With the hope of bringing some comedy to recent events in the Republic of Panama, such as the real estate boom and influx of retirees, I thought, “What better than a Top 10 List, Letterman style!”

I have lived in Panama for the past 19 months, and am loving every minute of it. When most people hear the word “Panama,” they think “Panama City, Florida…Spring Break woo hoo!!!” (Panama City, Florida is starting to get under my skin since every time I do a search for something in Panama City, Panama, Florida comes up!) or they think “Is that not the place that I learned about in fourth grade that has a canal.” Though common responses, both answers do not begin to do justice for Panama City and the rest of the Republic of Panama. Most individuals that arrive in Panama for the first time are taken aback with its exquisiteness and cannot understand why they have failed to recognize this small isthmus tucked in between Costa Rica (the man of the hour) and Colombia.

So, I invite you to learn more about Panama and all that it has to offer!

10. No tornados to stir things up.
9. National beer goes for about $0.50.
8. The national beer is pretty darn good.
7. Tropical skies. Gotta see ‘em to believe ‘em!
6. A mini schnauzer (or any other breed) can get a bath and groomed for about $16.
5. The perma-vacation vibe.
4. Retirees can get a 10% discount on their McDonald’s cheeseburgers.
3. Opportunity knocks.
2. The fruit is more natural than not.
1. You can dance in the rain and not freeze off your derriere.

Watch Internet TV about Panama Real Estate NOW

By: msutherl

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Mona Sutherland graduated summa cum laude from UCLA in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology. Currently, Mona is the Search Marketing Specialist for WSI Panama. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Mona moved to the Republic of Panama to pursue certain entrepreneurial endeavors and is currently completing a MBA at the University of Lousiville.

Some of the beautiful locations in Costa Rica, Panama, Belize and Nicaragua are in competition with one another and you can get accommodation here at a very affordable rate. Central America is known for mixed culture and therefore you can see here people having different languages and civilizations.

Central American countries are the perfect place to enjoy either with someone special, or with the whole family. These countries are having several top resorts and hotels and your stay here will be very special and exciting. Here you will not only find historic sites, art galleries, museums, parks but plenty of other activities will keep your schedule tight and you will never face a shortage of things to do here.

You will find the people most receptive here. Native people in these countries are cooperative, ready to share their culture and history with the visitors. Your stay here will be wonderfully unique and you will have a desire to come here again and gain.

Most popular destinations in Central America: In Central American countries Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Nicaragua and Guatemala you will find many popular destinations such as Panama City, Belize City, San Jose, Antigua, Bocas del Toro, Guatemala City and many more. You will find cheap hotels and restaurant here and you every person in your family will have something to do here.

There are a number of museums and national parks you would like to see. Excellent sea beaches and sunshine will really attract you and you will find yourself enjoying in these beautiful cities. What is more interesting is that you will find accommodation and food here quite cheaper.

Adventures available in Central America: There are lot of adventurous sports in Central America including sea sports such as kayaking in Panama River, scuba diving, motor sporting, mountain biking, rafting, snorkeling and many more. Panama canal adventure in itself is a complete combination of sports and adventure. You will see many excellent engineering marvels in your passage to Panama Canal and in the recent past an excellent viewing center is opened. This will help you understand the architectural thought behind it.

Water sport is more common and you and your family will enjoy fun water sports in the ocean. Some of the fun water sports available to you in these countries include diving, charter sailboats, paddle boating, Para-sailing, fishing, water skiing, snorkeling and many more.

By: Matthew Reider
Article Source : http://www.articledashboard.com
Having travelled to over 40 countries around the world, Matt Reider started CanuckAbroad.com as a resource for finding cheap flights, travel advice, and information for expats abroad.

I am sitting here at one of the most famous hotels in all of Havana, after I just withdrew Can$250 (200 CUC, Pesos Convertibles) from my Mastercard. No big deal, you say….. Until you realize that the average Cuban makes between US8 and US30, not an hour, not a day, but for a whole month!

