A Tear for a Container Full of Crap

Sometimes you have weeks where so many things happen at once that you just can't keep up. The kind of week that flies by so fast you don't even know what day it is. That's the kind of week I've had. It whizzed by like an F-16 flying at mach 3. I wouldn't go straight to saying that I had fun. I did, however, have a very tearful moment. A happy tearful moment.

I started this week with great hopes; very high hopes that my small twenty foot container would clear customs and that I could move into my apartment. Praise to the Lord, that's exactly what happened. I got an email from Abdel at Canal Movers, the company in charge of the second leg of the move. He said my things would be out of customs by Tuesday evening and that they would bring the container to my apartment on Wednesday.

Sure enough, I was sitting at my desk on Wednesday morning and I got a call that the container was on a truck and headed my way. I packed up my stuff and headed across the street, which I successfully crossed without being hit (For information about the crossing of the street, please see previous blog post "Crossing the Amazon in Flip Flops".)

I arrived at the apartment before the movers. I hadn't been in the apartment since I rented it at the end of May and still didn't have the key as the building administrator, Oscar, still had the keys. He still had the keys because he said he was going to get the air conditioners "tested" and also get the place cleaned up of all the "new construction dirt" and filthy bathrooms that the construction workers had left. So, of course, I was assuming that the apartment would be ready to move into. Boy was I wrong.

Oh, and I did forget to mention that Oscar had told me that he would meet me at 7:30 AM at the building so I could drop off all of my luggage that I had before I went to work, since I wouldn't have time to go back to the temporary apartment to get the stuff later. So, I arranged for a cab at 7:15 and headed over. Nobody. Only the security guard was there. And, they're really tight with the security in the building. That's a good thing. But, it's not a good thing when I need to get into the building! Thankfully the guy was very nice and he let me leave my stuff in the lobby while I went to work. He kept an eye on it for me. It was still there safely when I returned. Needless to say, I made very good friends with that particular security guard. Every time he sees me now he yells, "Hi Kristine!" (That's how you say my name in Spanish). It's good to be friends with the security guard.

Well, back to the uncleanliness of the apartment. So, Oscar opens the door and the place is horrible. On top of that, there was a guy waiting for Oscar like me. He comes in with a door. Like, a bedroom door. They hadn't put the spare bedroom door on. So, he's there making an even bigger mess. He had to shave a bunch off the door, so there are wood shavings and drywall dust and busted tile (he had to remove some of the tile molding to put the door on.) EVERYWHERE. Then, as I go to turn on the lights in the bedroom, they don't work. So, then I try to wash my hands with hot water. There isn't any. I'm just thinking to myself, "You have got to be kidding me." But, here's the best news of all: the air conditioning isn't fixed yet. There was no air. I was to do all the moving in the sweltering humidity.

Just then, the intercom rings. Guess who's container has arrived?

Yes, in the middle of the heinous mess, my container arrives with all one million boxes to be carried in by movers tromping through all the dust and wood shavings. I was pretty mad. But, then again, what was I gonna do about it? I was actually just happy my things had arrived, which brings me to the tearful moment.

I head downstairs and as I exit the elevator and start to the front doors, I see it. The big, ugly, maroon colored container. The last time I saw that container, box after box of my few, beloved things was being loaded onto it and then boarded in by a sheet of plywood and a few 2x4s in Tulsa, OK. And now, here it sat, right in front of me thousands of miles away in Panama City, Panama.

As they opened the doors and they began pulling the nails out of the 2x4s, I have to say, I teared up a little bit. Very rarely do I like to show much emotion, as those of you who know me know very well. But, there it was. I had never been so happy in all my life to see an ugly 'ol maroon twenty foot container.

As the boys (There were about eight of them and then the foreman from Canal Movers) removed the boards and I saw the precious boxes in there...barely smashed... I have to admit, a small tear fell. I had no idea how happy I would be to see the stuff and to see that it was barely damaged at all. I figured with all the banging around from the truck, train, and boat, things would be completely smashed. Not even the empty boxes that were "filler" were smashed. What joy to have my own stuff to make me feel at home!

