As a young person in Panama, sharing an apartment with someone might just be the best decision you ever make. It slashes rent in half, offers a kind of default social life, and can even be the catalyst for various business endeavors. When I arrived in Panama though, I wanted originally to live with no one but myself.

Because things were slow in the office, I sent my assistant the other day on a kind of fanciful wild goose chase. She was to find a specific new palm pilot which I hadn't been able to locate-in fact, one which they said couldn't be purchased in Panama.

At the age of 22, I moved to Panama with, among a number of other goals, the intention of learning Spanish. I had planned not to buy dictionaries or enroll myself in language courses because those would have defeated the purpose. The idea was to pick up the language through osmosis; a process of natural cultural immersion which seemed way easier than it actually turned out to be.

I often get emails of people asking me if I think they could make it in Panama. Do you think I could start a really excellent pool cleaning business? they'll say or what are my chances of making fine wood furniture and selling it to tourists? My response usually starts off explaining that we've only known each other for the extent of this email and from the sounds of it, you are pretty much a loser.

Panamanians refer to their country by some very grandiose nicknames: “the bridge of the world”, “the heart of the universe”, “earth, wind, fire, with our powers combined we create Capitan Planet”. Ok, so I made the last one up, but Panama's nicknames are not the only embellished facet of its culture. Its language and more specifically its Spanish-English slang, has fully evolved into almost a quirky dialect of its own. 

I like Panama, but there are certain things I haven't gotten used to and in regards to some things, I probably never will. Below are seven pet peeves that go in order from the most annoying to the least abhorrent. But make no doubt, they are all extremely irritating. This is not a diatribe against Panama or Panamanians, I'm just talking about things I don't like. I know that Panama is a country with a completely different history and background than the US and therefore adheres to a different set of norms. But some of this stuff is just plain ridiculous.