Moving my household to Panama - the last step in the emigration-process

Over the course of our lives we collect "stuff". Some of that stuff is easy to get rid of, there's no emotional connection. Other stuff is easy to leave behind, as it is easy to replace, if needed again. But some we want to retain...

In my case, I trimmed down as much as I could. But I still had a 3m by 3m (10 x 10 ft) storage unit full of items. Mostly, they were tools, books, DVDs and CDs, and memorabilia - a picture we had bought in India and which Suzanne had framed for me for my birthday, a wooden relief I bought when living in Tobago, photo albums, and similar items.

A week ago I came back to the USA to prepare these items to be shipped to Panama.

I contacted several moving companies in the US, but received quotations that were way beyond what I was able and willing to pay. The worst was 25,000$! When I looked in Panama, I found a customs broker who provided a reasonable quotation, and who was able and willing to answer all my questions. And questions I had many - I'm not doing this kind of thing every other week, so I'm not familiar with the process! 

RS Aduanas offered to provide a 20ft container, have it delivered to the storage facility, where I could load it up, then transport it to Panama, arrange for the customs process, and have it transported on to my new home in far distant rural Panama (10 hr drive with passenger car from the port) - all for about 5,400$. What a difference!

Panama customs requires a detailed list of all the items that are being shipped. So I had to go through everything, open every box to see what's in it, and inventorize everything.

Originally, I thought I'd rent a second storage unit just for a week, into which to move items that I already added to the list. However, the storage company wanted to charge me a full month's rent. Their offer of 1$ for the first month had a * next to it, and the fine print allowed them to exclude just exactly the unit I needed! They wanted 200$!

During one of my sleepless nights the idea occurred to rent a Penske truck instead. (Penske, BTW, is a much better company to use than UHaul! Penske gives you a quote and you pay what they quote. UHaul always adds many other fees afterwards, and when paying you get hit with a much higher amount than originally quoted and expected. Penske you can trust! UHaul you can trust to charge you way more in the end!)

Turns out, renting a 16ft truck for 5 days was just 150$. In addition, loading everything into the truck had several other advantages:

First of all, I can back up the truck all the way to my unit, and loading is much easier than carrying everything across the storage facility to another unit. Secondly, loading the truck means I'm already lifting everything 1.2m onto the truck bed, so getting it into the container will be just 30cm (1 ft)  more. And, the best part, I'm not tied to the storage facility anymore. That facility would make life of the trucker very difficult, to back into it and park the truck so the gate can safely close. If some other renter arrives, we might have to move the truck out again, and back in all over again...

Using the truck, I was able to redirect the truck to the motel where I was staying and move the load there.

Yeay! Everything in the truck - 4 hours, including making the list!

I was very concerned about how much effort it would be to take everything out of the unit and create the list. But, it took us only 4 hours to get that part accomplished!

My dear friend Cherryl had taken off the day from work to help me with this process. That woman worked like I would have expected a hired college hunk to work!!! Even the ultra heavy Bosch washing machine we were able to roll up the ramp into the truck using the dolly. 

I had booked the motel for 4 days, expecting to need at least 2 or 3 days. But, we got it all done before I even checked in! Well, I had a few days where I could try to source a few other items I had on my list, which are not available in Panama.

So much crap!!!! 😖

In case you end up near Elkton MD one day and need a motel, I would like to put in a plug for the Sunrise Inn where I stayed. It is a lovely old motel, like out of a 60s movie. Nicely restored and operated by a family. I found the room to be clean and very spacious, the rate affordable, the mattress to be comfortable, and the nights to be nice and quiet...

So, yesterday the container came. This time we loaded it in 1 1/2 hours! Well, The driver was a very friendly and helpful man! We connected well, as he's originally from Haiti, Cherryl from Jamaica, and I used to live in Tobago... He, a true gentleman, didn't want Cherryl to deal with the heavy stuff and helped me with it.

Darn! There's so much space for more stuff!!! 😝 

Well, we were done before noon, and the container went on its way! Yeay!

Off you go! Have a nice trip! See you in Chiriquí, your new home...

Now there's only my Prius left. I am planning on dropping that off on Friday at the Baltimore harbor for Roll-On-Roll-Off shipping.

Then I have no more physical ties to the US. Only emotional ones to the friends I made there... Next week on Tuesday, I'm flying back to my new home country. If Iris should get a visa, we might come back to the US to visit my friends. But I won't "have to" return anymore...

Whao! The second volume of my life, from age 30 to almost 60, is now about to be finished! The third volume, the autumn of my life in Panama, has started! I'm excited to see what experiences it will bring. So far it was very, very nice! And with Iris in my life, I think this third chapter will be amazingly wonderful...

Plumbing Woes

It seems to me, that everything you can buy in Panama is cheap and therefore of low quality. 

I guess, since most people have a very low income, they don't have a choice between a good thing and a cheap thing. Their choice is a cheap thing or no thing!

Well, one of the problems with low quality, cheap things is, that they tend to break easily and quickly.

Today, we encountered one of these breaks at the restaurant.

There are two water supply pipes from the town-water network at the house that the restaurant is located in. And, on one of these pipes the PVC glue gave up the ghost, and the joint disconnected. 

The consequence was, that there was a 1/2" pipe spouting water at full pressure!

Luckily, that pipe is located on the outside of the house, so we didn't get a flood in the kitchen or bathroom. However, that water had to run somewhere, too. And that somewhere was down the driveway of the neighbor, making a big puddle in front of their door. At times it looked like the water might enter their house. 

What the heck to do in such a situation?!?!?

For the moment, we used two big buckets. When one was full we switched to the other one and emptied the full one down the toilet.

But, obviously, that is not a longterm solution!

