May 15, 2013

I did not write this. It came from a website, mydestinationpanama.com.

 But I have experienced every one of these stories multiple times.  Driving around here is a real challenge!  Enjoyable read anyway!

When I arrived in Panama City I could see almost instantly that driving here would be challenging…but after a few months and observing the patterns of drivers I am able to navigate through the traffic easier and sometimes predict what the other drivers will do. Prediction is actually necessary here as don’t expect to see anyone using their indicators.
I’ve learnt a few tricks in my time here that will help any newcomer, so if you are planning to drive in Panama I suggest you read on!
Driving in Panama is on the right side of the road, and the traffic signs and signals are similar to those in the U.S. However, by taking just a glance at the roads in Panama City, drivers can appear to be in utter chaos.

Israel Avenue, Panama City

The first thing to expect is to hear a lot of honking. People here in Panama use the horn frequently and for a variety of reasons. Here is the low down on the horn lingo:

• A quick “honk” can be expected as SOON as a light turns green, this is a signal for you, or whoever is in front of the traffic queue to ‘get a move on’.
• Another occasion where a quick “honk” is deemed appropriate is when driving down a street and a car may or may not pull out or reverse out in front of you. The “honk” indicates ‘I’m going…don’t even think about moving.’
• Now, the most frequently sounded horn is a long, aggressive “HOOOOONNNNNNNK”. This is a sign of ‘your cutting me off, I want to ram you, but that will damage my car so I’m going to honk loudly so you know that I’m annoyed.”
• The final horn sound that is distinguishable from the rest applies to pedestrians, that’s a quick “honk, honk” done by taxi drivers, their way of saying ‘do you need a ride?’
Another way of signaling to fellow drivers is by hand gestures, now I do not mean the rude ones, but using your hand to indicate where you are headed is common practice, especially in traffic jams.
Using your actual car indicator is a no-no, trying to change lanes with that on, is just asking to be blocked and purposely ignored. But rolling down the window, smiling and pointing in a “would you kindly let me in please?” manner works like a charm. This also saves you from having to push your way in and getting the long “HOOOOONNNNNNNK” from the driver behind you.

Entrance to South Corredor in Panama at Night

A couple of things to be aware off are when going through a light that’s just turned green, some people who just didn’t make the amber light in the cross road might nip through right in front of you. Seriously! Sometimes it is more than one car that goes through, so wait a couple of seconds. Another warning is to be aware if you are driving behind a taxi. You will notice that most taxis are banged up in the back; this is because they will stop anytime, anywhere, without warning to pick up a fare. So just use caution when behind one, taxi drivers also know that if a car runs into the back of the them, the driver of the car is always to blame. These front to back accidents are the most common in the city, minor collisions at low speeds otherwise know as ‘fender-benders’.
The traffic in the city at the moment is a major issue, they are currently building a metro there and its causing a lot of road works, diversions and of course congestion. Even if your destination is close you should always give yourself an extra 15-20 minutes for traffic, it is better to be early than to be late (although if you are meeting a local, most good Panamanians will be late). The worst thing about the traffic is that it is un-predictable. It can be congested at any time of the day or night, even when you least expect it. Panamanians are laid back in everyday life but when it comes to driving and traffic they have very little patience, so try your best not to get sucked in to the road rage all around you. Also, watch out for potholes as deep as graves and expect people to swerve onto your side of the road when avoiding holes on their side.

Panama City Centre

If you are lost and need to ask around for directions, keep in mind that even though the roads in Panama City are signposted, nobody knows street names. Directions are given by referencing landmarks and McDonalds in the area. True story.
But when all is said and done, I do highly recommend that you dare to drive here in Panama City as public transport is still developing. In a few years the metro should be complete which will be great, but at the moment, getting around without a car really limits what you can see and do. Especially as buses usually have very long lines, they are crowded and have long routes through the busy city traffic. Taxis are not metered, they state their price and they can even refuse to take you, therefore driving is definitely more convenient.

