Panama Groceries 101

     Grocery shopping.Sounds mundane, right?In the good old U.S. of A., you can walk the aisles of Kroger or Albertson's in your sleep and manage to get home with everything you need.For the gringo in Panama, there is a bit of a difference.In Coronado, where we live, there are more shopping options than most other small Panamanian towns for two reasons.First, Coronado has a large expat community, and secondly, it is a resort area that people flock to from the city (Panama City) on weekends and holidays.Starting at the top of the food chain (pun intended), there is Riba Smith, a newer upscale store that I have not even patronized yet.According to hearsay,it is a source for gourmet, organic, and specialty products. The basic supermarkets are Rey and Super 99.

Then there is Machetazo, which is a grocery/deli/everything else store, and by everything else, I mean you can purchase an accordion, for example.How convenient! Machetazo has three stories of merchandise, with special separate escalators to transport your cart up and down.

Accordion on the shelf at Machetazo

Add to the equation the countless Mini/Supers, which are tiny Mom & Pop stores, and the roadside stands and street vendors, and fishermen...you get my drift. 

 

If you are lucky, you can buy fresh fish from a guy like the one in the picture below.Fresh in Panama means the fish are still flopping around. The fishermen will clean and fillet your purchases for you for an extra buck. 

Fisherman and his catch

     My grocery shopping trip today was a simple run to Rey, which still was time-consuming.It will get faster as I learn what is available and rethink my menus and habits.Juice, coffee, and sugar,but not Minute Maid, Maxwell House, or Imperial.No jumbo economy size, no bulk Costco-style packaging- my trash bags came in a package of 6, and the biggest carton of milk was a half-gallon. 

Guava-pineapple juice

BEST.COFFEE.EVER.

Sugar

There is a lot less processed food in our pantry, and a lot more fresh produce to wash up.The only things in the freezer are ice trays and paletas (ice cream bars).Despite all of the differences, the basics remain.I am soaking beans overnight to cook tomorrow.We will have juice & coffee in the morning, but the sugar that goes into the coffee is not snow-white.And with any luck, our dinner is swimming around in the Pacific as I write this.Bon Appetit!!!  

Diamonds and Designers

     So, everyone that thinks Panama is a little Third World country, with thatch-roofed huts and barefoot citizens, please raise your hand. That's what I thought. We have been to the city (and in Panama, that translates to Panama City) twice this week, and a more cosmopolitan scene you cannot find. Of course there are not-so-nice neighborhoods, street vendors and performers, simple bodegas and the like. However, you can also find fabulously decorated penthouse condominiums, exclusive boutiques, designer fashions and gourmet dining establishments.

Photo of Panama City taken from a 38th floor condo.

         The Multiplaza Mall was one of the places in the city that we checked out this week. We had never been there before, but we had heard that it was a shopping center catering to the more sophisticated and discriminating tastes. It is immaculately clean, exquisitely appointed, and the stores bear such distiguished names as Versace, Louis Vuitton, and Cartier. Look out, Beverly Hills!

Stores at Multiplaza 

     Tony Roma's can be found here, as well as P.F. Chang. The MAC cosmetic store caught my eye, and they boast a new Nickelodeon retail store for all the SpongeBob aficionados out there. The movie theater looked to be as nice as any I had ever seen. We did not have time to walk every square inch of the mall, but it is without a doubt more posh than most. And NO, I didn't buy anything. It was fun to just walk around. Yet another facet of this fascinating place!

     

     

Flora and Fauna

     I love a tropical environment.When you think tropics, you picture palm trees, coconut groves, hibiscus, and the like.Here in Panama, we are at the tail end of the dry season, which in theory means that the trees, grass, leaves, flowers, etc. should be at their absolute worst for the year.Maybe they are, but if that is the case, I can hardly wait to see what this place looks like after five or six months of consistent rainfall. I may need a machete to go to the car.There is bougainvillea everywhere, blooming madly in intense colors. There are trees that bloom in vivid flaming yellow and orange, and bright green banana trees, laden with fruit.

