November 17, 2012

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.