October 28, 2012

It has been a long time since I updated this blog, I thought I would.  Panama has been rather interesting lately.   In Colon (a city at the other end of the canal from Panama City, but only about 50 miles away), they were having some serious political issues. The government was trying to sell some property and people were furious.  So, as in many Third World countries, one of their only recourses is to stage protests. The protests then turn into riots, looting and mayhem.  People on this side of the country (mostly activist construction union members) decided to assist in the “noise” that was being made by planning a protest in the capital city.  A typical protest means they block traffic.  It doesn’t take much to make horrible traffic jams in a country that already has traffic problems and so everything came to a quick standstill.  Using barricades and burning tires, the major roads were blocked by union members.  Schools didn’t know what to do, so many of them closed early on Wednesday, trying to get the kids home before a huge protest was to be held down in the city.   On Thursday, all was well, but there were plans for an even bigger protest and a general 24 hour strike that were to take place Friday.  Schools were not forced closed by MEDUCA (the Panamanian ministry of education), because teacher unions were said to also be involved in the strike and they wanted to keep the teachers in school.  Many of the private schools (with non-union teachers) either closed or told the students they would not be counted absent.  So Friday was a mess, needless to say.  I wandered down to the entrance to our neighborhood and traffic on the main road was being blocked by construction workers.  We were watching the local news on TV (which, of course we still don’t understand the rapid speaking of the newscasters), but videos of the protests downtown were pretty incredible.  Even though all the stores had closed in the city, the mobs broke into stores and started looting. The TV cameras caught a lot of it.  We were watching people looting by carrying out a case of beer, then the guy behind had a big screen TV.  One guy carried out a refrigerator!!!! On his shoulders!!! Then, it was found later by the side of the road. Guess it got pretty heavy.  Plus, it was likely hard to load it into a cab or take it on the bus.  Many were saying this brought back memories of Norega’s days when looting at times was really bad.  In fact, a guy mentioned today that when all the horrible looting was taking place 20 years ago, the only stores in Panama that never got looted were the bookstores!!!  Guess you can tell it is not a culture of reading.   Now, I understand why the malls here will not allow anyone (except employees) into the malls before the mall actually opens.  Someone said the “riot” gates were pulled down over the all the entrances of the huge enclosed mall nearby to avoid any problems there.  Obviously, everything was closed for the day.

So, the funniest incident was a government owned car that pulled up to a store that had MEDUCA (the Panamanian government ministry of education) on the side.  Someone got out of the car, ran into the store, stole a TV set, put it in the back seat and took off.  All of this was on television!! Guess the driver to who the car was assigned should get found pretty easily.

Things seem to clear up by later in the afternoon.  Our president, who was in Asia at the time, finally returned home and overturned the law that everyone in an uproar.  Street protests seem to be about the only way for the lower class to be heard.  Ahh, living in the Third World does get interesting at times.

opyright 2012 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Don't forget to follow Panama Guide on Twitter. Salud.

 

August 8, 2012

We had a discount coupon to go to a Westin resort on a beach that was only 20 minutes from us.  Great price, so we grabbed it for one night.  Our shock, and believe me, it was a shock, was that the customer service from the moment we got out of our car was fabulous!  Perhaps, it may be expected in the USA, but I haven’t seen any sort of customer service here in Panama that was worth mentioning. So, it just goes to prove, it CAN happen.  Maybe, they will set a new standard and others will follow. We can only hope.  Panama has neglected to get into tourism much and is just starting to build more resorts and make this a tourist destination.  But, they can’t find enough qualified employees to make it happen just yet, let alone finding employees that are service oriented.

 Snake stories are abundant here.

  Not that I like hearing them, but apparently there was a boa constrictor only (ONLY???)  about 6 feet in length found in the park across the street from our apartment. This is the park we walk in several times a day.  The people who found it called the fire department and they came and got it, probably to release it back into the jungle.  When hearing that story, someone else mentioned being on a two lane road recently and the traffic was stopped going both directions.  Guess a boa was slithering across the road, took the entire width of the road, and had traffic stopped going both directions until it finished crossing.  Brings new meaning to the speed bump signs.  Anyway, I would prefer they just remain in jungle.  Don’t really want to see them.


