In college, Ariel Weinmann-Rubino met his future wife—a Panamanian who urged him to visit her motherland. Ariel had no interest in the little isthmus but he had no idea what he was missing…
That was back in 2017. In 2018, he was able to start his own business in Panama. “One thing I’ve noticed about Panama—it’s a small country, so if you have a skill, even if you’re retired, you will rise to the top,” he says.
Ariel had firefighter training, so he became a volunteer firefighter. He went to the San Miguelito station and helped with training.
Ariel got obsessed with fishing once he got to Panama—something he’d never done before is now a part of his daily life. He keeps his gear in the trunk of his car. He’s part of a hiking club, too. Some hikes are hard, but it’s fun to be a part of a community. Ariel has also adopted three Panamanian street dogs, who he loves very much.
“I decided that I was going to become the best immigrant I can be,” says Ariel. “I learned how to cook every Panamanian dish, I go to every local event, and people joke that I’m more Panamanian than a lot of locals.”
Ariel’s move influenced other important people in his life to take the leap…
“When my grandfather got old, my parents put him in a retirement home,” shares Ariel. “This wasn’t something out of the ordinary for us as Americans but when we visited him, we realized that it wasn’t a place that someone who didn’t need around the clock medical care was going to be happy in.”
Once Ariel’s parents started getting older—his mother is in her mid-sixties and his father in his mid-seventies—this was something they talked about. They knew they didn’t want to live their remaining years in a retirement home so they moved to Panama.
“My mother had a knee replacement in the United States, outpatient, my dad had to pick her up afterwards and she was on so many opioids. It caused so many problems for her and my father, who had to stay home and take time off work to care for her, and the physical therapist wouldn’t do home visits,” says Ariel about his parents experience with the U.S. health care system.
“In Panama, my mother had surgery for her other knee. She paid with her credit card, had five days of after care in the hospital, and they didn’t give her opioids. Every day they came in and checked her progress. Doctors in Panama told her that the knee movement from the U.S. knee replacement was awful, contrary to what U.S. doctors told her. She now has excellent mobility because a physical therapist came to her house every day for two months and used several different techniques for healing. Now she’s perfect.”
In Panama, the sense of community is strong and doesn’t fade with age. Moving here has given the whole family a new zest for life.
For Ariel, it’s simple: “Community is the reason I love this country and continue to live here.”
Sincerely,
