Panama Report.

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zacb
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Panama Report.

Post by zacb »

Right now I am couchsurfing in my departure city and having a pretty good time. Going to see some local landmarks, then head to Panama City. It is funny, on the way down to my departure city, I talked with some interesting people, talked with a libertarian, and come to find out my couchsurfing host is an anarcho capitalist. Crazy stuff.Anyways, I will keep you posted.
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Jester
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Re: Panama Report.

Post by Jester »

Buy a Panama hat -- post a pic

Congratulations on taking action

Godspeed

PS If you encounter promoter types there, listen politely and learn from them, but don't put trust in them.
"Well actually, she's not REALLY my daughter. But she does like to call me Daddy... at certain moments..."
zacb
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Re: Panama Report.

Post by zacb »

* update: Despite all my planning, the trip did not go according to plan. Instead of 8 days I will be spending 4 here. The other can be attributed to 2 and half on ft. Lauderdale and 1 1/2 in Detroit. I stayed with a couchaurfing host in Detroit, and I they dropped me at the airport , but we arrived late at first, but the next flight out of ft. Lauderhill was 2 days away and so the host gave me money for a hostel. The Hostel was soso, but it was a bed. In Ft. Lauderdale I visited a few places, it seems there is a lot of opportunity if you are a young. Regular jobs pay soso and rent can be high, but a condo can be had a mile from the water. The malls were soso (maybe I am just being jaded about malls ), but the swap meet was huge. I would highly suggest that before the malls in ft. Lauderdale. I also went to the beach, went to a few shops there, but I think one of the owners were tranny! In any case my opinion of ft. Lauderdale was high.

As for Detroit, besides being late, my hosts were awesome and showed me around. I got to see the Hidenberg project and the old Packard plant, and had a too conversation about anarcho capitalist politics. My views on Detroit were right on in that there are small glimers of hope, but in certain areas there was an aura of despair. I will post the Panama part later today. In between everything my tablet needs slight repair.

Reporting live from Panama City Panama! Zacb
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zacb
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Re: Panama Report.

Post by zacb »

Sorry for the lack of story, just been busy working and with school. Here is what I gathered from my trip.

-At the Ft. Lauderdale Airport, I talked to a Dominican guy. I started speaking Spanish, but to be honest it sucked (I am working on it with Pimsleur's and Dulingo). He mentioned that it was hard to get a girl in the US, and he had a Colombian GF. More guys are catching on.

-If you decide to stay in the US, Florida seems to have a mish mash of races and peoples. I got two iois. One was a girl at a T-Shirt shop inside the swap meet. She seemed sweet (she was some type of Hispanic, although lighter). She said she would be with me in a moment, but forgot about it. She then realized she forgot about me, and knocked a buck off. IDK whether she was just nice, or a bit interested, but regardless she was nice. Another girl stared at me at SawGrass Mill Mall. Like a gawking stare. IDK . That mall is really a multicultural hub, but not much in terms of interesting store. Maybe I am becoming an old geezer who hates malls.

-Stop by Tom Jenkin's in Ft. Lauderdale if you can. They have the best ribs I have ever tasted.

-In terms of regional shopping, I was disappointed in Panama City. I went to Cinco de Mayo, which was a prime example of what a free market could be. You could find hookers (I politely declined), shaved ice for .75 cents (the BEST EVER), haircut for three bucks, and a bunch of other small little stand that have food and other things. Albrook mall and other malls were WAY underwhelming. I was expecting regional influence and regional stores from across Latin America, but got just an America strip mall.

-In terms of girls in Panama City (where I stayed), people walking their pets (mostly older) were nice, but for the most part manners went out the window. I imagine with some pipelining and whatnot you could do well, but that was not my mission, so obviously I can't speak on that. Day game and simple day to day interactions seemed soso.

-The street food was great! I could get 2 pineapple slices for a buck, a spiraled hot dog for a buck, and a bunch of other assortments for a buck. I would give that 5 star.

-Accommodations were good, I was able to get a hostel for 9 a night. Normally without the discount it was 15. Mystico Hostel and Spa. A++.\

-The attractions were ok. I would suggest the Old Town, although the cab drivers there are shifty. Ancon Hill ( Ancon is not how it is pronounced) was cool , with Mi Pueblito at the bottom. When I went there (I believe a Sunday) , it was free. Wanted to go to Hard Rock, Danilo's , and Hard Rock Cafe, but could not get around to them. Their baseball looked cool too. I personally would skip the malls. The shopping really disappointed me. Riba Smith's, which I thought was a World Market type store, did not have much. The Panama Canal was ok, but in order to see the actual Canal, you would need to pay $15 bucks. Bad move. I just looked at the periphery. Rey has a decent selection of food.

-My report should not reflect the whole country, since I did not have enough time to venture out of Panama City.

-You could get decent apartments for $300 a month. With the discount, you can have a decent bachelor pad for maybe $250 a month (geezer discount). This would be on the nice side of town, lots of mini malls and booths.

-The transportation was mixed. I though I was going to pay 2-3 bucks for anywhere in the city with taxis. Bad move. They have metros (that require you buy a card at the stations), and they cost like .25-.50 cents a ride. The buses are nice too, same price. Use those instead, they won't rip you off.

