October 23, 2011

You leave in the morning with a list of errands to do, wondering if you will accomplish anything. So this is how it went. Three errands, pharmacy, bank, gasoline. Seems pretty simple. Went to the bank and was amazed. Got an English speaking clerk, got the business done. One Down! Then to the pharmacy. No parking spaces anywhere. Most establishments must think that people don’t drive. Just check the traffic and you know that isn’t true. But, not a single space. So you think, well, just park illegally as many people do. But even those spaces were taken. So you might just think, wait around for someone to move out. Well, you better be ready to be hyper aggressive to get that space when one does becomes available. So anyway, you either find a place to park before 9:00 am or forget it. Of course, the store you want isn’t necessarily open by then either. So forget that errand and on to the gas station with the hopes of getting two errands completed. Whoops, gas station had run out of gas! Oh well, 1 out of 3 is better than 0 out of 3.
Speaking of parking, check out the story below. One of my friends posted this on her Facebook Wall. Typical of what happens here. Crazy, but it really happens.
“Panama City, 5 PM (height of rush hour). Mother driving Mercedes SUV stops in middle lane of main road and lets two 7 year old girls out of the car, to walk through traffic to go to Dunkin Donuts. She pulls over to left lane, still on main road, puts on the blinking hazard lights, brings traffic to stand still, and waits on main road. Five minutes later, girls come out, each with a donut in hand. Mercedes SUV pushes button to automatically open door for girls and goes on their merry way. All the while, when "encouraged" to park in a designated parking area, the said mother smiled and waved.”
I went to a ladies retreat this weekend from my church. The Gamboa Resort was the location and was it ever beautiful. Thankfully, we had a lot of time to just roam amongst the jungle. I met two gals, one from Singapore and one from Mali (Africa). It was almost too funny to hear their thoughts on Panama, which they both have recently move to. The one from Mali couldn’t get over the cleanliness and safety of Panama. She just couldn’t be happier to be here. The one from Singapore didn’t feel that way having moved from probably the safest and cleanest place on earth. Anyway, the resort was incredible with the exception of all the “Watch for Alligators” signs. I didn’t want to venture off the beaten path for sure. Forgot my camera, but did get a couple pictures with my phone.