Our 2nd World accommodations!

Let’s just say that we've been living very simple. Our household goods are in route but it will be another 5 weeks before it arrives. To make life easy and livable to American standards, we have made a few purchases. Nothing fancy but good enough for the Patino family!

Our Kitchen/ multi use table!! It will eventually make it's way to our Master bedroom patio when our stuff arrives. I've added a few touches: $.50 place mats and $3.00 pillows and it now looks fabulous. Let me not forget to mention the view...green, green and more green!

Our bed!! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's a Queen pillow rest raised with a built-in electric pump air mattress. Seriously, the best investment we've purchased here. Brandon also has the same one. We brought our fancy linens - this one is courtesy of my sister-in-law when she was 15. I LOVE it! Hawaii is my favorite place to be and thought this would bring me joy everyday when I make our bed in the morning. Great choice on my behalf.

We can't forget our new High definition TV we brought from the United States. This TV is so high tech, 1080p that Panama still need to catch up with it. We decided to order the newest, latest and greatest TV package that offers HD thinking that it would be in comparison to the US. We were wrong, HD here in Panama is 720p and regular channels are 420p. Oh well! I'm happy to say that I logged into my Netflix account and it works here!!! YES!! I've never been a big fan of Netflix but this will offer us a world of TV that we don't have access to.

Brandon brought his X Box 360 and a few games. As of today, he won't be able to purchase X Box games here. The gaming system used here is PlayStation. Panama is still developing and will eventually catch up to the rest of the world. For now, this isn't a big deal since kids in our neighborhood play outside and summer is soon approaching. 

You know that cool technology box that you have nicely installed in your home? Well here they still run cable in the homes and the mess to install this still lingers. I'm not sure how I'm going to hide this when our stuff gets here but this is as good as it gets! Honestly, at this point, I don't care where it was as long as I had access to the internet.We applied for this service 9 days ago and today it was finally installed! Brandon has not been able to do homework and I've needed internet to contact my family for free. 

Lastly, when we moved in, these devices were all over our home. They eliminate excess humidity and odor in the home. We have now invested in a few more and they seem to be working well. They are small enough to hide or will become part of our decor! 

We are getting used to the simple life. Al and I are sleeping well in our fancy air mattress and we have just enough to make our home a home. I'm grateful for these last few days as we adjust to our new schedules. I'm anxiously awaiting for my Spanish class and hopefully a job that will follow. For now, I've been in prayer, prayer and more prayer. I will start going to the gym next week and develop my life here. We are abundantly blessed to be here in Panama and happy to report that we really like one church so far. Everything takes time and I look forward to sharing more of our adventure with you! 

Our adventure continues…Mission Accomplished – we picked a school!

Brandon's 1st day of school pic. I embarrassed him!!

Choosing the right school for Brandon was very important. We needed a school that would accommodate his educational needs plus would offer him sports, culture and new friendships. My biggest concern was the small environments in the other schools. For example, there is only one 7^th grade class at Knightsbridge which had a total of eight students which translated to me eight friends in Panama. Out of all the schools: ISP, MET and Balboa are the only facilities that met our criteria.

We are very happy with our decision to enroll Brandon into Balboa Academy – home of the Dragons! They service 47 countries and have over 850 students! Eventually he will go back to the States for college and we wanted to give him the same environment he would have to adapt to their.

Sticker shock!!!

International schools are very expensive and our first check was close to $10,000.00! (GULP)

The breakdown of the fees is as followed:

• Capital fee: $10,000.00 ($5,000 due now, $5,000 due next school year)

• Tuition: $2,543.00 (due 4 times the school year which totals to $10,172.00)

• Application fee: $150.00

•  Annual registration fee: $1,274.00

• Annual Infrastructure fee: $450.00

• PTSO fee: $20.00

• Bus Transportation fee: $55.00 a month

• School uniforms: $142.00 for shirts, pants, and gym uniforms

This is an investment on our part for Brandon’s future. This experience will be something he will be able to reflect on as he gets older. He has met several kids and has called many of them “friends” already! Lukas is from Germany, Logan is from Scotland, Saehan, who Brandon says is white, is adopted with Indian parents, and Bernard is from Cuba. His new friends kindly gave Brandon the low down of the “troublemakers”, who are older students. Some things don’t change! Apparently they start food fights and get kids in trouble for smoking, LOL!! Who knows the extent of the trouble these kids have been in but if it’s only food fights, hey, I’m not too worried.

In Panama, all kids are required to wear uniforms. This is a big change for Brandon since he has never worn a uniform in his life. As most of you know, he has his own swag, Bay area style, to now a collared shirt and pants every day. Surprisingly he doesn't mind it. It’s easy and requires no thinking! Another change for Brandon is riding the bus. The bus service is very common here, unlike in California where I had to drop him off and pick him up every day.

