One of the best parts about living next to the ocean is the availability of fresh fish. Every restaurant offers a variety of seafood, from Corvina (the local white fish) to octopus to shrimp.

A trip to the local fish market a mile away seemed like an adventure, so we packed my dogs into my SUV on a Sunday afternoon and off we went.

We weren't the only ones who thought of going to the fish market on Sunday, and parking took a while. But a parking lot attendant who works for tips squeezed us into a tiny spot.  


 I wanted to keep my little white dogs white, so we each carried a dog rather than let them walk on their leashes. There is no way I can pass for anything but a Gringa, so I don't bother trying to blend in. If you look at the photo behind the fresh fish, you will notice the fish seller smirking behind his hand. I don't think frou-frou dogs and Gringas in big hats are a common sight at the fish market!

Our first stop was a stand selling ceviche in Styrofoam cups. Everyone coming out of the fish market had a Styrofoam cup overflowing with fish, and we did not want to take another step until we'd tried it. A menu listed the different types of ceviche available, but I still get confused about the difference between lobster and shrimp in Spanish. A man in front of me ordered something with large shrimp, so I tapped him on the shoulder and asked in my very bad Spanish what he had ordered. He promptly offered me a bite. It was so unexpected, that I declined.... even though I was really dying to try it. After all, taking food from a strange man isn't proper, right? He and his wife started an animated conversation with us about how good this ceviche was, and once again he offered. I couldn't refuse this time. Not only was the shrimp ceviche delicious, but it was a warm encounter with a local. This is the way Panamanians are. They happily share food with strangers.

After devouring the ceviche, we toured the fish market. Even though we'd waited until the heat of the day to go, the fish market didn't smell fishy. It was relatively clean and all the fish was very fresh. We settled on buying Corvina from a friendly man who spoke broken English. He filleted the fish in mere seconds, wrapped it, and handed us a parcel worthy of a grocery store in under a minute. For $10, we got two whole Corvinas, filleted and packed.

We then bought some fresh lemons and other fruit from a fruit vendor and hurried back to my apartment to cook the fish. With just salt, pepper and lemon, the fish was amazing. 

If you like fresh fish, the availability of fresh fish in Panama is definitely in the Top 10 reasons to come down for a visit.

I have a confession to make... I hate wearing a bra. In Dallas, I would rip my bra off as soon as I got home. In fact, often times it came off in the car on the drive home. A bra hasn't evolved much from a corset in the past few centuries, and I could honestly go the rest of my life without strapping a bra on.

Ladies, keep reading, because this is important. The warm weather in Panama means that clothes here have built-in breast support. You could actually move here and leave your bras behind and be just fine. (Do I hear a chorus of Glory Hallelujah's?) But even better, no one cares if you wear a bra or not.

The Panamanian women have less modesty about their bodies than a typical Westerner. For example, it's not unusual to see a woman breast feeding her child on the escalator of a department store. The expat community here has learned to be freer as well, and there is no judgement or shame in being comfortable, no matter what the size or shape of your breasts.

I spent the weekend with Canadian clients, and the bra-less culture here is one of the first topics we discussed. During our tour, they met several other Gringas who unabashedly told them they had stopped wearing a bra. So if you yearn to go bra-less and not have anyone think twice, pack a bra-less bag and come see me in Panama.

Living in densely populated areas with tall buildings is a new experience for me. Instead of opening my back door to let my dogs out in the morning, I take them downstairs past security and onto the street. My dogs are morning dogs, so when I first moved to a high rise I thought, "Who is going to see me at six in the morning?" I was shocked when I went out the first day to find dozens of locals, security guards, and other dog owners bustling about.

Unfortunately, my dogs can't cross their legs long enough for me to get glamorous, so I've developed a 2-minute routine that includes putting my hair in a ponytail, throwing on a tank top and tennis skirt, and smearing on a little lip gloss. If I've stayed out late the night before I might add a pair of dark sunglasses.

There have been several times when I thought I was completely alone only to find out later someone was watching. I have a friend who saw me flipping a cartwheel on the beach as he was looking down from his balcony, and another friend who saw me crazy dancing through the glass walls of the gym. Whenever someone says they've seen me at a time I thought I was alone, I have to wonder... what was I doing at that exact moment? Was I adjusting a boob? Was I blowing my nose? Did I have a wedgie? 

In Panama, women pull their breasts out to feed their babies in the middle of the mall and no one looks twice. So unless I lose my bathing suit to an aggressive wave or my dress to a faulty halter strap, I've come to terms with the fact that  someone could always be watching. Now that I'm used to it, I have a bigger question. What will I do when they stop?

"This is Panama" is a common catchphrase here. When something is crazy good or phenomenally bad, saying "This is Panama" allows you to shrug it off and move on.

