Bus Stop Democracy - Boquete Panama Style
By editor | May 8, 2008
Only in Boquete Panama could we have this particular lesson in democracy.
This the Alto Jaramillo bus stop and the people are gathering for a meeting of the users of the Alto Jaramillo Water District. Why only in Boquete Panama? Boquete is the only district in Panama that has retained control of it’s own water systems, the rest of the country is tied into the IDAAAN national water network. Boquete has many independent small water districts, ours supplies 135 homes.
I doubt there is any other political institution in Panama where non citizens get to vote. In fact Elizebeth, an extranjero is a member of the board; that has been a good thing.
The old water board left two pieces of unfinished business, one good and the other bad. The good is they obtained a 90% materials grant for a new aqueduct system from the world bank. The bad is that in a closed session they decided locals, would pay $1.50 a month for water, an increase of 50% and new residents, a euphemism for North Americans would pay $10 a month an increase.
After several meetings we, the new residents have learned a few things about our neighbors. First if a meeting is scheduled for 5:30pm as this one was don’t expect people to arrive for another hour or so. Second and perhaps more telling is that our neighbors do not like back room political deals that drive a wedge into the community.
We are now working as a community to find non punitive ways to fund the 10% required for materials and labor to do the project. Hopefully we will all discover we are indeed a community despite differences in language and culture.
Topics: Community, Contrasts, General Interest, Survival Kit Items, Utilities | No Comments »
Hotel Valle Del Rio / Caffe Pomodoro / Wine Bar Boquete Panama yum
By editor | May 7, 2008
Last night I found myself in a Boquete Panama dreamscape. I was sitting on a beautiful terrace overlooking a bubbling river, saw many good friends and had a wonderful meal catered by Caffe Pomodoro a favorite Panama City restaurant.
Then I heard familiar voice call for a cold Balboa and there at my table were Penny Ripple, Robert and Maria Boyd, neighbors Al, Ceila, Sharon and Michael just a table away and other new friends Terry and Jill and their son Sean on the other side. The river was still there, the food was still there and reality set in. Caffe Pomodoro has opened in the new Hotel Valle Del Rio.
As you drive toward Valle Escondido you will find the Hotel Valle Del Rio on your right side before the entrance to Valle Escondido. Once inside you will discover, the hotel, Caffe Pomodoro, the Wine Bar and the New home of the New Look Salon, formerly of Los Establos.
The Wine Bar and Caffe Pomodoro are an indoor outdoor affair as in El Congrejo Panama City. There are two distinct overlapping menus, regardless of where you sit you can ask to see both. As in Panama the Wine Bar menu is focused on accompaniments to fine wines and the wine list as a long as any other in Boquete. We had a bottle or two of Trio a Chilean favorite at $14 a bottle. The Caffe Pomodoro menu is italian.
Around our table we had, brucceta, Pasta Vongole, Pasta Primavera, Fettuccine Carbonara and Corvina. The first impression of the food was that in all cases it was very good, same recipes that pack people into the El Congrejo restaurant. The service was a bit confused and very slow. In the States I would say it only their third night after opening and it will get better but this is Panama so plan on two hours suffering in the beauty of the surroundings.
Since Jennifer was not here Maria took on the obligation of having the obligatory Flan and proclaimed it good enough for Jennifer.
After dinner Patricia the Hotel Manager took us on a tour of the hotel. The Hotel Valle Del Rio is now the newest, largest and most polished hotel in Boquete and is walking distance from Downtown.
Each of the twenty five rooms and one two bedroom suite has a beautiful enticing beds, Bose Ipod ready radios, refrigerators, coffee makers and glass walled showers. Each also has a balcony overlooking the river.
In all a wonderful experience and I hope return and find the food as good, the service improved and the ambiance unchanged. If you eat at the restaurant be aware like their namesake in the City they add a 10% propina on to your bill so don’t double tip.
