sound the alarm! The National Police and hit men from companies closely allied with top government officials are killing people. - the panama news
que paso? i go away for a couple of months and comrade eric starts publishing the daily worker?
i’m just thankful the government has finally been stirred to do something about the problems that plague this fine country. first they enacted the new 30 day visa regulations to boot out gringo tourists. now they’re dropping the mano duro down on the union of construction workers (aka suntracs).
fact is, street demonstrations in panama have been getting out of hand. i’m all about freedom of speech. but not when it means i’m unable to get to the drugstore to fill up on condoms and extra-strength viagra.
i just want to get back to doing what i do best. lord knows i’ve tried to be patient, tried to take care of my girlfriend’s “needs” without the mighty blue pills, tired put the angst of last year behind me. but no, they just won’t let it alone will they?
where do the construction workers get this wacky notion they shouldn’t have to compete with illegal foreign workers? why are they always blockading panama city’s streets; demanding better job safety, and a fair wage?
i wasn’t there to see the carnage that day. i got stuck in traffic on my way to the no-limit hold’em tourney over at the majestic casino, so i had to get out of the damn taxi and walk.
long story short: i ended up with dark smudge on my lucky white shorts. it must have been from that greasy salchicha vendor over on via espania (editors note: he’s greasy. the salchichas are quite dry).
i asked my maid to clean the shorts when i got home. little luz scrubbed for hours but couldn’t get the stain out. for that i reported her to the ministerio de trabajo. but you don’t hear of me blocking city traffic, or sounding alarms do you?
we’ve all got our crosses to bear.
in other news:
it’s rumored that some of the natives were busy painting, cutting out lines of coke, and stacking corpses over at the dictators mansion, when word arrived the french had extended an invitation to Manny “un pelao tranquilo” noriega (pictured on the left).
radio Netherlands claims: “The majority of the Panamanian people are outraged at the situation.” of course, who could blame them? try finding a bottle of abuelo in france. for a national treasure like Manny to end up in a nation of wine drinking savages - its almost too much to bear.
luckily, recent events have demonstrated that panama’s got an ample supply of noriegistas, thugs, and drug dealers, so the country should be able carry on without too much disruption.
glad you are back cojito–about the photo(age 45) with those shorts…look familiar
Comment by damejudith — September 1, 2007 @ 8:41 pm
ah yes, that pic was taken just before i blew out my knees. i leave it up for sentimental reasons. as you can see i was quite the handsome bounder back then.
i’d walk the streets of Panama with my bare legs and sparkling blue eyes and the women would swoon. lol now they just ask for money.
sad how the cruel the years (and those extra helpings of arroz con coco guandu) have been.
Comment by cojito — September 1, 2007 @ 9:50 pm
Hey! I will be rolling into Panama on the 5th …. I have been putting off some dental work here because I have heard…. you can find dentists just as good in panama for less than half the price in the states….. is this true? If so, can anyone recommend a good dentist?…..even with my insurance, my co pay could be anywhere from 250. to 700. dollars depending on who I go to…..
P.S. I know this is not really related to labor woes, Beer, rum or Pussy…. but Im thinking… If my teeth are all jacked up… I can’t eat pussy or drink beer properly…(I dont think it will do to have a tooth fall out while Im down there) SoOooo…Its kinda sub related…
YeahDogg
Comment by Yeahdogg — September 2, 2007 @ 11:22 am
Oh… One more thing… I am so very glad its OK to use the word pussy on this site…so many other expat sites will delete your post if you use the word “golly”…. it is refreshing to know that we are free to use the more base, yet quite useful elements of communication here…. “FUCK” it felt good to say that….
YeahDogg
Comment by Yeahdogg — September 2, 2007 @ 11:32 am
my first year traveling in panama i split a tooth eating arroz con pollo. seems someone forgot to tell the cook to remove all the bones. i ended up needing a root canal and crown. i think i dropped $1500 on that trip to the dentist.
beware the gringo prices. i go to corro maduro in patilla. professional, but no doubt there are cheaper options in panama.
another time i needed some work done. they gave me a quote of $3k. i said no thanks. when i returned to get my teeth cleaned several months later they gave me another quote (unsolicited) to do the same work for half that price.
i guess it just depends how much you value your teeth. bottom line: i’d say dentistry is cheaper here. but if you’ve got insurance in the states and it’ll cost you only $250 with a co-pay that may be the way to go.
heh, my usage of obscenetites and openness about sex costs me money. i’ve been turned down by several advertisers and affiliates. and no doubt google’s counting how many times we all use the word fuck on this site.
all this openness puts me outside the mainstream. but what’s the point of being a writer if you’re going to censor yourself?
i also encourage contrasting points of view. i’m not an expert on panama. hell, most of these so-called experts are not fluent in spanish, and have only been here a short while.
i think many expat sites discourage anything outside the norm because they’re basically pitchmen selling bogus dreams of paradise to masses.
Comment by cojito — September 2, 2007 @ 3:09 pm
Sorry things have been screwed up.
Glad to see you’re back, I was getting really bored reading the same posts over and over and over.
Comment by the_bleachman — September 3, 2007 @ 4:02 pm