31 Diciembre El Ultimo Dia del Ano 2012. December 31, 2012

Prospero Ano Nuevo

Whoa! What a day… Unexpectedly.
After the most luxurious shower in 10 days… and following a great breakfast here at the Bristol Hotel, we set out to walk (in the 92 degree heat and 90% humidity) to see a few markets and shops that specialize in Panamanian design, including the preservation of the work of the indigenous Kuna people (who live on reservation-like lands, but whose existence had been threatened by the Panamanians in the 1920s. ) Kuna people are famous for sewing the “molas”.. which technically translates to “shirts” in Kuna language but the term is used to describe various cloths that are sewn with bright colors and patterns.. Apparently, these geometric patterns were originally painted on women’s bodies.. using natural colors; now these designs are sewn using pieces of bright and earthy colored cloth. By the way, Kuna is a matriarchal society and the men take the woman’s family name at marriage.

As usual, it was next to impossible to find the particular streets we were looking for, because there aren’t any street names. We stopped a guard at a bank (by the way there are armed guards all over Panama City.. private guards for nearly every building… and it’s no wonder because the contrast between the rich and the poor, between the hovels that regular Panamanians — especially those with dark skin — live and where the wealthy live, is beyond staggering).. But even he didn’t know the name of the street he was standing on.. the street with the bank he guards. Then he asked a construction worker who was building a structure on that block and he didn’t know the name of the street.. Everything is done with a bit of touchy-feely navigation.. and also references to things nearby… but as we later learned, people also tell you things are near a particular shop, but then it turns out that there are many shops with that name all over the city!

Eventually we found our way to a little shop on the second floor, behind another store on a very busy street (taking our life in our hands crossing 7 lane streets with no striping).. and after seeing the wares we chatted with the shopkeeper and found out that she was a “Zonian” (born and raised in the Canal Zone)… so she’s a dying breed. We learned her last name was Saltzman, so I asked a few questions… and then she told us she was one of about the 15,000 Jews living in Panama City (go know!)– mostly very orthodox, and also a small reformed community. She explained a lot about her mother’s (who started the shop) effort to preserve the culture of Kuna and other Panamanian indigenous groups. She also explained that her mother’s efforts at starting the shop included (and still include) buying whatever craft local people bring, in order to provide some funds for those people to be self-sufficient. Thus, the store has a very very wide range of quality… and a bit of a charitable mission.

After that we strolled for about 10 minutes and decided the best bet was to take a taxi to the next stop on our list… or we might melt completely. Many of you know that after 80 degrees I’m a basket case, so this entire trip has been a challenge that I’m glad to say I won.. sort of.. But even Mike who can tolerate heat pretty well gave up. It’s just not possible to be outside here.. unless you’re under a canopy …

So we took a taxi (negotiated price, since there aren’t any meters) to visit another artisan shop but this time owned by a French woman who once worked for Christian Dior (learned about her in an article in the NY Times)… but that proved to be quite a challenge. First, the taxi wasn’t air conditioned — which is ok when the traffic is moving and you get a little breeze (of hot air).. but traffic is pretty impossible, so mostly we were standing still in the hot cab… Anyway, the driver stopped many people to figure out where the place was, because he, too, doesn’t know street names… We stopped and started many times and then he thought we were on the right street, but it wasn’t there.. I checked the trusty iPhone Google app… and found the phone number.. Turns out the shop had moved about two years ago to a new location.. Anyway, the shopkeeper gave directions to the driver.. without street names, just with iconic information… and lo and behold we arrived..

The shopkeeper, Helene Breebaart, is from Bordeaux.. and has lived in Panama City for 42 years or so. Her husband was Dutch (died of cancer a few years ago)… She was incredibly sweet, although very very scattered.. She lives in the house that serves as the shop and also the mini-“factory” to produce her designs. Everything was so beyond my price range, that we were sort of embarrassed to even be looking.. but she showered us with attention (we were the only ones there for most of the time — or so it seemed)… and took us into the living room to serve juice.. and to talk.. She kept offering to drive us to our next destination — el mercado de mariscos (fish market, a huge cavernous building with scores of little stalls selling one fish or another and all the vendors yelling to attract customers) — but we kept politely refusing, saying we would get a taxi. This went on for a while as she tended to a few things and wanted to show us her operation and introduce us to some of the Kuna people who work for her… which she did, amid other chores as she dashed about the house/office/shop… always explaining how her maid was on vacation and her secretary also, and so she was a bit lost… Then a customer emerged (who I suppose was upstairs trying on a dress)… She introduced us, and it turned out that her husband was the architect (Pinzon) for this spiraling, contorted blue-green skyscraper that you can see from most vantage points in the city — (the F&F Tower, formerly called ironically, Revolution). Eventually, we succumbed and agreed Helene could drive us to the fish market, and then she decided to pick up a friend Jacqueline, who has lived in Panama City for 3 years.. following 12 years in Miami, running an art gallery… She’s originally from Paris.… Helene is clearly part of an international and artistic group of ex-pat folks (with money and education) — many French — who see a lot promise in Panama. They find fault with many things, but see an emerging middle class and an emerging art base.

So, off we went to pick up Jacqueline, and to the fish market. All the while, Helene telling us that we have to come back to her house tonight (New Year’s Eve) for a drink before we head to dinner.. actually she invited us to dinner, but we already had reservations…

Finally, we left Helene and Jacqueline as we entered the fish market… as promised — noisy, competing screaming, lots of fun.. and the building is surrounded by little ceviche stands.. one of which was called Ceviche Tigre!

Finally, from there, we grabbed a taxi and headed to the Miraflores Docks (Panama Canal). Decided to have the very overpriced and mediocre lunch on the second floor of the exhibition hall so that we could eat and watch the ships go through the canal.. While the meal was pretty terrible, it was great to be able to leisurely watch the boats being lifted (or lowered) 54 feet in two stages, enabling them to move from the Pacific to the Atlantic. .. which was quite impressive… Watched the film about the Canal.. which was part propaganda and part cartoon.. but the exhibit at Miraflores was quite good.. including the simulator which enables you to get a sense of what it’s like (albeit a very sped-up version) to be on a boat going through the Canal.

Back to the hotel.. to change for dinner and our stop at Helene’s…
Final email tomorrow on January 1 –

Feliz Ano Nuevo.
Fern