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.

November 2, 2012

The concept of “thank you”.  Having been here for going on three years now, I question the concept of “thank you” and “you are welcome”.  I have always been of the mindset to “thank” people for services provided, for help they give me, for almost anything.  Gratitude is a wonderful attitude for those that are receiving it or giving it. So, in this country where customer service is pretty limited to say the least, I really make an effort to “thank” people all the time.  I will not check out of store (even with bad service, which I generally get) or frankly anything without a “thank you” and a smile.  But, in return I have often noticed that all I get from the person is “OK”.  I suppose that I didn’t’ realize this until last week when I was checking out of a grocery store,  I  said “Gracias” and the clerk said “da nada” (which in  Spanish is “you are welcome”).  I was so shocked, because generally I just get an “OK” .  So I started asking people just why was this?  Most reflect that it may be because people just do not express gratitude here.  They really are not “trained” to respond like those of us from the USA with a simple “You are welcome”.  I find that very sad.  So, if nothing else in my time here, I will express gratitude and hope that maybe, just maybe someone will see that gratitude is a behavior that can make the world a better place.

I am trying to update my blog regularly.  It is difficult at times.  I do not want to repeat myself.  But, I am still in a “foreign country”.  There are people that just don’t realize what living abroad might look like. I totally know that I don’t.  I need to be moving to other places in the world. I just don’t want to move that far away from my grandkids, so I stay here!!!

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.