Election Day

Goodness, been a long long time since I wrote on this blog.  But today is the day for the presidential election in Panama and things are just different.  I wanted to capture some of the differences.  I couldn't vote, but Wayne, being a citizen of Panama (having been born here) was allowed to vote.  Elections are held on Sundays here.  Polls open at 7:00 am and remain open until 4:00 pm.  Sundays are a great day to vote because generally there is little traffic. Normally, the traffic is a nightmare.  You are given a polling place to go to and a table number to appear at.  Once you reach the front of the line, they collect your national ID (cedula) that has your picture on it. They compare it with their book that has your cedula number (kinda of like a social security number) listed along with copy of your picture.  Then they ask you your name and number. Wayne was about 10th in line when he arrived and realized people were reciting their cedula number, so a very good thing he has a quick memory and he quickly memorized his number. They keep your ID card and give you color-coded paper ballots. You go to another table to fill them out behind a shield, take your folded ballots and place them yourself into ballot boxes matching the color. (guess you can't be color blind)  Lastly, you sign another book with your number and picture to retrieve your ID.

For a teacher, this worked out pretty well for.  They use many schools as polling places, so unexpectedly on Wednesday afternoon (the day before Labor Day / International Workers Day holiday here in Panama), they cancelled all schools in Panama for Friday and Monday to prepare for the elections.  The prayers in church were for a calm election.  I don't know if generally they have had problems or not.  Nothing that we have read in English sites about the elections.

Another thing they do is forbid alcohol sales from noon on Saturday until noon on Monday.  They want people to dry out and be able to soberly reflect on who they should vote for.  And apparently once the winner is announced, then not to have drunk people being upset or extremely happy about who won or lost. (thus still no alcohol sales until noon on Monday).  This include no alcohol sales at restaurants as well.  It was very interesting Saturday morning when we were at PriceSmart (our Costcos).  We were pushing our carts up and down the aisles until we reached the beer aisle where it would have been very difficult to get into!  People were stocking up apparently and grabbing a cart load of beer.  Then, PriceSmart (for the first time ever that I have heard) goes on their loud speaker announcing something every 5 - 10 minutes.  Of course, I didn't understand most of the announcement, but from what we could pick out, they were announcing that absolutely nothing alcoholic could be bought after 12 noon.

Campaigning is done through an enormous number of signs, flags, posters, etc everywhere.  I believe way more so than in the US.  Then there are vans/ trucks with the back end filled with speakers that drive around all day promoting their candidates.  Our neighborhood had some go through, but not so many, since it is more of an international neighborhood with fewer Panamanian voters.

So yes, things are different.  It is  very interesting to note all the differences as we experience our first national election in Panama.

Metro and New Canal Locks

How much fun to be here when history is being made!  Panama opened the first line of it new Metro Train in April (2014).  This is one of the few trains in Latin America and apparently as we have heard, the first one in Central America.  We rode on it the first week in operation and were quite impressed.  The train, being free for the first month, is quite the attraction.  We went on Saturday morning and it was packed!!  People seemed to be riding on it from one end to the other, getting off and getting back on again.  Goodness, I really hope this helps some with the traffic issues around here.  But as I stood on the train, I realized that even though I have been on many trains around the world, probably most of the people on this train had never ridden one. I was told that during all the movies in the theater  there were public service announcement about train etiquette.   No one that lives here really knows what to do, so they were trying to teach the public before the train went operational.  Just knowing to stand behind the yellow line was new information.  On my ride,  it was just packed.  But one of my friends took the train a week later. She said the police in the cars would approach men that were using some of the few seats, make them get up and allow an older person or woman to sit. One time she was on the train and a police made a young woman get up to give her seat to a woman with a baby (there were no men sitting at that time).  There are still two more lines that are in the plan to be built.  One to the airport and one across the canal.

