Converting to Conversions

It is my understanding, that the United States is one of four countries in the world that uses the English System to measure units. Other countries include Great Britain, Liberia, and Burma. Because Panama is not any of the four countries listed above, I will have to learn a whole new way of measuring using the metric system.

The first time I went to Panama a few things stood out to me. First off, I was terrified that I saw signs for speed limits saying 100km. "Wait, we are going 100 units per hour!?" I frequently had to remind myself that we were traveling at speeds relative to kilometers and not miles. After some research I realized we were really not driving above any speed out of the ordinary: 100 kilometers is roughly 62 miles.

This is the Pan-American Highway in Panama.
Picture not taken by me

I also remember seeing the price of gas. Because I associate gas prices in relation to gallons I could not believe initially how inexpensive gas was. The person who was driving us around quickly reminded me that these units are not gallons, which actually resulted in gas being more expensive in Panama compared to what I was used to.

People ask me all the time what the weather is like in Panama. I say it is around 85 Degrees Fahrenheit year round. I realized earlier this week that I did not know what the average lows were for Panama. So I looked and this is what I found:

                                       

It probably would not be so bad except the temperature units are not familiar to me. Rounding up, the average high temperature for January through April is 90 Degrees Fahrenheit while May and December are around 87 degrees and the rest of the highs for June through November are 86 degrees. The lows translate to be 77 degrees most of the year, except for April and May when the lows are 79 degrees.

As I hear measurements in the metric system, I am trying to force myself to think about what that means relative to the measurements I know. I imagine that eventually the English Measurement system will become more and more foreign to me. Until then, I will have to adjust to how the majority of the world measures everything. 

We are Not Criminals

Great news for us! This week has been filled with answers we have been waiting and hoping for.

First, we got our FBI criminal history reports back and we got the confirmation that we are not criminals. It did mention that Robert is on the "Official Ginger Watch List" for gingerly activity. That was nothing new to me. The news for the FBI reports are great in moving along the process of moving to Panama.

On a joking side, could you imagine the dialogue between us had the reports turned out with anything other than "The FBI has no prior arrest data."  These documents, along with our marriage certificate, were sent to the Panamanian Consulate in Washington DC to become legal documents via the Panamanian government, which is a requirement in the visa process.

The second update relates to our house, as we received not one, but two offers on the house. This has helped us come to the realization that our time in this house is limited. Unfortunately, both of the offers had to be turned down at this time. It would be great if something changed or we got another offer in. Even if this does not happen, it is pretty reassuring that people are at least interested.

Robert and I realized that our time in the house is limited, and that the box of stuff in our spare bedroom need to be sorted through sooner or later.

It looks like we were going through some boxes today!

We also decided that since our time is limited, we should probably get a new mailing address in the event somebody puts in an offer and wants to close quickly. Obviously we have not moved yet, but we both feel like getting a new mailing address will help ease the transition.

Things feel like they are slowly starting to move forward. We will most likely head to Panama to start the process in person as soon as we get the documents back from the Consulate. This will be the next step in order to gain a clearer idea of when we will be able to make the official move to Panama. Baby steps forward are better than baby steps backwards, or none at all, right?

Just a Quick Update

I know it has been about two weeks since my last post. For some of you looking for updates, I thought now might be a good time to do this. There are not a whole lot of new updates, which is why I have not posted anything lately.

We are still waiting on my FBI report (a criminal background check) to come back. It turns out that the week we submitted our FBI report was the week that they changed their timeframe of returning the document from four weeks to twelve weeks. After seven weeks of waiting, Robert was gracious enough to call the appropriate FBI number which informed him that this change had been made. Go figure!

There is a way to fast track this report through a private agency, so we got a new set of finger print cards completed and resubmitted the request. After this, we will be having to get these legalized by the Panamanian Consulate; we also have do the same for our marriage license.

After we get the documents in order, we may have a clearer idea of when we will be officially be moving. At this point, we only have a timeframe of when we would like to make the move official, although nothing is official. We are still living in Arizona at this time and will be living in Arizona until we move to Panama.

