Me voy a Panama

[pedorrero]

This summer's first vacation will be up to a month in Panama. Although technically I can drive there, I booked r/t fare under $200 and parking at FLL is $7/day (well, two years ago it was ) I have heard a lot of good things about Panama as a retirement haven, so I am hoping to check out not just La Capital but also other areas (Boquete? David?) Any pointers helpful. I have ordered a recent travel guide and also "Choose Panama for Retirement" ... waiting for school to end and then to pack the bag. I spend all this time learning Spanish, now time to use it.

 

[GoodSense]

Sounds great! I know another couple who is heading down to Panama to see if they want to resettle there after retirement. Keep us posted!

 

[tuixiu]

Hah we're heading down there in May. Planned route =

Panama City
(bus)
El Valle
(bus)
Boquete
(bus)
Bocas Del Toro
(plane)
Panama City

Airfares are great right now.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Where are you Panamaniacs planning to stay--are you making arrangements in advance?

 

[tuixiu]

Looking at hotel/BB web sites in Panama it seems many are starting low season rates in May so shouldn't be a problem finding something open.

We've only made reservations for the first two nights in Panama City since arriving in the evening, will play trip by ear after that. Panama City we're staying at Hotel Milan $57/night if pay cash.

When we travel by the whim like this the usual strategy is when we're ready to hit the road we use internet cafe to research a good place to stay at our next location, usually with tripadvisor, Lonely Planet, and Moon.

 

[FinallyRetired]

I spend all this time learning Spanish, now time to use it.

Que hagas un buen viaje, y que encuentres lo que estas buscando en el bello pais de Panama. Cuando regreses, dejanos saber como te estuvo el viaje, y si Panama es buen sitio para uno jubilarse. Y sigue practicando el espanol. Perdoname, no se como poner los acentos y la "enye" con estas taclas.

 

[REWahoo]

Que hagas un buen viaje, y que encuentres lo que estas buscando en el bello pais de Panama. Cuando regreses, dejanos saber como te estuvo el viaje, y si Panama es buen sitio para uno jubilarse. Y sigue practicando el espanol. Perdoname, no se como poner los acentos y la "enye" con estas taclas.

From an online translation site:

"That take a good trip, and that find what these seeking in the beautiful pies of Panama. When return, leave us to know as the trip was you, and if Panama is good place for one to be retired. And it continues practicing the espanol. You forgive me, itself not as to put the accents and the "enye" with these taclas."

 

[FinallyRetired]

From an online translation site:

"That take a good trip, and that find what these seeking in the beautiful pies of Panama. When return, leave us to know as the trip was you, and if Panama is good place for one to be retired. And it continues practicing the espanol. You forgive me, itself not as to put the accents and the "enye" with these taclas."

I've heard those Panamanian pies are delicious. Hope he brings some back.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Mmm, empanadas--beautiful

 

[tuixiu]

So anyone stoked about the zip line rides over/thru the jungle? The one in Boquete is supposed to be two miles long! Fun.

 

[haha]

From an online translation site:

"That take a good trip, and that find what these seeking in the beautiful pies of Panama. When return, leave us to know as the trip was you, and if Panama is good place for one to be retired. And it continues practicing the espanol. You forgive me, itself not as to put the accents and the "enye" with these taclas."

That online translator could be a lot better!

"[I hope] that you have a good trip, and find what you seek in the beautiful country of Panama. When you return, let us know how the trip was, and if Panama is a good place to retire. And continue practicing your Spanish.

Sorry, but I don't know how to produce ñ on these keyboards."

BTW years ago a buddy took me deer hunting in Panama. I preferred Panama to most of Central America. Panama is like the US in that it has a diverse population, including about the same % of African ethnics as the US. My understanding is that most of them came from the Carribean, rather than straight from Africa, mostly to help build railroads and other infrastructure.



El Ha

 

[FinallyRetired]

That online translator could be a lot better!

"[I hope] that you have a good trip, and find what you seek in the beautiful country of Panama. When you return, let us know how the trip was, and if Panama is a good place to retire. And continue practicing your Spanish.

Sorry, but I don't know how to produce ñ on these keyboards."

Hey, that's what I was trying to say Eres un buen traducidor (?) translador (?).
So how do you do that enye thing?

 

[tuixiu]

Belize is like that too. Black people, hispanic people, and the rest looking like a distant cousin of Obama.

What's funny is there are a lot of Chinese that run the markets in many parts of Belize, and you sometimes come across Chinese kids who grew up in Belize so they speak English like Jamacians. It can be jarring to hear a "hey mon" from a little Chinese kid behind the cash register.

 

[REWahoo]

Ha, how come you left out the part about pies?

 

[haha]

Ha, how come you left out the part about pies?

I eat low-carb; so pies are beneath my radar.

Hey, that's what I was trying to say Eres un buen traducidor (?) translador (?).
So how do you do that enye thing?

If you use windows, you can make a few changes to your keyboard mapping that easily allow you to make all the Spanish accents. There are also a number of codes that are a bit more clumsy, but if you don't write Spanish often are all you need.

Keyboard mods: Typing Spanish Written Accents

Codes:


Spanish Characters on English Keyboard:

á alt 160
é alt 130
í alt 161
ó alt 162
ú alt 163

Á alt 0193
É alt 0201
Í alt 02505
Ó alt 0211
Ú alt 0218

Ñ alt 165
ñ alt 164

ü-alt129
Ü-alt 154
¿ alt 168
¡ alt 173

¼ alt 172
½ alt 171
º alt 167

If these don't work for you, you can google and find 4 digit codes also.

