Saturday, 21 February 2009
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Being Blond in Panama City, Panama
by Molly
Upon my arrival to Panama City, I wasn't quite sure what to expect, as I had heard mixed reviews. Some people said it was amazing, and there had been a boost in the rate of Americans retiring there, so I thought I would give it a try. But, I had also read reviews on the dangers found in the city, and that the Panamanians were often not too welcoming to visitors. We decided to go anyway, and see for ourselves.
Once we got into the airport, all we could see was a sea of people bartering with us in what I found to be indiscernible Spanish. I had no idea what they were talking about, making the situation that much more intimidating. So, once we finally found someone to take us to our hotel, we were a little unsure about whether or not we were actually going to the right place. The cab driver kept stopping to cat call to girls on the street or to ask directions at bus stops. He would pull over, and the people on the street would bend down to look into the cab at us, and I have to be honest, it was a little less than comfortable.
Once we found our hotel, we set down our things in our room, and went to explore a little bit. After a couple of minutes of walking down the street, I could tell that this wasn't going to be a comfortable couple of days for me. I stood out like a sore thumb, and as hard as I tried to keep a low profile where we went, I could not help but notice the evil stares that people would throw my way. With my very blond hair and very light skin, I was definitely a target for scrutiny.
One of the days, we were walking around in the older area of the city, where all of the tourists are told to go. It is really interesting, with little shops lining the small streets, and guards on every corner. We thought we were in a pretty safe area, given that this was where the president and all of the country's officials were meant to live. As we were walking, we crossed a very small bridge, and started to notice a distinct difference in environment. Sitting on rotting boxes outside run down shops were some very scary looking characters, staring at us in a very uninviting way. I knew that I was a painted target, as I definitely did not look like I knew what I was doing.
One of the men started walking towards us with a pretty menacing look in his eyes. My heart started racing. What could I do if he decided he wanted to teach me a lesson for walking through his area of the city? I put my eyes down, took a deep breath, and just tried to do whatever I could to draw less attention to myself. As the man walked closer, he kind of smiled, knowing that he was making me feel uncomfortable. He brushed my shoulder, and then kept walking. Thank goodness, I thought. We walked as fast as possible out of that area....you wouldn't find a cab driving through there if you waited all day.
Once we got back into the safer area of the city, I was in a much less adventurous mood. We started noticing the different fares that cab drivers would give to us, and would have to fight with them to get a fair price. I know that anywhere you go as a tourist, you are bound to get a different price than the locals. I accepted that before heading to South America, but in Panama City, I felt much more swindled everywhere we went. No matter how hard I tried to not notice the stares and side glances as I walked by, I couldn't. I was constantly uncomfortable, and I hated that feeling.
Looking back, I do not regret my visit to Panama City. I would definitely not go back for a visit, but I am definitely glad that I was able to see it and get a feel for how different it is than your average tourist destination. My blond hair definitely made me stand out in a very negative way, that I partly expected, but not to that degree. I don't think I have ever felt so uncomfortable just walking down the street.
Have you ever felt that the way you look made you stand out more than you wanted it to? How did you react if you felt this way? Where were you?
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About the Author
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- From: Molly
- About Me: Age: 23 Hometown: Colorado Favorite Places Traveled To: Peru, New Zealand, Greece, Brazil, Spain, Italy, Portugal and California!! Ideal Vacation: Around the world!! I'd love to take a trip from one end of the globe to the other and then back. That would be ideal. If not that, I want to go to Ghana, South Africa, Thailand, Japan, oh no.....this is turning into quite the trip!
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Comments (10)
I love English @_@
When we went to Egypt, we got into some trouble because my sister is a really fair young lady; blone, wavy hair and piercing blue eyes. When we visited Cairo, a gentleman (hardly worth the name!) decided that we were nice people and was (supposedly) to show us the wat to a 'supermarket' somewhere close by our hotel. However, he led us straight into the slums and it didn't take long before people started zooming in on my sister like zombies smelling brains! It was really scary because since we didn't understand what they were saying, we could hardly make out the difference between "Hello, kind strangers." And "Come on, Friend A, walk behind them and when I give thumbs up you kill the bunch!"... But we managed to get out of there with the help of some impressive power-walking and sharp elbows. Most other people we met were really nice to us, but that man and his neighbours were really creepy!
