Adventures of Being a Vegetarian in Panama

Work has kept me on my toes and so has the language, which is nothing new. After almost four months of living in Panama I have realized how influential food is with every day life. It is something we often over look. Food is cultural. People frequently ask me what a typical Panamanian dish is. For the most part it is pretty simple: animal protein (chicken or fish), rice, and a starch (fried potatoes or plantains). This doesn't quite fit with me being a vegetarian.

People often ask me about my vegetarianism. I considered myself a fairly strict vegetarian which began because I stopped craving animal protein. I did not consume any animals (fish/shellfish included) originally. Throughout my 5 years of being vegetarian my diet has changed. I try not consume gelatin, mostly because of how it is made.  I have also been spending more time avoiding refined sugars while replacing them with unrefined sugars; note I did not say alternative sweeteners like Stevia. Within the past month eggs have also left much of my diet, but mostly because after all of these years, my mom was right, my tastebuds change! People who do not consume animal milk, eggs, honey, gelatin, and avoid common table sugar are vegans.

This past week I went to a restaurant that has a fantastic lunch special. You get soup, a drink, fried potatoes, rice, and a protien-all for $6! Prior to ordering I assumed I could probably have a vegetarian option. I was wrong and ordered fish as the other options were less appealing. This is becoming a common occurrence to where I eat fish once or twice a month.  Finding healthy/satisfying vegetarian food is not that easy in restaurants.

I have to admit, this lunch gave me a whole new experience about Panamanian food because of the rice side you see: pigeon peas with coconut rice. I never had it before this lunch but had seen it canned and in the hot food section of stores. Coconut rice is delicious and the pigeon peas offered a nice textural balance to the sweet aroma coming from the rice. I found a recipe to replicate soon.

Typical Panamanian Food

Despite the fish that I eat on occasion, I eat it when there are no other options. Yes, I acknowledge I could have eaten everything but the fish from the photo above, but then it would be a waste. Life isn't always clear cut and sometimes there are exceptions to rules and definitions, especially when they are your own. Being a vegetarian anywhere can have its obstacles-regardless of where you are. Life has its obstacles and my food choices in Panama are just one of them.

Spanish, Expats, and Rain.

This week for the most part was pretty uneventful. I worked, I went grocery shopping, and I've been working on my Spanish. I've been living a typical boring life!

Speaking Spanish is always very awkward. Speaking any new language is awkward and scary. I know my accent is bad. Every time I speak I feel like Brad Pitt in Inglorious Bastards. There is a scene where Brad Pitt, who has a Southern accent, has to pretend to be Italian in a scene in order to be undercover. It seems most people seem to understand my Spanish if I keep sentences short and very basic.

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Before moving down here, when I closed my eyes I often thought of an expat being White with horrible Spanish speaking accents...much like Brad from above. To my surprise, I was wrong. While there are a lot of Canadians in the area, I have also met my share of expats from South America (Venezuela, Argentina) and various countries from Asia. It makes sense now, but prior to the move I suppose I did not give it any thought. 

The surf has been awful this week. With that in mind, we had our first big rain storm of the season. The district in which we live gets the least amount of rain out of all of Panama. When it rains, it pours. Luckily the rain typically only lasts around 30 minutes. The rain is beautiful and it is calming. 

That's the week in a nutshell. Nothing super exhilarating to write about this week. This upcoming week I am hoping the surf gets better as I am craving some humiliation and relaxation; isn't that an oxymoron?

  

Waves and Spanish

This week is becoming much like every other week. I wake up, I work, and I try to surf when I can. It is kind of the story of my life and I feel like things are starting to become routine. Things that were once "exotic" are now becoming a norm for me. Fruits like mangos grow on trees here in abundance, and surfing is just a fun thing to do when I can. Speaking and hearing Spanish is also becoming a new normal.

My workload this week provided some extra time to go surfing. Yeehaw! I was able to surf three days in a row now. My body is sore, and I always come out with some physical bump, scrape, or bruise on my body from each surf session.  I have enjoyed my new surfboard, although I have only spent about 3% of my time on it actually standing. The swell this week has been prime for anyone wanting to learn or take advantage of the swell.

The beach by my house is beautiful. I really enjoy it. The beach is relatively short and is really not great to run on or surf. But there are times where you often find yourself only having to share the beach with a few other people. Earlier this week was a prime example of that as the photos of the waves were taken. The waves are usually half this size on a good day. It was lovely!

This week allowed me to brush up on my Spanish. Although my Spanish is very poor, I am finding that the program I am using is easier than I last remembered prior to moving to Panama. It makes sense. I am a very kinetic learner. I love learning and love applying what I learn and generalizing it.

