Panamá City delighted us this week as we toured some local sites but mainly accomplished our goal: we applied for our e-cedula! And buried somewhere within our flight to Panamá City and everything—we celebrated our fourteenth anniversary!
Monday, October 20 & Tuesday, October 21: Prep Days for Panamá City
I filled these two days with packing for five weeks in different climates. I packed items in my medium-sized bag and then put it inside my big suitcase. Yes, that big suitcase will be full when I return on December 2.
After two months, I finally got my hair cut in Boquete on Tuesday, and the stylist pleased me with the cut. In our Spanish conversation, she had a hard time understanding me wanting the top “spiked,” so it’s not as short on top as usual. Also, I learned something very interesting. She styled it with no gel or hairspray—just natural. OMG! I haven’t worn my hair that way in decades, and you can guess what I did the next day when I styled it—gel and hairspray.
Wednesday, October 22 – Our 14th Anniversary & Flight to Panamá City
Our dear neighbor, Ruth, drove us to the airport in David to catch a 9:44 AM flight to Panamá City’s Tocumen International Airport.
Joel, our trusty Uber driver, was there and drove us to the Marriott Panamá Hotel which is attached to the Albrook Mall. Our drive took longer because we passed two car accidents, but it gave us time to catch up. Joel pointed out the Tribunal Electoral de Panamá building to us as we drove by on our way to the hotel. Unknowingly, I booked our hotel about ten minutes away from where we needed to go on Friday to start the process for the e-cedula.
We settled in and immediately went to the mall to grab a late lunch.
Thursday, October 23 – Free Day
Because the weather was iffy, we spent the day going through the Albrook Mall. It has over 700 stores and three food courts and lots of ice cream stores for Lin!
In the Costo store, I found a bathing suit and went to try it on. Two young women stopped me at the door and spoke in Spanish. I asked if anyone spoke English; they both shook their heads no. The one speaking repeated her request three times, and I finally figured it out—I had to try the bathing suit on over my clothes! Very interesting. I ended up buying it because it was not too expensive, so if it didn’t work, I could give it away. When I tried it on back in the room later, I liked it!
Surprisingly, we found a Skechers shoe store, and we both bought a new pair of shoes. I bought bright orange. Lin bought a pair of wet shoes!
That evening we watched the Thursday Night Football game. Then we prepared for the big day—Friday, October 24. We’ve had this appointment for a couple months and anticipated it.
Friday, October 24 — E-cedula Day & Panamá Viejo
I connected with Joel, our Uber driver, early that morning. He’s so responsible. Joel had battery trouble in his car, so he called another Uber driver for us!
Thankfully, we arrived early and met up with our “Fixer,” Jennifer and her husband, Ariel. She also had another couple she was helping. I had dreaded this day because, Lorrie, our friend who went through this process last week, warned me about the picture requirements—wear a dark shirt, no big earrings, no bangs on your forehead and put your hair behind your ears. Jennifer also emphasized these items in an email.
Jennifer had folders of paperwork on each couple. My name was called first, so off I went to a desk with Jennifer with a handful of papers. The clerk, Yessica, asked for my passport and permanent visa. She welcomed me warmly and we had a lovely conversation as she worked. Yessica loved my red shirt with the square and round dance logo, “Life is a dance.” She read it to her co-workers and we all celebrating “dancing—bailar.”
Then, I moved over to another desk to pay $50 for the e-cedula card. The clerk asked me what my birthdate and blood type was. Before this process started several months ago, I would not have known it, but we have had to have a couple of blood tests, so I know it now.
Then I moved to another desk for the dreaded picture! Joshua, the clerk, greeted me with a warm smile. Then Ariel came over and gave me a clip he had on to keep his Yarmulke on, being a practicing Jew. I clipped my bangs completed over to the right. Then Joshua politely reminded me to pulled my hair behind my ear on my right side.
Joshua took four or five pictures, telling me to look left, then right, to tilt my chin up then down. When he finally decided he had one, a colleague came by and they both laughed at the picture. When I looked at it, I flinched! I have a large forehead I cover with hair—that’s all I saw!
