First Week in Panama

As soon as we cleared customs, a man in a uniform loaded our bags onto the cart and showed us outside where the taxis were, started talking to one and told us to get in. The whole process took only 2 minutes and ended up costing us $30 with tip for the guy we thought was an airport employee and extra large cab fare for the fresh clueless foreigners.

The first days we spent in a hostel-like hotel. The last 5 days have been in the house of an AIESEC Alum couple.

Here are the first impressions of this place which is Panama city:

1) I thought it was a "poor" country. It is not. This is a very developed, middle class kind of place. It is not necessarily cheaper to live here than in Austin. In looking for an apartment, there is a plethora of new luxurious loft style places that cost between $2000 and $5000 a month. We have had a challenge in finding a place in our price range that is not in the ghetto. (Don't worry, Mom. I am not living in the ghetto) Panama is in the middle of a real estate boom.

Of course, the other side of this development is that every comfort is available here. In the big supermarkets, 80% of the cereal brands are the same as I'd find in HEB. Any time I'm homesick, I can go buy honey bunches of oats, Oreos, JIF peanut better or thousands of other things that are just like home.

2) Panama City is dynamic. It is beautiful and ugly, modern and traditional, a place with every international chain where no one voluntarily speaks a language besides Panamanian ( a variety of Spanish ;).

3) The people. All tourist info propaganda I read before coming here said how hospitable Panamanians are. Well... I keep being surprised at how cold the clerks and salespeople are to me and to other customers. It is not universally friendly. Someone from New York city wouldn't mind... it's very down to business, every-man-for-himself. But it's not what I expected from a tropical, Caribbean country. I get the sense though, that it is only skin deep. On a few occasions, when some experience breaks the routine, I felt genuine friendliness. Like when a lady walked in on me washing my hands in the bathroom (apologized profusely) and I saw her later behind the counter making sandwiches. She caught my eye and gave me one of the most open and warm smiles I'd seen in a long time. Peep saw it too and seemed transfixed, "Wow. I think that's the first smile we've seen here."

4) The food. lots of seafood, fruit and fried things. There are 5 star restaurants and vendors with carts. We experiment with different places. It is a kind of riddle to find where are the places that are good and cheap. So far, I have not deciphered the pattern, experiencing all ranges of price and quality without an ability to predict.

5) Perhaps you would ask me about the canal, so I'll write something. Yes, the canal is cool, I've seen the end of it and I saw it snaking through the jungle from the plane. But living in Panama and focusing on the canal would be like living in San Fransisco and focusing on the harbor. The Canal is not the essence of Panama city, in fact I get the sense that it is a kind of indulged foreign body. It was built by French and Americans and owned by other countries for most of its life.

These are my favorite things so far:

1) Food! I found my two favorite fruits here that I have not really had since Thailand (rambuttan and mangosteen). I ate a cup of 2$ ceviche that was soooo delicious. We eat fried whole fish that is really fresh and costs 3$. And there are fried bananas called tarjadas that make it worth getting up in the morning. Fresh fruit juice stand and stores are prevalent (1$-2$).

2) The sea! It is cool to live by the sea. We have not yet traveled from the city nor seen any exquisite beaches (though they do exist). But it is cool to see Pelicans circling skyscrapers and to feel the salty humid wind.

3) Spanish! I am practicing a little bit with people, also watching TV and reading newspapers with dictionary in hand.

4) Friends! The couple we are staying with is really nice and taking care of us (until we can move into our own apartment). "Fito" is Panamanian, former MCP (AIESEC) and he is with us everyday, making us speak Spanish and practice, taking us places and showing us things. Bozhena is Polish, former AIESEC trainee in Mexico and speaks fluent Spanish, now working in Trinidad for 2 weeks.

5) Tropical plants! I have seen orchids that are so big in peoples yards, they function as bushes. I have seen trees that are bigger than the biggest oak trees in Texas, covered with Bromeliads, scattered around in the busy, congested city.

6) I like being here with Peep. He is my best friend. We get along really well. We can walk along getting lost on purpose, discovering things, be silent or talk for hours. I have discovered new countries many times, but never like this -with someone else. It's cool, kind of like bringing a piece of home with me. It makes the experience gentler.

So! On the horizon... Soon we are going to get out of the city and explore a bit of Panamanian nature, maybe beach, maybe jungle, maybe both. Peep will start work on Monday again with Frontier TV. He will work on London time, so that will make for an interesting schedule. We will be moving into our own apartment also sometime in the next week or so (si Dios quiere). I hope to put some structure to my Spanish immersion (don't know what form it will take: class, volunteer... Just need to be in a place with lots of people speaking Spanish to me).

Hasta pronto!