My professor for instance told me that she makes about US$18 or so a month, so the amount I withdrew is more than a year´s salary for a university professor…. I am feeling really weird about this and I also want to get most of the cash into a safe as soon as possible. I am simply unable to walk around with a year´s salary in my pocket…They talk about the “inverted pyramid” here, where a waiter in a hotel makes much more (due to tips from tourists) than a brain surgeon in a hospital…

The economic situation here definitely is the dominating topic. Just standing in line a young black man started to speak to me and told me that he has a degree in physical education, teaches martial arts at the national level and inevitably the conversation came back to the dire economic situation: the local refrain is “Hay que luchar”, – daily life indeed is a struggle around here.

There is no toilet paper around here, so having read about the shortages I brought my own little Kleenex travel packs from Canada. At the University and in the whole country there is tremendous shortage of writing paper. Basic things simply dont exist, or if they do, they cost a lot of money for locals on the black market.

As a result, a tourist is always pretty much a target. There are “jineteros” who try to lure you to a restaurant or bed and breakfast (in return for a commission from the owner), therer are “jineteras”, local young and good-looking Cuban women that seek contact with tourists, some of them straight prostitutes, others just looking for the occasional financial favour and entertainment opportunity.

Many local tourist employees try to take advantage of their contacts with tourists and there are definite rip-offs. 2 days ago I went to a state-owned restaurant at the far corner of the famous Coppelia Park. The food and service were horrible. I chose Arroz Congri ($3), a salad ($3), and a mango juice ($1), totalling $7. When the bill came I saw a total of $9.85 ($4 each for the salad and the rice and $1.85 for the juice). I made the waitress aware of the situation and she acted as if it had been an error and did correct the bill after all. But a less alert tourist would have paid 40% more than what was stated on the menu.

Square in front of the Capitolio.

Sometimes it feels like you are a “walking wallet” and I have developed a certain suspicion as to to the sincerity of some of the approaches by the locals. On the other hand, I realize, that with the $10 or $20 people that people make here a month, they are unable to live for more than a couple of days, so their economic reality forces them to try to make money any which way they can.

Services for tourists and even locals barely exist. I have been trying to rent a bicycle for the last 4 days. There were 2 contact phone numbers for bicycle rental places in my Lonely Planet Travel Guide. I have been trying to call both numbers numerous times – no answer. A co-student of mine has been trying to link me up with the owner of his bed and breakfast who has a new mountain bike. For 4 days I have been trying to reach this individual until I finally connected with him yesterday and I rented the bike for $3 a day.

But of course, you absolutely cannot leave the bicycle alone anywhere because it will be stolen and resold in a second. As a matter of fact, I “tipped” my hotel security guards a few dollars to look after my rented mountain bike particularly well, because anything of value “disappears”.

Yesterday, my friend Pedro and I went to eat in a Paladar (a privately owned restaurant). As a gesture of appreciation for his time and his insights I had given him a red baseball cap with “Toronto” written on it. He forgot it at the restaurant, but within a minute and a half we became aware of it and returned to the restaurant. The baseball cap was already gone, which made him very sad. He told me that it would be resold today for $8 (almost a monthly government salary).

For the most part, people here are unable to travel, even locally. Due to the “periodo especial” since the collapse of the Soviet Union (and the associated financial support for Cuba) gasoline is expensive and scarce, and there is not even enough for the local Havana transit system. So if you want to take the “GuaGua” you sometimes have to wait for 2 or 3 hours since there are so many people lining up for the local bus and there are not enough buses available.

Having a private car or access to the Internet is a luxury that only extremely few people have access to and I have heard different stories on the street that a regular Cuban person actually is not allowed to have access to Internet. As a foreigner, it´s very difficult for me to gauge which of these stories are true, whether it is truly prohibited or simply extremely difficult to get. Either way, I have noticed that people are still very careful about what they say around here.

The cruise ship terminal.

