So to update everyone with the most recent events......Poor Adam Bancroft got a traffic ticket for $75.00 for making a U-Turn on the Boquete Highway. There was NOT a sign posted that said "do not make a u-turn here". So he made one,.... and the police happened to be looking.
As it happens there are NO U-TURNS ALLOWED ANYWHERE IN PANAMA. According to the police you can ONLY make U-Turns at the designated "Retorno" locations. Here on the Boquete Highway (so far) there are only 2 such designated locations about 10 miles apart.....
Yes you read that right, 10 miles apart.....
So if you are on the wrong side of the highway and you don't want to go 10 miles to the Turn-a-round what do you do? Make a right or left turn into one of the many breaks on the highway and go 50 to 100 feet up the street in whatever neighborhood you happen to be in, pick a driveway and turn around in it.
People do it all the time and no one pay them any attention at all.
So in Panama you can get a speeding ticket for $50, pass on a yellow line for around $50 (unless the cop is trying to get a bribe out of you.....that happens), and tickets for talking on your cell phone and driving (they like that one, that one is also illegal all over Panama), and a host of other things.
We were even involved in an accident where 2 boys on bicycles ran into US, ran into our car. Both went to the Hospital, both survived (thank goodness) but both needed hospitalization, one of them for several months. When the police showed up to assess the accident and it was proven that Jim was innocent we never even paid a single fee of any kind. Our insurance covered it......I guess. As far as we know it never even went to Court. Our insurance Lawyer NEVER called us back, even though we called him several times, and Jim has never had any repercussions from this event at all, over 1 1/2 years ago now......
Panama Law is totally different than in the states. Police will try to bribe you if they are bent that way. There is a new "branch" of Police here that apparently are an off-shoot of the national police. Their Badges have CCC on them. According to reports this is a branch that decided that the Police were corrupt (aren't they everywhere?) in Panama and they decided they could do better. So they created there own force, and they get "fees" from the people they pull over......
They apparently are "self-supporting", what ever that means.....
And when using a crosswalk, at least in Alto Boquete, be careful of the flowers they planted IN THE MIDDLE OF the crosswalk. They were kind enough to post signs that say "don't tread on the plants", "Please don't walk on the Flowers", but the cross walk cuts right through the flower bed, dirt, grass etc. Picture below
Also in the last few weeks there have been several "problems" with different Landlords in the area. Finding places to rent that are reasonable is getting harder and harder. And some of the owners are not keeping their word when it comes to the lease. One here did not return the deposit due at the end of the lease period, but wanted to give household items in place of money. If you are going to lease a house that requires a deposit, be sure to get it in writing that you get "money" back, not something else.
So without doubt things are still interesting here.
We have just gotten home from our District Assembly in the El Espino Assembly Hall. Pictures below show it is entirely open air with good roof cover.
Yes it was hot, but we got a nice break in that it stayed cloud covered for most of the assembly, and there was often a slow breeze going through. It was not as bad as I had expected it to be..... so that was a huge relief. Jim had a part on the Assembly this time, Lawson was part of the stage crew for the Drama. Total attendance was 607 on Sunday. That is huge for us (english) here in Panama. Although I know that in the states that is about 1/2 of a circuit, here it is the sum total of a District. I suppose we were missing perhaps 100 people that had already gone to assemblies in the states and did not go to El Espino, but still 600 is a good number for us here.
We stayed in a little town called San Carlos in a hotel right on the beach. It was great. We took our car this time. It is only 480 km from Boquete to El Espino Assembly Hall. That converts to just under 300 miles. But the PanAmerican Hwy is SO BAD that it takes 6 hours approx. to make the trip. !!!! There are sections of the road that are more PATCH than ROAD. And miles of the road that are only 2 lanes and curvy. No where to pass safely around buses and semi's etc. And don't forget to look for the local people on bicycles that use the same road. And the Local people trying to make a living along the same road by selling baby parrots and fruit and clothing, or whatever they have that will help them make ends meet.
And just in case you thought you might ever get bored and heaven forbid comfortable with all the rules and laws that are strange here, hold on to your seat.
The Panama government has decided to enforce some of the laws that have existed for many years, but they have failed to enforce them until now. In this case we are hearing that they are enforcing the "overnight stay". A law has existed for many years that every 6 months you must spend at least 24 to 36 hours out of the country. They typically do not enforce that. But this last week a couple went for their 3 month passport stamp and they were a few days late. The Panama Immigration made them stay overnight in Costa Rica and come back the next day. They would not allow them into the country. Most of these crazy things we hear about happen at the Paso Canoa Border Crossing. They have the mentality that Armageddon is sure to start at that section of the country and by their diligence they can guard against the the forces of evil taking over the country of Panama. (That is likely a small exaggeration on my part, although you never know....)
No comments:
Post a Comment