What is it Like to Live in Panama City?
Living in Panama City is a dynamic, fun and engaging experience, which is one of the reasons people from all over the world are choosing to live here, either on a full or part-time basis. It’s so diverse, expats often find it hard to explain to people what it’s like to live in the fast-growing city and what makes it such a special place.
International Living rep Jessica Ramesch took a shot at it in a recent column for Huffington Post. She starts by telling a story about a “secret nook” she discovered in the San Francisco neighborhood, a pop-up restaurant named Intimo.
“There’s no sign, but Google Maps says I’ve arrived,” she writes. “I walk around the side of a cake shop. Then I see it…an electric keypad on a sliding door.”
The owner of the space loaned the kitchen to a fellow chef, Edna Cochez, who is offering a small group of patrons tastes of Indian street food, Ramesch explains.
“There are just a few tables, but I sit at the long wooden bar,” Ramesch writes. “The kitchen is completely open. From here I can watch the action and take in smells of cedar smoke and garam masala.
It’s fun to read about her experience in the secluded restaurant. And it’s no arguing with her conclusion: “I feel happy and privileged to be here,” she writes. “That pretty much sums up my life in Panama City,”
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Ramesch works for International Living, a promotional site, so maybe the upbeat tone is not surprising. But it’s always fun to see an expat attempt to capture the essence of what it is like to live in Panama City. There are moments that can’t be found anywhere else in the world, as Ramesch makes clear.
Ramesch has been living in Panama City for 10 years and she was has witnessed the changes in the city, especially in the variety of things to do.
“Whatever you’re into, you’re likely to find it in Panama City,” she writes. In addition to opera, jazz, dance, mixed martial arts, live rock and salsa, art exhibits and film festivals, Panama City has “theaters and galleries galore,” she writes. “I am a frequent customer of the Ancón Theater Guild, where most shows are in English. Every year I look forward to its hilarious Improv nights.”
She also notes the incredibly low cost of living in Panama City. For example, the hospitals have top international affiliations, including the Cleveland Clinic and John Hopkins—but cost a fraction of what you would pay in the U.S.
“At a fancy Punta Pacífica Hospital, you can see a doctor for about $50 and a specialist for about $75,” she writes. “At a small clinic around the corner from my apartment, I see a wonderful doctor for $15.”
Read the full article here.
Jeff Barton is managing director of Punta Pacifica Realty, the top sales and property management company in the waterfront skyscraper community of Punta Pacifica.
