This week, we bought a new car, a 2023 Kia Sonet, and I renewed my Panamanian driver’s license. Lin had to do more, and yes lots more this week.
Monday, October 6
We have to go to Panama City on October 24 to start the process to get our e-cedula card. So we started Monday off with getting our airmail tickets. It was complicated because we fly together to Panama City, then I’m flying to Albuquerque to spend about five weeks in the states, and Lin is coming back to David. The travel agent applied our jubilado discuenta (discount) of 25%, so the cost was $1000 less than what the United agent online quoted me! We thoroughly enjoyed her enthusiasm.
Afterwards, we went to Value Motors and confirmed with Victor we wanted to buy the Kia. He gave Lin the instructions on wiring money to him for the car purchase. New experiences everywhere!
Then we went across the straight to a clinic to get a blood test and letter from a doctor stating we had the cognitive facility to drive.
When we got home, we got the notification from our neighbor that our shelves for our kitchen were in at the DoIt Center in David, so we drove there and picked them up. Now we have a place for our dishes and glasses. Before we got the shelves, we kept moving them from here to there when we needed the stove or counter space.
Tuesday, October 7
I have been leading my meditation game on Tuesdays for a while. Now, Tuesday is a loaded day. So I recorded the meditation earlier.
Then we went to the Tuesday market. We love the Tuesday market with all its color and possibilities. Lin buys his breakfast there normally. I bought a beautiful turquoise Alpaca shawl and blue striped pants. Lin bought a fun-filled Panamanian shirt.
Afterwards we went to one of the bank’s ATM machine to solve a problem. We have been having a problem with Schwab debit card. When we were here in May, Lin used it easily, but since then he hadn’t been able to use it. He had spent hours calling Schwab for support with no solution. So, we did it one more time, and he tried one thing different and it worked—one more solution this week!
That night Lin wired the money for the car—he said the process was easy to do!
Wednesday, October 8
I got up at 6:30 AM to be ready to leave at 8:00 AM—always a good idea to be the first in line at any of the government offices in Panama. Jason drove us to David to renew our driver’s license. He helped with the translation between us and the office workers.
After a couple hours, I got mine. As I sat there in the room waiting to hear my number called, I feared I would have trouble with the hearing test because of the hearing loss I’ve had with the ear infection. When they called my name—they didn’t call my passport number, I had two tests I had to pass: a hearing test and vision test. I passed both of them.
Immediately when we got in line and talked to one of the clerks, Lin found out he had to take the driver’s test because of his age, so Jason and he shopped and waited for me.
When we got back to Boquete, we took Jason out to lunch and had a delicious meal at a new restaurant to us—fish tacos. Then we went back to Value Motors to complete all the paperwork to buy the car. They weren’t prepared for us, thinking we were coming the next day. Victor let us know he received the wired money. He let us take the car anyway without signing any paperwork.
Thursday, October 9
We started the day with a trip back to Value Motors to sign the paperwork for the car. They helped us with the insurance and we paid for it there online and away we went! It felt so good to finally owning our own car!
From there, we went to the Thursday market and bought a few things.
In the afternoon, Lin drove me to my AA meeting because we had an errand to do afterwards. Oh, course, it was raining. During the meeting, the rain continued and increased. The building has a tin roof, so we had to shout whenever we spoke!
After the meeting, we went by a pottery shop we had wanted to visit but had trouble finding. They weren’t open; it was raining. We looked inside and it didn’t have the size pots Lin wanted.
In the evening, we watched Thursday night football—Lin had a bad night because his Philadelphia Eagles lost to the New York Giants. We turned off the game before the end and watched one of our favorite British mystery shows, McDonald & Dodds.
Lin did a lot of preparation for the driver’s test because several people told him it would be parallel parking. That concerned him because he hadn’t done that in years! He watched YouTube videos and studied them. Lin even prepared a “Cheat Sheet.”
Friday, October 10
Lin’s Driving License
Lin drove Jason to David to take the driver’s test. I stayed home and worked on my book business.