Overall, our first week has been good. We've had our challenges that I’ll touch on my next blog! We are starting to develop our own routines and eventually this will be our new normal. This weekend we have our first school event, the Fall Festival and our first community Halloween party. I hope to meet some of my neighbors and get to know my new community!!  For now, many blessings to everyone!!

The time has come…goodbye CA (California), welcome CA (Central America)!

The last three weeks have been a blur. Al had a brilliant idea to have a garage sale the weekend before our last few days in California. Let me tell you, Al NEVER does anything average. He set up a Square for the big transactions and had a total of 10 tables: electronics, sports, purses, housewares, etc. You get my point. His strategy was to price things to sale but still wanted to make a good profit. All in all, he made close to $4,000.00 on the garage sale!!!!! A big high five to my hubby for all his hard work.

I hate saying good-bye. I prefer to say, “until next time” or “until we meet again”. I have met some AMAZING, and I mean AMAZING, people in the Bay Area. From work, to church to neighbors - wow, we have been so blessed with the very best!! It was hard to meet with everyone but we managed to meet with almost everyone. My staff had a going-away lunch…Thai, my favorite!! My hope is that I have had a positive impact on their lives and I have educated them with wisdom and knowledge to help them in their career. They are family, like my children, and I only want them to deliver the very best. I shed a few tears but knew deep down inside that they are going to do amazing with or without me!!

Our old neighbors, Phil and Flo made a delicious traditional Filipino meal at our going away party at Roy and Sue’s house. We have known each other for the last five years and this friendship will continue wherever we go. They know my house, is their house. I can’t wait until they visit us!

As for my sisters-in-Christ, what can I say, they never disappoint. We decided to do an early Thanksgiving meal together. I wanted to buy them all something to remember me but instead the Holy Spirit led me to a special message he wanted me to share with them. I encourage you all to take time to read this post. http://rsjames.com/storage/sisterfreakspages.pdf A message of courage, being a soldier in God’s Army. A message so powerful it brought me to my knees, thanking God for believing in my family and I and for the courage to take this move boldly under His command. You see, He had been working through me for years in the Air Force. He took me to places that I never thought in my life I would be. He held onto me in my darkest hours and washed away my sins. Meanwhile preparing me for bigger and better!

 

Sorry, back to the topic…we were all in tears but encouraged by Karen’s letter. It is now my time to make this move to a developing country for His kingdom. Just a reminder, it’s not about me or my family, this is all about our Savior who opened this door for us. We have accepted His assignment and spreading our wings on faith alone. This time of fellowship made me so proud of where my ladies are today. All are serving in some capacity at New Life Church and Carol committed her life to Christ through baptism the week prior. I was proud of the work God has done in us and through us which lead to peace in my heart.

Our last service at New Life Church was perfect! Doug’s message was not written for us but it sure seemed like it!! It was over one of my favorite versus in the bible. I actually have it labeled, “Cecily’s verse” because I have prayed Ephesians 3:19-21 for her since I read it a few years ago. It states:

¹⁹ May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

²⁰ Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. ²¹ Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

3 points to his message:

1.) Surrender to the Father’s will and ways (check!)

2.) Continue to receive everything God has to give…surrender to receive His full blessing (check!)

3.) Share His love with more and more people (check!)

I can go on and one about our home church and the awesome people there but it is hard to fully receive it without being around God’s people in church. We are ready to receive above and beyond and look forward to our new assignment in Panama!!

My new motto...what do you think? LOVE IT!!

Thank you all for your kind messages you have sent us. We just continue to ask for prayer as we hurdle through getting Cheeks in school, me starting Spanish classes and Al starting his new job! Love you all!!

Getting out of the U.S.A

It has been challenging getting everything necessary for our move. Al said this move is harder than being a dad at 18, LOL! With the government shutdown, all the websites are disabled and no one is answering the phone lines.

We felt defeated and discouraged after calling number after number and no one answering. Eventually we called every number, for example- 3600, 3601, 3602 until we finally got a hold of the sole person working at the local California FBI office. My heart stopped when the agent told Al that his paperwork would NOT be approved for another 3 to 6 months!!! SERIOUSLY, we can’t wait this long. Apparently they receive two to three thousand requests a day and with the furloughs, it would take much longer than usual. Al got on the phone with the attorney in Panama and they figured out a way to give him a temporary Visa so he can start work as planned on mid-October. Praise you, Jesus!!

As for getting Chico squared away with all his paperwork, we had to make the drive to Sacramento since the USDA Vets were also affected by the shutdown. With pets, the paperwork can only be done 7 days prior to departure due to drug smuggling in animals. He needed shots and a health certificate from his Vet. Then you need a USDA Vet certification signature based in Sacramento. Lastly, we Fed-ex overnight all the documents to the Panamanian embassy in LA for more certified signatures allowing Chico to enter Panama without being quarantined. All this ran, including his flight, about $600.00!!! I know - we really love our Chico baby! Isn't he precious????