Hi Molly,
I am blond and fair skinned, and I grew up in Panama. I look just like a gringo tourist, but I have never been cheated by a taxi driver and have never felt threatened, even in the roughest parts of Panama City, or anyplace in the country (I write guidebooks to Panama). The same is true of everyone I know down there, whether they speak fluent Spanish or not and whether they've been there for years or are new arrivals.
Your blog gives the impression that you really didn't know much about what you were doing or where you were going. From the airport, did you get a cab from the well-run, officially approved taxi stand in the terminal (you pay them, not the cab), or did you just flag down some random cab outside? Unscrupulous and unlicensed guys sometimes troll out there. How did you and your friends dress? Those whose clothes scream "gringo tourist" -- shorts, fanny packs, loud shirts, etc. -- will attract opportunists.Panamanians dress more neatly and conservatively, and foreigners who know and respect the place do so as well.
If you want to avoid unpleasant encounters and sticking out like a sore thumb, it really pays to read up on a foreign country and get a sense of it before visiting. As a guidebook writer I obviously have a vested interest in saying that, but I'm always astonished when people visit a place without a real clue about where they are or how to carry themselves.
I may be wrong and you were very knowledgeable about Panama and just had a series of bad experiences, but you should know your encounters aren''t typical, and they almost certainly had nothing to do with the color of your hair. Panamanian men might have found you attractive as a "rubia," but few would be interested in taking advantage of you because of that. Panamanians have been attracting and tolerating people from all over the world for 500 years, and you're not the first blond person they've seen.
-Bill
www.panamaguidebooks.com
I totally know what you mean. Even in my own birthplace, I don't look like my own people, so I've gotten stares, catcalls, and awkward situations as well. It's always nice to see another foreigner in my country though. If I see any I smile and try to offer any help getting around and with the language and such.
@wfriar - PS. Just the fact that you're male is a huge reason you didn't get cat calls or feel threatened. But you wouldn't know that..
Hi lovepeacecalm,
Nowhere did I suggest that Molly was lying -- I don't know where you got that. And I'm quite aware that as a male I wouldn't be as much of a target as a female. But I wasn't talking about feeling sexually threatened; I was talking about being ripped off by cab drivers. I grew up in Panama, and I had friends of both sexes and all appearances, ages and facility with Spanish. People just do not typically get ripped off by licensed taxi drivers -- that's one of the good things about Panama. Some cab drivers can be a bit gruff, but they're generally honest.
If, however, you get into an illegal "gypsy" cab -- which are easy to spot, since they don't have their license numbers painted on the doors, matching their license plates -- you might get ripped off. Also, if you get into a "tourist" cab (their license plates start with "SET") they are authorized to charge you many times the normal cab rate since they are supposed to be providing a guide service.
As I said in my post, I may be wrong that Molly did little research before visiting Panama, but what she says about her experiences suggests she didn't.
Men in Panama can be completly obnoxious, with catcalls and unwelcome advance and, sadly, occasionally much worse. It can definitely be an unplesant experience, and blonde gringas definitely stick out in that regard. But getting overcharged is not someting that typically happens to anyone, gringa or not, with a bit of awareness and knowledge. Those without these can be taken for a ride anywhere -- and it happens a lot more to, say, Panamanians in a big American city than to Americans in a Panamanian city.
Try being platinum blonde with bright blue eyes in India. I stuck out like a sore thumb. They stare at females anyway, but I got a lot of just obvious staring straight at me for an ungodly amount of time. It didn't bother me though. And the people there were still great.
Also in China, I was asked to take pictures with tons of people. It was really comical too me. Totally unrelated but my dad was wearing a Mark McGuire jersey and some girls came up and asked if he was Mark McGuire which was just hilarious and a highlight of my trip in a way.
Maybe I'm just more used to it because I lived over in Asia and I got stared at all the time because, not only am I blonde and blue eyed, I'm 5' 10 so I really stood out amongst the majority of people around me.
Thanks for your posting, don't you mind me publishing this text in my Travel to Panama Blog?
It seems to me you were projecting your insecurity onto the locals. And I think those bad reviews you heard from people about the place prejudiced your perception in such a negative way that there was no way you could find anything positive about the city, even though you were in a much safer and friendlier city than most in the region. I can name a few cities in Latin America where you would have suffered more than catcalls.