Well, the public schools here in Panama are supposed to go on strike today (nationwide) because one of the labor union officers was fired.  The reasons he was fired were actually videotaped and the evidence is THERE. But anyway, the union called a nationwide strike until they reinstate him.  Wonder what will happen?  The public schools are horrible anyway. Then, there is my school (an international IB school) . We just started our in-service this week. Granted, the pay is horrible (compared to the states, not to Panama), but every kid from kindergarten through grade 5 gets an iPad issued to them, and the 6th grade through 9th get a laptop AND an iPad issued to them.  I have the privilege of helping the teachers figure out what to do with them and I think that is a BLAST!!!

July 30, 2012

I DID NOT write this. It was an editorial from the Panama Visitante  Newspaper (July 26 edition) that we read.   We loved reading this article, because most every word is just so true.    When we were back this summer, we experienced everyone one of these except for the Police officer one!!  Hopefully we don’t have that experience but it is doubtful  if you live here. 

When my lovely wife and I were visiting Italy recently, people we met, fellow travelers, divers, tour guides, waiters – even pickpockets  -- they all naturally asked us where we were from. We got a big kick out of saying “Panama”.  The look on our newfound friends’ faces was almost always confused surprise.
Since most people in the world don’t know much about Panama, they don’t know what language is spoken or what the natives look like, so even though we spoke with an “American” accent, most were reluctant to fire back “Oh no You’re NOT!”

The point is we are expatriates, which is simply defined as people who reside in a country and a culture other than that of their upbringing. 

My wife and I were very lucky and sold our house some and then we “jumped off the cliff” and came here. We do  not have anywhere in the states to be from and saying you are “from the States” is a bit vague if not downright evasive, at least from where we are standing these days.

So how do you know if you are a true expat or not?  One way is to go back to your country of origin and see how you feel.  How does where you used to live compare to where you are now?

You know you have become a TRUE expat, when you are “back” because:

...you are annoyed in US airports at having to pay for a cart for your bags.
….you catch yourself saying “gracias” instead of “thank you”.
…you find US traffic structured in an overly-orderly manner.
….the road lanes and parking spaces seem inordinately oversized.
…you have to remind yourself not to bribe police officers
…you just can NOT believe that you have found a parking space at the grocery store or the mall.
…everything seems manicured – not only people’s front yard and public parks, but parking lots, median strips, the roadside, farmer’s fields.  Everything.
…you have to remind yourself not to bribe police offices.
…you say hello to strangers on the street AND wonder why they DO NOT say hello back.
…you head for the local supermarket and spend hours walking around because there is so much more choice.
…you can’t read in a coffee shop or on the bus because all the English being spokenis distracting
…or you find yourself eavesdropping on nearby conversations just because you can!
….you think gas prices in the US are low
…you realize you are NOT the tallest person in the country anymore.
….you get tired of people asking you “So what is it like??? Is it scary???
…you count the days until you can go “home”. 

July 21, 2012

Been a long time since I posted on this blog!   Will try to get back "at it"!
But this is an article that Wayne found on the internet.  We both laugh when we read it because we have seen everything in this article and it is right "on target"!!!

Honking car horns are a way of life in Panama.  They are most important when traffic is totally stopped, there is absolutely no place to go, so everyone honks their horn.  Most Gringos are conditioned to think that if they hear a car horn, they have done something wrong or are in danger. Not so in Panama.  It can often mean, “I am coming by on the left”, or “Do you want a taxi?”(if walking) or “You are really hot”(female walking).  Panamanians love their car horns.



Traffic Lanes

Panamanians will make a traffic lane out of anything.  Road shoulders, sidewalks, literally any place that can support four tires (and sometimes only 2) can be a traffic lane.  There is no regard to the fact that at some point the shoulder will disappear and all traffic must merge into actual lanes thus making the traffic jam way worse than it actually had to be.



Open Holes in Sidewalks

Throughout Panama there are numerous open, unmarked holes in sidewalks.  You have got to love a country where the philosophy is: If you are too stupid not to fall into an open hole, then you deserve what you get.



The Canal

A main source of pride for Panamanians is The Panama Canal.  Rarely is a country so dependent on a single source of income.  And Panamanians appreciate it.  To work at the canal is one of the most sought after positions in the country.  Working at the canal immediately vaults a Panamanian into an elevated social status.