The idea of going back to the United States (or any country that speaks primarily English) baffles me. Pointing, hand gestures, and a horrible accent are very normal for me. I look forward to the day that I can speak Spanish without having to rehearse what I say before I order food or talk to a store clerk.

Although Panama at times feels very lonely, surfing this week and working on my Spanish seemed to help. Panama feels very much like home for me so I do not have any regrets moving. It is just a process. It is just my Panamanian perspective.

A Week of Firsts

This week has all about been firsts for me. While much of this experience in Panama is about a lot of firsts, this week in particular was far from shy of first time events. The big three were that I have officially lived in Panama for three months, I had my first doctor's visit, and I got my first surfboard.

Living in Panama for three months, one quarter of a year. Wow that goes by fast! May 4th marked the anniversary. Panama allows you to live and drive legally on a tourist visa for three months. After that time period, you need to have obtained a residency card and a drivers license. If you do not, then you are here illegally. I got my first license for Panama.

The repeated theme of Panama (which is frustrating for me at times) is that you sort of have to know where you are going without fully relying on GPS systems or any technology. Naturally, when I tried to look up the location of the office (which is like the DMV) I found three different possibilities it could be. My GPS on my phone was no help and neither was the Facebook page for the licensing page.

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I found a blog that stated where the office was and it had a picture. I went with this one since it was off the main highway-what did I have to lose right? Sure enough, I found it! I went into the building anxious about the language barrier. Fortunately the woman who took my information seemed very patient. I think at the end she was happy that I could move on to my sight and hearing tests. After all, who does not know their height and weight? I do, but not when I convert my heigh from inches and feet to meters and my weight from pounds to kilograms. The woman gave me a number in meters and asked "mas o menos" -more or less. My height is 1.8 meters on my license. Sure, I'll add 6 inches taller with heels if I am lucky.

First go to the left and then wait for your eye test on the right

The process was over within two hours and I was able to go home without having to explain my living status to anyone. My license expires in four years just like other Panamanian licenses. It is nice to feel some sense of belonging in a place where I often feel out of place.

I also got to experience my first doctor visit this week. There is a clinic in town with a female doctor who speaks English and was reportedly good. I walked in, wrote my name on a sign in sheet (although not everyone did) and waited. There was no nurse or receptionist.

When one person walked out of the hall, the next person went in. The process of seeing who was in the waiting room before you and who came after you helped know whether or not you were next. The office also has a dentist, which added to the "chaos". ,It was kind of amazing how orderly it all was and how the "chaos" was not that bad. 

The doctor spent about 30 minutes with me, asking about my daily habits. She told me to go to a lab as she had an idea of what it might be. I paid her $7 and went on my way. The lab for the blood work was $50 which included three blood tests and a urine sample. The next day I got the results and took them to the doctor. It turns out her suspicions were right: I am not drinking enough water! She gave me some perceptions and told me to drink more water. This follow up visit was free.

I was amazed to find out that there is a large discrepancy in pharmacy prices. The doctor said that some pharmacies can charge $15 for a medicine while another will charge $45 for the same medicine. Part of this has to deal with the buying power of the pharmacy. I went to a pharmacy about 10 minutes away. I walked in, got some pills, paid $20 for two medications and went on my way. Another surprising thing? Getting my medicine in a bag!

This week also marked the week when I got my first surfboard. Doing this meant I had to drive to the city by myself; Robert was unable to go with me. My phone's GPS capabilities are not always very reliable, so when Robert and I go together we use both our phones (just so I can see how mine varies compares to his when we use the same ap). Robert helped guide me the way he would go. 

The drive was relatively easy and so is getting into the city is easy, driving in the city is not until you get used to the quick turns on roads. Once I got into the city it only took me minutes to get to the mall. I went in, got what I wanted, and came home. I could have spent more than the 20 minutes I did in the mall (after all, it did take 90 minutes to get there), but can you really do anything carrying a 7 foot anything? I didn't think so. 

I got home with my very generic surfboard. This board will be memorable in many ways, just like my first car. We've all got to start somewhere, and my starting off is with a 7 foot foam board. There are smaller boards and ones that are made out of different materials, but I think this should work for me for the time being. Buying the board was great and will at least help me with the basics for now.

Waxing the board on the other hand required some muscle usage. Wax is used to to create bumps on your board so you can grip on a slippery surface in the water. There are varying brands, and colors, and (to my surprise) scents! In ways, I felt like I was using a giant crayon to color most of my board trying to make sure I got plenty of bumps. 

