Posted by editor on February 8, 2010
I have never done this before but so much is happening around Boquete Panama that I thought I would just post some briefs and ask you to provide some more details from people who have been in town while i was gone.
- There is a major multimillion dollar project under way in the Caldera river to try bank stabilization for flood control. The obvious construction right now is near the former Panamonte bridge. I wonder if they plan to replace the bridge also??
- The Ladera Hotel appears to be reopened on the Jaramillo side of the former Panamonte bridge.
- The Sugar and Spice bakery has been sold to Richard Meyer from Atlanta Georgia and he is baking excellent breads, empanadas and more.
The BCP Farmers Market at the new BCP Center is getting better each week. The market draws more people than many presentations.
- The Alto Jaramillo community has voted in a new set of legal regulations over the objections of a very vocal local woman; ah poetic justice!
- Carnival starts Thursday and that means it’s time to party and to avoid driving through Dolega to David at night, if you can.
- I have been told a local man, Roy Knight along with help from his family, is now managing at Montanas de Caldera. My email to Jane was returned so I have no confirmation.
- If you like horse parades put March 19 on your calendar for the biggest in the provence; the Cabalgata in David.
The restaurant formerly known as Coconuts is closed. I am not sure if they are moving again?
Speaking of restaurants, Craig Jacobs at Las Ruinas has turned a Ruin into a great restaurant with great local features like Blackberry cobbler when he can find the fresh goodies.
Ricco will be moving soon, up to the Accel Station in Alto Boquete. You will be able to fill both your car and stomach with one stop.
Finally it appears that Paradise Gardens, is closed?
Posted by editor on February 7, 2010
The only context I had for the word Bolero was the Movie, 10 with Bo Derek so when I received a pubic email invitation to a night of Bolero I was curious.
A night of Boleros
performed by the “Matices” Group
from the
Universidad Nacional de Panama
(Panama National University)
Saturday, February 13 at 7:30 p.m.
at Los Naranjos Gym, free admission
Romantic music for a romantic night.
(It has been pointed out to me that the email has the wrong date on it. February 13, has not happened yet, but the event has. Good thing I had a jog from people who new the correct date)
I went with friends, who fortunately jogged my memory about the event. I was not surprised the Bo Derek was not at Los Naranjos gym. I was surprised that Bolero was an entire genre of music I did not know.
According to Wikiperdia: “Bolero is a name given to certain slow-tempo latin music and its associated dance and song. There are Spanish and Cuban forms, which are both significant, and which have separate origins.[1] The term is also used for some art music. In all its forms, the bolero has been popular for over a century, and still is today.”
Although I did not dance, others did, and the crowd of several hundred enjoyed this Summer event brought to Boquete by the University of Panama and some newly elected local officials, including Any of Farmacia Any.
The evening ended early, before 10 pm and although well attended, I was surprised I did not see too many familiar faces there to enjoy the music. The Panamanian cultural events are well worth attending, they are a taste of the culture and community and too few new immigrants take advantage of them.
Posted by editor on February 2, 2010
Tuesday mornings in Boquete Panama we have a meeting and farmers market. I cannot recall the official name of the meeting but although not Politically Correct, it is known in Boquete as the Gringo Meeting. The event is held at the BCP Community Center on the Jaramillo side of the Feria Bridge. The facility is now the best venue in Boquete for a meeting or event with more than 100 attendees.
I arrived at 9:30 an hour before I needed to speak and the facility was crowded with vendors selling everything from books, artisan breads, vegetables and Thai Food. The farmers market has become the center of attention of the meeting and rightfully so when the speaker is me.
Today I spoke about two topics Internet access in Boquete, a topic that is dear to most new immigrants and blogging, a topic dear to me.
The slide show below would have been shown if the facility had a screen and projector, maybe in the future.
Part of my was message blogging is fun and good mental exercise for individuals. The other part is that Blog Software makes for a very easy method of creating and maintaining business websites that do not look need to look like blogs.
Here are two excellent examples I mentioned at the meeting:
Mudd Guitars Does not look like a blog
Elizabeth Quila Does look like a blog
Posted by editor on February 1, 2010
I am back in Boquete Panama, out of the land of the free and the home of the brave. Out of the land of Home Land Security and Political Correctness. I am very happy to be in Panama. Sorry if I sound jaded and cynical but I am tired of hearing about perceived freedom in a diminished bubble of freedom and having to be politically correct in all actions and words.
Aside from the virtual strip search at the Las Vegas airport I am unscathed and enriched by the experience. At the airport I witnessed a Spanish speaking woman queued in front of me being screamed at because she did not understand the command “remove your coat and shoes” in English; I translated. I think an English speaker would have been treated differently in Panama. I am not sure since I did not need to remove a coat, no need for one, or my shoes at Tocumen.