Pedro, the foreman, then made all his boys introduce themselves to me and shake my hand. It was very nice and professional. In fact, they were much nicer than the two guys who packed up my stuff in Tulsa. And, there were so many of them, they worked so fast I could hardly keep up! I had to mark each box off my inventory list that the guys in Tulsa had created for me. They were running in with box after box after box as I would find the box on the list and what it was and direct them to the correct room. I really felt like a big 'ol bossy jerk. But hey, that's their job, right? They even had it down to a science. I'm not even sure how they got some of that stuff in the elevator. But it all fit...even the desk that wouldn't fit into any of the doors in my house! In fact, the desk fit just right through the door. I was kind of chuckling when I saw them bring in it in (Please reference blog "Ziva's a Traitor" for explanation about the desk.). Pam (My Mexican co-worker and good friend. She says she's my Mexican twin, actually. We decided that was truly the case after the farting contest we had the other night at the temporary apartment. It's been a long time since I met anybody who could keep up with me. But, man alive...she even BEAT me! She's going down next time, though.) called me in the middle of it all and I was yelling take this here and take that there. She just starting hysterically laughing at me and said I sounded like a bossy 'ol hag!

The movers also unwrapped and unpacked stuff at a rapid pace. Everything was covered in bubble wrap, plastic backed brown paper, tape, and a million other packing type materials. It was a pain to get all that stuff out. But, with eight people doing it, it goes really fast. They got all their part done by about 2:30 or 3:00, and that includes taking a lunch at noon. I was impressed.

That left me with about 25 boxes to unpack myself...things like clothes, shoes, bedding, and small trinkets that they don't have any idea where it all should go. I've been working on that for the last three days. I'm making progress. But, man alive, moving from a house to an apartment isn't so easy. There was a lot more storage space in the house. I'm having a hard time finding places for all my stuff! Who knew. Thank goodness I threw away so much when I was packing up in Tulsa. If not, I wouldn't have space for anything at all!

So, the movers all left after Pedro and I verified that nothing was missing or damaged (Can you believe it, in ALL of that, the only thing that was damaged was my desk chair and they did that when they were opening it with the box cutter. It's just cut a little bit on the top. Nothing too serious.), and there I was in a filthy apartment with tons of boxes, no lights anywhere but in the living room, no hot water, and absolutely no air conditioning. (Please remember, this is the tropics.)

I called the building administrator, Oscar, again. He said they'd come fix it. I wasn't so sure, so I packed up my stuff while it was still light outside and I could see, so that I could go back to the temporary apartment and sleep if I needed to.

About the time I was getting ready to leave, there was a knock at the door. It was the air conditioner guys. They put some fuses in the air conditioners and then they worked. I'm pretty sure I head the halleluia chorus play. But, that was the only thing that got taken care of. So, I had to spend another night on the couch at the temp apartments. I had been sleeping on the couch almost since the day I got there because my Mexican Twin snores all the time. I'm such a light sleeper, there was NO sleeping with that. I was quite disappointed that I couldn't sleep in my new apartment. But, I was happy that everything had arrived...even if it was carried in by a bunch of guys traipsing through wood shavings and plaster dust.

The following day, I headed to the apartment early. After grabbing breakfast from the breakfast sandwich lady on the corner by the office, I headed up to the mess that was my apartment. I tried Oscar again. No answer.

The cable/internet guys were slated to come at 10:30. I have to say that I had lost any hope whatsoever and I figured they wouldn't show. But, believe it or not, they showed up a half hour early. They got everything set up for me after quite a lot of furniture moving. They had the jacks messed up in the wall. The cable jack was actually the phone jack and vice versa. So, I had to move the couch and chairs and desk to the other side. It was awesome.

After about 2 hours, they had everything installed. I wasn't so happy to have internet that I teared up, but I was really happy! It's amazing how disconnected you feel without internet. Interesting how times have changed so much.