But I was finished! And the rest of the group finished quickly. In fact, Jennifer said we finished the fastest she had ever experienced. We finished in less than an hour, and she had originally warned us it could take two hours. Our e-cedulas will be available in five days.
Friday Continues at Panamá Viejo
After a celebratory drink and snack with our group, Joel picked us up and took us to Panamá Viejo. Lin specifically wanted to go there to buy THE PANAMA BIRDING BOOK, An Illustrated Field Guide to the Birds of Panama. It’s sold in limited places only in Panama City. So we bought it immediately, and I even bought my own copy because I like to mark books up, and Lin hates that!
We had no idea what a delight Panamá la Vieja was! Joel, our Uber, driver had pointed it out as we crawled a long the way on Wednesday. Here’s what it is:
“also known as Panamá la Vieja, is the remaining part of the original Panama City, the former capital of Panama, which was destroyed in 1671 by the Welsh privateer Henry Morgan. It is located in the suburbs of the current capital. Together with the historical district of Panamá, it has been a World Heritage Site since 1997.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panam%C3%A1_Viejo
So all dressed up in long pants and a warm shirt, I hiked to the top of the famous tower with Lin. We had a leisure lunch, entertained by the bird above. We met a couple from Philly and Lin immediately bonded with them over the Philadelphia Eagles. It was a beautiful day with no rain, but I was soaked with sweat!
On the drive back to the hotel, Joel told us about another attraction to visit, the Parque Muncipal Summit. He felt we would enjoy it on Saturday, so we took him up on it.
Saturday, October 25 — Parque Muncipal Summit
Joel picked us up at 9:15 AM and drove us to the Parque Muncipal Summit. As we traveled, the Panama Canal was on our left side, and we saw ships either coming or going. Camp Clayton was on our right and houses Ciudad del Saber, the City of Knowledge, a great use of the former military base. When Joel dropped us off, we agreed he’d pick us up at 1:00 PM.
The Parque Muncipal Summit “is a botanical garden with a facility for rescue and wildlife rehabilitation of exotic and native wildlife in central Panama.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parque_Municipal_Summit
Our journey began with a luscious walk through tropical vegetation and flowers. What a treat! We saw a harpie eagle, Panama’s national bird. Then we wandered the lush green botanical garden, seeing a lonely jaguar who called for his friend, the puma, who they moved to another enclosure. We saw ocelots and so many monkeys. Many of these animals are rescued!
Somewhere in the morning we realized we needed more time, so I texted Joel to pick us up at 2:00 PM. He thought that was hilarious!
My Two Favorite Parts of the Parque Muncipal Summit
I had two favorites attractions! Three sloths—in Spanish perezosos which literally means “lazy”—entertained us. We stood so close to them as they ate carrots and other goodies—slowly, methodically and deliberate.
My other favorite was the Butterfly Pavilion—Casa de Domo. They had two Blue Morpho butterflies. I had seen them in Costa Rica in 2020 and one landed on my hand. Of course, I wanted another to do that, but it didn’t happen.
Because we stayed longer in there, the attendant came in and gave us a private tour of the place and showed us butterfly eggs on a leaf and told us inside stories about the place—what a treat!
On the drive back, Joel told us the ships on the Panama Canal go from Pacific to the Atlantic in the morning, the Atlantic to the Pacific in the afternoon, and in the evening both directions. What a system!
Yes, the day was fantastic and a delight!
Sunday, October 26 — Football Day & Packing
Today has been football day for us. Lin’s Philadelphia Eagles won and so did my Denver Broncos, so we’re good.
We made one last trip to the Mall and had ice cream at our favorite place. We just packed. Tomorrow Lin returns to David and then to Boquete (Jaramillo Abajo), and I fly to the US for a few weeks to visit my brother and friends in Albuquerque.
Finally,
Being a tourist in Panama City delighted me, and I feel like we accomplished something by checking one more task off our list for our move to Panama. Life is good!
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