Robert and I are also in the process of taking Spanish classes on the weekends. We also went to the bookstore and found some of our own reading material. It turns out that Sam I Am by Dr. Seuss is Juan Ramón because the character in the book does not like jamón ( which is ham in Spanish).

I think at this point, we've both agreed that our best chances of really learning Spanish is to wait until we move to Panama and cannot avoid using it. I think Robert and I could get by talking to somebody in Spanish if they speak slowly. This might be a task with a high learning curve considering every Panamanian I've spoken to appears to love the fact that they speak really fast Spanish compared to many other Spanish speakers. Whether this is really true or not, their sense of pride for speaking fast, from my view, appears to be very much like the pride somebody may have when they say they are stubborn. I guess it shows that if you have a quality about yourself, you may as well embrace it.

That is all for now. As I said, no major updates. The house is on the market with no serious offers yet. But again, nothing surprising considering how long the house has been on the market. Robert, the animals and I are doing well. We continue to stay busy taking care of the house and personal matters. Life is good for us right now and despite not working our office jobs, we are staying very busy.


  

Home for Sale.

Does anyone want a house in a family friendly community? If so, our house could be yours! It is official. Our house is for sale.

It seems pretty surreal, and maybe more so since the sign is up for the whole neighborhood to see. Robert has been talking to a lot of the neighbors lately since he has been busy with the yard. I'm sure the sign will likely bring up sparks of new topics in which will allow us to get to "know" our neighbors better.

Actually, we do not know our neighbors. I could count the number of times on two hands that I've spoken to our neighbors...four of those times were neighbors that live about a block away and another was when a neighbor was trick-or-treating with her son last Halloween dressed as a witch. She introduced herself as the "neighbor down the street."  It will be interesting to see whether the sign changes anything, particularly with Halloween right around the corner.

We are still waiting to hear back from the FBI about our fingerprints, however, that has not stopped us from continuing our own process with what we can do in Arizona. Nothing new has really occurred since the last blog. Just more of the same stuff with making sure the house looks clean and organized.

That means I am mopping, dusting, and vacuuming at least three times per week. Prior to the house being put for sale I would do all of this one time per week. This is definitely brand new to me and at times I feel it is over excessive. I believe that with this "excessiveness" will come discipline with other habits that I have yet to master. Ask any of my old co-workers about how my work desk used to look.

We had a family who rescheduled on us several times to look at the house. I believe they came yesterday, but cannot be for certain. Robert and I left the house around 4:40 so we were away from the house when they were supposed to show at 5:00. We took the dogs for a longer than usual walk and came back about 40 minutes later.

We checked to see if we saw any cars in the driveway to explore whether the walk needed to be extended. There were no signs of anyone being in the house. It was kind of an eerie feeling that I have not experienced yet. I was not worried about anyone taking anything, but it is also a strange feeling to be uncertain on whether or not somebody, a stranger mind you, has been in your house. Does that make sense?

It is a weird feeling indeed and one that I believe I am going to have to get used to if we want to sale the house before we leave for Panama,  for which we still do not have an exact date. I also know that this uncomfortable, eerie feeling will not be the last time I feel this way any time soon. This is a new adventure and with new adventures comes a new world of feelings.

~Natalie

One Crazy Weekend

This has been yet another busy week for our family. I am not quite sure how we could have done all of this if we still had our jobs in addition to what we accomplished. I know people do this all the time and have jobs, kids, and the like, but this week has flown by. In order to move to Panama, we are having to sell pretty much everything, including both vehicles and our house.

We haven't put the vehicles up for sale yet but we did meet with the realtor in order to begin the process of selling our house.  Our house is not officially on the market yet, meaning that there is no "For Sale" sign in the front of the yard. However, our realtor informed us that somebody within his agency has a client that is interested in looking in this area and would like to come by Monday to check it out. Many of the things we expected to do were going to happen eventually including sort through/box things up, landscape the yard and do odd and end projects that we were planning on doing anyway. The fact that somebody is actually going to be looking at the house makes the process of everything done perfectly even more dire.

The master bathroom is ready to go!

