We live in David, Chiriqui, not far from the Costa Rica border and this city has been growing like crazy. It seems like everywhere you look there are new roads, commercial buildings, and private homes. One of the biggest projects is the Federal Mall currently under construction. It is being done by the same people who did Albrook Mall in Panama City and it’s going to be huge. We have been watching it since they first started moving dirt around, and it was a lot of dirt! The site is so big and involved flattening out a large area and removing rocks as big as a small house.
Work stalled for a while. I heard while they were getting permits and permissions and when it restarted, things progressed quickly. After all the intense music practice and successful launch, I am reclaiming other parts of my life like riding my bike. Last week I took a couple rides over to the construction site to see what was going on.
I’m not sure about the bus terminal however. I thought there was also going to be a new terminal next to the mall, and the workers I’ve talked with on the site say this is so. People in my neighborhood, however, say no. The terminal is staying where it is. I found a video that shows plans for a new terminal on the current site but it’s over two years old and who knows if plans have changed. I guess time will tell. Remodeling the current terminal sounds like a huge disruption. It’s in a busy, congested part of town, and what are they going to do with bus traffic while it is underway? But if it ends up like the video it would be really nice. As they say, not my circus, not my monkeys. I only stand by as an interested observer.
There has also been a huge remodeling project going on for some time at the ball stadium. When it started I had no idea it would be so extensive!
And, speaking of the music, as most of you know I worked hard to learn to play bass to help out my husband’s rock band. We have five gigs under out belts now and it’s going better than I ever dared imagine. Last Sunday we played at the Boquete Brewery, a place owned by a couple working rock musicians and frequented by many young Panamanians. One of the owners was there last week and this week we were moved to Saturday when there is a much bigger crowd, and the owner even sat in and played drums on a couple songs. It was awesome! Next week we play on Friday because we are already booked on Saturday at the mostly gringo place, where they also booked us for more gigs when they first heard us.
If someone told me I’d be playing Judas Priest songs to an enthusiastic bunch of Panamanians in my retirement…. ha! You just never know where the road leads if you keep your options open.
great post @kristc, keep on rocking, enjoy seeing your posts of panama
Thank you! I need to catch up with what you have been posting too.
This post recieved an upvote from minnowpond. If you would like to recieve upvotes from minnowpond on all your posts, simply FOLLOW @minnowpond
Thanks, already following :)
Woohoo! I'm in Chiriqui too. Interested to see what that mall will be all about!
Rumor is it's going to be really big, like Albrook in Panama City and the spaces have already been claimed by stores. I wonder what it's going to do to the traffic on the Panamerican which is already a mess in the Via Boquete overpass area. Crazy all the growth here though! Exciting place to be.
Sigh. I wish some good stores would come. LOL, one can hope!!! I hear you on the traffic! We shall see!
Congratulations @kristc! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPThanks for the update in David, some exciting stuff going in down there. My family will be happy when the mall is complete.
Congratulations @kristc! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPThanks @kristc for this informative post for those in the US interested in updates on life as an ex-pat.
You mentioned malls. What stores would be found as those in the US?
Thanks for sharing!
Congrats on your 'retirement gig'. Perhaps you could share an upload of sounds from the band.
Never mind, I see in your feed you're a step ahead of me :+).
Peace.
Update: I just watched the videos! How fun!!! You really are handling that bass; and hubby's lead guitar had me looking to see if Prince entered the room (literally)...great vocals, too! I really enjoyed the music. I don't know why I thought the primary language would be Spanish.
Maybe hubby should consider entering the Steemit open-mic contest and sing his favorite tune!
Btw, I agree you should sign on with Steemit's D-tube and earn tips for your music videos.
Peace.
✌