What is Panama?
Paul says that Panama City is just like New York, but everyone speaks Spanish. Traffic, sirens, car alarms, shopping malls, cineplexes, bowling, Bennigans, Subway, KFC… High rises everywhere and more being built. Even Trump is building towers here. We could be in any large city in the U.S. Yet, we are in Panama.
We meet people that look and speak like Americans, only to learn that they are Panamanians. We go to the minimarket, owned by Chinese-Panamanians. We say “hola” to a black man, who replies in English, since he is from the Caribbean side of Panama. We go to the supermarket, which is 100% kosher. Funny story – Paul goes there and ask where the pork is… Between the canal and banking, Panama attracts people from all over the world and like the States, this is truly a “melting pot”.
Our apartment is in a high rise on Avenida Balboa, in an exclusive part of the city. We have a comfortable one bedroom/2 bathroom apartment on the 9th floor with a view of the Pacific Ocean and skyline of Punta Paitilla. We enjoy not living out of suitcases for awhile and cooking at home. However, the best part is the shared area on the 27th floor: pool, BBQ, gym, ping pong and billiards. The view is incredible – best view from a treadmill that I have ever experienced!
We spend lots of time visiting the Panama Canal – awesome! We watch ships come through with less than a 2 foot clearance on either side. It is hard to explain how spectacular the canal is. Comments from the boys:
Quinn: “It’s amazing! It’s one of the man-made wonders of the world.”
Connor: “It is pretty cool because it raises and lowers the boats like 50 feet with natural power.”
Paul: “It is a truly amazing work by man. Human engineering at its finest!”
We spend the rest of our time enjoying city life: shopping, movies, arcades, and exploring. The old town. Casco Viejo, is especially charming with renovated antique buildings, brightly painted, resembling New Orleans. The promenade in front of our apartment building goes from the shopping mall to the old town, and fills with people walking, running, rollerblading, biking and playing soccer/basketball in the evening.
We also are coordinating the shipment of the minivan to Columbia, which is a pain. So far, we have visited the shipping agency twice for the required paperwork. On Monday, we need to go to the police station for a security check, and are warned that this will take several hours. On Tuesday, we go back to the shipping agency for the final paperwork. Finally on Friday, we drive one hour to Colon to complete customs. Lastly, we drive the minivan to the port in Manzanilla, then need to get ourselves back to Panama City. Will be an interesting week…
Tags: Panama
hwy1alltheway
Yes, but what about the city buses? Loud enough for you? 🙂
Yes, the buses are loco! Between the honking, yelling for passengers and driving, they are a force to be reckoned with. I forgot to mention in my blog post about crossing the street. Each time we cross the street, we feel like our lives are in jeopardy. We have quickly learned to cross with the locals – safety in numbers. Honestly, the most dangerous part of our trip is crossing the street in Panama City. Crazy!
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