November 5, 2011

Having not shopped in the states for quite some time, I am not really sure about the shoe styles anymore. But, in the pictures are the typical shoes of the typical Panama woman. They wear these EVERYPLACE. As short as the locals are, they really don’t seem all that shorter than I am. But, then the shoes are so high. Some news articles say there is a big problem with drivers having to let the ladies out of the car as close as possible to their destination because these extremely high platform shoes and the ever present broken sidewalks just don’t work together very well. But the ladies wear these to the grocery store, the mall, on the bus, literally everyplace. You see a bus stop with large groups of people. The ladies are all in jeans and these extremely high heels. Can’t imagine how they can walk in these, especially with their jeans, which appear to be sprayed on. They gotta be uncomfortable.
We went to the mall (stupidly) on Saturday, which was also payday. Coming down one hallway, we saw this long line of people waiting to get into the bank. You have to pass several guards before going in who have hand metal detector and they limit how many people can be in the bank at one time. Anyway, we ate lunch at a food court where we could watch this line. The 45 minutes or so we were sitting at the food court, the line just got longer and we saw very little movement.
Only two days of school this week. Lots of national holidays around the first of November. Day of the Dead (our Memorial Day?), Independence Day and Flag Day. All the schools in Panama were required to march in the parades that were Thursday and Friday to exhibit civic pride. It is fun to see the nationalistic spirit. That is something that I have not seen in the USA. This was the first year that International schools here in Panama were required to march. If you didn’t, you had to pay a steep fine. Our school got a free pass this year since we don’t have high school yet. Apparently, it is a big deal to really show well in these parades with a band or drill team, so the local schools practice, practice and practice. (needless to say, this is at the expense of school and learning). And we wonder why Panama ranks so low among the world’s countries in education? But, I have definitely come to the conclusion that it is worth appreciating a different culture, regardless of the warts. It is not the USA, but I cannot help but compare. At first, I thought everything should change, but have come to realize that it just is. It is what makes this country what it is. And I am blessed that I can actually experience the culture. There are way too many people in the world that never have that opportunity or take the opportunity.