While in Arizona I met with family and friends, those approaching retirement spoke of their curiosity about Panama, their desire to leave the US when they could. These were educated intelligent people tired of the same treadmill I ran for years. Still I wondered if there was more under the surface. As I wrote earlier, I think the economic advantage to living in urban Panama or even Boquete is minimal; there must be more to motivate people to embark on massive change.
I recall a conversation I once overheard between a US citizen and a Dutchman. The American talked about the laws in the US and how free citizens were to speak out, to do this and to do that. The Dutchman replied that it is a good thing that Americans can talk so much about how free they are because the Dutch don’t talk about their rights or freedom, they just live them.
Yesterday I listened to a well travelled Canadian put his observations into perspective, “Americans fear their government, in other countries the government fears their people”. The statement may be over generalized, but the reality is that the US government, regardless of the party in power, has too much power over the lives of individuals.
Panama has laws, some quite harsh, but few adversely effect my life here. When I swipe a credit card or use my cell phone in the US, the government can, if they wish, track me and listen to me. I may sound paranoid but In my distant past they watched my life. They did it because the government of Richard Nixon did not like my political expression, so much for free speech. The words are well written the reality less so. In Panama they don’t care and if they did care they don’t have the NSA.
In Panama I may get pulled over for speeding, I have more than once. In Arizona they just take a photo of your car and mail you the ticket. I may have a few on the way, I have no way of knowing. In Panama I need to stand in queues for license plates, drivers licenses and bus tickets. In the US I can do it all online. I helped create the, “do it all online world” and I love the speed and accessibility, but it is cold and impersonal. It is a world designed for efficiency not humanity. Panama has a culture of humanity, not even close to being efficient.
Yesterday after an overnight bus ride from Panama to David, I attended an Alto Jaramillo public water meeting, yes another. I would have preferred some sleep. What is normally a dreaded meeting was an example of contrast. As usual the locals were an hour late, timeliness is not relevant here. Neighbors together resolving a community issue with a representative of the government there to help, not to hinder, to assist and clarify, not to mandate. No pictures taken, no pat down for weapons; a free democratic process in the hills above Boquete.
I did not miss the US before I left Panama on this trip. When I returned to Panama and walked through both immigration and customs with only a greeting, a smile and a rubber stamp, I realized I was home again, back in sync with the rubber stamp man. Given a choice, I will refocus my exploration on things south of the USA.
Tomorrow I will be speaking at the Tuesday Morning Networking and Farmers Market Meeting (TMNAFMM). The topic is internet access and blogging. The methods I use to communicate my rantings are there for you also. I will post a summary of the presentation here for those who are interested. If you want to discuss politics, let’s discuss Ricardo Martinelli, President of the Republic of Panama and how he is doing to effect our lives here, in Panama.
Posted by editor on January 26, 2010
It has been said by many that you cannot ever return to a place you left behind. Steinbeck said it in “Travels with Charley” and I will repeat after him. Returning to Tucson, Arizona, my home of 38 years, before Boquete Panama proved depressing. Although there was some positive change in over three years, most of what I witnessed was a slide into both economic and emotional depression. The city felt depressed, the people I met were depressed and the number of closed businesses, echoed or caused the mood swing. Only in the more affluent Catalina Foothills did things seem as they were when I abandoned Tucson for moist and green.
Part of this journey was to evaluate the sanity of my decision of four years past to move. After Las Vegas and Phoenix, I was riding a high of fantasy and warmth of old friends. Returning to Tucson, to my roots, seeing friends and then seeing landmarks of my life falling into ruin was depressing. Tucson has too many Paycheck cashing businesses, too many projects in ruins.
It took some time for me to decide why I prefer living in Panama to the US, I hesitated on verbalizing the decision for a week.
The answer is not a lower cost of living, I am convinced that if I was willing to suffer a change in lifestyle I could live for less in the US. I did change my lifestyle significantly in Boquete, I have less and enjoy it more so perhaps I could do that in the US also.
The difference is the humanity. People here in Arizona live in an apartment, trailer or house, they drive to work, drive to stores, drive to recreation and in many cases never even meet their neighbors. In Panama I know my neighbors, my community and even with poor Spanish, I have more communication than I did in Tucson.
The difference is friends. In Tucson I worked, I rode a bicycle or car to and from work and I never had time for friends. In Panama we all arrived knowing no one and created a community mixed between new and old immigrants. Every new immigrant into Boquete finds a community receptive to them.
