MarieElaine

Only sociopaths beat animals to death.  I am not looking at this picture because images like these stay with me forever.  Someone should look into the sanity of this sick person.

Dined at the Fish House this week and was very disappointed.  No more corvina in their fish & chips as they are now serving tilapi.  Not only do I not eat bottom feeders, I found it tasteless and rubbery.  I ordered onion rings as a side and they were burnt to a crisp.  While they did not charge me for the rings when I pointed out how overcooked they were (you would think the chef would have noticed and made a fresh batch), I was unhappy with the quality of their food.  Has anyone else had a similar experience there or was this just an "off" day at the restaurant?

Met about a dozen Cuban refugees on my last border run at Paso Canoas in March at La Morenita Hostel on the Panama side.  I was impressed with most of these 25 to 35 year olds trying to make a better life for themselves and their families.  Two English teachers were faced with earning $25 per month as professionals with degrees and both worked in the casinos where they made more and received tips.  Doctors earn about $50 per month in Cuba.  While I am certain there are "dead beats" among these refugees looking for a hand out from the US, I would welcome any of the Cubans I met into my home. 

Economic growth may be stable for the time being but the major points of concern later in the article over transparency, liquidity of banks, weak education standards and (this sounds familiar) the eventual depletion of existing social security funds makes long term stability "iffy" at best.  While Verela's policies to remedy these problems definitely looks good on paper, enforcement of same seems to be slow in coming.  As with most developing countries, Panama's governmental infrastructure is not keeping up with the rate of growth.  To me this is the real challenge for Panama's future.  I could go on and on but this is pretty boring stuff for most.  LOL

I found their menu to be very diverse with lots of choices.  They just announced they are having a happy hour with yummy munchies and tapas at very reasonable prices from 3 to 5 pm.  They have daily specials and their soup and salads are generously proportioned.  There are some issues regarding jubilado discounts but as stated by Two Sailors, they will get it together.

Thank you for your greetings and it is so good to know that personal info is not given to anyone outside this site. After a few days I am getting used to the format and finding my way around.  You will have to forgive me if I mess up and post something to the wrong forum though.  LOL

I am here as a tourist and cross into Costa Rica every 6 months.  Presumably this will still be possible but worry about "changes to immigration laws".  It seems Panama has two schools of thought; lets invite retirees to live and spend their money here but lets make it as difficult as possible on them.  

I have been loyal to ning only because I was familiar with it's formatting and I was hoping the new management would be an improvement.  Well, I finally got "fed up to here" with Olga Suarez jumping all over everyone's posts and bringing up inappropriate subjects and let her have it when she posted that she was going to give out personal information of users for possible interviews by journalists.  When Bonnie read these posts she sent me a personal email and told me to join Chiriquí.Life and I am so glad I have.  What a pleasure it is to read posts from the entire community and not be criticized by Olga for being "wrong" when she has no personal experience with the topic and doesn't even live here.  Her recent post suggested she lives in Boquete when it was my assumption she works for the corp who owns ning out of Miami.

Thanks for steering me in the right direction Bonnie.

I had a account with Banistmo before they closed the branch here in Boquete.  Do other banks charge you a monthly service fee if you do not maintain a minimum balance?