Habla Ingles?

Our first full day in Panama began at the Marriott hotel where we grabbed breakfast from the concierge lounge and James met a woman from KPMG Panama to get the keys to our "new" apartment.  Once we were all packed up, we phoned for a bellhop to come and help us with our bags (let me clarify... our 3 large suitcases, one large duffel bag, 2 carry-on suit cases, car seat, pack n' play, and 2 backpacks).  Needless to say, we received some great looks checking into the Marriott for one night with all of that luggage.  We get in our taxi and head to Bella Vista, Calle 39.  Our apartment building was constructed in 2008, however, it looks like it has been around for much longer than 3 years.  4B, our two bedroom, two bathroom apartment is where we call home (for the next 89 days).  While we are technically in Panama City, we aren't "downtown" and don't really have too much around our apartment.  James ventured out while Genevieve was napping to find us some lunch.  He returned with fries, a bacon cheeseburger, and a philly cheesesteak...that's Panamanian cuisine, right?  In any case, not too bad.

Next order of business...our super long list of groceries/apartment necessities.  But how to get a cab?  Not only did we need a cab, but it was POURING rain!  Thankfully, the security guard in our building was nice enough to help us call for one despite our very limited Spanish.  We took a taxi to Supermercado Riba Smith.  Since we don't have a car of our own, we have to take Genevieve's car seat with us whenever we go somewhere via taxi.  That being said, we made our way around Riba Smith with 2 shopping carts, one for groceries, one for a baby and a car seat.  We spent about two hours in the grocery store.  Things are NOT cheap in Panama.  We just couldn't stomach paying $7.40 for a box of cereal.

Here comes the hard part....finding a taxi home.  Apparently it is impossible to hail a taxi from the grocery store when you no hablo Espanol!  After about 20 minutes, we FINALLY get a taxi.

That evening, we decided to just order pizza from the local Dominos for dinner.  James calls Dominos and attempts to order, but they don't understand him.  In fact, they put him on hold and never picked up again.  So, he hung up and had me call.  I thought my Spanish was pretty clear, but the lady put me on the phone with someone who said "Are you speaking Spanish?", in English.  Apparently, I didnt do as great of a job as I had thought.  I was very close to finishing ordering our pizza when our TV, Internet, and Phone went out.  Noooooooooooooo!  James and I decided to have PB&Js for dinner with some chips and salsa.  Needless to say, our first day was not the easiest and a little frustrating.

A few other random things from the weekend:

1.  Both of the showers in the apartment have water pressure issues so we feel like we are showering under a waterfall...
2.  We may have a small ant problem in the kitchen (on the fourth floor of an apartment building?!), and by small ant problem, I really mean SMALL ANT problem!  These ants are TINY!
3.  Everyone LOVES Genevieve and wants to touch her and say baby-like things to her...all we can do is smile and pretend like we know what they are saying.
4.  We were able to watch the Redskins/Cowboys game on TV, but it was of course in Spanish.  If you listened really carefully, you could hear the English speaking announcers in the background.
5.  Only 3 TV stations are NOT in Spanish...one of them is a sports channel (James is thrilled), and the other two will provide us with many hours of House, CSI, Friends, and Two and a Half Men.

All in all, things are good!  We have a lot of Spanish to learn and a lot of Panama to see!  Only 88 more days!