The difference is health. Each person I encountered here has told me I look and act younger than when I left. I would consider it a frivolous compliment except that I also feel younger. Although I have lost more hair since leaving the US I have also left much stress behind; I feel better. Friends that I spoke to still run the treadmill to death. One attorney friend confided just one more real estate development and I can finally retire. I am sure he could leave today or even before me but the inertia is too great.
The difference is challenge. The intellectual challenge of a new language and culture. The challenge of daily life, just finding some things in Panama is a chore. One of the secrets of perpetual youth is exercising the mind. My mind is always working but in Panama it needs to work more. Even driving is an experience, dodge the pothole, the horse and the drunk require effort and make your brain work. An agile brain provides youth.
I live a much simpler lifestyle now, needs not wants. I eat simpler foods and less of them. I have lost weight and gained health. I actually drink more, my cardiologist thinks a drink or two a day is good, I like rum. My medical care is better in Panama, when I need to see a doctor I walk in without an appointment and i can afford it.
A frequent commenter to this blog has said the US has a 911 system that works. That might be true, but in Panama I have my neighbors, my friends and a community that has proven to be more compassionate and caring than what I have experienced in the US. In the words of Henry David Thoreau, “a government that governs best, governs least”. I rather live in a caring community than the dispassionate American dream as it exists today.
Whether moving out of the perceived good life of the US into the risk and unknown of another country is for you is a personal decision. For me, I am looking forward to getting back to Boquete Panama, my home.
Posted by editor on January 25, 2010
The beautiful snow of the Grand Canyon became a deluge of snow in Flagstaff Arizona. I did get to see my daughter long enough to take her out for Sam’s Club for provisions and then the snow started again. 
Arizona has a phone number, 511 for road conditions and I dialed until they announced I-17 south was open for traffic and slid onto the freeway heading south. A day premature and very weary of snow.
Phoenix has grown so much in the past four years that I encountered a six lane freeway thirty miles out of the city center. There was no traffic at 8 pm on a stormy night. I needed to go over 60 MPH in what was a tropical rain storm in the deseryt. The roads were perfect; no gravel, no mud, no pot holes. I am getting homesick when I miss the roads of Panama.
Phoenix was a wonderful two days with friends, culminating in excellent DIm Sum at C-Fu in Chandler. I think C-fu is almost as good as the Golden Unicorn in Panama City. After C-Fu It was off to Patagonia, Arizona to see my long lost sister. Passing through Tucson I bought a dozen tamales at the still wonderful St Mary’s Tamale Factory, now re`named St Mary’s Mexican Food. They were still warm in Patagonia 90 minutes later. It was wonderful to reopen communications with my sister after many years and miles of distance.
Out of a touch of nostalgia and a bit of insanity we drove to Nogales, Mexico. My Sister Abbie, warned me that Nogales had changed; that was an understatement. In my past I went to Nogales Sonora. In the far distant past to fill a Mercedes Diesel tank and enjoy lunch it was a fast easy cross border expereince. Later in my career I would visit for clients. I don’t think I had visited again since 2001, so almost a decade passed and in that time so did the Nogales I knew. Many of the stores dedicated to tourists and tequila sales were gone, replaced by dentists and closure. I think all the dentists in Mexico have moved to the US border and everyone else has left.
Walking into Mexico was no more difficult than any time in the past. Returning to the US was a new experience. An hour, queued waiting, freezing, passport required; where to you reside, where are you staying, what are you here if you reside in Panama? My sister’s friend was pulled aside without explanation and released after a few minutes. He explained that despite the fact he crosses frequently they often hold him for up to twenty minutes with no reason given. While we waited, Border Patrol agents walked around in full body armor with automatic weapons; it was disconcerting.
My sister smokes American Spirit cigarettes and they cost $80 a carton in Arizona. She buys cigarettes in Nogales Arizona at a duty free shop for $20, walks into Mexico then back to save $60 a carton. It appears the reasons for a tourist to visit Nogales are limited now to tax avoidance and visiting a dentist. It takes a real desire. I understand why the merchants on both sides of the border are in pain or extinct.
We did have a light dinner at an old favorite, La Roca, El Balcon. Still great food at prices closer to Panama than the US. We visited at about 6 pm and it was empty as were the streets. Nogales has not been immune to the border drug violence that has plagued northern Mexico.
After leaving my sister in Patagonia, AZ, I drove back to toward Tucson and was stopped by the Border Patrol at a checkpoint on the highway. They were polite and professional. I really wonder about all this security. It brings back a memory of George Carlin discussing airport security as something to make middle class while people feel better. I doubt any of this does much more. The bad guys go around the check points.
