March 11, 2012

Take a country where traffic is hell to begin with. Then, close some of the lanes on major roads all around the city, as well as close some of the side streets for the two to three years to construct a metro transit system. So, the traffic becomes even more unbearable. THEN on top of that, have a couple more major roads close down because of repeated protests.
The indigenous people are still closing roads to protest the construction
of hydroelectric plants in Panama. Some of them are on their land, while many are not, but they want to close all of them.
In fact, last week, there were talks between the indigenous people and the
government. These talks were in an area that was close to the Presidential
palace, but they decide to move them because of small clashes that broke out frequently
between the police at the palace and the Indians. So, where did they move it to??? Right next
door to my school. Needless to say, parents were worried, but we didn’t even know it was going on. I guess the Indians are complaining because they live off the land and everything is so “natural”. However, if the talks begin to break down, they are quickly on their “natural” cell phones and contacting the others to get out and block more roads.
Then, there were the cab drivers that were protesting they were being harassed by the police. Apparently, the cops were beginning to actually enforce some of the driving laws in the country and the cabbies believe it was harassment. So the cabbies were gathering together and en
mass driving slowly (as if you don’t have to drive slow anyway) on the main roads
to cause more traffic jams. Then, the government is paying big money to the drivers of the Diablo Rojos (Red Devils) to purchase their old, almost broke-down busses and remove them off the road as they are dangerous. Some people are purchasing a junky bus, driving it a short time in hope they too can cash in with the $$$ the government is offering. But, they never get
their paperwork done, drive illegally and then get stopped by the police to
check for proper vehicle registration.
These drivers believe they are being harassed, so they decide to block some roads around the airport to protest.
Ahhh, the fascination with all this.

March 4, 2012

Dry season is still here. Can’t remember seeing everything so dry, but we are still enjoying it. Occasionally, we go out onto our balconies and find lots of ash that has landed from fires in the interior. Now, last week, we actually saw a fire nearby. It was in the jungle just up the street from us, so we took a walk and watched it for awhile. Unbelievable. I have never been in a forest fire, so this had to be the biggest fire that I have ever seen. Just the noise from the fire was incredible. But there were plenty of firemen, forest fire fighters (so their uniforms said), lot of spectators, and people behind their homes wetting everything down with garden hoses. Later, we found out that the fire was likley set on purpose to thin out the jungle. It is interesting to notice the jungles appear much thinner because the grass and underbrush has dried up so much. You can actually see into the jungle some.
But, with absolutely not a drop of rain since before Christmas, you can only imagine how dry the jungle gets when it normally gets inches a day of rain. Someone told us that it won’t be long before the canal is complaining of a lack of water to work the locks. However, we are so enjoying this weather. Low humidity, strong breezes and no mold. The middle of the day is so hot when in the sun, but early morning walks and evening walks are absolutely delightful. Trees have dropped their leaves, but strangely, beautiful flowers have popped out all over the place.
We just noticed Thursday that another brand new private school is opening in our little town. This one is a British school with a “British” curriculum. Private schools are every place around here. Then, another IB private school is opening right across the canal from our neighborhood. Only the very poor put their children into the public schools. It is very sad for a country with a booming economy to put very little money into their public schools, or so it seems from our perspective. I do know one gentleman from our church that teaches in a public school. He teaches in a rather middle class neighborhood, but the school has few students. The parents in that particular neighborhood have enough money to put their children in private schools.
I met a gentleman a couple of weeks ago that has been talking with me about hopefully placing some computers into a town in the interior. Apparently, once a child finishes 6th grade, he can go to high school if he takes a long bus ride into the nearest “big city”. The bus costs a dollar each way and the kids can be on the bus for well over an hour. Being that someone in the interior may only make 7 dollars a day, that cost is a big part of the family’s salary. Also, they usually need their older child at home to work. So maybe computers in a supervised location nearby could help remedy the situation, if a kid was motive to get school online. I don’t know if Panama City is 2nd or 3rd world, but the interior is certainly 3rd world. The gap between the rich and the poor is wide.