3/4 of a stick of a stick later...

My board is to go out in the water

This week caused a lot of milestones for me in Panama. Some of these experiences were frustrating, while others more exhilarating. Despite some of these challenges, there is not a day that goes by that does not make me thankful for them. It is a gift to be able to live such an incredible place and take advantage of these experiences and opportunities. All of this will cause me to be a better, stronger person and a better world citizen. 

Panama City Adventures

A girl walks into an airport and is looking for a bathing suit....sounds like the beginning of a joke, right? If it is, then this joke was a reality for me. We had to go into Panama City twice this week. We also got to go surfing! Friday was also Labor Day, which meant that most people had the day off and stores were crowded. We ended Friday night with having a goodbye dinner for a friend who spends half her time here, and the other half of her time in her native country. This week went by fast and I think helped me get out of the funk I was in last week.

We went to the city on Monday in order to begin the process for our drivers license. I am still working on completing the process, so once I complete it, I may post a blog on that separately. This trip was primarily for business and immigration purposes. Along the way we got to see a beautiful sunrise. As you may know, the sun rises in the Pacific Ocean for parts of Panama. The picture of the sun rising over the Canal as we go over one of the bridges in the city.

The next stop was Albrook Mall. The mall is a large mall and could easily take a day to browse. The mall even has its own hotel. I know it is not the largest mall, but I have read that it has over 700 stores.

This mall also has my favorite sandwich shop from back in the US. Which Wich has the best sandwiches and has house chips that are simple but oh so good! Albrook Mall just might be my favorite because of this. There is only one Which Wich in Panama. 

We left the mall and ventured into a store called Pricemart. Pricemart is owned by the same company as Costco in the United States. We saw a moving sidewalk that was large enough for the big carts that got you from the parking garage to the store entrance. It was enjoyable to ride. It was a first to ride on a slanted moving sidewalk that was not officially an escalator with steps.

Thursday came and we drove back to the city; we had to pick up documents as part of the process for the drivers license. We were hoping to get our drivers license the same day we got our official documents. That did not happen as we arrived to the center mid afternoon and it was packed. Fortunately, I can go to another location on Monday (Friday was a holiday in which most workers had off).

Because I wipe out often, I find myself showing more of myself than I care to-even with a rash guard and with wearing running shorts. I did some research and found that Calvera Swimwear might be the solution to my problem. There are two international retailers outside of the United States and one happens to be in Panama. Awesome! The catch? It was at an airport. I joked around with friends trying to figure out how I was going to explain this to TSA.

"Excuse me officer, I do not have a plane ticket, but there is a store behind these barriers that I want to shop."

Fortunately, that did not happen. The airport is not the main airport in Panama City that you are likely to fly into (unless you are Canadian). This airport has a total of two non-food stores that are close to the entrance. Luckily I did not have to go through TSA. I was happy to find a swimsuit.

Robert and I went to Albrook Mall again, this time in search for surf boards! Robert and I acknowledge our skill level, which means we know we need a longer surfboard that can float rather than a small, sleek board. We went to the one store that carries surfboards. We found two that may work, but Robert wanted a slightly longer board and I was not ready to commit either. We drove to another mall with the same store. Neither had what we were ready to get at the time.

It was closing in at 4:00 which explained the traffic; people were getting off work and others were heading for the beaches as Friday was Labor Day and many people had the day off. We returned home without surfboards which meant we would rent them our next time out.

What amazed me about driving out of Panama City were all the vendors in the middle of the road. People were offering sunglasses, along with food and drinks. Many of them would have their ice chest filled with drinks on an old baby stroller, while food was raised in one hand. Food included churros, plantains, and cashews. We bought two packets of churros for $1. It was a perfect treat to hold us over until we got home.

Last night we had dinner with a friend. She eats primarily vegetarian, which makes cooking fun. Last night's dinner was filled with sharing memories of our pets and camping. Many of the memories Robert and I have revolved around camping with friends back in college before we started dating. An evening filled with laughter is okay by me. 

We went surfing today. The swells have been having a lot of people talking-some saying this is the best swell of the year. Robert went out to the bigger waves, while I enjoyed some of the white water waves (this is when the wave turns white when it gets close to shore). I was there right along the 12 year old kid who also seemed to be learning. I eventually paddled out with Robert, but mostly to practice paddling. Robert was in the water for three hours. 

Today was a perfect day. This week will be another busy one with plenty of things to do. At the end of the day, I go to bed happy and at peace. Life is good and there is no other place I would like to live.