Panama: we've arrived!

We woke this morning in time to leave the house just before 4 a.m., and made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare.  The gate attendants checked our tickets and our passports, and then started worrying that we didn't have visas, but we (successfully) convinced them we don't need them, which is correct -- after all, here Neil and I are, just outside of Panama City, in our AirBnB, with no visas at all.

A beautiful, easy set of flights.

My first glimpse of Panama.

 Our plane arrived 12:51 p.m. Panama time.

Note about time changes: Panama is obviously south of Lancaster, but it's also only a tiny bit west of Lancaster, and the time change is 1 hour off our home base time.  That is, we arrived  1:51 p.m. Eastern Standard time, or 11:51 a.m. in California time.  

Getting through customs took 15 minutes; then we had to send our luggage through some kind of x-ray scanner.  My host, Jeanette, was waiting for us, which was LOVELY.  Her cousin is an uber driver, and they whisked us through the center of Panama City up to our AirBnB.  

Panama City skyscrapers,
through the rear view window of the car.

I thought maybe that would be when we'd part ways, but Jeanette had seen my giant list of administrative duties that I'll need to accomplish for my immigration status, and she is a fireball of energy.  She helped locate a translator, and then arranged for photocopying my documents, taking me to the translator and also doing a bit of grocery  shopping and lunch, and then back "home".  

Somewhere in there, the skies gave us a true Panama downpour of a welcome, so I know we're really here.  The rain here is truly impressive. 

Anyway, we've banged out some big admin tasks, and we've settled into our space; we've got wifi and coffee and bread and peanut butter and full bellies.  We're both kind of exhausted, but also happy that things have gone so well.  We think we're going for a walk around our neighborhood, and then we'll collapse and get some sleep.

¡Estamos en Panamá!