Topics: Lodging, Lodging - Boquete, Restaurants, Restaurants - Boquete | 2 Comments »
English Language Books in Panama
By editor | May 6, 2008
Yesterday I wrote a quick review (sort of) of Cindy Cody’s Hubba Hubba. Cindy is local Boquete Panama resident and writes in English and her books are available here. Actually English readers are very lucky to be in Boquete because we have at least three local books stores.
Read and Relax in Los Establos where you can sit, drink coffee and talk to Giovy while you make a selection, the Books store near Telcel on the street west of Camino Principal and the Bookmark in Dolega with a huge selection of used books and Hal who I think has read everyone of them, twice. I do not think Panama City has all the options we have here.
Still I want to share one more option, it came up in a discussion at Amigos last night. Years ago in the dawn of the age of the Internet we discovered something called a Rocket Ebook, a small tablet from which you could read a downloaded book. We bought several for our family and they promptly went extinct. More recently Amazon introduced the Kindle, a made for America ebook using newer technology, Electronic Paper and in the US the ability to select, buy and download a book anyplace direct to the Kindle in seconds. In the US it also uses the Sprint network to access Wikipedia and and more with no charge.
On our recent trip south we discovered Argentina had more books stores than I recall ever seeing in the US but although most had some English titles they were very expensive and had a limited selection. Since we travel to some English literary wastelands and live on Jaramillo, Jennifer asked me for a Kindle. She wanted the ability to buy a book and read the book in minutes without customs, freight or taxes. I had Amazon ship her a Kindle in the the States and she has been happy as a duck in water since.
In Panama the Kindle lacks much functionality but you can still download a book to your computer and upload it to your Kindle. Amazon only sells the Kindle for the US market for delivery to a US address but since you most likely have a US mailing address. Here is a link for more information from our Amazon Store.
Topics: Books, General Interest | 1 Comment »
Hubba Hubba a book by Cindy Cody
By editor | May 5, 2008
Cindy Cody is a local talent, a resident of the the Boquete Panama area. I picked up her book Hubba Hubba at the Read and Relax Book Store in Los Establos and have had fun reading it so I thought I would share.
Cindy paints a wonderful picture of a wealthy North American abandoning his wife and life to move to a country called Concepcion, a thinly veiled Panama. He discovers the island of Hubba Hubba, perhaps an early Isla Colon in Bocas del Toro.
The book is an easy read and if you are here in Panama already will seem in some areas so familiar as to be laughable. Her lead character encounters all the experiences that both attract us to being here and make us then wonder if we are crazy for being here. From transitos, to customs and banking, Cindy covers it all with a casual flair.
If you are considering relocation to Panama, buy it, read it, remember that it is a novel but so much of it rings with the experiences we have all had in this wonderful country of paradox followed by paradox.
In Boquete you can get Cindys autographed books at Read and Relax in Los Establos. If you are still not here follow this link to Amazon.
Topics: Books, General Interest, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Panama Law 13 of 2008 No Smoking revisited
By editor | May 4, 2008
I had enough misinformation, including my own, so finally I found the New Panama Smoking Law in the official Gazette. Although strict it is nothing like what I was originally told nor what other commentators including me have stated.
Here are the relevant consumer issues translated.
Article 5. Se prohíbe el consumo de tabaco y de los productos de este en: It prohibits the consumption of snuff and products in this:
1. 1. Las oficinas públicas y privadas nacionales, provinciales, comarcales y locales. The public and private offices national, provincial, district and local levels.
2. 2. Los medios de transporte público en general y en las terminales de transporte terrestre, marítimo y aéreo. The means of public transport in general and in the terminal land, sea and air.
3. 3. Los lugares cerrados de acceso público donde haya concurrencia de personas. The enclosed public access where there is concurrence of people.
4. 4. Los ambientes públicos y privados, abiertos y cerrados, destinados a actividades deportivas. The public and private environments, open and closed, for sports activities.
5. 5. Las áreas comunes de los edificios públicos y privados de uso comercial y doméstico. The common areas of public buildings and private commercial and domestic use.
6. 6. Los ambientes laborales cerrados. The closed working environments.
