Chances are if you are reading this right now you are reading it in an e-mail. You should also know that this is simultaneously being published on our blog page. So, for those of you who are confused, I linked all of my friends and families e-mails (that I had) to a google group (KateandJamey Blog) account with the sole purpose of updating you all when we posted a new blog. So, apparently, unknown to me, it publishes what we write in our blog also in an e-mail to all of the addresses I typed in. I thought it would just send a quick “hey Kate and Jamey have a new blog, check it out” type message but it publishes the whole dang thing. If you prefer not to get the e-mail update you can unsubscribe at any time. But we will be sad. I was trying to make things easier but I think I made a few people confused. Sorry!
Jamey and I are still here in Panama City. We have been here two weeks and we are about ready to leave. We are very ready to leave. If I have to listen to another car alarm I am going to start throwing bricks through windows. I know that sounds violent but I’m at that point. I wonder if there are this many alarms in all cities or if Panama is exceptionally security obsessed. Which, judging by the armed guards on every block, they like security. Anyway, we are ready for our next destination on the Caribbean at Bocas Del Toro. We were there last year and we liked it but we definitely didn’t love it. We loved Boquete. Bocas was different. The Caribbean is beautiful and very poor and sometimes it’s hard to watch unabashed exploitation of a beautiful archipelago. It seems a lot of environmental groups have been winning the war against developers in the region. That’s the word on the street anyway, so I’m eager to see what has changed from last year.
Speaking of change, I’ve never been in a place where the economy is growing so quickly and there are multimillion, 50 floor towers popping up on every street corner. From our balcony we can see 4 new buildings in mid-construction. I have been in total awe of the amount of construction and all of the mid 60 retired baby boomers that are consuming condos in mass amounts. They locals call them “the baby boomers”, even if their not, and they are very aware that the Americanos are changing the whole economy, again. It seems that most of the boomers have jumped ship on the U.S. real estate market and are goin’ where the gettins’ good. Now is the time if you have the capital. I think there’s a mixed review on the streets of this economic boom. The tourist industry is seeing a lot of a new market of older, moneyed people willing to pay for higher flight prices, expensive restaurants and fancy hotels. Gone are the days of catering to the grungy, dread headed backpacker. The Panamanians are smart too. They know how to make a buck from the Gringos. A lot of Gringos are moving to the City but are moving to neighborhoods outside of the Canal Zone, which maybe a few years ago would have been uncommon. We are staying in a part of the City call El Congrejo (the crab) and it is a nice area of town with all of the best restaurants and tree lined streets. The foreign investors see all of that and are buying up all the space they can get their hands on. I think the entire skyline of the City will be drastically changed in only a matter of years.
We’ve spent the last two weeks eating at every cheap restaurant and visiting all of the cheap accommodations. The first few days we spent visiting the tourist spots like Panama Viejo and the ruins and Casco Viejo, which is my absolute favorite part of town. It’s still a part of town that is a little dodgy at night but they are making historical renovations through a group called “Revive El Casco” which is slowly but surely fixing up the beautiful colonial buildings and houses. If I bought anything I would buy it there. It’s amazing. You can check out my photos on your right!
Casco Viejo is also the location of the new Bond movie, B22, Quantum of Solace. I’m serious, that’s what it’s called. They are shooting night scenes at the bombed out shell of a building where Noriega used to hang with his cronies. They have transformed it into a set for a ballroom scene. I am curious what the magic of the movies is going to do with the side of the building that is riddled with bullet holes and a crumbling façade. We’ll see! On Monday we got to see them shoot a scene with Daniel Craig as he enters a hotel. The “hotel” is actually a school but they have taken it over and made it an “Andean Hotel”. Apparently this is supposed to be Bolivia. They couldn’t shoot there because of political unrest or something so they are using Panama for all of the Bolivia scenes. We sat on the set on Monday and watched Bond get in the car, get out of the car, get in the car, get out of the car. Next we watched him go up the stairs, give the bellman his bags. That happened about 20 times too. Wow. Boring. Daniel Craig is short too. Shorter than I imagined James Bond would be. I was really hesitant about trying to meet him because I didn’t want his shortness to ruin my idea of Bond. So I didn’t seek him out to meet him. I think its better this way.
And on a final note, there is no usage of the letter K in the Spanish vocabulary. I defy you to find a word with a K in it. I could never figure out why it was so freakin’ hard for them to say my name. So now, to help out the Spanish speaking population, my name is now spelled- Quet (QUE=KA) (T=TE).
I hope I haven’t bored you too much. Jamey will write next. He’s a professional.
Love to all
Kate and Jamey
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