On the other hand, despite all these hardships and limitations on personal freedom, I have noticed a really amazing friendliness and a great sense of humour in the people. People approach me, ask me questions, without the immediate possibility of selling me something or expecting money from me. There seems to be a natural curiosity about foreigners around here, maybe because the possibilities of travel don´t exist. The professors at the University have been great and truly seem to enjoy the interaction with all the international students. When you get to meet people one-on-one (not in a government-owned restaurant), it is indeed a fabulous experience.

Last night my friend and I took an extended walk in a park after sunset, talking, discussing, comparing notes about our respective cultures. And it was completely safe, something that you wouldn´t dare to try in a park in Toronto. Even downtown, you see young, very attractive women, dressed up in really sexy clothing, walking around by themselves at 11, 12 at night. Immersing myself in this ultra-unique contradictory culture has been such a precious, unique and paradigm-shattering experience, and even though I have only been here for a week now, I feel like I have absorbed and learned so much….

It is so different from regular life in Canada that it feels like everyday I am entering into a foreign universe, a completely different world, but I have to say, I have never felt so alive……

Author : Susanne Pacher

Yesterday I had to sign up for my Spanish course at the University of Havana. The Campus of the University is an astoundingly beautiful collection of classical buildings and a Cuban tank graces the entrance to the library.

At 9 am all the foreign students, about 40 of them, met in the Edificio Varona and we were shepherded by various professors into a very antiquated lecture hall. (By the way, of the 5 or 6 washroom stalls in the women´s bathroom, only 1 or 2 have toilets in them, no toilet seats, and no running water in the sinks. Again a sign of rather run-down infrastructure…)

Steps leading up to the University of Havana.

There they told us about the program, but only in Spanish, which was okay for me, since I speak Spanish, but about half the group was completely lost. We then had to do a quick written placement test to assess our existing Spanish skills and then the bureaucracy began.

We found out that we needed the following documents:

- a copy of our passports

- an official copy of the hotel guest card and/or a copy of the licence of the private Casa Particular

- 200 CUC (Convertible Cuban Pesos) in cash for a 2-week course or more for other courses

- 40 CUC for changing our tourist visa to an academic visa (in fiscal stamps which we had to obtain abuot 5 km away)

- 2 passport photos

- 25 CUC in cash to expedite our academic visa if we are in town for only 2 weeks.

I linked up with a bunch of foreign students and we headed off together on our quest to fulfill the Cuban desire for Burocratismo. We first obtained cash at bank at the Hotel Havana Libre, then got the passport pictures done (to be ready for pickup 3 hours later), then searched for the other bank on Calle 23 that would provide us with the 40CUC stamps for the academic visa. With extremely long lineups everywhere, this took us about 2 or 3 hours.

Then we got really hungry and we were approached by a local “Jinetero” (restaurant tout) who promised us a complete meal with main dish, salad and side dish for 6 or 7 CUC. We walked with him, only to find out that the wait at the Paladar (private restaurant) would be about 45 minutes to even sit down, not including food preparation time.

Tank in front of the University’s library.

So we walked up Calle 21 and a private restaurant owner approached us for a meal and we gave in and came inside. It was a beautiful colonial villa, except that the guest room with is obligatory 3 tables and 12 seats was in a dark small dingy room completely without windows.

The Alma Mater in front of a concert stage.

However, we had a delicious home-cooked meal, I had roasted chicken with rice & beans, salad and a lemon soft drink, all for 8 CUC (about 8 US$). 2 of my student colleagues were from Germany and the other fellow is from Toronto as well, but originally from Poland. We had some great conversations and it was interesting linking up with a bunch of Europeans in Havana.

After a brief rest in the hotel, my friend Pedro again picked me up in the evening and I couldn´t help but tell him about my experience with the Cocotaxi driver yesterday, who had tried to pick me up, despite my clarifications and statements that I was married and not interested in any amorous activities.

Pedro explained that sexual relations in Cuba are a relatively common, easy-going thing and that it is very common for people to link up for quick “meaningful overnight relationships”. He referred to the Cuban people as very “passionate and hot-blooded”, I guess that explains a couple of the advances that I have been receiving so far, particularly since there is also quite a lot of sex tourism where men (and even women) come to Cuba to engage in easily available erotic experiences.

