Culture & People

La Gente y su Cultura

17 - 24 Jan 2013.  Partway through a rather short trip - and a few hundred photos in - I'm feeling like there's a strong undercurrent of some unique vitality here.. ..some lively thread that makes Panama not solely a Central American country, but a worldly one.  Still, it remains wholly a Latin country with many elements of society retaining such distinction - cultural, economic, and otherwise.  That, but with a more robust sense of liberalized FUN - for a country in the Americas, anyway. 

In this post, I selected several photos from throughout the trip that i think captures that multicultural juxtapose.  These photos were all taken with a Samsung Galaxy Nexus camera phone. 

I just really like this shot; a color and light balance that I think came out well. But the subject also speaks a blend - that of Old and New.  Casco Viejo, Panama City, Panama.

Reminders of home, in the outskirts of Panama City along the Panamerican Highway. Somewhere, Panama. 

My brother, playing with shadows. Vasco Viejo, Panama City, Panama.

Panamanian-made shoes - a la indigenous style. The famous cloth patterns and craftsmanship of native Panama: las molas. 'The colors, Duke! The colors!'

Decorative masks, "los Diabolicos"

Pre-mixed and ready to drink - original formula!  Easy to find and cheap.  Not a lick good for you.  Panama.

Up-front and simple warning, some variant of which is found on just about every packet sold nation-wide.  Solid deterrent.  Panama.

Absolutely among the top best bowls of soups I have ever had; a basic, local, seasonal seafood stew.  Would that all human settlements were so positioned as to develop sustainable food systems so nutritious as this..

Awesome blue church, somewhere along la Carretera a El Cacao, Azuero Peninsula, Panama.

Cuidado! Careful! Road hazards.  Azuero Peninsula, Panama.

Talk about juxtapose.  Watermain break, full clean-up crew deployed, and the guests still get a timely breakfast.  Effective service & tourism sector.  Las Tablas, Panama.

Cafe!! Coffee!! House-roasted, here in el Casco Viejo, Panama City. 

Take that roast, and treat a peckish feeling this afternoon, perfect when in need of respite from the outside glare.  Tropical equivalent of 'afternoon tea'.  Casco Viejo, Panama.

Up close and personal with the Bean.  Presented here: two different stages before the Great Roast - and two types of bean preparation, natural and washed.  Casco Viejo, Panama City.

This Panama coffee makes you Boss.  As evidenced here, with Panama City down town in the background.  Casco Viejo seawall, Panama City.

And a Marriage! Out in public and dressed to the nines.  From Casco Viejo seawall, Panama City.

To the rescue, and ready to party - in this fortification-turned-emerging-commercial zone.  Casco Viejo, Panama City. 

  Still, Panama remains a Latin country with many elements - cultural, economic, and otherwise - flavoured so and operated as such. I'm grateful I will have opportunity to travel cheaply (best - friends & family travel discounts!!) there in the future. 

This work by Tim Paez is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License