A German And A Venezuelan Meet In Costa Rica And Move To Panama…
Our Marketing Manager, Ines, is German. Ines is living in Panama with her boyfriend, who is Venezuelan. The couple met in Costa Rica.
What brought Ines and her Venezuelan friend to Panama? They like to surf, and Panama’s coast offers up some of the best surfing on this earth. Ines and her boyfriend can be seen riding the waves at beaches along the Panamanian Pacific coast every weekend without fail.
Our Conference Director, Lauren, is from Hawaii. A year ago, she married her longtime Panamanian boyfriend, who she’d met while on vacation on Panama’s Contadora Island. One month ago the couple had their first child.
Our IT Manager is Jamaican. Miguel relocated to Panama last year in search of employment opportunity. Miguel is also a runner. “Panama City’s Cinta Costera is a runner’s dream come true,” he says. Indeed, this pedestrian-only stretch that runs the length of the Bay of Panama through the center of Panama City is busy from early morning until well past sunset with runners, cyclists, skaters, and amblers of all ages.
Real Estate Sales Director James is British. James has no interest in returning anytime soon to his native London. “Go back to grey, grey London, one of the most expensive cities in the world,” James says, “and give up my new life here in Panama where the sun is always shining? I’d have to be daft to do that.”
James works with Louis, who hails from Dublin. We met Louis’ Panamanian wife and two little girls at our Christmas party last month. Like James, Louis has no intention of moving back home. “Panama is home,” Louis says.
Conference Assistant Alexis and her husband are a couple of very young Americans who decided to launch their new life as husband and wife in a new country. They married last year and moved to Panama. Why Panama?
“I have always dreamt of traveling around the world, of seeing other cultures and hearing others’ stories,” Alexis says. “My grandparents own an overseas insurance company in Arizona and have traveled to Panama for years for banking purposes. They would return from every trip telling me how amazing Panama is and how the economy is booming. My boyfriend (now my husband) and I were intrigued by what they told us. The more research we did, the more excited we got.
“Back in the States, so many of my friends were having trouble finding work. We had no way of knowing, for sure, that we’d find good jobs in Panama, but, from everything we read and everyone we talked to, we believed our chances were much better in Panama City than in Arizona. We took the leap, knowing we’d have a big hill to climb. Now I am happy to say that this was the best decision we could have made starting our new life together.”
Programmer Jean Paul is Panamanian, but, when he came to work for us last year, he’d only recently arrived in Panama City. Jean Paul had spent the previous five years living in Ukraine, where he’d moved in search of opportunity. Last year he realized that, now, bigger, better opportunity was probably to be found in his native Panama. We’re very glad he found his way to us very soon after his return home.
Designers Candice and Carlos are a couple of young Panamanians putting their talents to good use creating e-zines, reports, banners, and other artwork. Carlos’ clever cartoons are featured in monthly issues of our Simon Letter service.
Panama Circle Member’s Liaison Marion is a German who has lived in Panama City with her Panamanian husband for more than 30 years. Social Media Manager Joey is American. Customer Service Representative Christeli is Panamanian. Real Estate Marketing Assistant Omar is a Zonian (that is, he’s both Panamanian and American, having been born in the Canal Zone). The newest member of our eclectic Panama City-based team, Marketing Assistant Anna, hails from South Carolina.
Every day, about 8:30 a.m., this diverse group of people meets up in a house in El Cangrejo to consider, day-by-day, options and opportunity worldwide and then to package the best of the lot of it for your benefit. If you’re in Panama City anytime soon, stop by to meet us all. We’re a couple of blocks away from Einstein’s Head in the building with the bright red awning.
Kathleen Peddicord
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