One Liner:
I'm a devilishly charming writer that kicks Panamanian culture in the teeth on a daily basis and looks damn good while doing it.
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What first brought you to Panama and what were some of the deciding factors?:
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Well, one night in the Chirstmas season of 1982, my mom thought it to be a great idea to have uprotected sex with my surely-inhebriated-at-the-time father. 9 months later, yours truly emerged from this lovely lady's vagina and into the Paitilla Hospital delivery room. My parents have second-guessed this decision ever since.
As for deciding factors, I assume my mom had a good diet, didn't smoke and had any bad habits. Sure worked a lot though, and considering she was 5'10" and 100 lbs wet, carrying around a big-headed baby in your stomach could be quite a chore. I'm glad she stuck it out with me in the end.
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How long have you been living in Panama and how long do you see yourself here in the future?:
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I've lived here most of my life with little springs to the US, Mexico and some joints in South America. I feel like no matter where the road to life takes me I'll always make sure Panama is my main base of operations. I've kind of put in upon myself to help change Panamanian culture and that's a hands-on deal. Unless I get exiled. Then I'm going to have to run my own little "Project Mayhem" remotely.
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What are the positive aspects of life in Panama?:
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Everything's beautiful here; even the most raggety aspects of it have an allure to them you won't find anywhere else. Being a hub for many companies/industries has its perks as well, meaning you can get everything good and cheap. Beaches are close by and there's a little something for everyone, if you look hard enough. People are mostly very kind and eager to help.
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What are the negative aspects of life in Panama?:
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Service is generally lacking. There are always going to be locals (both in and out of the goverment branches) that will want to take advantage of foreigners... the cutting edge technology is here for us to use, but it's always either too expensive or you have to go through too many hoops to get it. In coclusion, the worse part of PTY is the "Juega Vivo" culture.
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What one aspect of your life in Panama makes it all worthwhile?:
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Being able to change things (in terms of culture and society) from the inside. The prospect of me being as lucky as I am and the comfort of knowing I worked hard for it.
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Was it difficult to become "legal" or achieve residency for you in Panama?:
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Sure was; all I had to do was get myself born!
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Do you speak Spanish and do you think it's necessary in order to succeed in Panama?:
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Yes I do, and yes I do. I always recommend it to whatever expat hopeful comes a-knockin' to my website. As I said before, the "Juega Vivo" culture is too strong to ignore, and knowing the language is a great tool to have if you don't want to find yourself in the receiving end of the proverbial shaft.
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What are your future plans in Panama?:
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Exploit the Internet and the tools I have at my disposal to create and push Panamanian culture/society forward. PortoDiao.com, a group I founded with the previous statement as top objective, will continue to thrive with all the crazy events/stuff we can come up with. I also want to publish more books/stories, continue to cement my name as one of the (modesty aside) best web writers in the country and so on. Fiction writer? We'll see, only time will tell. If you want to publish some of my fiction, swing by my chunk of the Internet! Heh.
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Favorite restaurant in Panama (include brief review por favor):
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There are so many I like! There's one that's around Avenida Balboa, by the Universidad del Istmo. It's a small mexican food joint called Mano-el; FAN-tastic. Aside from that, Steinbock in Coco del Mar has great German cuisine and K-YU-CO at the end of the Amador Causeway has cheap, cold beer and great shishkabobs... the trade-off is that the service sucks monumentally. The best ribs (and fish) in town are definitely in El Chorrillo, but you'd need a map (and an entourage) to venture in there.
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Talk about where you live: location, type, neighbors, costs, amenities, conveniences?:
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I live in Urbanizacion Los Angeles which is next to the Betania district of the city, in the Northwest area of the capital. It's quiet, a lot of older folks reside in the area so it's generally tranquile. My apartment building is 50+ years old, as it was built to provide out-of-town professors a place to stay while they were in the capital. Relatively small apartment, enough for 3 people, a guinea pig and a mid-sized dog. the cool thing of living in Los Angeles is that you can two of the city's main traffic arteries within 2 minutes' driving distance: Transistmica Ave. and Tumba Muerto Ave.
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How are you received by the locals in Panama?:
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Most of them think I'm an american. sometimes I'm mistaken for a hindu. I get "canadian" a lot, as well. Then there was that one time a cab driver thought I was Korean...
Reception is mostly good. Due to my website I get many lovely characters that mistakenly think I'm a "gringo" and demand that I "go back home." That sort of thing is funny to me, but I'm prepared to get hit with a lead pipe someday while I walk to the convenience store or something... I'll probably just write about it while I wear a slab of meat as a hat to stop the swelling.
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Do you ever miss home and if so, how do you best cope with it?:
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A lot of the time I make up excuses to stay AWAY from home, you kidding me?! I cope with the fact that I have to go back home by drinking.
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Do you have any tips for people thinking about moving to Panama?:
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Learn Spanish, get acquainted with flip-flops and sunscreen, and if you're working try to keep the same salary range you currently enjoy. It's a worthwhile country, with lots to see and do for the person looking to expand their horizons.
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