Pedro and I walked through the old town and of course along the Malecon (the seafront boulevard) and saw the beautiful Plaza Vieja and the Plaza de la Catedral where a mass was being held for the passing of Pope John Paul II.

This was very interesting, since Cuba is a Communist / official atheist country and there are much fewer Catholics today than before the Revolution. Actually much of Cuba´s religion is a mixture of Catholicism and Santeria (religious practices of the African slaves). Regardless of religiousness, Cuba has declared a 3-day “duelo nacional” (a national mourning period for the Pope) and the mass was attended by hundreds of people.

Pedro and I then had a nice meal in the “Barrio Chino” (Havana’s Chinatown) for 5.60 CUC (less than US$6) for 2 people and 2 vegetarian meals and soft drinks. After a nice dinner he again flagged down a local private car driver and gave him about 1 CUC for picking us up and dropping us off at my Hotel.

At midnight I dropped into bed, exhausted.

However, at 4 am this morning I awoke with major intestinal problems. Apparently my Chinese meal had not become me so well and I had serious digestive issues emanating from both sides of my body. This morning I realy felt rotten and I ended up using my own medical kit for the first time and took some Immodium.

I was unable to eat breakfast, but I made my way to the university where at 9 am our classes started. Surprisingly the placement test had put me into the level of “perfeccionamiento”, the highest level and the level of Spanish in my class was indeed very high. The class consists of 7 students, a young woman from England, a young female medical student from Denmark, a middle-aged female doctor from Finland, a young male law student from Sweden, a young woman and man from Norway and myself from Austria/Canada.

Obviuosly there is a very heavy Scandinavian slant in my class and it seems everyone in the class is a hobby sociologist, political scientist, environmentalist and historian. We asked some rather tough questions about Cuban life, the political system, the economic hardships, the double economy, the situation of women and blacks in Cuba, machismo and the situation of the environment.

Some of these questions made our female professor feel extremely uncomfortable and it seemed like she was squirming under the barrage of probing political and sociological questions. She got very defensive a few times about the Cuban system and only after we discussed the good and bad aspects of European and Canadian societies did she loosen up a bit and become a bit more open and frank about the real Cuban life. It seems that to this day Cubans have to be very careful about what they say in public.

For example, she frankly admitted that racism still exists in Cuba and to this day it is still a country with a lot of machismo. However, she did not admit that Internet access and access to non-Communist media is forbidden for Cubans, she simply explained it as an economic issue. (Several of my colleagues had heard otherwise in their travels in Cuba, simply that a Cuban is not allowed to have access to the Internet). She also admitted that it is not allowed for Cubans to visit the tourist areas of the Cayos (e.g. Cayo Coco) which is exclusively reserved for tourists and Cubans have no access to that area whatsoever, a definite point of contention among the locals.

Class ended about 1:20 and my upset stomach did not allow me to intake any food. I headed back to my hotel, slept a little and have been on the Internet for the past 2 or so hours (racking up a bill of about $US 20.00 or s0), documenting my trip.

It´’ll be a quiet evening tonight since I am trying to settle down my stomach. But I am sure the adventures and the learning will continue tomorrow.

Author : Susanne Pacher

On Sunday it was gorgeous. The cold front had finally passed through, the rain was gone and we had a beautiful warm sunny day without any humidity.

My hostess is also a guide for the National Park System and Vinales is a nationally protected natural habitat. She had a tour planned through a side valley of Vinales (Valle del Ancon) with 3 participants, an older couple from Germany and me.

The tour was fabulous, we got picked up by a local in a taxi and went about 20 minutes outside of town and got dropped off at a local primary school, which had several communist slogans painted on the outside. Political graffiti, paintings and message boards are extremely common in Cuba. Although there is no western style advertising, there are plenty of political slogans (a collection of a few of which I will summarize at a later point).

Political slogans.

This is a very strange experience when you come from a Western capitalist country like Canada, and then you see all these political slogans about Communism and defending the Revolution. Truly fascinating indeed, a completely different world.