There are farmer's produce stands everywhere, and the pineapple (for about a buck) is sweet, tender and juicy, the watermelon is deep red, nearly seedless, and delicious.We stopped yesterday at a stand where we bought cold, fresh squeezed sugar cane juice ($2).Will this become old hat? I don't think so.

     Sitting on the patio, we can watch frolicking squirrels (they are long and skinny with really long tails, and come in different colors).The hummingbirds frequent the blooms in the flower beds early in the morning.By night, the little lizards are all over the house stalking bugs, and we have seen some huge green lizards further out in the yard. The birds start singing with the first light, and don't stop till dusk. The prettiest ones we have spied are a cornflower blue, and quite camera-shy.We plan on venturing to different regions where even more exotic species of plant and animal are found, but for now, we are enjoying what is right outside the door. 

      

Sunday Drive:The Beach at Gorgona, Panama

     We decided to go for a drive today. There was not a big agenda-we were planning on grabbing a bite to eat, seeing what stores were open on a Sunday, and trying to find a gym we read about online. Our meanderings took us down the Pan American Highway, and down the road toward a town called Gorgona. We decided to check out the beach. The quality of the road deteriorated the closer we got to the beach, with ruts and potholes galore (prompting me to consider briefly whether this was a bad idea). We found a place to park, and began walking toward the noise. And I don't mean the noise of crowds at the beach. I mean Nature's Tympani. The glorious and magnificent sound of huge powerful waves relentlessly crashing the shore. 

Gorgona, Panama

     To say that it was a metaphor for the majesty of nature is the epitome of all understatements. I decided then and there that I no longer needed shelter. Just give me a sleeping bag and let me listen to that for the rest of my life. The waves would lull you into complacency with their rhythm and then slap a huge one onto the shore, as if to remind you who was the boss in this situation. I was standing in the surf, enjoying the warm bath of salt water on my feet, when next thing I knew, I was soaked nearly to my waist. 

Gorgona, Panama

     There were sea birds diving for their dinner, and shore birds chasing to and fro. The horizon was the Pacific, stretching out to eternity, and behind us, in the distance, the jagged mountains stood watch in their shroud of mist. A person can become intoxicated by all this beauty. 

Shore birds on the beach

     Panama is a truly amazing place, and the surprises just keep coming. The road might be bumpy, but the splendor we found at the end was well worth it. 

Why Panama?

     This is the question that people have asked me time and time again.We started considering moving abroad a couple of years ago.Several names were in the hat, Belize, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Panama being the front runners.After extensive research, and making our own personal scouting trip, we decided on Panama and started Operation Big Move.
     The advantages in Panama were clear to us.The form of government is a stable representative democratic republic.The weather is agreeable, never cold, with a tropical maritime climate, and is completely outside the hurricane belt.The money exchange is quite simple-they use the American dollar.There are several options for visas, the best one for us being the pensionado visa for retirees.Panama offers an affordable cost of living, good health care, and is consistently rated as a top retirement destination.
    The country itself is beautiful, with mist-shrouded mountains, gurgling cool streams, and tropical and exotic plants and trees, some with gorgeous blooming foliage.The real kicker is 1547 miles of coastline.Who doesn't love a good beach?There is the Caribbean on one side, with the crystal aquamarine waters, and the Pacific on the other, with its variety of beaches.

Pacific coast at San Carlos

     The citizens of this country are very serious about their holidays and festivals.By very serious, I mean that if a pipe in your house bursts on Maundy Thursday, it will be very hard to get a plumber out until after Easter.The hours of businesses can be sketchy.Some are only open around the weekend, some close for lunch, some are completely whimsical.As a result, a bit of culture shock is to be expected, and if you don't roll with the punches, you are likely to suffer some frustration.They simply do not have the intensity of the American businesses.They know how to relax, and don't live for their work.Not a bad concept.
     With all the information we gathered, both with hours of internet research, and a couple of weeks of hands-on-every-minute-was-packed fact finding in person, we chose Panama.