As the morning went on and on, it assured me that he had passed the test because of the waiting, the process of paying and getting your license.
When he got home and stepped out of the car, he said in a serious voice, “You have to be our chauffeur.” I challenged him and he laughed, “Yes, I passed!” Jason giggled through this whole exchange and would not look me in the eye! All Lin had to do was back into a space and then drive into it in seven minutes.
Larada’s Writing Group
That afternoon, I drove myself to a writer’s group I had attended in our May trip. It was my first time driving in downtown Boquete—whew! The streets are narrow. Drivers stop to do whatever they need to do. I didn’t hit anyone—yahoooo! When I got to the Hotel Central Boquete where they meet, I found out they weren’t meeting that day—I hadn’t checked my email that morning and missed the announcement. So, I went on a hunt! I want a hand mirror and have had a horrible time finding one here. I visited three stores and all they had were mirrors to mount on the wall or already mounted on a stand.
So I went home and picked up Lin, and we went to the Gelato shop to celebrate his license and my driving. Then we went to the Tigo office to change Lin’s iPhone and iPad to a Panamanian number. Wow! The process is involved, but we got it started. We had no problem with his iPad, but we still owed $25 on the phone, so we paid that off, but Hernon, the Tigo manager, couldn’t unlocked it. As we were leaving, Lin told Hernon we would return Saturday morning with coffee; he smiled.
We also got a storm warning about a big tropical storm hitting, “an atmospheric river,” so we prepared for it.
On the way home, we stopped at a big new pharmacy, and they had my hand mirror! Yahoo!
That night I spent thirty minutes on the phone with AT&T and we finally unlocked Lin’s phone.
Saturday, October 11
Lin kept his promise and went to the Sandwich Shop next door and brought coffee for Hernon and us. The problems continued, so Hernon suggested we go somewhere while he worked on it.
So, we went next door for a delicious breakfast. We both tried something different by ordering two Saturday specials. I had two poached eggs, salmon, a salad and strawberry juice—yummy! Lin had a ribeye steak, an egg, a salad, fresh fruit and strawberry juice. Healthy and delicious!
When we returned, Hernon solved the problem and Lin has a Panamanian number now. You can contact him on WhatsApp.
Afterwards, I had a Zoom Afternoon— I attended my CoDA meeting from Albuquerque. Then I had a couple hours break. Then I met with my three friends I met in Loveland years ago. They scattered now: one from Arizona, one from Colorado and one from Arkansas. I love this time together. We have known each other for decades, and the conversation is rich.
While we did this our landlords put shelving in our closets in our office—they are so accommodating!
That evening we went out to dinner with Lorrie and Kenny, the couple who lived just miles away from us in the east mountains in New Mexico, and now they live about five minutes away. We ate at Retrogusto, the first restaurant Lin and I ate at when we first arrived here. The food was scrumptious! The conversation moved around the table with each sharing stories and history. We also started planning a long weekend trip to Costa Rica in December!
Sunday, October 12
Because the Denver Broncos were playing the New York Jets in London, we had an early morning game at 8:30 AM.
But the start of the day was scary. Our neighbor had texted me and left messages on my phone asking us to take her husband to the airport in the David because her blood pressure was off the map. I have gotten in the habit of muting my phone all the time—not a good idea now!
So, I dressed quickly and ran over to see how she was! Jason, our landlord, ended up taking her husband to airport, but I felt horrible. I invited her to come over and watch the Broncos game with us and she did with her dog, Noche!
The game was back and forth, but we pulled it out and won it. I burned up my phone by texting two Bronco girlfriends.
The storm they warned about never materialized. We’ve had rain off and on, all weekend—heavy sometimes this afternoon, but not what we were warned about.
Finally,
I feel like I’m carrying you along with me on this journey showing you our daily life. What a relief it is having our own car. It’s a nice size for here, and I like having a white car! Getting our car, our licenses and solving the Schwab issue has relieved us of several important items.
I hope your week is full of love and laughter!
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