We have lived in Panama 14 years and it seems like it is longer and longer between visits to the states. Panama has most everything we need so we find it less compelling to even go for shopping trips. However, this year we did feel the urge to visit family, after all they are not getting any younger. It was a bit of culture shock returning to our home territory.
Copa Airlines is a delightful way to start a journey. They still serve food – light dinner and breakfast – on the overnight flight from Panama to Los Angeles. They also serve wine, provide headsets and show two movies – all at no additional cost. They also handed out blankets and pillows, the former to everyone and the latter to women and children first. We had the wide row located by the emergency door so it was entirely possible to stretch out and sleep for much of the trip.
From our arrival at US Immigration, through Customs and on to the car rental agency we discovered everyone spoke Spanish! The bus driver who picked us up to take us to Thrifty was from Guatemala, a country we have much enjoyed visiting. The agent at the car rental was from El Salvador. She was working to put two kids through college, in California. The clerk at La Quinta checked us in and was also a Spanish speaker. In fact, we didn’t find much use for English until we reached our final destination, David’s hometown of Visalia. Even there we had plenty of opportunity to use Spanish but we reverted to English for the most part.
We found our visit to the States after a 2 and a half-year absence pleasant, surprising and expensive. We found service people provided real service. Waiters were efficient. Hotel staff was polite and efficient. Everyone smiled and was helpful form store clerks to bank tellers. However, we had to pump our own gas, which was not an improvement over the convenience of sitting in the car while the nice attendant took care of all the car-related tasks at our favorite service station on Via Espana in Panama
Having become totally enamored with Panama coffee, we took our favorite blend with us and made coffee in our room each morning. On the few occasions when we drank the local stuff, we found it weak and tasteless and loaded with caffeine. Panama coffee is from the highlands and boasts being naturally low in caffeine. However, the prime rib cannot be duplicated outside the US. We know every potential source for prime rib in Panama and sometimes it is good but we had a memorable cut in a local favorite restaurant in Visalia. Makes my mouth water just remembering it with a little horseradish on the side to make the dining pleasure complete.
California is the home of fantastic citrus and it was no disappointment. We had beautiful oranges, grapefruit, as well as berries – strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. Panama grapefruit and oranges compare favorably and at a fraction of the price. But, blueberries when available are as much as $6 a half-quart. In California we got two boxes for $4 and nibbled them for breakfast, between meals, while driving in the car and on the way the airport headed back to Panama. In general, we found some food prices about the same as Panama, some cheaper and some more expensive. Canned tomatoes were priced at the low end of Panama pricing – less than a dollar a can; coffee was twice as much as Panama; meat prices were significantly more; potato chips double the price. It also depended on where you were shopping. We found great variation in pricing on some items, especially toiletry items depending on whether shopping at Target, Wallgreen or Longs or the local supermarket. The incredible display, however, whether in the fish market or the produce section is unsurpassed. Only once in Panama have I seen a grocery (El Rey in David) where the vegetables were displayed like a work of art. In the US, this seemed to be the standard in grocery stores. The selection of items in general in the US stores is mind-boggling. For example, carrots come in baby, small/thin, regular, fat, and those are just the fresh ones. You can find them frozen as well.
Panama also has all kinds of wonderful vegetables. From broccoli to lettuce, green beans or squash, I always buy local, except for spinach. I love spinach – in quiche, steamed with butter but especially as a salad. The local Panama product is slimy and bitter and nothing like spinach in the rest of the hemisphere. A spinach salad was on my want list for this trip, right behind prime rib. We found it for lunch in the charming little downtown of Visalia. Made with fresh leaf spinach, blue cheese, fresh-cooked and crumbled bacon, walnuts, hard-cooked egg and alight vinaigrette dressing, it was wonderful.
The other interesting little difference that I was reminded of involved eggs. First of all eggs in Panama have brown shells. Recently a group of us were looking for white eggs to do a craft project. True to what I already knew, there were no white eggs in Panama and the group ended up painting the shells white as a first step in the craft project. Next, the yolks are more orange than yellow. They are a rich color and maybe even taste richer but that may be something my grandmother told me. I love fried eggs, preferably fried in the grease after cooking the bacon. This is something that can only be found at home, my home, in Panama. Oh, you can get fried eggs but they are never over as ordered. They more likely finished cooking under a pan lid and come out very white. However, in California I got eggs that had been flipped at the final moment, with slightly brown edges and the yolks still a little liquid. Our favorite spot for breakfast was in the tiny farming community of Woodlake at the airport restaurant. Their bacon and eggs and sourdough toast was the best. And, for those who have experienced ordering bacon in Panama where it might be limp and pink, or burnt to a crisp, or a combination of both on the same piece (how do they do that), the bacon was perfect every time we ordered during our trip.
