Beer Bottle Under the Tire = Get home at 6:30am

Was out with some friends...LATE night. As we were leaving the parking space, we ran over a bottle. Some ********* intentionally put a bottle under our car tire so we'd get a flat when we left.

My friends are Panamanian, so I asked "What about a tow truck?" Apparently either they don't exist here or my friends didn't know of any OR they didn't want to spend the money. We put on the spare, but of course it went flat right away too (bad luck that night). At this point in the night, the only option was to get a spare from someone OR take a ride with the flat tire to a 24 tire guy who would fix it. We got a spare from my friend's dad, but of course it was too small. Luckily, there was 5 of us, so some stayed back to watch the car while we continued the madness (apparently its not a good idea to abandon your car in certain areas and come back in the morning). We finally take the original tire to a 24 tire shop and get it fixed. After all this fiasco, I get home at 6:30 in the morning. Ironically, I was ready to go home around 1:30am.

Moral of the story, when out partying late night, check your tires before you drive off and make sure your spare has air in it.

The Panama Schmooze...Get Used to It

As much as I hate to admit it...its a fact! In Panama, it's all about the schmooze (aka networking).

It so click-ish here that unless you can schmooze your way into a network, you might be stuck on the outside looking in. Let me break it down.

Here in Panama city, its not about how talented, attractive, smart you are...its about WHO YOU KNOW. You could practically offer a service for free here and folks would still rather go to a place they know (or their friends like) and pay full price. I'm not exagerrating.

Unfortunately, its common here for people to just follow each other or only do whatever the "IN" thing is. To get ahead here, you have to get to know people...lots of people. To do this, you HAVE to schmooze. In other words, when someone invites you to an event...GO! By going as someone's friend/guest, you are introduced to that inner circle. Once you're introduced, you have to schmooze and make contacts. These contacts will help build your network, which you will need if you want to start a business, organize a club, get support for an idea you have, go out to parties, etc.

I personally like to be a "ninja". In other words, stick to the shadows and pop out when I FEEL LIKE IT. Uh-uh! That doesn't work here. Panama city is really small and unlike other places, if people don't know you, they rarely go out of their way to get to know you. I'm learning that I've got to do Panama on Panama's terms, not mine. You've got to be a visible and a schmoozer here.

Beer Pong in Panama

Got invited to a Beer Pong party. Never been to one cuz I'm not in a White fraternity (or a Black one either). An American friend invited me so I decided to check it out (on my way to watch the Strikforce PPV at the Sportpage restaraunt).

If you don't know what Beer Pong is...look it up on youtube, google, etc (I did).

Side note: I've realized that Panama is small and not a place where people go out of their way to be your friend...so if you wanna get to know people, you have to insert yourself into whatever is going on and make an effort to meet new people and try new things. As an outsider, if you don't take iniative, you'll find yourself BY YOURSELF. :)

The guy hosting the party had it on his rooftop apartment. The place was nice and the people were cool...I made some new contacts. The crowd was mostly Americans or Panamanians who spoke perfect English.

The host had 3 beer pong table setup in an empty living room. People were playing and getting into it. Not being a beer drinker, I just watched and networked a little (I learned some info about Panama that I can't repeat on here, but I can tell you in person).

At one point, 4 girls were talking about their "bitches" (little dogs) and how they're are trying to breed and raise them. Then the same girls starting "slamming" beers. AKA punching a hole in the side of the can and then drinking the entire can.

Oooooooookay...so that what its like at a frat party...interesting. This was the first time that I actually felt like I was in the US, here in Panama.

A Popular Politician Dies, Panama Declares Instant Holiday

Popular ex-vice president Billy Ford died of heart failure this past weekend.

A national holiday was declared two days later for today, Tuesday, March 22nd.

As you can see from the picture, in the past he was beaten in the streets for his political views. Apparently, he is well like by the Panamanian people.

I need to do my research about him. In the meantime, I'm gonna enjoy this surprise day off from work.

Hooters Panama

Went last night to watch the UFC fights.

Hooter Girls --> they were okay, but not very many.

Food --> you don't go to Hooters for the food (my burger and fries were decent).

Lots of TVs, showing the fight so you could see it from anywhere.

I expected the place to be crowded with rowdy UFC fans...nope. There were a few fans, but the energy sucked. I was the only one yelling during the fights. The place wasn't even packed.

Side note: The drunk Colombia guy next to me, kept harrasing me to go to "Portros" with him. He kept saying "There's lot of Colombian girls and they take their tops off!" I'm assuming it was a strip club... No, I didn't go with him!

Crocs! They're everywhere!

It's just my opinion, but I HATE these shoes. However, lots of Panamanian's love them. You will see lots of rich, poor and middle class people wearing them.

To be clear, I'm referring to the basic style (like in the photo with the cat).

Now I can make an exception for these ugly shoes if you are at the beach, washing a car, or anything wear your feet will get wet. I can even understand wearing them if you are running a quick errand. But an adult getting dressed up,and wearing them out in public to the mall, school, etc???

Truth be told, I shamefully bought a pair to wear once!!! For the record, I had no choice, I was in Las Tablas getting sprayed with water during caranaval. My shoes got soaked, so I wasn't gonna wear them the next day. So I bought a $6 pair of imitation crocs that I ONLY wore during carnaval while getting sprayed with water.

I want to throw my pair away, but I feel guilty being wasteful.

Pray You NEVER get into a Serious Car Accident in Panama City

Yes it happened to me! I was in the car with my girlfriend.

We were waiting at a red light, then BOOOOOM!!! An idiot taxi hits us from behind. Again, we were STOPPED at a traffic light and had been waiting for at least 30 seconds.

• It took me 10-15 mins to flag down a police officer (even though we were in a high traffic part of the city (Calle 50).
• The policeman takes the report, but lets the taxi guy go before the insurance company arrives.
• Our insurance, they don't show up for at least an hour.
• The insurance calls the ambulance, they don't show up for an hour an half.

Thank God it wasn't too serious, or we would've just died there in the street.

I heard there are private ambulance companies. These are worth investigating, because they might be your ONLY HOPE if you need immediate medical attention.

(I wish I was exaggerating all of this, but I'm not) :(