Now I’ve given you a few tips and tricks for driving in Panama, I hope it can help make it easier for you and make your visit to Panama more enjoyable.

May 8, 2013

Somehow May arrived.   Our dry season typically and very sadly ends around April 15. This year is different.  It still hasn’t ended and I have loved it.  These dry, low humidity days are wonderful.  Evenings are incredible, as are the mornings.  Afternoons get mighty hot and especially as the dry season continues and it seems that it has been hotter than any time since we have been here in Panama. That has been confirmed by the long time residents.  They can’t remember it ever being this hot. But with the extended dry season, there come a lot of problems.  Panama gets over 50 percent of their electricity from hydroelectric plants.  And with the lakes falling below optimal levels, electricity generation has been reduced.  So the country is taking some pretty drastic measures to conserve what power they have.  The first step was to have government offices open at 7:30 am for shortened hours.  The second, which began today, was to close all public and private schools for the remainder of the week.  So, an unexpected 3 day vacation just began today.  Yep, just like those snow days, except the weather is beautiful!   People were screaming, because casinos and malls were left open, but schools closed.   The minister of education said schools were going to reopen on Monday, but conservation measures would have to be put in place.  What that means exactly, I do not know.  But perhaps by Monday, the rains will return.   We still have about 6 weeks of school left, so wonder how this will all work out. The Panamanian public schools keep going to school through December. Their school year starts in March and ends in December. Also, tonight at 10:00 pm, everything is supposed to shut down - bars, casinos, restaurants, grocery stores, everything, until 6 am!   Wonder how that will work.  And offices etc. are not to turn the a/c on until an hour after they open. 

Earlier this year, some farmers were burning off a sugar cane field in the interior of the country.  The fire was right under a major power transmission line.  Anyway, the line overloaded, tripped the circuit breakers and the entire country (I mean the entire country) lost power.  Thankfully, we only lost our electricity for about a half hour or so, but parts of the city were blacked out for hours.  Our traffic is such a nightmare anyway, but when no stop lights were working, well, let’s just say it got worse!

I had an appointment at immigration today to get my permanent resident identification card.  Yes, no more crazy stamps in my passport to get in and out of the country when I travel.   The good thing was the immigration office opened at 7:30 am and I could easily get back to school. But, then there was no school, so not a worry anyway.  I got in and out of immigration in 45 minutes. That was a record to put in the books!! 

Pictures above are just some more of the incredible flowers that you can find here. 

March 31, 2013

 

March 31, 2013

Protests happen here in Panama a lot, as I have mentioned before.  But last week was a crazy one.  The firemen were protesting about their pay or whatever.  But typical of protests, the police toss tear gas into the group to try to quickly break it up.  So, as that happened, the firemen put on their gas masks they normally use during a fire.  Then, they started fighting the police by turning on the fire hoses at the riot police.  Meanwhile, during the “battle”, there was a major fire in one of the department stores at a nearby mall.  So, the firemen quickly stopped the silliness and tried to leave to fight the fire.  But, then the police started to arrest the firemen for protesting!    Really, I do wish I understood the language a lot more, so I could actually understand the dialog during the news casts.  All I can get is the American translation of the events or translate the captions as they stroll across the television screen.

 

Once again, I am going through the immigration process which really never seems to end.  My temporary card expired and I was leaving the country and had to get everything going again quickly.  Wayne and I had to have our second “marriage” interview.  This one we had to have a licensed professional translator.  Going into the immigration building was a trip in itself. There was a gal ahead of us in a spaghetti strap top.  They stopped her and wouldn’t allow her to continue without covering up.  Me, I had to remove my sunglasses.   I got caught on that one when I went in to get my driver’s license renewed also.  The government offices are very strict around here about sunglasses, proper shoes and clothes.  No shorts allowed, no flip flops, no sunglasses.