There was also the climate difference for us to deal with. We are used to Panama’s wonderful warm, humid climate. When we left on Monday evening it was a delightful 82 degrees and about 62% humidity. We arrived in LA to 40-degree temperatures and 15% humidity. It was cold and dry. Our lips and hands were soon dry and chapped. Chapstick and lotion were our constant companions instead of sunscreen. Fortunately, we had planned for the 30-degree evenings and sometimes 60-degree afternoons as well as everything in between. Upon returning to Panama and walking up the ramp from the plane I was just thinking how wonderfully warm and pleasant when the man in front of me said “ugh, hot and humid!”. I wanted to point out to him it is summer in Panama – beautiful dry, breezy summer. But then it’s all relative – we thought it cold in LA, he thought it hot in Panama.
Our last errand before heading home involved a visit to the Panamanian Consulate in San Diego. We were under the impression from the web site that it was in LA but when we called to check the address and make an appointment, discovered we would need to drive two hours south. The Consul General himself returned our call and answered our questions as well as scheduled an appointment that would be convenient for us. Upon arriving the next day we were in for another culture shock! The office was located in a large office building with a major hotel on the ground floor. The elevator took us to the 6th floor where other government offices of various countries were located. There was no bell to ring, security to pass, or guard to greet us. We merely opened the door and were welcomed, in English, by a very helpful woman at the front desk. She recognized us immediately – we arrived at exactly 11:00, the appointment time – and made us comfortable. The Consul General, Eduardo Arango, arrived a few minutes later and immediately confirmed what we needed and set to work. He also suggested we stop back down stairs and relax over a cup of coffee for half an hour while he prepared the documents we needed.
In the hotel coffee shop we enjoyed some fantastic hot chocolate and most friendly service. Returning to the Consulate we found our documents waiting for us. Sr. Arango was most gracious, efficient (translating and typing the papers for us personally) and he sent greetings to several mutual friends in Panama. Other than paying fees for the services, parking fees, and the driving time, we could not have been more pleased. What a difference from visiting the US Embassy or Consulate in Panama or elsewhere in the world. No parking on the street and walking into a secured area where no one from the guard at the gate to the guard at the entrance speaks English. No taking a seat and waiting for hours or paying for services and then waiting for hours. No talking through glass and moving from window to window to complete the process. And, on the positive side, the little side trip from LA to San Diego and back provided us an opportunity to check out more of the changes in California.
The Copa return flight was basically a repeat of the flight out – except the food was not as good. The US is totally into fake food and it permeates the market. We were offered fake milk (white powder with sugar), fake sugar, fake omelets, limp partially cooked bacon and stale bread with fake butter. In fact, the array of fake products available in the US is amazing. Coffee con leche in Panama means hot milk. In the US there are at least three kinds of fake sugar and often as many kinds of fake white stuff for coffee. Fortunately, most restaurants had half and half for the coffee or milk upon request. You also had to request water.
Upon reaching the terminal in Panama we were delighted with all the recent changes in that section of the Tocumen International airport. The arrival area is clearly marked for arriving passengers to find their way to immigration, customs and baggage. The residents line zipped along and the officer welcomed us with words (in English) and a smile. Within minutes of departing the plane we were awaiting our baggage at a clearly marked turntable. An announcement was made shortly telling us the baggage would arrive in two minutes. The airport now provides carts for your luggage – at a price of $2- but with today’s luggage on wheels not many passengers were willing to rent carts. The customs line moved quickly and once again the officer greeted us with a smile and even made a joke (in English).
In the main terminal we found our regular taxi driver awaiting us and we were quickly on our way into town. Just as quickly we were stopped by an accident on the Corredor but it only held us up for about five minutes. With the increasing number of accidents, as a result of Panama having sold a record number of cars last year, this was really a minimal delay. Our driver when asked, “what’s new” responded, “more traffic, more accidents and more crime”. Not what we wanted to hear but no different than what was happening two weeks before when we left on our vacation.
Its great to be back and I’ll be back on the radio with the Weekly News Review on Sunday, February 1 (93.5FM Radio Metropolis (www.pbcpanama.com). Meanwhile, check this site for a regular Letter from Panama to focus on current events of the day.
Sincerely,
Sandra Snyder