My final push of the night was back into Tucson to have a fleeting few minutes with my son Sebastian and his friends. I was glad they had already eaten their pizza because I could not possibly have consumed more.
Posted by editor on January 21, 2010
Intelligent people visit Panama during the winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Being an exception, I have for two sequential years, done the opposite. Yesterday I left the Grand Canyon behind and drove into the frigid Navaho Nation.
I left six inches of fresh snow at the Grand Canyon. My first stop was the Cameron Trading Post on US 89. It is now more a large tourist store with a live weaver working, than a trading post.
I remarked the tragedy that the indigenous in Panama lack some of the great artisans of the Navaho people. I was saddened to see the made in China tag on many items in Cameron.
Then on to Tuba City, a place I worked once years ago. I passed up the McDonalds for a lunch of mutton stew and Navaho fry bread, the memory was better than the reality. I decided to continue the drive into the frozen desolation of the Hopi Reservation. It has been years since my last visit and I wanted to see if the life of the Hopi had changed. Everything was closed, the poverty obvious and although there were signs up not to take photos I took one of this dwelling.
Americans do not need to wander far to find poverty and people in need of assistance.
My journey for the day ended in Flagstaff Arizona. One major goal of this trip was to visit my daughter. After replenishing her supplies at Sam’s Club, we had dinner in a typical University brewery and hamburger joint. The company was far more important and far better than the food.
Today I woke to this sight out the motel window. I remember one more reason people choose to move south to Panama when they can.
As I sit here trapped until the snow stops, the roads are plowed and I can clean off the car, I pledge again. Next year Panama for the winter, I must be at least as smart as the average snowbird.
When I moved to Panama one of the reasons was the weather, in my case the heat and drying of Tucson. I moved to Boquete Panama to rehydrate and cool off. After this I can see why people move to Panama for the warmth of the beaches. Compared to this scene from a modern Norman Rockwell painting Boquete is tropical.
Posted by editor on January 19, 2010
After one day of the Las Vegas tourist experience I decided to revisit the Las Vegas of the normal resident. Instead of Casino meals I visited Inn and Out Burger, a California immigrant business.
It was mobbed and as always had an excellent fast food burger, far better than any competitor in the US or Panama. Las Vegas has experienced so much growth since my last visit I really did not know the town. I was fun visiting some communities, stopping at a Borders Book Store, drinking coffee and in general enjoying the experience.
Tuesday was a road trip south. It has been at least ten years since I drove south from Las Vegas into Arizona. Everything has changed, the town of Henderson has merged into Las Vegas. The two lane roads of my memories are four lanes now. The real surprise came at Hoover Dam. First the security check point, not really a surprise. Then an amazing new bridge and a four lane highway being built to span the Colorado River.
For the first time ever I stopped at the Hoover Dam and took the time to park $7, look $8 and have a cup of coffee $2.50. The view was impressive and everything else sticker shock.
In my almost forty years living in Arizona I never took the time to visit the Grand Canyon Village and National Park; this time I did. The cost to drive into the park, $25, a coffee with some bourbon added in the El Tovar Hotel $7.60, the view priceless.
Tonight I am in Tusayan Arizona near the Grand Canyon watching it snow out the window. The local McDonalds has internet and really expensive, really bad burgers. I know, I ate something they called a 1/3 pound angus bacon burger and I really regret it. It cost $4.99 for just the burger and it is a lump in my stomach.
Why am I so concerned with prices? One of the reasons I moved to Panama was affordability of life. So far with the exception of FRY’s Electronics in Las Vegas everything I have done has had sticker shock. A walk through Whole Foods in Las Vegas made my jaw drop.
Maybe it is because much of my time has been in tourist areas. Tomorrow I will be in the real Arizona and I will see if the shock continues.
Posted by editor on January 18, 2010
On the flight to Las Vegas I was reading “Travels with Charley” a bit of non fiction written in 1960 by John Steinbeck. The author and his dog, Charley set off on a tour from the East Coast of the US, to California in a camper named Rocinante. The name of his camper taken from the horse of Don Quixote, a significant comment on the state of mind of the author. In his writing Steinbeck uses the tool of conversation and observation to describe an America he sees in flux. He sees the homogenization of the American identity. He mourns the mobile homes and garbage dumps he observes surrounding cities as a product of the change.
I cannot compare my prose to those of John Steinbeck, I could only wish. Still as the Mexicana flight descend in Las Vegas the changes in the America I recalled where becoming evident. The Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) has mandated increased security on all incoming flights. This began with the pat down in Mexico City, continued with the new, no bathroom while descending into the airport and then no blankets, pillows or jackets on your lap while landing.