On another note about progress, we went to the visitors site to see the building of the new locks for the Panama canal over on the Atlantic side.  Again, a fabulous trip.  They were hoping to have them done by the 100th anniversary of the canal (August 2014), but that just isn't going to happen. Hopefully, they are open soon though.  Much larger ships will be able to transverse the canal when they are finished.

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

December 9, 2012

 

Above pictures are just a few of the summer flowers (summer being December through March).

We went to a wonderful Christmas concert this afternoon at a beautiful church sitting on a hill. No a/c, so all windows were opened and the fabulous dry season breeze came blowing through.  Looking out the windows, you could see the tops of the palm trees and jungle in the background.  Still seems strange to me sitting there in my sundress and sandals listening to Christmas songs!   And to hear songs that had “snow” in them???   But we got to the concert at 1:50 (it was starting at 2:00).  But, there is no problem in Panama  getting someplace on time and finding a great seat, since the general population runs late and seats were certainly available.  It did get pretty full, but we got our pick of seats, just because we were on time!

Speaking of immigration, I was told by someone to get as much done as possible right now.  I was warned that about a year before the next election, people in government offices stop working.  Yes, they are still on the job, just that they don’t work.  In Panama, the presidential terms are 6 years and they you can not run again. So, once someone gets into office, they hire all their friends/cousins/family/ etc for all the positions.  So they all know that when the current presidential term is up, all will be fired for the new family members, friends, etc..  Therefore many just essentially stop working.  One friend said he went for an appointment at immigration at 10:00 in the morning and had to wait until noon to see someone, since there was a birthday party going on and all office activity just stopped!!

I had one of my “ah ha“ moments on Friday. I had to go to a new lab for a simple test.  But I maneuvered to the lab via the car, found my way, found the lab entrance, got through the paper work by myself and made it home. Granted, in the states that would just be one errand to check off the list for the day. But, here it is an adventure and when successful, you feel like you really accomplished something!

It certainly seems like the dry season is coming early this year.  Weather is incredible. Lower humidity, wonderful breezes and fluffy clouds in the sky.  Wow!!  We should have about 90 more days of this. This is the time to come to Panama.  Generally, the dry season doesn’t begin for a couple more weeks, but it appears to be early this year.

December 2, 2012

 

December 2, 2012

The pictures is just all the "green" along the street.  Remember, it is December!!!

 

Christmas season is upon us.  Wow, just seems really strange.  Wearing shorts and tank tops just doesn’t seem seasonable.  Our church looks beautiful with all the decorations.  We finally put our little 4 foot tree up today but still……  doesn’t seem like Christmas, since it is 90 degrees outside in the middle of the afternoon.  Not a lot of outdoor decorations like in the states.  The mall is exactly like the states, though with Christmas music, decorations, etc.  But not the light displays that you see in the states.  No constant TV ads like in the states. Hum, maybe there are, just that we can’t grasp the language enough to know what they are saying.

I have to get my passport renewed. I ran out of pages for visa stamps.  I am within a year of renewal, so figured I might as well just go ahead with it, while at a point in immigration where it makes sense to do so.   Went to the store to get my passport picture taken.  Pointed to the example photos in the “book” that said USA passport.  Went through the process, paid, took them home and they were totally wrong.  Ahhhh…I do believe I have mentioned customer service before (or the lack of).   But, thankfully when I went to the embassy, they had plenty of vendors outside the gates of the embassy taking photos!  They did a super job. Getting my passport renewed so far seems like a piece of cake when you are out of the USA.  In ten to twelve days, I go back to the embassy and pick it up. 

Today, going to church, there was road race for runners.  In our little city (community) in which we live, there are lots of races, but this one was on the main highway (one of two roads going to one of only two bridges going over the canal, so it can be busy).  This is a two lane highway (fast driving when there is no traffic, which usually only happens on Sunday morning).  But people were running on the road (with no shoulders), sometimes two or three abreast on the highway.  Talk about gutty people.  The way the locals drive that would be totally scary. 

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.