Panama pictures - Part 1

Bella singing before take off

Casco viejo

First day back

My first day back in the office was tough. I didn't have any bad meetings, or any wicked issues to resolve. I was just too exhausted to truly function.

Reasons

There are several reasons why I wanted to go to Panama this past weekend. I wanted to go visit friends and see how they have settled in a new place. I wanted the girls to have the opportunity to visit a place where they speak Spanish, and that is somewhat similar to the country where I grew up. I also wanted to spend time with my sister, and figure out if Panama is a place where I would be willing to take an assignment at some point.

Visiting friends, seeing a new place, and spending time with Gabi was fun. As for whether I think Lionel and the girls would do well there, my current answer is: I don't think so.

Contrastes

There is something inherently sad about a place - any place - where the only people who are able to afford the good life are foreigners. Panama appears to be such a place. There is a lot of poverty around here; you don't need to travel to rural areas or the outskirts of town. It is right in your face. While driving on the highway you can see multiple run down buldings up front ... With those new shiny skyscrappers behind them.

And while most of the regular people struggle to make a living, my friend who just moved here has already heard multiple stories about the excesses of those select few who can afford whatever they want. From people who have multiple live-in nannies, one per child, to 7 year olds going to school in Gucci and Louis Vuitton bags - with full makeup on! Based on what she has seen and heard, wealthy women around here - who of course don't work - also fail to spend time with their children in favor of spending the day at the gym, getting a massage, etc. So the nannies are the ones who take the kids to the park, and therefore those are the only people my friend has managed to met so far. And although they are somewhat friendly, they are also guarded because they know she is just not one of them.

I feel extremely sad for the locals who struggle day in and day out to make ends meet and provide for their families, but I also feel sorry for the other bunch who live such an empty life.

The truth is ...

The truth is that bringing the girls to Panama with me made the trip way more expensive, more tiring, more stressful, and limited our options in terms of what to do around here.

The truth is that if I had come without them I would have missed them every minute of the trip. So if I had the chance to do it all over again, I would still bring them with me.

First impressions

My first impressions of Panama go like this:

It is hot, very hot
It looks like it could be any other coastal city in Mexico
Panama City is small, compared to Cincinnati
Poverty levels are high, very high
There is no middle class
Service is slow, very slow
Food and services are expensive
People look more "indigena" than in Mexico
It is growing like crazy - new buildings everywhere

Panama - The arrival ... Continued

At the ice cream shop we experienced what T had warned us about from the very beginning: Service around here is very slow. Yep, it was quite slow indeed. But we were patient and got our ice cream, and got to sit down for a few minutes and catch up on life.

After the ice cream shop we went back home and put the kids to bed. Mine were filthy from the trip and all the running around, but they were also exhausted so the shower had to wait for the next day.  Bella insisted that I went to bed with them, and since we had all been up since 3:30am I didn't complain too much. We all went to bed indeed, and for once even Bella fell asleep right away.

One of the frustrating things about updating my blog from the iPad is that after a while it starts acting crazy. So I had to split this post into 2 because it wasn't letting me scroll down any longer, and couldn't see what I was doing. I will fix that when i get home, as well as any typos and grammar issues that i couldnt go back and fix here.