Ha

 

[REWahoo]

I eat low-carb; so pies are beneath my radar.

Ahhh. That would explain those episodes of grouchiness...

Pie is one of life's great pleasures...

 

[Trek]

I've stayed here when traveling Panama and can highly recommend it.

GAMBOA RAINFOREST RESORT Panama

We didn't stay in the main hotel, but one of their villas on the property. Cheaper and far more atmosphere.

We took the aerial tram through the jungle, boat ride to monkey island and a couple other excursions that don't seem to be shown on the website anymore that included a couple trips into the rainforest.

Also done the Panama Canal Railway trip from Panama City to Colon (scary place) on the other coast.

Panama Canal Railway Co.

I really like Panama. Fruit is so fresh and cheap. For cheap eats in Panama City, look for small restaurants with daily specials. You get a lot of food for very little money.

 

[FinallyRetired]

If you use windows, you can make a few changes to your keyboard mapping that easily allow you to make all the Spanish accents. There are also a number of codes that are a bit more clumsy, but if you don't write Spanish often are all you need.

Qué bién, ahora puedo escribír en español con mis teclas. Ahora tengo que aprendér cuando debo usár acentos y cuando no los debo usár. Muchas gracias, Señor haha.

Para perrodero, debes tratar las empanadas Panameñas.

Edité: C'est chose travaillez aussi pour ecribér en Français, non? Mais ouí mon amí!

 

[FUEGO]

Qué bién, ahora puedo escribír en español con mis teclas. Ahora tengo que aprendér cuando debo usár acentos y cuando no los debo usár. Muchas gracias, Señor haha.

Here's a good quick guide:
Spanish accents
It seems to agree with what I learned back in the day regarding Spanish grammar.

Basically, no accent is needed if the normal word stress falls in the correct location. The correct location is typically the penultimate syllable for words ending in vowels, n or s and the last syllable for words ending in other consonants. If a syllable is stressed and violates the rules, you put an accent on it to indicate it is stressed.

I guess one must know how to properly pronounce the words in spoken spanish in order to know whether to use an accent!

For example, in your quoted spanish above, "escribír", "aprendér", and "usár" all have a natural stress on the last syllable of each word, so an accent is not needed to indicate that the last syllable is stressed.

 

[FinallyRetired]

For example, in your quoted spanish above, "escribír", "aprendér", and "usár" all have a natural stress on the last syllable of each word, so an accent is not needed to indicate that the last syllable is stressed.

Grácias. Un poco de conozimiento es una cosa peligrosa. Es mejor decir que uno no sabe usar las teclas que saber usarlas y usarlas mal.

 

[FUEGO]

Grácias. Un poco de conozimiento es una cosa peligrosa. Es mejor decir que uno no sabe usar las teclas que saber usarlas y usarlas mal.

Exactly. Just enough knowledge to be dangerous...

 

[MichaelB]

Qué bién, ahora puedo escribír en español con mis teclas.

Con mi teclado, no mis teclas.

Ahora tengo que aprendér cuando debo usár acentos y cuando no los debo usár.

If you prepare a draft of what you want to say in MS word, it will add accents and enye during the spell check.

For regular typing I just use a spanish MS keyboard layout and switch back and forth as descrbed in the link Ha provided. Just remember that when sending documents and mail to others, they may see different characters - depending on how their keyboards are configured.

 

[FinallyRetired]

Con mi teclado, no mis teclas.

If you prepare a draft of what you want to say in MS word, it will add accents and enye during the spell check.

¡Fantástico! Ahora ni tengo que saber cómo usar los acentos o la ñ en español, porque Señor Gates me los pone. Pero si lo hago así no voy a aprender, pues voy a seguir haciéndolo a mano con mi teclado. !Ahora mis amigos Mejicano-Americanos me van a respetar más!

 

[MichaelB]

¡Fantástico! Ahora ni tengo que saber cómo usar los acentos o la ñ en español, porque Señor Gates me los pone.

Ese Bill es un buen tipo, ¿verdad? (En Mexico seria un buen cuate. En Venezuela, Colombia y Panama, un tipo [FONT=&quot]chévere[/FONT])

Pero si lo hago así no voy a aprender, pues voy a seguir haciéndolo a mano con mi teclado. !Ahora mis amigos Mejicano-Americanos me van a respetar más!

Tus amigos te respetarán aun más si los llamas Mexicanos

 

[FinallyRetired]

Ese Bill es un buen tipo, ¿verdad? (En Mexico seria un buen cuate. En Venezuela, Colombia y Panama, un tipo [FONT=&quot]chévere[/FONT])


Tus amigos te respetarán aun más si los llamas Mexicanos

Pues, mis amigos Mexicanos son buenos cuates y su comida es sabrosa pero me arde la lengua. Y me dicen que los Panameños son chéveres, quizás pedrorerro nos lo puede verificar. En Puerto Rico, donde yo paso algunos meses al año, son buenos “manos.” Creo que viene de la palabra “”hermanos” pero no sé, porque ellos mesclan ingles con el español, y a veces dicen “bros.”

Ahora tengo otro entretenimiento para mi jubilacion, aprender español mejor. Debemos hacer un hilo para aprender y practicar la lengua de Cervantes y de Pancho Villa.