-As far as business opportunities, Colon and David may have some potential, but I can't vouch one way or another. As far as Panama City, native crafts seem to be something that could be easily exported. Cinco de Mayo may also present some opportunities. For instance, I could buy a white colored shirt for 2 bucks. I did not dive deep into Cinco de Mayo, but you could probably scored some decent deals. Colon may be the same, but I was not there, but heard you could get a bunch of things there, but they had restrictions where you could sell them. So some things to look into. As far as local businesses, there are a few private ideas I have, that rely on less regulation on certain industries compared to the US, and which could be leveraged in the tourism industry. I am keeping the latter idea closer to my chest.

-There is huge potential for savings by getting dental work as well as other medical things done in Panama. A simple filling costs $50 bucks a pop. I would have gone, but time was a constraint as well as not hearing back from them.

-Overall I felt a little down about the trip, but Cinco de Mayo, Ancon Hill, and Old Town Made it worth it. The shopping is what killed it, but I imagine Danilo's and the ball game could have redeemed the trip, provided I had more time. I have more photos, but I need to develop them. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
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Jester
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Re: Panama Report.

Post by Jester »

Good report and pics, thanks. Place looks more colonial than i thought.

Nice hat! You should use that pic as a profile if you use LatinAmericanCupid or whatever.

I like your concept of putting business first, as the "driver" for relocation. Build it and the chicks will come.

Congratulations on getting started.
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WorldTraveler
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Re: Panama Report.

Post by WorldTraveler »

Zacb, where are you from? Do you speak Spanish? Glad you had a good trip. I used to spend a lot of time in Ft. Lauderdale. I used to always have a good time. My friend just got back from Panama City. He had a very good time.
zacb
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Re: Panama Report.

Post by zacb »

I definitely would Jester, but less we forget, I am taken ;) . I know I am probably going S_Parc on you guys, but at this point my reasons for looking abroad are financial and for personal and economic freedom, as well as quality of life.

WorldTraveler I am from Michigan. Compared to Panama, Michigan seems like a nanny state. In Panama, I saw a business on every street. Granted, I am unsure of the property right status, but I compare that to Detroit, there the only thing close to the numerous hut businesses in Panama would be one measly Mexican food truck. And that was in Dearborn. I was surprised that the only slum in Panama was near Santa Fe. Otherwise I never felt in danger at all. This is one of the main reasons I want to get out of at least Michigan. Working at Walmart, I see all anti-social behaviour, like excessive use of food stamp cards , wearing pajamas at times other than graveyard shifts, disabled people parking like assholes, placing trash in carts, the numerous tub tubs, among other things that annoy me. Add to that a culture that disdains intellectualism and free enterprise (both Republicans and Democrats) and you can see why I am strongly considering moving (perhaps to Florida, New Hampshire, or Utah if I don't move overseas).

As for my Spanish, I speak a little. I was able to get by with pointing and my broken Spanish. It is something I want to improve. I would say however that Panamanians don't speak clean Spanish. The Venezuelans (there are many there looking for work) as well as Argentinians get that prize. I am probably going to try and work on my Spanish a bit more. Next time I will probably bring my gf with, but the next time we will likely go to Colombia. I may taken a fellow libertarian friend if he does not go to Porcfest. I think Colombia would be a bit more fun. BTW WorldTraveler, didn't you say you were from Detroit?

As for fun I enjoyed the Colonial areas, and probably would have enjoyed it more if I got to a ball game and Danilo's but I only had 4 days. I enjoyed Ft. Lauderdale a bit better, but I think the malls are what let me down, since I was expecting more local outlets, and thus import export opportunities, which were the main thrust of my trip. Like I said, if you want goo shopping, go to Cinco de Mayo.
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xiongmao
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Re: Panama Report.

Post by xiongmao »

Wow, great trip report - we need more stuff like this on here!

I'm now in Barcelona, and I'm getting more interested in South America. My Spanish is poor though as I did French, German and Latin in school - we never even had a Spanish teacher. In any case, Barcelona is a terrible place to learn Spanish given that this part of Spain is not really Spanish at all.

Thanks to my background in these other languages I can read a lot of Spanish words, but speaking is another matter. Chinese has much simpler grammar.

I've talked to some Argentinian and Mexican girls here, they are nice. I take it that Argentina is going downhill, so a lot of the smarter ones are going abroad in search of opportunities.

It's good you've talked to plenty of people. I should do this more, but it's a risky place to let down your guard, especially in tourist areas.
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zacb
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Re: Panama Report.

Post by zacb »

-One more positive and another negative. The positive is no ID for alcohol purchases. The downside is the streets have a ton of trash on them. I was really surprised by both.
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Post by Ghost »

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Last edited by Ghost on February 24th, 2020, 8:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
zacb
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Re: Panama Report.

Post by zacb »

In Panama City at least not. There were enough at the hostel I was staying at, but otherwise it was hard to find fellow gringos. So in terms of density, no very few, unless you count the ones who stayed in the hostels.
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