on the morning of our fourth visit to panama’s centro medico nacional i feel no urgency to arrive. every day alex and i come here and wait. every day we meet with a different doctor, and every day i pay. it’s a disturbing pattern i’d like to break. so when we pull in, i tell alex i’ll wait out front.

it’s just before 10. already there’s a heaviness over panama city, a promise of what i like to call, the burning hours. street sounds desperately struggle in the thick air. read more»