Avoiding Dealing with the Cops - My Advice to Visitors

If you don't have a Panama drivers license:

-> Only drive on the main streets.

-> Only carry your country's drivers license and a copy of your passport.

-> Keep your MONEY seperate from your ID.

-> Do NOT SPEAK Spanish, even if you speak a little.

The cops will hassle you for a second, but then they'll let you go once they see your passport and they know you don't speak Spanish (very important).

I would tell you my story, but its too long to write here.

FYI, if you live here, getting your driver's license is a huge ordeal, but once you have it, its worth it!

Cell Phone Fiasco - My Battle to get a Proper Cell Phone

FYI, this is gonna be long...

There are four cell phone companies here: Digicell, Movistar, Claro and Mas Movil.

(They will be referred to as Company AAA, BBB, CCC and DDD in no particular order)

My story:

-> Bought a $15 pre-paid phone with a sim card from Company "AAA".

-> Bought phone cards (with cell phone minutes) and use them on phone.

(one month later)

-> Got tired of texting and the limits of the above phone, so I bought a full keyboard Chinese (fancy Nokia imitation) cell phone and put in Company AAA's sim chip. This phone becomes my new pre-paid phone.

(after a while)

-> Decide that I want a Blackberry cell phone because many folks *NEVER* have minutes on their phone, but they communicate through free Blackberry instant messages.

-> Blackberry phones are $300 and up, so I refuse to buy one. Instead I consider signing up for a contract and getting the phone for free or around $40.

-> Company BBB comes to my job and offers cell phone plans. Their plans and prices seem high, so I pass.

(one month later)

-> Company BBB comes back to my job again. This time their prices have gone up even more. So I wait.

(some time later)

-> I lose my Chinese cell phone and now I'm back to the basic $15 phone.

-> Company AAA comes to my job and offers cell phone plans. Their plans seem okay so I give them my info and tell them I want a contract. The representive assures me that he will come back on Friday with the phones and contracts to sign.

-> He does not come back on Friday.

-> He does not come back Monday.

-> Even though he says he will, never comes back. After 2 weeks of calling and waiting I give up on him.

(moving on)

-> Now I start checking into Company CCC and Company DDD.

-> After waiting for 1 hours in the store, Company CCC tells me I need to work for 6 months in Panama before they'll give me a contract. Even though, I have a formal letter from my job saying I'll be working in Panama for 2 years.

(so I try Company DDD)

-> They say yes! Great! No, not great! They won't accept my the proof of employment letter because its addressed to Company CCC.

-> I go home and "White out" the name Company CCC, then take the EXACT same letter back to company DDD. Company DDD unknowingly accepts the letter (the refused yesterday) and gives me a cell phone.

That folks is all the hoops I had to jump to just to get a cell phone plan here in Panama.

Parque Omar - Little Oasis in Panama City

Parque Omar is a straight up "cool" place!

Its in the middle of the all the hustle and bustle of Panama City, yet when you enter you get away from all that madness.

Here's what you'll find:

• Good jogging path
• Pullup bars (my favorite)
• Situp benches
• Swimming Pool (but you have to get a Dr's note before you can swim) :(
• Small weight room
• Lots of greenery
• Juice Bar
• Vegetable Stand
• Lots of people jogging (in the evenings)
• Very safe (well at least there are lots of police)
• Extravagant decorations (for holidays)
• They even have recycling receptacles!!!!! (Uncommon for Panama)

On top of all this, you will still find SOME Panamanians with brand new matching exercise outfits and shoes, but BARELY doing any exercise. To them its more about the outfit than the exercise. :) They can also be found at the Powerclub and walking on the Cinta Costeira.

If they ever came to my class, they wouldn't even make it through the warm up. :)

Hip-Hop in Panama - 5 minute rule :(

I love hip-hop music! Period!

Apparently most Panamanians don't.

If you go to a club, bar, etc... you will be lucky if you here ANY hip-hop music. Now if you are LUCKY and you find a place that does play it, you better start dancing IMMEDIATELY. I guarantee you that it will only be played for 5 minutes tops. On top of that, don't expect to hear a whole song. Rather expect to hear parts of maybe 5 songs, then the DJ will go back to playing Reggaeton.

The only time I really hear hip-hop music in this country is when I (or a friend) plays it. :(

Note: My Panamanian friend says he knows of two places that play hip-hop, but only on a Weds or Thurs and he says the crowd is not rough, but its far from fancy.

Silicone Watches - Make Your Friends Back Home Jealous

Cool cheap watch that is sold in various places around Panama. The band is made of silicone rubber and the face is detachable. In other words you can mix and match the faces with different bands. Range from $5-$12 bucks.

Reminds me of "Swatches" from back in the day. Only much cheaper.

Take one home from your visit to Panama, I guarantee you'll get many compliments from your friends (who will be jealous).

My first Carnival in Panama

First off, look at that picture...that is exactly what its like in the town of Las Tablas during Carnival. Crowded streets of people getting sprayed with water. What you may not know is that the crowd is mostly gay men and young kids. In addition to the water, you'll here lots of music and see some extravagant floats. All in all, it was just okay plus gay men and young kids are not my crowd.

At night, there are two night club options (PH and X Zone). PH plays Panamanian music and X Zone plays reggaeton. Again, both are just okay.

My suggestion, go for one day only, if you don't mind crowds.

Important Note: People warned of aggressive flamboyant gay men, lots of crime and lewd/drunken behaviour.

Reality from 2011 visit:

---->Many gay men but they didn't bother anyone.

---->Saw no crime. Only one fight (where only one punch was thrown).

---->No lewd behaviour (gay or straight).

---->People were drinking, but not much more than any other public event.

Panama is a lot more conservative than people think. Even the wild stuff here is somewhat tame compared to what I've seen in other countries.

It's 5:45am Right Now...and a MARCHING BAND IS PLAYING on a work day!!!!!

Only in Panama would a marching band would be practicing at FULL VOLUME at 5:45am on a Monday morning. It is so ridiculous that I just started laughing rather than got mad. Today better be some special holiday for this tomfoolery...