The TSA is a part of the Bush created Department of Homeland Security, the name alone rings of something Herman Goering might have created in Steinbeck’s time. One constant of government throughout history, is that once a government seizes rights from the people it rarely returns those rights. There is nothing more powerful than fear to encourage people to surrender their rights. My first taste of the changes in the USA was fear.
The march to Immigration, another branch of Homeland Security was uneventful. My only observation was that at least in Las Vegas, the International Terminal has many helpful signs, all in English. Throughout my travels in the past three years I have see signs in multiple languages where tourists are common, or no signs at all.
The immigration office was polite and professional after observing that I am a resident of Panama I was asked why I returned, was I planning to work in the US or just on holiday. Maybe the question was to check my accent, because I did not know I had given up my right to work.
Las Vegas has a new Rental Car Terminal itself larger than the David Airport and new efficient buses that have eliminated the clutter of each rental agency running it’s own. The terminal was clean and well maintained, something I have not often seen in Latin America. Avis was fast and efficient and I was in a new Ford Focus in minutes.
Culture shock began when driving into Las Vegas. Las Vegas is not new to me. In my career I had four clients in Las Vegas, Clark County, Clark County School District, the CIty of Las Vegas and Scenic Airlines. All of them seem to still be operating without my ongoing efforts but during the years I worked with them, I was a frequent visitor to this desert city.
Las Vegas was glitter and glitz with little substance. Later it developed huge subdivisions as people moved here in droves for weather and tax benifits. Tourism drives the economy and is still in charge but now the visual of huge big box stores and non tourist businesses also dots the area around the airport.
When I arrived at my hotel, the Excalibur, it was Vegas as usual. I selected the Excalibur because it was very inexpensive and on the strip. It is a blue collar hotel, what I did not realize is how much it and other hotels on the strip have changed in the past five years. Last time I was in the Excalibur it was a family destination, not any longer. It is now a casino with turrets and towers no longer focused on entertaining children under 21, as evidenced by women dancing on the tables in skimpy attire.
What was familiar was the mobs of partying people. If the economy is bad in the US someone forgot to tell these people. It did not take long to see another change.
I started visiting Las Vegas in 1970. In 1970 I arrived on a Honda 350 and was lured by the stories from my father of great entertainment, good inexpensive food and something totally unique. The part that has changed is the inexpensive part. My first breakfast in Las Vegas in this trip cost $15.00 and included something a Boquetenio might call hot water with a light coffee flavor. The strip in Las Vegas is expensive.
My first observation is that if Steinbeck was disappointed with the direction America was taking in 1960 it is a good thing he did not have the opportunity to see Las Vegas in 2010.
Posted by editor on January 16, 2010
The road trip from Boquete, through David then onto Panama city is a normal voyage for me. My trips though Tocumen and beyond are fewer. This trip took me on Mexicana Airlines with a five hour, count them slowly, wait for my connecting flight.
Getting from Panama City to Mexico City was uneventful other than a reminder that I was not on a US flagged airline; they served a hot breakfast.
Arriving in Mexico City was also without a hitch, except for the long layover time. The International terminal in Benito Juarez Airport is not too large and after walking through it a few times and seeing store after store selling duty free liquor and tobacco I decided to investigate. Starting with tequila of course. Mexico City Airport has tequila varieties I have never before seen, more brands, bottles and prices than I knew existed. Prices from $19 a liter to $2,400 a liter for Tequila? I looked at some familiar brands and realized that the prices in El Rey in David were equal to duty free in Mexico and Price Smart was lower. There was no reason to make a purchase unless I need a bottle that looked like a giant phallus or a cactus.
I did however discover that each store was happy to offer a free sample of what ever the sales person was encouraged to sell. After the first two stores I established a rhythm. Two hours later and feeling very smug about the free warm glow, I was still walking the corridors.
When the gate was finally announced for my flight, I went to the gate, a distant gate, a gate far from all else and upon presenting my ticket was told I needed to go through immigration. Who would have thought immigration for a gate change.
What was a casual relaxed warm glow became a dash through the airport, a dash to the fortunately empty immigration lobby, a hasty explanation of, sorry I am an ignorant gringo from Panama, a stamp in the passport and a just as rapid regression. The entire immigration run felt like an hour but in actuality took only 15 minutes. I made it to the plane just in time to have my carry on searched and my torso manhandled by security.
I am reluctant to admit I am heading to the motherland, Many people know I said I would not ever do it. I should know better than to say never, unexpected things happen. I am heading north to Arizona though Sin City, not Sun City. After three years and four months out of the US I am wondering what will have changed and what observations I will make.
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