Category Archives: Living Abroad

Here in Panama Mother’s Day is a REALLY big deal, not just a marketing gimmick dreamed up by greeting card manufacturers, restaurants and retail outlets to fill their coffers. In Panama Mother’s Day is on the 8^th of December and it’s an official holiday with government offices and banks closed down for the day.

The 8^th was on a Wednesday this year but the Saturday following, a big celebration was held here in Boquerón at the covered basketball court by the City Hall. It’s a good thing it was undercover since it rained most of the day. Not one of our aguacerro drenchers but a steady light rain. Still, over 1,400 people showed up for the entertainment.

There were bands, youngsters performing traditional folk dances in costume, the girls resplendent in their plain Pollera dresses and hair decorations.

The Polera the adults wear on special occasions are works of art.

On a stage at one end of the court was a treasure trove of blankets, clocks and other goodies that were given to the mothers in attendance.

There was also food, of course. Hundreds and hundreds of Panamanian tamales wrapped in banana leaves. Unfortunately I don’t have any photos and after having been on my feet for nearly three hours my back was killing me and so I wandered down the hill to the house.

I thought the whole thing was great and in the wonderful tradition of what small-town life is really like whether here in Panama or around the world. It’s one of those touches of reality and humanity that are lost in the metropolitan areas. Okay, after writing that I realize there are often neighborhoods in the older cities like Boston, New York and Chicago that have their own traditions and localized fairs and celebrations, but these are primarily based on ethnic and national origins rather than encompassing the entire community as a whole.

As I’ve written before, the shopping options here in Boquerón are extremely limited. There are three small tiendas with a very limited inventory made up mainly of cold drinks, some very basic staples and junk food. There are also two larger establishments known generically as “Chinos.”

They have that name since most throughout Panama are owned by Chinese immigrants, some who have been in the Republic for generations having first migrated to work on the French-built railroad and later on the Canal.

All of the supermarkets have produce sections and the one at El Rey in David comes close in size and quality to anything found at most Publix and Winn-Dixie stores in Florida. Their prices are pretty similar, too.

Most people, at least here in the countryside, buy their produce at roadside stands and many have bargains unheard of in the States. For example, a large, wonderfully fragrant, juicy pineapple generally be had for a buck. While none of these stands can rival the splendor of the open-air markets in Antibes an Nice, France, the quality, if not the quantity, stands up to the comparison quite well.

Here in Boqueron there is another alternative and it comes to you and the prices are the envy of state-side residents. Twice a week a small pickup truck rolls down our street with its loudspeaker announcing its arrival and the prices he offers. Of course the selection is limited but how can you beat four pounds of spuds for a buck?

Today I made a score with another truck that came selling fresh seafood. Panama, being bordered to the north and south by the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean respectively has an abundance of fresh seafood. When I lived in Chalmette, just outside of New Orleans, I used to buy fresh, unsorted, heads still on, shrimp for a buck a pound. Naturally with the heads still on you’re paying for weight you can’t eat. In the supermarkets in Fort Lauderdale I used to think I was getting a good deal when I could pick up a pound of shrimp at less than seven dollars a pound and these were generally heads-on as well.

Today, off of the truck I was able to buy a whole pound of tails-only shrimp for the unheard of price of $2.75! Richard’s going to eat good tonight.

I have another couple of days to go before I’ll be able to use my USB modem again. It’s not that I don’t enjoy my visits to the Info Plaza. I do. Since it’s a half a mile away from the house and UP a hill, I usually wait and take the bus to the plaza and walk home. DOWN is much easier to do.

There are two girls who supervise the Info Plaza. Nancy is a thin, almost anorexic waif and Karina could stand to lose about as much weight as Nancy has to look fit and trim. They are both very pleasant girls and we always chat a bit at each visit. In Spanish of course.

It’s always cheaper for me to connect to the wifi when Karina is running the show than when Nancy is there and the pricing reminds me, a bit, of a truck stop in Missouri where I went to college. Actually there were two truck stops at the south end of town at the edge of the corn fields. The closest was small and rather dark and a quarter mile or so away was a larger, brighter truck stop. They both displayed prominent signs advising that they “reserve the right to refuse service to anyone,” but persons of color knew they had to order their food through a back window.

My friend Dennis and I, after a night of drinking or cramming for exams, though most often following the former rather than the latter, would go to the more distant of the two if we felt like having a breakfast type meal and we would almost always order ham and cheese omelets. We did this for a reason which was to see what we would be charged for them. The menu listed a ham omelet, a cheese omelet but NOT a ham and cheese omelet. Naturally the waitresses would take our orders, the cooks would prepare them but when it came time to tally up the bill they were at a loss. What did a ham and cheese omelet go for? They had no idea. Sometimes they’d charge us simply for a ham omelet or for a cheese omelet and sometimes they’d just make something up. It didn’t matter. We never quarreled about the bill. We simply paid what they asked for and it was never the same twice.

What I pay at each visit to the Info Plaza is sort of like that. I believe the official price is thirty five cents for each hour or part thereof. When Nancy’s manning the helm I pay between seventy cents to a dollar five a visit. On the obverse side, when Karina is running the show it’s a flat thirty five cents even if I should stay all day I think.

In the past week I discovered that someone nearby has a wireless network set up in their home since my computer will flash it receives a signal. I can’t get online when I’m inside the house even though the computer says it’s available. But if I sit in the front door I get a one-bar signal that allows me access to my email and other web sites. The signal is only available for a few hours a day, mainly in the evening but last Sunday it was on all afternoon. It gets shut off after a while probably when the person who has it goes to bed for the night.

I love being online, especially now without access to a television but it’s not easy to do as much as I’d like, but I’m adapting.