Welcome to the Panama Weekly News Roundup! Here’s the latest.
Twenty Dollars at a Time, Employees Only Team Opens Bar in Panama
Steve Schneider and five other bartenders from Employees Only and Macao Trading Company have just opened a bar in Panama City: an independently owned venture separate from EONY called The Strangers Club that came to be thanks to their emergency fund.
The emergency fund was established about seven years ago, when a dishwasher at EONY became terminally ill, and the staff put some money together to enable him to go back home to be with his family. Shortly afterward, a server riding her bike was hit by a car, so the staff collected cash to help her out.
“And then we had the idea to just put money aside in case something happens,” says Schneider, who has worked for Employees Only for nine years.
Source: Eater New York
House Hunting in … Panama.
Panama Real Estate is hot these days, and investing and living in Panama is becoming a reality for a much wider market than has ever been accessed in recent decades. There are many factors contributing to this, all of which make Panama an ideal destination for living or simply investing in property. Here’s a good write-up about it from the New York Times.
This sprawling Mediterranean-style house is in Pedasí, on the southeastern tip of the Azuero Peninsula in Panama. The once sleepy fishing community, on the Pacific Coast about 200 miles south of Panama City, is becoming increasingly popular as a vacation and retirement destination.
The white concrete structure with a terra-cotta tile roof has two stories and 15,812 square feet of interior space. It sits on nearly 1.3 acres with direct access to more than a mile of private beach and numerous resort-style amenities within its property, including an infinity pool, a dining pavilion and a rooftop terrace with a thatched covering. The furniture is included in the price.
Source: The New York Times
4 service members on Pence detail removed for bringing women back to Panama hotel.
Four U.S. military service members who were part of Vice President Mike Pence’s communications team have been reassigned after bringing women back to their hotel in Panama without registering them, U.S. officials have confirmed.
The incident in Panama City happened last week, around the time that Pence was visiting the Central American nation. The three Army soldiers and Air Force airman were reassigned to their home services pending an investigation into why they did not register the women into a secure area as required by security protocols, according to officials.
Pence visited Panama on August 17, wrapping up a trip to South America, which included stops in Colombia, Argentina and Chile.”We are aware of the incident and it is currently under investigation,” Colonel Patrick Ryder, an Air Force spokesman, said in a statement. “We can confirm that the individuals in question have been reassigned back to the Army and Air Force.”
Source: ABC News
Learn Spanish in Panama!
Learning Spanish in Panama can be as fun as it is useful, and is easier than ever these days thanks to its popularity. Spanish is an important language to master, even if you don’t live in Panama or Latin America. More and more, multinational businesses need these types of language skills for their employees, making it a high demand skill for both the North American and European job market.
If you’re planning on learning Spanish in Panama, the best way to know where to start is to know what level of Spanish you’re going for, and how much time you have to study it. If you’re planning on retiring or relocating to Panama for work, you should make learning Spanish a priority, and dedicate as much time as possible to getting as fluent as possible as soon as possible. You should plan on taking a class as soon as you’re settled and on the ground here, and supplement that learning with home learning apps and practice tools, even before you’ve stepped foot here on the isthmus. Find a Spanish language school that fits your budget and is convenient to get to from where you live or where you’ll be staying. Also, try to make at least part of your learning experience a group one. Speaking and sharing with others is a fast way to learn, and can also be a lot of fun.
Source: International Relocation Firm Blog
