This morning, at breakfast, I met two American expatriates now living in Panama.  One is a missionary who originally went to Panama to perfect her Spanish and stayed because she fell in love with the country.  The other, a gentleman traveled for business down to Panama often enough that he decided to relocate.  He is now retired and living the expat life.  According to these two, approximately 5,000 expats make their home in this country that welcomes new residents.  I’ve read posts saying as many as 20,000 Americans and Canadians make their home in Panama.

For a retiree, this means you don’t actually have to be retired to get it-you just have to be over 18. All you need to do is to prove you have a lifetime pension of at least $1000 per month.  If you buy $100,000 worth of property in Panama, then the minimum is just $750.  Others basics you’ll need for a visa are a police certificate from the town you most recently lived in  your country of origin, a health exam and an AIDS test.

At one point in my life, I actually considered this.  I think I was 60 and investigated both Panama and Belize as potential retirement destinations.  Instead, I went into Americorps for a year and somehow decided that I didn’t really want to leave America other than as a vacationer.

Anyway, after breakfast, I caught the shuttle to the airport.  I had several hours to kill so wandered around the shops and stopped for a con leche.  Several times I saw a young woman wearing a University of Pennsylvania t-shirt.  It caught my eye because I used to work and attend school there (many years ago).  I decided to sit and read for a bit so I went to my gate area and settled in.  It wasn’t but a few minutes when the U of P woman sat down across from me.  I had to ask her if she attended school there.

We spoke for the two hours until boarding exchanging stories.  Mariella is a citizen of Peru, grew up in Lima, told me the t-shirt was a gift from a friend but that she and her husband both attend Penn State in  programs to obtain their Master’s Degrees—hers in sociology and his in business.  Her sister is getting her Master’s in Wild Animal Management in Australia.  According to Mariella, most Peruvians vacation within their own country but many get their higher learning elsewhere.  Mariella and her husband intend to return to Peru when their studies are complete but she told me her sister plans to stay in Australia as she feels safer there than in Lima.

What a nice girl she was–right before boarding, I noticed the charge on my phone was at 38% and Mariella very graciously offered me her charger to use while on the plane.

As is my usual habit, I immediately started reading after settling into my seat.  My seatmate commented to me he wished he had brought his Kindle.  We exchanged the usual pleasantries, inquiring as to each other’s reasons for the trip to Peru and for the entire three-hour flight, I abandoned reading and instead listened to some of the most fascinating stories.  Back in the early 80’s, Dom, born in Peru, wanted to attend college but spaces available at the university in Peru were given mostly to the privileged class.  He managed to get an invitation to attend a school in southern California but he said the US would not grant him a visa.  Dom told me that opportunities in Lima for impoverished youth were limited.  So, determined to lead a better life, at age 18, he embarked on a mission to get to California.  He took buses from Lima, Peru up through Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and into Mexico.  I cannot even imagine!  To finance this trip, he had to work odd jobs along the way and he told me that it took him about three months. Once in Mexico, he again applied for a visa to get into the United States but was denied.

While in Mexico, he met some guys who told him they knew a place in Tijuana where they could cross.  He told me that not only was he successful that time but crossed back when learning of his mother’s death a year later so he traveled back to Peru to get his brother who he brought back with him to California, crossing illegally again into the United States.  He said he worked construction for various people in southern California and, in 1986, under President Reagan, amnesty was given to illegals.  Under this program, Dom applied for legal status.  He said the process was very long, starting with temporary residence, then permanent residence, and ultimately, citizenship.  In his recollection, the process took approximately ten years.  Dom proudly showed me his American passport.

He said he is a successful business owner in Riverside, California with a wife and two grown children.  We discussed the current conversation in America surrounding immigration and the wall.  Dom admitted to me that he is conflicted having entered the United States himself illegally.  His sons, he says, are staunchly in favor of the wall.  Interesting!

By the way, I have to mention Copa Airlines and how completely pleased I was with the flight, the seats, the plane, and the food!  We were served a fritata with creamed spinach, fresh watermelon and mango salad, strawberry yogurt, and some sort of tasty meat (although it was a mystery to me as to what it actually was).

Since the entire time I was in the jungle, internet and cell service were non-existent,  I am just now getting the internet in Cusco (it is now May 12th) so I will be posting blogs from the past several days…