Charles Robinson Makes Extended Visit To Panama
Today marks 30 days since I began my trip to Panama, and I have to say that it has gone by really fast. I’ve had a great time these last 30 days, and have learned a lot, not just about this beautiful country, but about myself. I can honestly say that this is the best I’ve felt physically and mentally in several years. My mind is clear and while I’m not doing anything other than living day to day, I am truly loving life. on the days that I don’t play golf I walk an average of 3 to 4 miles. Once I got past being distracted by the view from my home office, I actually manage to work between 4 and 5 hours a day. Tuesday and Thursday are golf days, and we’re usually done by noon which gives me time to get back and reply to emails and return client calls. Once a week, I make it over to Valentino Siento cigar club to hang out and have a cigar and a couple of Mojito’s or some Jack Daniels. A couple of days each week I try to study and improve on my Spanish, but trust me, it’s a work in progress.
The people in Panama have to be among the friendliest in the world. They are very welcoming, honest and hard working people. The city is safe and I’m able to walk anywhere stress free. I’ve walked through what most would consider the worse neighborhoods in Panama City at night and never had a single problem. That’s not to say there is no crime, as I’m sure there is, but it’s rare, and most crimes are what people here call crimes of opportunity. If you leave something of value out, it may get stolen, but that’s true anywhere in the world, but on the flip side, you hear stories of people losing wallets, passports or other items of value and everything being returned unopened. Panamanian’s are patient (unless their driving), and most aren’t in much of a rush which is both good and bad. If I had to choose the one thing that I’m most surprised by in myself, it would be how patient I can be. I try to live my life at their pace and I have to admit that it was a bit difficult for the first couple of weeks, but I’ve settled in and now it’s all good
The traffic in and around the city can be hideous, so patience is definitely a necessity. One day it takes 25 minutes for my Uber to get to the golf course, and the next it can take an hour, it just depends on traffic and road conditions. For the most part the roads in the city are good, but once you go a little outside of the city limits, they are pretty bad, and you can see drivers weaving all over the place to miss potholes. Given the traffic, and the way that people drive I’m amazed that there aren’t literally a hundred accidents every day, but somehow, they avoid each other. I take Uber everywhere, and honestly there are times when I think I’m going to die or be seriously injured in an accident. Traffic can be bumper to bumper, and a car entering the street will just nudge their way out in front of the vehicle that one would assume has the right of way. In a 10 minute uber ride, this can happen 10 times, but I’ve come to realize that this is how they drive and that they actually know what their doing.
The cost of living here is absolutely amazing, although it has to be for the average Panamanian to get by. I live in one of the best neighborhoods in the city, and my 3-month stay will cost me less than $5000 for rent and utilities. I have a view that is one of the best in the entire city and go to sleep and wake up to the ocean waves every day. Someone told me that a dozen eggs back home is about $8, well that same dozen large eggs here cost between $2.00 and $3.00 depending on where you buy them and the size. I think that I’ve cooked twice since I’ve been here because it just doesn’t make sense to cook when on average I can buy a dinner meal for less than $5. Two days ago, I purchased a full meal, rice, beans, chicken, salad and fruit for $3.48 and had enough leftover for the next day. A 1 liter bottle of Jack Daniels is $28.50 at the local Price Mart (Costco) and a 2 liter bottle of Kirkland Vodka is $18. On the days that I want to treat myself, I have dinner at the cigar club where a full meal cost in the neighborhood of $25 which includes the appetizer and some days after golf, I get the lunch special at the Tucan 19th hole which includes the full meal, soup, desert and a drink for $9. Aside from what I’ve listed, there isn’t much else that I want or need that I didn’t already have when I got here.
I absolutely love it here, but there are some things that I miss about being at home, not the least of which is the ability to see my grandchildren, hanging out with my close friends and talking smack at Fauquier Springs several days a week, coming home to that big house every day, and of course driving my truck. I miss things like Woodford Reserve (they don’t have it here), and being able to order from Amazon and getting it the next day. The list of things that I don’t miss is way too long to list, and not worth mentioning. I’ll get used to not readily having the things and people that I miss at some point, and life will go on. While I never gave it much thought until now, I think it’s probably a coin flip as to whether I will someday leave the US permanently, but for now I’m just going to try and enjoy the next couple of months and hope that it’s starting to get warm back in VA by the end of March.
Over the next 2 months I’m going to start seeing some other parts of the country, so be sure to keep up with me on my Facebook page at Adventures in Panama.