I even have a DVR. It looks just like the one I had in Tulsa. I even get a CBS and an ABC station out of Atlanta (Who knows why it's Atlanta...but I don't care. I get the channels!) so I can watch Lost and How I Met Your Mother...and okay, I'll admit to watching it, even though it pains me because it takes away from my cool points. I can also watch Big Brother. I'm so happy!

I spent the rest of the day trying to get a few more boxes hooked up and get everything hooked up to the internet (the wireless router and the Vonage phone). I also spent the whole day hoping that somebody would eventually come to help me fix the gas and the lights in the bedrooms. I had just about resigned to the fact that I was going to have to stay at the temp apartments again when there was a knock at the door.

I open the door and it's the air conditioning guys from yesterday. They tell me they are there to fix the gas and the lights. I just about cried of sheer happiness. They fixed the gas really quickly. It was just a main switch somewhere. Then the guys tell me they can't fix the lights because security wouldn't let them come up with their tools...it was after five and after five there can't be any construction work going on. So, they headed for the door. It wasn't their fault security wouldn't let them come upstairs with their tools.

So, as they caught the elevator, I frantically called Oscar. There was NO way I was letting those guys leave. They didn't even show up until almost 7:00. Thank goodness he answered his phone. I explained really quickly what had happened and he hung up and called security really fast. We caught them downstairs. They were able to come back up.

The lights weren't quite as easy to fix as the gas had been. They spent about two hours trying to figure out what the problem was. The important thing is that they did figure it out. I didn't have to go back and spend the night at the temp apartments after all. I was so happy!

That night I made a run, well, actually I made a "walk" to the grocery store for cleaning supplies and some quick food items. Boy was that a mess! I have GOT to get a car. I'll explain that situation a little later. Thankfully the carry out boy helped me get a cab and get the cab all loaded up with all my stuff. So, now I even had some stuff. I gotta go again. But, it's just such a mess trying to do that with a taxi.

Anyway, I've made some good progress. As I mentioned earlier, I only have six boxes left. Yay! Pam and I decided that I needed to get out of the house tonight, so we went to a movie. And, let me tell you, that was awesome. For only nine bucks (usually it's only 4 bucks to go to the movie), you can see the movie in the VIP room. What is that, you ask? Well, it's awesomeness! You have your own leather recliner. Yes, that's right, a recliner. Then, there are waiters. You order what you want and they bring it to you to your recliner, which has a little table that folds out over your lap. I'll try to get a picture of it to post. It's the best thing that EVER happened to a movie theater!

As I've already written a novel here above, I'll just leave a list here of some other funny, interesting, or just plain stupid happenings from this last week.

• I've been wondering what exactly is wrong with me since I got here to Panama. Sometimes I am having serious trouble understanding the Panamanians. I mean, my Spanish is pretty good, or at least that's what people tell me. I understand everybody else. Why I can't understand the Panamanians? I was beginning to think I was stupid...that is, until Anita (from Peru) and Pamela (from Mexico) and I sat down for dinner the other day. Anita started talking about how she can't understand the Panamanians for the life of her! I yelled, "THAN YOU!!!!11!!!11!" I started asking around even. Most of the native speakers from other countries than Panama do have a hard time understanding. So, now I don't feel so bad! It makes me laugh.


• I need a car, okay, since there's no public transportation here and catching a cab isn't always very easy. Well, I have about half of the money to put down for the type of car I want. But, I need financed for the rest. I called the bank the other day. Get this: banks don't make car loans in Panama. What the heck? Seriously? Wow... So, I went over to the Kia dealership today because the Sportage is one of the cars that I was interested in. I thought for sure they finance. Very few do financing, actually, for foreigners here in Panama. But, this dealership sure does. They'll finance me at 21% interest. TWENTY ONE PER CENT. Are you kidding me? I just kind sat there and looked at the lady. So, anyway, I'm looking into other options. They are few and far between. I've got to talk to my bank there in the US...because paying the fifty dollar fee for international transfers of money will still be cheaper than paying 21% interest. Jiminey Christmas... I'll keep you posted.


