Living in Pedasi, Panama |
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| Written by Jesse Levin |
| Sunday, 03 May 2009 17:10 |
 For a guy like me who is hard wired and outrageously ADD, free time is somewhat of a killer. There is something about Panama that gets to me if I am not fully engaged at all times. After finishing a project on the Caribbean coast I returned to my familiar stomping grounds Pedasi, after a six-month hiatus. With no clear plans accept for to kick out some squatters and to remodel (finish) the chicken shack (my house) for the fourth time and to put another layer of Tosca and to re-grade the road to the finca for the tenth time I came with my sister to see what would come of the trip.
I have always had the good fortune of having a hard time of distinguishing between business and pleasure. After about four days in town running around trying to gather the old construction and road crew I began to get a bit antsy as a result of the lack of tangible progress being made, but then one night while combing the beach for washed up squid as a result of the cold current I had an epiphany! The process of getting anything done is amazingly slow, inefficient, tedious, and BEAUTIFUL! A typical day in the life of a foreign investor - lover of Pedasi: * Spend a day seeking out your trusty and proven construction team leader who happens to be waddling down a road two miles out of town with a fishing basket over his shoulder no shoes on his feet singing to himself at the top of his lungs on a Wednesday morning. * Persuade one of the only half decent road builders on the entire peninsula to jump into the truck with no shocks to bounce through rivers to asses the damage to the property access road during lunch break * Spend hours on the porch with your various neighbors sitting on those home made chairs propped up against the mud wall on two legs discussing lost cows, when the rain will arrive, what the gringos are doing, etc. all in an effort to gain permission to cross his farm with heavy equipment. Bribe paid.... A loaf of bread and a cartoon of juice from the grocery store a three-hour horse back ride away. * Chasing washed up squid at night on the beach discussing different low capital intensive quick cash flow producing entrepreneurial ventures that Pedasi could benefit from with the other young and hungry individuals who have planted themselves in the town for better or worse * Spending an hour doodling pictures of furniture and printing out pictures of $5,000 sofas from designer websites and having the local wood guy agree to build a day bed, sofa, and table out of Teak, Mahogany and Bamboo for $250.00 All in all, while it may take a while to see tangible results, the process of getting things done in Pedasi is simply outrageous. There is a truly wild and wonderful frontier style of life that can still be had in Pedasi. While those of us who have been a part of it for a while may get frustrated, it is an experience that all who live in or visit the are should treasure and embrace because things are changing quicker then we think.
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Comments (4)
  written by C. Langcaster , May 05, 2009 I like your article - has a nice way of describing the difficulties of Pedasi development. I also liked matt's Pedasi Report. But my question still stands: what is the best deal to buy in Pedasi right now (in terms of investment)?
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 written by La Mer , May 08, 2009 "...having the local wood guy agree to build a day bed, sofa, and table out of Teak, Mahogany and Bamboo for $250.00" I hold a BFA and worked in ceramics and furniture design before traveling the world as a teacher. I would love to be able to work with a good local carpenter, at least for my own needs in the beginning. I am tied up working on another continent right now, but if I end up coming to Panama sooner rather than later, I will contact you. Both you and Matt appear to be extraordinarily resourceful. Thanks for the effort (and fun) you put into sharing publicly your thoughts about living and doing business in Panama. report abuse
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 written by Bob Vogel , January 01, 2011 I am 62 yo and can retire anytime soon, I just want to make sure I can do it on about $1300.00 a month, I was wondering why some of you guys that live there don't put out a question and answer sheet, covering many if not most of the questions I see being asked over and over again, if you know anyone else that would be willing to email me back and forth I'd appreciate it just give them my email address its ok, thanx
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 written by Art Jones , August 26, 2011 i/m Art-i/m about to retire too as i/m over 65-would like to meet u and see if we can do business there in pedasi-i/ll b there on the 27th 0f aug.lets meet and chat 2heads r always better than one -i/m a retired therapist from nyc-Art jones
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| Last Updated on Monday, 04 May 2009 06:32 |
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