Employment

Panamanians are extremely proud of the low unemployment rate in Panama.  The unemployment rate  hovers around 4%, the lowest in Central America.  It matters little that there are maybe 4 people doing the job of 1, everyone is employed and proud of it. You realize this if you go into the Do It Center on Sunday and there are literally 2 clerks on each isle trying to “help” you as you pass through.

May 27, 2012

Link to a movie about the rug!

Not my story but certainly an interesting one that I saw on another blog.  But this is so "Panama".

Before I left Panama last May (2011), a 4'x6' shag rug appeared on the sidewalk in front of the Banco General parking lot off Via Argentina. When I returned in November, the rug was STILL there. Throughout the year I've watched the women in orange clean AROUND the rug, people walk over it, cars drive over it...but no-one's bothered to move it to the trash can, located no more than 5 feet away.
I decided that one of my last acts, before leaving Panama this May, would be a proper disposal of the rug. It was soaking wet this morning and too bulky to squeeze into the trash can but at least it's now off the sidewalk. My friend, Dixon, memorialized the event for me.



Rare time where there were two CRUISE ships in the locks at the same time



The breakfast place for dozens of parakeets that sing to us every morning



Mangos mangos mangos  EVERYPLACE



Beautiful flowering trees



Beautiful trees


Another long weekend.  Got notice on Friday that Monday was going to be a National Day of Mourning for a guy that died that had been president for 8 months many years ago.  This happened once last year as well when a guy that had been president for only 24 hours had died.    This is sort of like snow days that I will have down here - that unexpected “day off”.    But a day of mourning means: NO loud music, No Parties, No alcohol sales in restaurants, bars, or stores.

Some pictures here. One is a tree that we walk under every morning. The unique thing about this tree is that it is FULL of parakeets.  Dozens of them. Adorable little green parakeets that are feeding off the berries in the tree. It is just so neat.  The sound brings back memories of walking through the pet department at WalMart where all the birds are singing.   It is impossible to capture the birds on my iTouch so doubt that you can actually see the birds.  They don’t seem to like to sit still for a picture.
Now that rainy season had come again, trees are beautiful.  Flowers all over.  Never have I seen so many flowers in my life.  Absolutely breathtaking.

Another picture is one of the canal with two cruise ships in the locks. Generally there are always two ship but never two cruise ships.

Another one is of one of the millions of mango trees.  Mangoes are literally everyplace now and daily I see a new unique ways that the local people try to harvest them in the park.  Various ways include standing on their cars, piling things up to grab one, tossing various things in the air to knock them down, never ceases to amaze me how they get those things out of the tree.     But the trees grown everyplace here and mango are loved.  Apparently there are over 100 varieties of them
Did you know that:  the mango tree is a symbol of love.

• Mango leaves are used at weddings to ensure the couple bear plenty of children (though it is only the birth of the male child that is celebrated - again by hanging mango leaves outside the house).
• Many Southeast Asian kings and nobles had their own mango groves; with private cultivars being sources of great pride and social standing, hence began the custom of sending gifts of the choicest mangoes.
• Burning of mango wood, leaves and debris is not advised - toxic fumes can cause serious irritation to eyes and lungs.
• Mango leaves are considered toxic and can kill cattle or other grazing livestock.
• Dermatitis can result from contact with the resinous latex sap that drips from the stem end when mangos are harvested.
• Every part of the mango is beneficial and has been utilized in folk remedies in some form or another. Whether the bark, leaves, skin or pit; all have been concocted into various types of treatments or preventatives down through the centuries.

April 30, 2012

Day off today. It is Labor Day here.  Actually Labor Day is May 1st (which is a Tuesday).  So it has been on our calendars from school since last August.  Everyone made plans for Tuesday being off. Then, on Thursday, the Minister of Education in Panama change the day off to Monday.  Then, on Friday, the government changed the day off to Monday as well for everyone.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute! 
Yesterday afternoon, we went to Pricesmart (our Costcos) for our weekly groceries.   Lines at the registers were 10/12 deep with everyone shopping for the holiday weekend.  Mostly, people’s carts were filled with beer and believe it or not, boxes and boxes of donuts.  Never thought those two would go together.