Now... from Panama

If you can believe it, I've had more than one person ask me if I would continue my blog from Panama.

After considerable, well.. some... actually.. minimal reflection I found myself thinking, "Why not?"

Because I've learned that to be effective, these entries should be short and interesting, I'll try to use several smaller entries rather than cram a bunch of stuff into one hard-t0-digest narrative.

Two items for today's entry.

1. just as background, in case anyone doesn't already know. This is my fourth trip to Panama in the past sixteen months. I came here in January 2008 and January 2009 with study abroad groups from Towson University. I was also here in August 2008 teaching "International Business" to students at our local host university ("Quality Leadership University" - http://www.qlu.ac.pa/html). Now (May 2009) I'm back teaching the locals again, this time it's "Business Society and Ethics". The study abroad gigs are very different from the local program. The former is lighter on the teaching but more of an all-day affair because of excursions and miscellaneous tours. Also I have to be a bit of a chaperone though fortunately both groups (2008 or 2009) were relatively well-behaved (the very high bar set for them was stay out of jail and the hospital).

The local program has Panamanian students taking the equivalent of a U.S. college course. I teach in English (of course), four hours a day, five days a week for two weeks. It is an intense experience, very challenging to keep things interesting from 8:00am to noon every day. Plus in the case of teaching a class like "Business Society and Ethics" I am extremely conscious of cultural differences that may influence how the message is received. It should be interesting.

Ok, item 2. Upon arriving at Tocumen airport yesterday I noticed almost every airport employee wearing a surgical mask. This included the wheelchair people standing the jetway, the cleaning help, many of the store employees, everyone at immigration and customs, police and airport security personnel, even a few of the taxi drivers. Also today I visited my customary lunch spot close to the university, the cafeteria in the Reba Smith grocery store where a plate of rice, beans and chicken (that's about as Central American as you can get) will run you $2.45. All of the employees including the guys running the trays of food, the women serving it on plates and the cashiers were wearing the masks. So Panama has a big case of the flu jitters.

Enough for day 1... more mañana.