It´s a Small World After All..........In Panama

Maybe it´s just because I am from a state as large and diverse as California, but I have become acutely aware of exactly how tiny Panama is. That, and how blissfully unaware her people are of this.

When I try to relay the scale of California to people in my community, I always am met with furrowed brows, shaking heads, and bugged-out eyes. I haven´t even tried to explain NY City, and can only imagine the responses such an attempt would receive. Here in Panama, the ¨big city¨ is the capital, Panama. Everything else is referred to as ¨the interior¨(which, I would think, should be called the exterior as it is all the area outside of the city). Over half of the Panamanian population lives in the city (as it is usually called), the population of which is a little over three million. All the other larger cities of Panama have fewer than 300,00 people each. Consequently, all news revolves around what occurs in the city.
The evening news is what consistently reminds me of how tiny Panama is. Events that would barely make the afternoon local news become headline reports in the evening. A fist fight at a school in the Province of Colon, a death on the Panamerican Highway in Cocle, or the failure of the government to cut the grass in a park in Chiriqui all make it on the evening report. To fill up an hour of news reporters have to cover the most (what I would consider) irrelevant news, or at least, events that are usually omitted in our TV programs. These reports span all of Panama, for one province alone simply wouldn´t provide enough substance. The spheres of local and national news here don´t just overlap, they are one and the same. They are perfectly content focusing on Panama alone, even if international events carry more weight. It seems that they are so unaware of the larger sphere of which they are only a mere component, that they can´t see how international news relates to them indirectly (and consequently, they don´t care about it).

Commercials are, oddly enough, another indicator of Panama´s size. Most of the major department stores are located in Panama City alone, and yet commercials for them run in all the provinces, as there are only 2 Panamanian channels for the entire country. I get excited to see there is a sale at a store I like, only to remember that to get to that store I would have to ride at least 10 hours in transport to the city. It´s like a Californian constantly viewing commercials for stores that are located only in Oregon or Nevada. If I had a penny for every Dunkin Doughnuts commercial I´ve seen I would be rich, but I´d have to use that fortune to pay for the transport to the 2 locations that exist in Panama. Even the celebrities that endorse these products (Dunkin Doughnuts included), are all people that are widely known in Panama but otherwise uknown in Latin America. Pop icons Sammy y Sandra Sandoval are ever-present in commercials, whether they are selling cars or pushing lottery tickets. Known for their production of Tipico music (the traditional music of Panama), they are completely unknown in neighboring countries.

Perhaps the most entertaining example of this whole phenomenon was the return of Irving Saladino from the Olympics. Saladino was the only medal winner from Panama, and his victory was all the more significant for the Panamanian people because the last gold medal won for the high-jump was received over fourty years ago. Yet, the scale of his reception exceeded the merit of such an accomplishment (or at least I thought). He become an overnight celebrity: school was cancelled for two days (unfortunately that may have been one of the most valid reasons yet I have heard for the cancelling of class), he toured the country for a week in a car procession, was presented awards by the president, and there were two days of festivals throughout the larger cities. Before the man even set foot on Panamanian soil he was present in two different commercials that ran relentlessly on the TV. His reception recieved 24 hour news reception; the woman I was staying with said she hadn´t seen such coverage since 9/11 (I was relieved to know that the two events carried such similar weight in the minds of the Panamanian public). The news channel even developed a catchy jingle to play during commericals with footage of his victory. Even now his face and name are plastered over billboards and storefronts- he remains a living legend. It would seem this grand scale reception would be appropriate at a local level in the States, but at a national level it would be unheard of (at the very least, for such a duration of time).

Even if they are simply unaware of just how small their nation is, the Panamanian people are content with what they have and don´t seek to widen their otherwise narrow view of the world. The majority of the people live in small rural towns and rarely leave their towns, let alone provinces. Even if it is confined to the borders of Panama, the world they inhabit must appear a large world after all.