On our 3 hour trip we walked through local fields, were told about local wildlife, special birds (the Cuban Tocororo, Turkey vultures and other birds. We also heard about local farming which still takes place with human labour, manual ploughs and oxen. We were introduced to crops such as Malanga (pureed and given to babies), Yucca, various types of sweet potatoes, corn and yams.

One of the highlights was a 20 minute walk through a limestone cave through one of the Mogote hills. We saw some interesting stone formations and even strange pale plants growing inside the pitch-dark cave. Our guide had illuminated the cave with a strong flashlight for the 4 of us and it was a pretty easy walk with no cave-dwelling animals in sight, only one political slogan spray-painted in the cave (apparently this was a hideout for the revolutionary army at some point..).

Old Farm House in Vinales.

After exiting the cave, we ended up in an uninhabited small valley completely surrounded by mountains and we ran into a local farmer of 60 years, whose leathery face and slim body gave him the appearance of an 80 year old man, evidence of many decades of sun and hard work.

He had a flock of turkeys (with 61 young chicks), a dog and some fields of corn and beans. And he generally spends most of his days working manually in this little valley, completely isolated, sometimes staying overnight in a single hut made from the wood and leaves of the royal palm tree, Cuba?s national tree. No radio, no TV, no sanitation, no kitchen, just a wooden bed with a blanket in a hut with an earthen floor. Again a reminder of how different life can be in this country….

Then we crossed over a small mountain range and back into the Valle del Ancon, where we saw a Casa Campesino, a traditional farm house/museum, which had also been visited a few years ago by Fidel Castro. Next to the farm house is a beautiful river that exits from a cave and 3 young cuban teenage boys were swimming and jumping into the water and having a ton of fun. The entrance to the cave is also surrounded by wasp-hives (if that word exists), so there are tons of wasp dwellings hanging down from the rock formations.

Architecture in Vinales.

We took the taxi back into town and I had another 3 hours or so before my departure with the Viazul bus. 2 local teenage boys, Rider and Rigo, approached me (truly in the style of the underground economy), offered me to rent a bicycle for $3 and to take me to a Paladar or private restaurant. I thought, why not, they seemed pretty decent. So I took the 3rd bike and rode up with them into the hills above Vinales.

There they introduced me to a local family and the lady of the house served me with a complete vegetarian meal for $8.00. Afterwards I rented the bike for $2 for 1 hour and I rode around Vinales and outside of town a bit to take some photos of the Mogotes. The bike tour, even though extremely short, was a great way of exploring the town and surroundings.

At 4 pm I hopped back on the Viazul bus and went back to La Havana (Havana). At 7:30 or so I arrived at the Viazul bus station and I ended up taking a “Cocotaxi”, a yellow 3-wheeler type of scooter taxi with a rounded yellow roof partially covering the 2 seats in the back and the driver in the front.

The Cocotaxi driver was initially fixing his vehicle since a tire had blown out and he was changing the wheels. The ride took about 20 minutes to the hotel and was definitely an experience. He then inisted on inviting me for a drink and I told him immediately that I was not interested in any funny business, that I was a married woman, only here to study Spanish and not interested in romance. (Romantic approaches by Cuban men and women of foreigners are very common here).

He said no problem, he just wanted to talk and we sat down for a conversation that was reasonably pleasant for a while until he started to make the moves on me, some very verbally explicit ones by the way. I never felt physically threatened, especially since he was about as short as me, but I definitely got annoyed with him and he apologized at the end for his behaviour.

Nevertheless that brief experience taught me to curb my friendliness and my openness a little bit with the locals, since things can be very easily misunderstood in this culture….

Another lesson learned….

Author : Susanne Pacher
about the author
Susanne Pacher is the publisher of a website called Travel and Transitions (http://www.travelandtransitions.com). Travel and Transitions deals with unconventional travel and is chock full of advice, tips, real life travel experiences, interviews with travellers and travel experts, insights and reflections, cross-cultural issues, contests and many other features. You will also find stories about life and the t-ransitions that we face as we go through our own personal life-long journeys.