In the meantime, Iris called the water guy, telling him about the problem. He went and turned the water off for the whole town. 

That sounds like a terrible thing, but it isn't really. Why? Because the town-water is turned on usually only every other day, and only for a few hours. And our water break was past the typical turn-off time anyhow.

But, still, the water kept on running for another 3/4 of an hour!

Secondly, I tried to use a wet&dry glue to connect the fitting again to the pipe. On the other side of the fitting was a faucet. So, to reduce the pressure, I connected a garden hose to that faucet and opened it up all the way before trying to glue that piece back to the pipe. The idea was, to allow as much as possible of the water to run off. That, however, did not work, because there still was just too much pressure!

Usually, the glue is supposed to cure for 24 hours before pressure can be applied. 10 seconds just didn't do it. And holding these things together for much longer than 10 seconds is not easy either...

Finally, I ended up connecting a shutoff-valve to the pipe - with the valve completely open. That worked, and the joint stayed together. But, I couldn't close that valve as of yet, as the pressure would have just catapulted that thing off again. 

Luckily, by then the pressure from the town-system had reduced by about 50%, so I was able to glue the fully opened faucet to the valve. The hose we ran to the kitchen sink, and Iris used that water for washing the dishes - so it wasn't all completely wasted. 

And, most importantly, it was running down the drain, and no longer down the neighbor's driveway...

Here is a picture of end product. I'm hoping it will all stay together tomorrow or the day after when the town water is turned on again.

As you can see in the picture, different glues had been used over the years. The grey glue had given up - it is about 1/2 the price of the blue one. 

Unfortunately, there is no primer to be found anywhere in Panama. So all glues are applied straight to the PVC. That might be contributing to the joints to be breaking after a while, too.

We'll see, if the blue glue lasts, despite no primer; or if it will break, too, at some time in the future...

Here’s another picture, that shows how adventurous the piping can get after a while…

So, Yeap, 1/2 price glue connects the pipes when you use it. Can't afford the full price glue? Well, for the moment the 1/2 price one solves the issue. When it breaks, well, then we'll deal with that then - and maybe it's somebody else anyhow who has to deal with it! So no problem today!

Getting the panama drivers license

Another silly wrinkle in the bureaucracy!

You can not apply for a Panama driver's license as long as you don't have an at least temporary residency. But, as soon as you have it, your foreign driver's license is no longer valid!

So, in theory, you can drive yourself to the Immigration Services building to receive your residency, but you can not leave driving yourself... 

So how do you get a Panama driver's license?

There are two options:

a) you get your foreign driver's license transcribed

b) you start from scratch applying for the Panama driver's license like a local teenager does

Why would you even consider starting from scratch?

Well, to transcribe your foreign license, you have to get it notarized by your consulate. Then you have to get a certified translation. And have it approved by the Panama Ministry for Foreign Affairs. After that, you simply go to the licensing office (SERTRACEN) and they give you your Panama Driver's License.

That works well for europeans (i heard from friends), probably for canadians as well. However, for US citizens this option is very unattractive (to use a kind word).

Why? The US State Department is totally for the birds! I only had to deal with them 3 times in my life, and every time they surprised me with how inefficient, incapable, and useless they are!!!

This is one of those three times.

As soon as I got my residency, I tried to get an appointment with the consulate to notarize my US license (Yes! You have to get an appointment! You can't just go there, as with other countries' consulates!), but they didn't have an appointment available for 2 (TWO!!!) months!

That means, for more than two months I would have to use buses and taxis, even though I have a car and am perfectly capable to use it. Secondly, I have to either spend a day and pay 300$ for airline tickets to travel from Chiriqui back to Panama City to visit the consultate, and fly back in the evening. Or I could spend 30$ for bus tickets plus 30$ for two nights in hotel and spend three days for the same task.

Makes no sense!

So how to go about getting a Panama Driver's License from scratch?

First, you need to go to a driving school and apply for a student's license certificate. That costs 60$ and takes about 15 days. But don't worry, you don't have to take any classes, or driving lessons! It's just a bureaucratic step.

While you're waiting, you can practice the theory test questions. There are two sites of interest:

Here's the link to the list of 133 questions in english, and here's the link to the page with the practice test. (Click on REALIZAR TEST to start the test). You can take the practice test as often as you like. Most of the answers are quite logical. Some are just something you have to learn by hard...

Once you have your certificate, you can make an appointment with SERTRACEN, and go there to take the tests. The driving school makes that appointment for you.

You have to take two tests: 

The theoretical test is on a computer. You get 10 questions out of the 133 questions. You have to get at least 7 answers right.

Then there's a practical test - in David it is on a sectioned off part of the parking lot at Federal Mall (inside which SERTRACEN is now, since Chiriqui Mall burnt down). That test consists of three tasks: You have to parallel park, park perpendicular going in nose first, and park perpendicular going in backwards. You have about 2 minutes for each of the three tasks, and you have a lot of space. So, for anybody who's been driving for a little while already, these tasks should be fairly easy - no, VERY easy - to accomplish!

Note, for the practical test you need to bring a car, they don't have any rentals available. Secondly, you HAVE to be alone in the car, and nobody is allowed to be close to the parkinglot section where the test is taking place (taking a video or just watching). You gotta be totally on your own there...

Obviously, I chose the second option to get my Panama Driver's License. I was very worried about it: how difficult will the theory be? Will my Spanish be sufficient? What are they requiring for the practical test?

But, it turned out to be not a big deal at all. I took the test (and practiced the test) in Spanish, and it was quite doable even with my very limited Spanish skills...

Well, I just hope I will never need anything from the US state department! And I am very glad I do have my Panama residency and Panama driver's license. Yeay! Step by step the bureaucratic hurdles are taken...