The person who lived here did not install everything properly. Luckily this lovely
towel holder came off the wall right as we start doing things around the house. 

We went plant shopping and stayed under our budget, which made Robert and I both very happy. The people are the nursery were also very helpful and managed to get the plants delivered the next morning. 

Robert dug holes along the front and back yards. Normally the dirt is so hard that professional landscapers use jackhammers with spades on them to dig bigger holes. Although this could have been an option, it was not needed. I think the rain in recent weeks helped soften the ground enough to make these holes "easy" to dig. 

The holes are covered and ready for the plant delivery in the morning. 

Because of the high mineral content of the soil in our area, it is generally a good idea to fill holes with water first. Not only does it soften the ground, but it also pushes a lot of the minerals down to the bottom of the hole, which can have a layer of nice, nutrient rich soil.

Water in a hole.

Our yard before the holes and new plants

Our yard after landscaping.

In general, Robert did a lot of the outside labor while I did a lot of the inside stuff. I vacuumed and shampooed the carpets. Because of our team effort, I know the house will be ready to go for tomorrow. We still need to do some final touches on organizing. This has been a tiring weekend, but Robert and I got it done. We make a great team and I am glad that I get to go on this journey with him. 

Stuff, Stuff, and more Stuff...

I have one question for everyone: how does one accumulate so much stuff? There are only two people living in our house and although we felt like we had a "big" yard sale, I am quickly realizing that we did not even come close to selling/giving away things. Many of the things I am coming across now are things I have forgotten about.

Case in point, I came across my graduation gown from Arizona State University. Honestly, I kind of forgot that I had it. I'm not sure where this will end up, but for now it is tucked away in a box in my closet.

For those of you wondering, the red shoes are an inside
joke from when I graduated Oregon State University.

This is what will be donated to a local food bank. Some of the stuff is non-perishable food, while others are gently used clothes. There is also a nice stock pile of hotel/travel sized hygiene products.  I love to collect soaps and conditioners from hotels and donate them.

I did not put the boxes in very good so I had to put the seats down. Obviously my Tetris playing skills could use some work. This is what my car looks like after reorganizing some boxes.

Although I am no longer working, I feel like there is plenty to do. I know now that this is what I'm supposed to focus my attention on, despite missing my families and co-workers. We still do not a definitive date of when our move will occur, but I'm sure we'll continue to stay busy as we narrow down what we want to bring to Panama.

~Natalie

Saying Work Goodbyes

For those of you who do not know, I am an early childhood therapist. What does that mean? It means I provide therapy for children typically who are between the ages of newborns to 5 years old. Many, but not all are involved with Child Protective Services, aka, Department of Child Safety (since we are in Arizona). I have been very lucky to have wonderful co-workers who have been willing to take on some of my clients, particularly some of the more challenging ones.

In the past week, I have spent much of my time working from home, primarily checking emails to see whether anything urgent comes up. Luckily nothing has. I thought I would be busier at this point. I thought I would be busy putting out emergencies or having to testify in court. Work has quickly come to an end for me and it is a very bittersweet feeling. I was not been as busy as I thought I would be at this point.

Instead, I have been saying goodbye. I have been with my current agency for roughly 18 months and have grown very close to some of my clients and some of my co-workers. I have little need to have to drive 51 minutes south to go to my office. Lately I have chosen to work from home. I will miss a lot about my job because of my office I work at. I probably have the best office staff one could ask for and I am going to miss all of the special traditions we've had. These traditions include things like going on breaks for junk food, inside jokes, and celebrating events and birthdays in each other's lives.

I've said goodbye to many of my clients. I've grown so much with them and they have shared things with me that few are privileged to hear. Saying goodbye is something I'm accustomed to with my clients, however, it is something that is still hard to do, especially when you feel like you've been through a lot with them.  Luckily, I feel that all of my kiddos are in good hands.

I have had to say many goodbyes in my lifetime. It is part of being a social worker and a therapist. I may not always remember faces, but out of the 500+ clients I've worked with, I can say that each of them and each of my collegues have a special place in my heart. To all of you that fall into this category, I thank you.