7. 7. Las instituciones educativas y de salud, públicas y privadas. The educational and health institutions, public and private.
Here is a link to the law in Spanish Ley 18 2008
Topics: Government, Legal, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Hot Nights in Boquete
By editor | May 4, 2008
Last night a few days early was Cinco de Mayo at the Bistro Boquete. I missed dinner, missed the Mariachis but arrived in time for the Disco and dancing. It was great fun but ended too early. So my house guests and I headed across the Caldera to La Cabana.
If you are looking for the newest spot to drink a beer, a cup of wine or a bottle of Seco meet locals and enjoy the music you should visit La Cabana.
I stumbled across La Cabana on Thursday evening driving past the Feria. La Cabana is a cabin done up as a very nice clean roadhouse saloon. This is not a restaurant, it is a bar.
After an initial impression I decided on self sacrifice and returned on Friday night about 10 pm and things were getting started. The clients were a melange of the Boquete community including some stunning ladies I have never seen before. Beer and wine are sold at reasonable Panamanian prices $1 for beer, $2 for wine, I never tried the Seco or anything else. It was fun so I returned with my house guests post Bistro on Saturday.
By 10pm Saturday the youth of Boquete was arriving. They had a $2 cover for men, none for women and were checking ID, since they did not ask for mine I suspect I look old enough to drink and not to old to party. We stayed about an hour as the locals poured in and probably long before things reached a crescendo.
If you are looking for the current late night hotspot La Cabana is well worth a try. Come late, find a designated driver and have a wonderful time reliving those years gone by.
Topics: Night Life | No Comments »
Panama - NO Smoking Allowed!
By editor | May 2, 2008
As I write this little bit of Boquete Panama news I am sitting at Amigos watching fog coming in on little cats feet as Carl Sandburg once wrote.
It seems that the wise ones in the government of Panama has enacted a new draconian law banning smoking in public, to add to that misery for smokers the fine is $500, correct $500 dollars about 250 pounds sterling. Thats more than most Panamanians earn in a month.
This might clear the air for those who are offended by smokers but it just adds another funny law to the books of a country full of funny and selectively enforced laws. I suspect this will help provide some additional can I pay the fine here discussions with anyone doing enforcement.
Smoking is offensive to many, it was already banned in restaurants and public buildings now it is only legal in a private home where no one smokes anyhow. The health case is clear, put outdoors? I am not even sure that California has a law this extreme.
My advice it’s time to quit smoking; Jennifer will be so happy. I suspect that BAT the largest cigarette vendor in Panama forgot to lobby enough to prevent enactment, now they will try for repeal.
Topics: General Interest, Politics | 6 Comments »
The First of May is Labor day in Panama
By editor | May 1, 2008
To the people of Boquete Panama and the entire country of Panama I am sure having a holiday on the first of May is a welcome break in their routine.
From my childhood I remember a festive day on May 1st, dancing around a May pole, nothing to do with labor. After reading a rather nasty comment about the communist roots of May 1st as labor day in a Yahoo Panama group I decided to do some research.
Like so many holidays the roots of May 1st as a holiday lie in Pagan Europe.
“The earliest May Day celebrations appeared in pre-Christian Europe, as in the Celtic celebration of Beltane, and the Walpurgis Night of the Germanic countries. Many pre-Christian indigenous celebrations were eventually banned or Christianized during the process of Christianization in Europe. As a result, a more secular version of the holiday continued to be observed in the schools and churches of Europe well into the 20th century. In this form, May Day may be best known for its tradition of dancing the Maypole and crowning of the Queen of the May. Today various Neopagan groups celebrate reconstructed (to varying degrees) versions of these customs on 1 May.
