Some Unique Things About Panama

I lived long enough in Panama, and I've been to sufficient other places to know how unique Panama is, and here are some things about Panama that can only be experienced there:

1. You are not rich, but you can afford a maid or two.

2. When there's no rice in the house, that means that there is no food in the house.

3. If an engagement/appointment with someone is at 8:00, that means you leave the house at that time, hence the saying, "Hora Panameña,"or, "Panamanian Time."

4. If you wanted to, you could swim in the Pacific Ocean in the morning, and in the afternoon, you could drive over to the Atlantic side and swim in the Atlantic Ocean, both in the same day.

5. You know what the Continental Divide is, and have been to it.

6. You've had Ceviche.

7. You know the meaning of "Laope," and "Whapinbuay!" (Laope is black slang for pelao [it is backwards] which means young boy) and Whapinbuay is black slang for What's happening boy!?

8. You buy 4 number lottery tickets every week.

9. You go for exercise either very early in the morning, or very late in the afternoon, to avoid the hot sun.

10. You know to complain to the taxi driver if he charges you more than a dollar fifty to take you to the nearest supermarket.

11. You know what "patacones," "yucca frita," and "carne en palito" are and you love them.

12. You know what sao is but you do not necessarily like it. (pigs feet, yecchh!)

13. The sound of a little high-pitched bell makes you think of the ambulatory push-cart ice cream man who also sells popsicles.

14. Possibly the only place in the world where you can buy a snow cone (with a condensed milk spiral topping) for a quarter.

15. You can take the bus downtown for a quarter, but you might not have a seat.

16. You can afford to hire a seamstress or tailor.

17. Some stores and offices close at 12:00 noon and re-open at 2:00 pm to allow for an afternoon "siesta."

18. You know what a "tinaco" is. A tinaco is a garbage can. It is the only Spanish speaking place in the Americas that calls their garbage cans by this name. The name originated because in the early 20th century, the Americans owned a garbage pickup company called, Tin and Company.....and they had metal barrels that they would use to place outside each home for garbage pickup. The barrels said, "Tin and Co." The words stuck beyond the life of the company. They closed operations decades ago, but people still refer to garbage cans as "el tinaco." A simple colloquialism, but this example illustrates how words evolve in a language, and how different countries of the same basic language (in this case, Spanish) evolve different words for the same things.

19. If you want to return an item to the store because you changed your mind, they look at you like you are crazy, because it is just not done unless there is something really wrong with the item.

20. You know what "conflay" and "bistek" mean. (Corn Flakes and Beefsteak)

21. You have empanadas or sancocho for lunch sometimes. Sancocho is chicken soup with yucca and otoe (a root vegetable).

22. You know what "guacho" is. (a Panamanian version of Risoto: a mushy chicken and rice, almost like a thick soup)

23. You vacation in the "interior." (in the country)

24. There could be a pile of mangoes or oranges rotting by the side of the road under a tree because simply, nobody wants them.

25. You've seen a cashew tree and you know where the cashew fruit grows; on top of the fruit.

26. You love "chicha de marañon," which is a drink composed of the watered down and sweetened juice of the cashew fruit mixed with sugar. And no, it is not poisonous. I read once somewhere in an encyclopedia, that it was poisonous. What a bunch of hogwash. That is not true, else thousands in Panama would have already died, including myself.

27. You eat some form of plantain at least four times a week. Grilled, boiled, baked, or fried.

28. Wooden stake fences sprout limbs and branches in the rainy season.

29. Hurricanes never happen there.

30. Tornadoes never happen there.

31. Panama is the only place in the world that I know of that allows its bus drivers to artistically decorate their buses with whatever they want to....sometimes the windows are all named with their favorite women's names, the backs of the buses are usually painted with the portrait of some famous actor or actress, and some display truly great artistic talent (others do not).

32. There are virtually no racial problems in Panama, since the population is so mixed, you might just have as a relative one of the main racial/ethnic groups there: American (meaning of the Americas) Indian, Black, White, Oriental, or Hindu.

33. The banking area in the center of town is the only place in the Americas where you can have a numbered account.

34. Panama has unique poisonous golden frogs in El Valle.

35. Panama has some square trees in El Valle. They grow square because they have four main roots and when the seedling sprouts these grow and turn into the corners.....

I can think of at least 100 of these....unique things about Panama. I'll keep posting them as I remember them.