¿Qué hora es? Teléfonos Mágicos y Compañeros Simpáticos

¿Qué hora es? Teléfonos mágicos y compañeros simpáticos

And so my first silly adventure in Panama just took place. Apparently Panama likes to play little jokes on people as a form of initiation. But before I begin my long story let me provide some background.

In the past few days I have no sense of time. I barely know what day it is. And sleep, its almost like a forgotten activity of another life of mine. On Tuesday morning while still in Chicago I went to bed at midnight after a long day of packing. After only 3 hours of sleep I woke up to throw some last few things in my carry one and get dressed to leave for the airport. After landing in Washington DC at 10am my lovely new friend and fellow peace corps volunteer Keara picked me up from the airport with her very sweet sister. After a quick lunch we went straight back to the hotel for registration and meetings and a few errands to run. That night I slept from 11:00p, to 3:00am if I remember correctly. After a flight to Miami and then another here to Panama City it was about 3:00pm when arrived. That night I went to bed at about 9:30 but unfortunately could not fall asleep for hours probably from over exhaustion. I do not think I feel asleep until about 2:30 and I had to wake up at 6:30. The next day I finally was able to get some sleep. Probably at least a whole 7 hours. But compared to the 8 - 9 that I slept every night my last 2 weeks in Chicago, it just didnt even compare.

The point of providing you with a pretty thorough outline of my sleep schedule is to give you an idea of A) how exhausted I am and B) to show how out of my element I am since I normally go to bed at about 2am and get up at 10am.

Last night was our first day venturing out of our little safe bubble here in Panama. During pre training service/ or orientation we live in a little neighborhood where many international government agencies have their offices/housing. Its a very nice place with nice little apartment style housing with 6 people per apartment, and lots of outdoor amenities like a nice pool into which we hopped in on the first night. However after nonstop classroom orientation for 8 hours a day this nice little place can get a little stuffy. Hence why we were so excited to go to the Albrook Mall for dinner last night. I had one main goal while at the mall to buy a cellphone. No worries, I am not spoiling myself here, we are required to get one at some point anyways, so I figure why not now while I am still in the city. Plus it will be nice to contact my parents once in a while to let them know that yes, I am still alive.

Obtaining the phone was an adventure in itself. I learned from previous volunteers that a dual sim card phone is the way to go. That way I can switch providers for just one dollar if my site ends up being in a place that doesnt have service from the other. Let me tell you, it is not so easy to make sure that you are getting the right thing when everyone just wants to cell you their phone. However, third time was the charm and after some running back and forth between stores to buy the phone at one and put money on it at another I finally had my highlighter green phone for $30. (Also I gained a bit confidence in Spanish speaking skills along the way, which I have been questioning a bit lately as I compared mine to some of the amazing Spanish speakers in this group). That night after setting the phone up, time date, and alarm for next morning, I gave my dad a call and went to bed at 10:30 after a long day of 13 hours of activities. Excited about our field trip to a current volunteers site, and not so excited about waking up at 5:25 to make it to our bus which was leaving at 6am I finally fell asleep.

AND SO THE REAL STORY BEGINS

My alarm on my phone goes off. I look at my phone. 5:25. Ah... why???? This is torture I think to myself. I lay there for a few minutes and finally decided to get up. I grab all my stuff and go to the bathroom that I share with my roommate in order not to wake her up (her group doesn’t have to leave until an hour and a half after us. As I get ready I think to myself how lucky the rest of the girls in my apartment are that they get to “sleep in”. I look at my phone 5:50, I should probably head out soon. I double check to make sure that I have everything in my little backpack. Sunscreen, water, camera, mosquito repellent just in case. Ok lets do this! 5:56 I grab my phone in my hand and I leave my little apartment. Yeah this place is very safe, but its still very dark out, and I don’t know this place well enough just yet. I shut the door behind me, check to make sure it locked. Ok I am good to go. I look around, the streets are empty. The air feels so nice at this hour. the perfect temperature. I feel the breeze against my face. Lovely. As I take a few steps I wonder where the rest of my group of about 20 is. But then I hear some voice coming from the direction I’m walking in and it calms my concerns. Soon enough though I find out its a bunch of people hanging out across the street at one of the apartments. “Weird” I think to myself, “these people definitely know how to party late, or early should I say”. I keep walking forward hoping that they dont bother me. As I walk towards our meeting spot where our bus is supposed to wait for us I can now see that there is no bus.....ok things are getting a bit too strange for me now. I start to question what time it really is. “Should it be bright out by now? I mean I dont really know. I’ve never been up at this hour in Panama.” After walking the whole length of the street ( I live in the last building) I now am positive that there is no bus, and that this night/morning is some funny joke. No bus. No people. Just me and a lot of questions. I look down at my phone 5:59. “Lies!!!” I think. sigh. I decide to head back to my building but first I decide to take out my key card, so that I can get in quickly without any of these partying folk bothering me. As a start to walk with my water bottle, bag, key, and cell phone in hand I feel like I drop something. But I didn't hear or see anything fall. As I walk up to my door I see that there is no key in my hand, nor bag. “Ah, just my luck! Did I even ever have it in my hand? Am I going crazy? Man, this will be one story to tell.” So now as I stand in front of the front door I know that my only option is too knock. I don't even want to go and try to find the key card alone in the dark in the middle of the street right by all those possibly drunk people. So I knock on the door once. Then again. I realize that this may never work because my roommates will probably never hear it, and even if they do they will probably be freaked out. I knock once more. No luck. Ok time for the windows. I knock on the window of one room. I knock again. At this point I am just laughing at myself. Literally laughing out loud. Oh how great of a plot this is for a horror movie I think to myself a little nervously. Ok next window here we go. Last chance? I knock twice. I wait. Ah ha! And so the front door finally opens and I quickly walk over to it. Four of my roommates quickly gather and stand there very confused as I ask what time it is. 2:30 they respond. I just laugh and show them my phone.

Don’t trust the highlighter green phone. Lesson learned. You may have won this one Panama, but next time I will be prepared and check all my other devices with times as well!

Now for that key card.....