Panama Musings

SUBURBS are coming! Outside of Panama City and outside of Santiago, the regional capital of Veraguas have tract housing. Paying for a house for 20 years is a new concept here and commented on. Whatever happened to having land and building a house as you had money, they wonder? They look like nice houses but so many buildings all the same generally makes me feel uncomfortable.

CHRISTMAS as I know it is a commercial holiday. I do not feel in the Christmas spirit. Know why? I have not decorated a tree or the outside of my house. I have not bought and wrapped gifts. I do not hear Christmas carols on the radio (I don´t have one). I do not have an advent calendar. Christ is still in Christmas in my community. They do not have money to decorate or to buy many gifts. The Catholics will begin a novena, nine nights of song and worship, tonight. I got really excited when I left town and saw Christmas lights and heard Christmas carols on the radio. Less excited to see gift wrappers and Christmas decorations in the store.

TIME. Even the way Panamanians express time is different than anything I learned in Spanish class. When they say "ahora," which means "now" in any Spanish-English dictionary, they are actually saying "later". If you want to say "now," it sounds like a stutter, "Ahora mit-mismo." That´s "right now," but I don´t know what "mit" is, I just say it.
The dictionary word for "still," as in, "Are you still going to Santiago?" is "todavía." But in my town people say, "siempre," which means "forever."
Some elderly people have no idea how old they are and thus have no idea what year things occurred.
Sometimes people are really prompt and sometimes they come an hour or so late or not at all.

PICK-UP LINES. "Do you want to marry me? We´ll have two children. A boy and a girl."
"Are you going to bring me to the United States or stay here with me?"
Then of course the ubiquitous whistles and hisses.