Another thing to cross off our list of things to do before retiring to Panama occurred today. Ray and I took the day off from work to make the trip into Washington, DC to have the Vice Counsel authenticate ten documents for our attorney in Panama (10 documents x $30/document plus 3 extra pages=$306 in
cash or certified check handed over to Lourdes, the attorney and VC at the Embassy). It is a forty-seven mile trip from our house to the Embassy. We took the advice of Ray's navigation system and bailed off North I-395 and drove on the George Washington Parkway instead (due to, what else is new, traffic at nine am). Why are people not at the office at nine am? What time do all of these commuters start work? Or were they all very late? We left our house at eight am and arrived to the Panamanian Embassy a few minutes before ten. The Embassy opens at nine-thirty, but in one of his many phone conversations with the receptionist, Ray was told not to worry. They close at two pm, but there is never a long wait. Street parking was a breeze, and inside the building we went.
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This is the Panamanian Embassy. A house among other houses on McGill Terrace.
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Ray had great enthusiasm. The receptionist greeted us warmly, and
when Ray told her we were there to have our papers "legalized", she
knowingly nodded and said "authenticated". He told her that we
were very happy to be at the Embassy to get this task done, and she looked at
me and said, "you don't look quite so happy". I told her I was
excited, but I when I walked in I was just waiting for her to tell us that we
were at the wrong office or we couldn't be seen today. What I didn't say
to her though is this: I guess I have been reading so many blogs and
posts on forums about confusion in Panama, the long lines, the not so happy to
help government employees, that I was setting myself up for this today.
She directed us down the hall assuring us that we were in the right
place, and we would be taken care of. Within minutes, we were sitting in
the Consular's office with Lourdes, the Vice Consul. She is an attorney
from Panama City, recently married to a Panamanian with hopes of moving back to
Panama soon to practice law there. She has been in the States for six
years. She reviewed our papers, chatted some more with us about our plans
of retirement and where we were hoping to live, copied our papers, printed out
the papers we needed to be sealed to our papers, and then she started the
sealing of the authentication paper to each document. Next, she stamped.
We talked about the stamping. Five stamps on each document.
If a document has a page two stapled to it, then that gets stamped over
it (just in case the pages separate or someone tries to send in just page one
without page two it can be matched up easily). It all made sense to us.
I wouldn't dare say otherwise! We gave her our cash. She gave
us a receipt, her business card and, within thirty minutes, we were out the
door. Next, Ray will scan papers to the attorney. He will start the
translation of each document. We will Fed Ex the papers, also. On
January 13th, we start following our Panamanian attorney around Panama City hoping
to get our temporary Visa that week.
This is what we saw when leaving Washington, DC.
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Where money is made (although the government never seems to have any) |
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The scaffolding is coming down (Washington Monument needed repairs after an earthquake three years ago) |
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The Washington Monument with The Jefferson Memorial in front |
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World War II Memorial |
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The Tidal Basin with cherry trees around it |
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The Jefferson Memorial from I-395 Southbound with the Monument behind it. |
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What shape has five sides? The Pentagon Building. |
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The United States Air Force Memorial at the Navy Annex
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Once
out of the DC area, we stopped at Mike's American Grill for lunch. This
is the restaurant where Ray and I went to on our first date. It is
located in Springfield, VA where Ray grew up for the most part, and I lived
after college. Whenever we know we will be near Mike's, we stop for
lunch or dinner. We also stopped by Quantico National Cemetery to pay
my parents a visit. Since we just celebrated another holiday without
them, it only seemed appropriate to say hello (even though they were both
cremated and are on my dresser where I talk to them daily) and make sure the
grounds are kept nice (now I sound like my mother).
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When telling my co-worker why I would be off today, her comment was that
she can't believe this could all really happen. "It's right around
the corner now". She just didn't believe me when I started talking
about this whole retirement thing two years ago. This February, it will
be two years we have researched Panama. Last month, it was a year we
took our first trip to Panama to see for ourselves what the country looked
like. In a year.................
Wow, it is starting to come together!
ReplyDeleteI remember when I started telling people of our plans to move here to Panama. They just looked at me like I was nuts. Now it's "Wow! You really did do it!" They still think we are nuts but "WE DID IT!" and are very happy with the decision!
Let's see how January goes! I will have to have a better look on my face though. One that will show that I am patient, polite, eager, excited and willing to cooperate all at once.
ReplyDeleteOne more step. Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteRight about that, Kris! Thanks! Keeping fingers crossed still :) All things scanned to attorney this morning.
ReplyDeletePapers in hand means you are very, very close. The anticipation must be crazy. I remember the hurry-up-and-wait phase. It will be here before you know it and then time just flies once you're here.
ReplyDeleteHurry up and wait is exactly right. Yesterday was just so efficient! I am excited to spend a little time in Panama City in January (not renting a car or going anywhere except where attorney tells me to go)--try different restaurants and make my way over to Albrook Mall (hope I can find my way out!). We have only stayed on the outskirts of the city by the airport and MetroMall, so this will be an experience!
ReplyDelete