I think I have mentioned before that smoking here is illegal in most places.  It is just frowned upon  by most everyone.  Cigarettes are very expensive (how that compares to the states I really don’t know since I don’t buy them), but they do whatever they can do deter smoking in Panama.  We were out the other night with a couple where the guy smoked.  I noticed his cigarette pack on the table and was shocked.  On the cigarette package, they had the most unbelievable pictures of deformed children/cancer/ whatever they find something that smoking can cause.  Really very ugly. I was going to put one of the pictures on here, but they are just too gross.

 

We just returned from a week visit to Michigan.   It was cold.  Thankfully, our boys met us at the airport with coats, sweatshirts, etc.   We froze for a week, but at least being with the grandkids made it all worthwhile.  Lately, traveling gets more and more interesting. We have been out of the country now for almost three years.  When back into the range of “USA television”, we are glued to the commercials.  The new products coming into the market that we have no clue about are pretty amazing.  The pictures are from the last visit to the cold cold Northern territory!

January 18, 2013

It has been so long since I added to this blog. But, I love keeping it as a diary so I decided to add a few things that I certainly don’t want to forget.  Also, it is a repository for some pictures.  So, if you are still reading it, super!  If I don’t get on occasionally, I forget my password!

I had another “one of those days” at immigration yesterday. My initial immigration status is over and I am now applying for the next step.  As always, it was an adventure like no other.  We had a marriage interview 18 months ago to prove we were married and it went great.  But, now the law says you have to have another one (brand new procedure).  Our interviewer seemed to be someone who obviously hated his job with a passion.  I also had to have a professional translator (one that is certified, whatever that means). We had to wait only 2 hours for our appointment.   They are trying to “prove” that we are “really” married.  Part of the process is to ask you questions in an interview. They take me first and ask, then bring in Wayne and ask the same questions to see if they “match”?  Well we missed some questions, which is a real NO NO.  I guess we aren't married after 36 years!  They asked what color towel Wayne dried with after his shower that morning. I had no clue, nor did I have a clue what color mine was and I told them that. They insisted on a color, so I named a color of one of the stack of 5 towels we have.  I missed !!! We are not newlyweds with a beautiful set of perfectly coordinated towels anymore. Arggggg.. Then, I missed on the color of our toothbrushes.  We share an electric one, but Wayne also uses a regular one. I had no clue what color it is. They insisted I give a color. What a stupid stupid interview.   Really???   So after the "officials" review it, we may have to do the darn thing again.  But, I did get another temporary card for a year.  Like, will this visa process go on forever???  Seems like I go from one temporary card to another.  The country has a tremendous problem with illegals from Columbia.  But, we are an older couple from the US??? Really, are we  sneaking into the country and to do what?

 

Two weeks ago, I went to the US Embassy for an appointment to discuss Medicare. We could go over there and get information about whatever Medicare might be, since I am approaching that age.  The service at the Embassy was terrible, the people had no clue. In fact, I asked a question and she went to her computer, left me standing at the window for 20 minutes only to reappear and tell me what I knew already because I had looked online before.  Then, we went to a Panamanian bank thinking we would have issues with the language and being understood, but the service was excellent with an English speaking service representative. They were amazing. So, that day our expectations were certainly switched!

 

There is a beautiful food court being built in our neighborhood. It will be amazing when finished.  It has been under construction now for over two years.  In the states, it would have been totally constructed and operational in 6 months.  I asked someone (a Panamanian) what the problem was.  He said it was too many bosses that don’t speak to each other.  One says build a wall, the next week the other one says tear it down. They are already being fined for being many many months late.  Oh well!!!

 

We are now in the dry season. Our children were here for Christmas and I was so hoping the dry season would begin while there were here, but it did not.  On Saturday before they left, it rained hard while we were at an open air restaurant.  Since then it has not rained a drop.  The dry season probably started as they boarded the plane to return to the cold cold north.  Now, there will likely be no rain for 90 -110 days.  Beautiful!!!!  Very hot in the afternoon, though if you are directly in the sun. But early mornings and evenings are heavenly.  And the shade in the afternoon.  No humidity!

Ancon Hill and BYC December 2012

Beach with kids December 2012