Panamá

Quite possibly one of the most important cities in the world for global commerce, Panama city is far different from any Latin American capital I have ever visited. The skyline is filled with countless skyscrapers, many more than I could have ever imagined seeing in Central America. According to the locals, many of them are owned by foreign investors (Donald Trump is currently having one built in the shape of a "D") and suprisingly, few of them are fully occupied. Despite this observation, everywhere you look there seems to be another one going up and adding to the dramatic panorama of downtown.

In contrast to the modern vibe of downtown Panamá, the ancient barrio of Casco Viejo is a old colonial neighborhood with narrow, cobblestone streets with balconies looking down onto them. Half of the bulidings have been cleaned up, renovated and restored to their original colonial charm and design; half are crumbling, covered in graffiti or already lying in piles of rubble.

To move about the city from barrio to barrio, one has the pleasure of taking the public bus, el Diablo Rojo. These are old U.S. school busses that have been decked out (or, for lack of a better word, "pimped" out) with 80´s style airbrush artwork, depicting a slew of different religious, cultural and societal themes. Every bus driver seems to take pride in making their ride the most unique representation of who they are - with their favorite sayings, quotes and mantras written proudly both inside and out, and their preferred genre of music blasting nonstop. For $0.25 a ride, you have the opportunity to hop on board and enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime (and once is enough for some) ride on these Red Devils, which surley wouldn´t meet any U.S. standards for safety or pass even the most generous emissions test... and that just adds to the experience!

Of course the most important aspects of the city is the Panama Canal, which has not only shaped the history of the city but of the entire country. Every day giant cargo ships, as well as private vessels, pass through its massive locks that open and close like the doors to a fairy tale castle. To see the amount of manpower it took to complete such a feat (nearly a century ago!) is baffling. After visiting the canal and its highly informative museum, I truly understood how intertwined the U.S. was in Panama´s history, because of its involvment in the construction of the canal. I was also thankful for the fact that we finally did the right thing in turning over the canal to the Panamanian government in 1999.