For example, my favorite bling flip flops that caused no problems in Dallas, make me look like I've been stomping in coal with a hoard of street urchins in Panama. Every week when I get a pedicure, my pedicurist tells me to stop wearing the shoes. Stop wearing my most comfy walking shoes? Never! After all, this is Panama.

On the good side, people tend to be more caring. I have a friend named Tracy from the Mid-West who is here with her four daughters. One of the teenagers took the car on a major road and promptly got into an accident. The man whose car she hit has daughters of his own and helped to take care of everything. Now, Tracy is friends with the man whose car was hit because they had loco teenage daughters in common. This is Panama.

On New Year's Day, I did my first load of laundry in my new apartment and then took a shower. When I got out of the shower, there was three inches of water covering the main rooms of the apartment. Someone had pulled the washing machine hose out of the wall drain and all of the water had dumped onto the floor. As I was sweeping water onto my balcony and into the drain, I kept saying to myself... This is Panama. The good news is that even though it was a pain to clean up, it did absolutely no damage. All of the floors here are tile, and the furniture typically has 4" legs on the bottom. I guess flooding is typical. This is Panama.

If you learn to take the bad in stride and focus on the good, Panama can be an amazingly wonderful place. I've made quite a few friends in Panama City already. This is Panama... and I love it!

The food in Panama is one of the things I love best about living in Panama. All the food is much better here than I expected. Because of a long-ago treaty with Italy, Italians can get instant residency. This translates into fabulous Italian restaurants on every corner of all the country. But it doesn't stop there. You can get Chinese, Sushi, Mexican, Thai, Steak, Fish, Middle-Eastern, Kosher and every form of fast food that your taste buds crave, just to name a few.

Some foods are very cheap, such as local fruits and vegetables, fish and even chicken. Anything with a Western brand has to be imported, which naturally increases the price. The highest priced items are American items that require refrigeration or freezing. It doesn't take a Panamanian rocket scientist to figure out that the food has to be brought down in refrigerated containers, which typically doubles the price. But for every American brand, there is a local brand. Sometimes the local brand isn't as good... sometimes it's twice as good. For example, Queso Crema puts Philadelphia Cream Cheese to shame and costs about one-third of the price.  

There are only two Western foods that I have not been able to find in Panama... Fresca and Cajun seasoned salt. I'm not someone who drinks diet drinks regularly, but sometimes I love the freshness of a Fresca. They do have Fresca here... but it's not diet. My body doesn't handle big infusions of sugar well, so I stay away from regular sodas. Although Coca-Cola Light is readily available, it doesn't taste the same as Diet Coke. 

A month away from an ice cold Fresca, and I was developing a serious craving. I started dreaming about how many Frescas I would drink when I went back to Dallas. Dreaming about a diet soda? That's when I knew I was in trouble.

I went shopping at Riba Smith today, the high-end gourmet grocery store in Panama City. In the first aisle, I found Diet Sierra Mist. It's not as good as Fresca, but I literally almost cried. I couldn't put the 12-pack of diet sodas in my cart fast enough. When I got to the checkout stand, I almost wept again when I saw them ring up the soda at the exorbitant price of $7.80... more than twice the price of a 12-pack in Dallas. But when you're having a craving, price doesn't matter. 

To round out my splurge, I spent $1.50 on an empanada for lunch to go with my $.65 soda. Even with the inflated prices on imported brands, $2.15 for lunch is more reasonable than I get could in the U.S.

I spent New Year's Eve 2011 in Panama at the beach area of Coronado. We had a lovely fireworks display that beat anything I'd ever seen in the U.S. 

I spent this New Year's Eve on the social area of my condo building in Panama City on the 38th floor. My building has amazing views of the water and the city from the social area, and many of the residents gathered with their families to celebrate the new year. 

At midnight, the entire skyline in a 360 degree circle was aflame with fireworks. It was more spectacular than anything that I've ever seen before. Some were far away... like the photo of the water. These fireworks were going off over the presidential palace. Other fireworks, like the one below taken between the buildings, were so close I could almost touch them.... and I could definitely smell them. After one of the close fireworks went off, I actually got a bit of fireworks debris in my eye. A few blinks and it was gone, but I've never been that close before.

The fireworks lasted for an entire hour. These photos were taken by my new British friends, Kate and Liam. It never occurred to me to take my camera to the fireworks display. I'll know better next year.

Being Westerners, Kate, Liam and I left the party at 1 a.m. to go to bed. The locals looked at us like we were loco. It didn't matter if you were 2 or 80... the party was just getting started.

When you start to plan your next New Year's Eve escape, be sure to put Panama on the short list. The fireworks alone make Panama a New Year's Eve destination hot spot.