Northwest. I will say that they could have left the rain back in Seattle as it has been raining for over two days now. Haha.
To be honest, I love and miss this weather.
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| The fog this morning, which I have not seen in the four years I have been in Arizona |
In addition to the game will also continue to pack. It has been a lot of work to get to this point, but I honestly think I see the peak of the mountain. I am anxious to see what new adventures wait for us in a new country. I think Robert and I have both been too busy to really realize what we are about to do but I think we are both excited to go on this crazy/wonderful adventure.
I will be staying in communication and will continue to post regularly. This will likely be the last post while living in the U.S.. It will also be about a week before another post. I consider myself beyond fortunate to have parents who have raised me with the courage to not be afraid of trying big things and friends who I know I can laugh and cry to whenever it is needed regardless of location or distance. Most of all, I am thankful for Robert for going on a new chapter in our lives.
In the words of John Denver, we're "leaving on a jet plane" and we really do not know when we'll be back in the US again. Until then, keep in touch!
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