The pictures are from Aruba. It is less than ninety minutes from
here! So we went there for just a few
days last week. It was beautiful but
just so American.
OK, I’ve been in Panama for over
two years now. Not bad for a simple sabbatical
leave that was to last for 10 months?
But, this place never ceases to amaze me. When I think I have it figured
out and I have had all the experiences and then – POW – another experience hits
me in my face.
Early yesterday morning, Wayne and
I had blood tests at a hospital on the other side of town. The “other” side of town is 12 minutes away without
traffic, but it could be “days” away with bad traffic. But, we were sailing along on the main four
lane road thru town, because there was no traffic at 6:30 am. We had to get there early, because the lack
of caffeine was doing me in. So, on the four
lane road with no shoulders, where people were driving at 40 / 50 miles per hour (actually kilometers per hour
here) and no cross streets, someone actually stops in the right hand lane to
let someone out of the car!!! Not once,
but twice, plus a cab also simply stops in the roadway to pick up a fare. So, Wayne had to repeatedly swerve to avoid
hitting these guys and almost side swipes other cars! Now, I totally understand that it is probably
much safer to be in rush hour traffic, when it crawls and you have time to
react!!! We see these crazy “driver”
issues on a daily basis. Guess in our
neighborhood, we have multiple speed bumps that hopefully slow cars down. (Wayne said Panamanian drivers are either
accelerating or braking, nothing in between).
Of course some drivers have realized that they can sometimes go at the regular
speed and just go right over some of the speed bumps without slowing down.
But anyway, we had our blood tests
done. Made it through with our
increasing, but yet still deficient Spanish.
Comparing the prices (before insurance) from the states to these prices
was like … unbelievable. A urine
analysis test, which tested for about 20
things was 7 dollars. Plus, I had the
results of our tests in my email by 3:00 pm the same day. Some tests that take
longer were not there, but most were. No
more waiting days and then begging the doctor to give you a copy of your
results during your next appointment that he charges you for.
Anyway, today my friend and I had
an appointment for a couple hours at a spa that we had gotten from a Groupon coupon. We were totally excited about the experience. We have been at this spa before, knew where
it was, knew it was a great place at a great price. So, we get there 30 minutes before our
appointment (again, you never know the traffic situation). A very poorly made sign on the door said they
had moved. OK, where to ? They gave an address, but there really are no
real street addresses here in Panama. So,
we walked for a half hour trying to follow the directions. Nothing.
Got back and looked at the sign again and it had three phone numbers. So, we tried all three phone numbers. If someone
had answered, we really didn’t know what we would say in Spanish. But it was no issue, since no one
answered. Needless to say, we now need
to fight with the agency that sold the coupons to see what happened. Thankfully, the coupon agency is one of the few
companies in Panama that is said to have excellent customer service. Yes, customer service needs to improve here,
if the country plans on developing tourism.
Funny. In my Spanish class, we
were talking about the word “Ordener”.
It means order. It is said to be a “bad” word here. People do not like to be “ordered”. If you use that word, people get mad and won’t
do a thing for you.