The day was a traditional summer holiday in many pre-Christian European pagan cultures. While February 1 was the first day of Spring, May 1 was the first day of summer; hence, the summer solstice on June 25 (now June 21) was Midsummer. In the Roman Catholic tradition, May is observed as Mary’s month, and in these circles May Day is usually a celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In this connection, in works of art, school skits, and so forth, Mary’s head will often be adorned with flowers. Fading in popularity since the late 20th century is the giving of “May baskets,” small baskets of sweets and/or flowers, usually left anonymously on neighbors’ doorsteps.[2]” Wikipedia
So my memories were not a total dream, what happened in the US was that at the “Second International” , a communist, socialist labor conference in 1869 held in Paris May 1st was declared to be International Workers Day and marked the beginning of the international campaign for the eight hour working day. ( Something not yet found in Panama) Wikipedia
So while most of the world celebrates May 1st a day dedicated to remembering the hard work of labor round the world. The United States, Canada and a few other countries do not celebrate May 1st as labor day. In the US it is now called “loyalty day” thanks to a 1958 Act of Congress; one more Cold War anachronism retained.
In Panama we celebrate a May 1st celebration of Spring inherited from the Northern European Pagans, adopted by the Latin Church and then taken as a celebration of labor by the Socialists of the World.
Regardless of what it is called in Panama it is a holiday and government offices, banks and many other business are closed. I am going out in search of May poles and garlands of flowers or perhaps a jug of wine!
I just wonder when the 40 hour work week will become the standard here?
Topics: Contrasts, General Interest, Happenings | 3 Comments »
Finca Lerida, A best kept Secret made public
By editor | April 29, 2008
I am entering my 20th month living in Boquete Panama. In all that time running about, eating here and there, touring this and that I never heard about Finca Lerida on the slopes of Volcan Baru. Now that I am in the know I am sharing the wisdom.
Finca Lerida is not in the center of Boquete and therefore not well known even in town, It is however worth discovering. John Collins is the resident director of the large ecological sanctuary overlooking the town. They have hundreds of hectares of forest and coffee, home to many of the birds and plants people come to Panama to see.
On site is a Bed & Breakfast, an eleven room ecolodge and a very good restaurant. You can also buy bags of the same types of coffee you will enjoy as you sit and watch the clouds roll overhead or below.
Although I have not done the coffee tour I have been told John provides and excellent bean to the cup tour and since they do entire process of planting, maintaining, harvesting, cleaning, drying, roasting and drinking coffee on the Finca all steps are there to be seen.
Finca Lerida has a website and I recommend it for more details. If you are coming to Boquete and want be out of the bustle of downtown you might want to consider staying a Finca Lerida and by your very presence contributing to the goals of conserving this beautiful area.
If you in Boquete and have no idea how to get to the Finca there is a map “borrowed” from the Finca Lerida Website with these few photos.
Topics: General Interest, Lodging, Lodging - Boquete, Outdoor Activities, Restaurants, Restaurants - Boquete | No Comments »
Happy 80th Birthday Dona Inga Collins
By editor | April 28, 2008
I am not the Boquete Panama society columnist, my basic attire has changed from a suit to blue jeans since arriving here. Still when asked if I would accompany a friend to the 80th birthday celebration of one of the matriarchs of Boquete I had to accept. In spiffy slacks and a formal guayabera shirt we entered the Panamonte Estates and the home of Inga Collins.
I did not take a camera so I will attempt to describe the visual stimulation of both a beautiful home and location and the garden party event. I have met Inga at the Panamonte several times and she is a vivacious octogenarian, clearly the woman in charge. She was glowing in the presence of several hundred guests from community. I knew a few local people there and my friend many more as we greeted Inga and moved from her spacious home into the taylored garden.
The garden was replete tables and people in their finery. One side was a spectacular buffet as you would expect from Charlie Collins and the Panamonte staff. The wine flowed freely and the food was both copious and a feast for both the eyes and stomach. We were entertained by mariachis and a band as well a round or three of fireworks.
Although we left early I have been told that before the night was over Inga was up dancing the Charleston, I sorry to have missed that image.
In all a wonderful event more North Shore of Long Island NY than Boquete. I am looking forward to the 90th birthday of Dona Inga Collins of Boquete Panama.
Topics: Community, General Interest | No Comments »
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