• We're making progress at the office with the furniture situation. All the furniture looks to be almost put together. The bad news is, it's pretty much the same as the communal office I have mentioned before, only with three times the people. It's basically just a table with six spots...only there are four of those tables. There are only two spots at each of the tables where your computer is not visible to every single person in the office when they walk by. So, after a good fight with the boys (I'm the only girl on my team.), I've been allowed to sit at one of those spots at our table. Sometimes, the machismo down here is okay. It can work to my advantage if I put on the "charm". Latin guys sometimes can be manipulated much easier than American guys. He he he he he (That's my evil laugh.). Either way, it's still a communal office. We're all in the same boat. There's no privacy for picking your nose or scratching (wherever you like). It's not the best, but it'll have to do.


• Laying in your bed at night staring at the Panama City skyline is not the same as the view from 76th E. Place in Tulsa, OK. I have to say, I could just stand, sit, or lie there staring out the window for hours at a time. The view is sweet.


• Vonage is the most awesome invention on the face of the planet. Being able to call anybody I want in the US and have them be able to call me just like I was living in the states is unbelievable. Just seven years ago when I was in Spain, I couldn't afford to call mom and dad or Kara, let alone any friends. And, they were paying 300 bucks or more a month to talk to me. Now, with my high speed internet and only 24.95 a month, I can call anybody I want in the states and they can call me. You gotta love technology. It's like I'm just three hours away again like I was. (PS: If you want the number, just let me know. I can email it to you.)


• They have pancakes here! Nobody ever has pancakes. They always think a pancake is a crepe. But, they have honest to goodness real, American pancakes here...and the stuff to make them at the store!


• They also sell Kraft macaroni and cheese. Woohoooo!


• Groceries are not cheaper here. I was so hoping they would be. But, when a box of dryer sheets costs you 6.95, you know it's gonna be an expensive trip to the store.


• No matter how many times you see the canal, it's still amazing. I'll be back a million times I'm sure.


• When you put three Panamanians, a Mexican, Peruvian, and an American together for dinner, you never know what might happen. And, I have the pictures to prove it.


• I never knew I could love the secondary audio function on my TV so much. But, seriously, Chuck Norris' dubbed over voice is just NOT the same. He loses some of his intimidation!


• Adjusting to a new culture is a million times easier when you have your own furniture, your beloved Superman pillow, vonage, the internet, and cable TV. I lived the hard way once (in Spain). Sure, you're completely immersed, but it's also rough. I like this way better. I can still be immersed, I just have my own stuff to fall back on!


• And let me say again: leather recliners at the movies? AWESOMENESS in physical form!


• Breakfast sandwich lady caddy corner from the office every morning. For a 1.25 I can have one of the best breakfasts ever. Sweet!


• Taxi to the office: 3.00 dollars (Yes, it's that cheap here...but it's not easy to get a taxi.) Breakfast sandwich: 1.25. Coffee at the office: free. Busting out the "I'm just a little girl and I really want to sit at that desk" card to get the desk you want at work: priceless


• Having people from the other tall buildings be able to see straight in the window into your shower... not so great. Showering in the dark is a little harder than it looks. You'd think after this many years of shaving my legs, I'd have the tough spots memorized. Not so. Good thing I packed some band-aids.


• When one whole wall of your bedroom is windows, it would be great if you would hurry up and buy curtains so the whole of Panama City can't watch you sleep. Not to mention the fact that the sun rises so early at absolute full power. I wake up and think it must be 11:00 AM and it's 6:00.


• And, finally, I had forgotten to post this picture. My best buddy Gennifer saved the best gift for last. On my last night in the states, we're standing there in my room in Kansas packing and all of the sudden Gennifer says, "Oh, wait here. I have to give you your final gift. I'm thinking, "Okay, cool. I just hope it's not big. I don't have much room left." I'm standing there rolling up a t-shirt and see these doll hands come around the corner. She got me doll hands on sticks! Waahaahaa... If you don't know why that's so funny, please reference the Lawrence Welk SNL skit in my blog post "This Little Piggy Went to Market. In the photo, I'm reenacting one of the funnier moments in the skit.

Peace out dudes.

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