MarieElaine

ARF and it's volunteers are wonderful caring people who respect all animals and they work very hard.  You cannot imagine the horrors they have witnessed.  They are currently experiencing a "slow down" in adoptions and have a surplus of animals to place.  If you can adopt or foster an animal please let them know.  Donations and support of their fund raisers is the only source of income for this charity so please be as generous with your time and/or money as you can be.

I believe that Canada and the US are officially North Americans, Mexico to Panama are Central Americans and every country south of Panama are South Americans.  This is how I learned to identify the Americas and yes, we are all Americans.

Wow, did not know this.  Is it real lobster or the fake stuff?

They seem to keep the hours that suit them not their customers.  I gave up on the Fish House when they tried to change to tiilapia instead of corvina.  The last time I was there they served grouper in their fish & chips.  Traditionally cold water fish are used, sole or haddock and corvina is the closest thing to these types here in the warm waters of the Pacific.  The fish & chips at Mike's and the Sandwich shop are always corvina (and cheaper).

My Cable Onda is working fine with the usual down times of a few minutes and that unbearably long reboot that takes place after the cable comes back up.  I hope you do not have an electrical problem Penny.

Sorry for confusion.  

Chica's had a wonderful luncheon (18 attendees) at Black and White yesterday.  Their new menu is wonderful and the food is great!  Many thanks to Jose for his hard work on this luncheon and for comping us a delightful dessert.

Chicas is a group of single ladies who meet once per month at a local restaurant for lunch and support women in education.

I too like La Reyna.

 Bonnie, as an accountant in my former life, I only outlined what should be done here in Panama (as is elsewhere in most of the world) to eliminate the lengthy process they go through.  This being said, I have not met a retailer in Canada or the U.S. where they have not experienced employee theft.  These losses are paid for by honest folks like you and me in the prices we are charged.

Sales person specific cash drawers are balanced to the totals on the computer keeping track of sales.  Those sales persons who are short, must make up the difference.  This is the normally accepted way of controlling theft.  A salesperson cannot leave until the drawer is balanced.  By stapling the receipt to the bag those persons at the exit know the transaction was done properly.  Also, cameras throughout the store are not only there because of shoplifters but also monitor the staff.  Panama however, likes to inconvenience it's customers apparently.

Hi SP87,

I was just informed by Carmen at PGLS that the 2 year visa has been cancelled as of May 31st.  Do you have any knowledge of this?  Carmen is a lawyer and may just be trying to encourage me to go for the Pensionado with her so I do not necessarily trust what I am being told.  Since you have gone through it, could you please provide me with the website where I apply?  Did you pay $517?

Also, I was told this was a residency visa so you should be ok with a one way ticket.  In Europe you cannot apply for permanent residency for 3 - 4 years (depending on type of visa) and the temporary 12 month visas are considered residency until permanent residency can be obtained.  

Thanks for your help with this.

This is wonderful news.  This should help those who are left with no option but to return to their country of origin for this kind of care.

In the last year I personally know of 8 people moving to Spain and a multitude more moving back to wherever they came from.  The posting here and in ning outlining the "rumor" that Panama is going back to the 3 day border hop gave the reason that there is some alarm at the number of expats leaving the country.  

Has anyone heard more on the border hop 3 day rule returning?  I would like to know also if anyone has gone for the $500 two year visa and what that process was like.

Wonder who pays the "finders fee" for these services?

Just another reason to move elsewhere.  I see postings about how upset the Panamanian government is about the fact that expats are leaving in droves but they continue to make it more and more difficult for us to stay.

I like the reasonable prices.

I am not sure Panama can afford its own military.  They first need to pour more money into the education system in my opinion.

I ordered them separately so I did not exceed the $100 limit for customs.

Does anyone know what the symptoms of this ailment are?

Colleen has opened a new "gluten free" bakery/restaurant in Alto Boquete across from the new medical center under construction in the pea green building that Daniel Higgins built.  Her food is amazing and safe for those who suffer food allergies like she does.

I ordered about a year ago.  I ordered 3 paring knives, 6 steak knives and a chefs knife along with the sharpener.  They are Rada's light weight aluminum collection and I love them.

I would check with Betty Gray at Gray River Farms.  I am not sure if she grafts them but I know she has quite a few that are growing fast.

I bought Rada knives from Amazon and had no trouble getting them into the country through E Shop.

Isn't this just accepted activity in U.S. jails?  Everyone knows it goes on but nobody does anything about it.

I will but I have had a delay and thought I might take the repositioning cruise out of Colon next April/May instead.  I will need to get some kind of residency as my 6 months runs out in the fall and just wanted to know if anyone has successfully received one of these new residency visas.