Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Today I was really excited about meeting up with another new friend and exploring a very colorful area of Panama City, the Cinco de Mayo. I would never go there myself, but she has lived in the country for a few years and has a grasp of the language. BUT our plans were cancelled due to possible protests/riots in certain areas downtown. I guess in Cincinnati you worry about snow interrupting your plans, here you are concerned about occasional riots. Anyway, the labor unions were upset about a recent law that diminished their power and the US Embassy suggested staying away from the universities (students here love to protest for any reason), and construction areas (but only a very small minority are in the unions). Downtown, almost every area is a construction area. Oh well, we are waiting until next week when things should have been forgotten and once again you can go wherever. Typically, the worst that happens is the traffic is screwed up for a few hours. However, there were violent protests last week out in one of the provinces. My friend is also going to take me on the one of the Diablo Rojos (the funky “made over” school buses that run all over town). I am afraid to get on one myself because I would never know where it was going or how to get off. Sounds like fun if you go with someone who is familiar with them.
Went to PriceSmart again (Latin American version of Costco) yesterday and tried to get our membership cards that we couldn’t get when we applied for membership almost two weeks ago. They had run out of plastic for the cards. They are STILL out of plastic card stock. It is coming “manana”. That is what they say EVERY time we go in. The country loves that word. It obviously means nothing, only that it won’t happen today. Oh well, I at least learned a new word, “plastico”. I have to say that each time we go in. Little by little my vocabulary is building.