Niño del Mar

This is a really cool article about my buddy, Bolivar Andres, who lives in Bocas del Toro, Panama. That is him on the left in the picture I have robbed from his Facebook.

Bolivar is originally from Chile, but arrived to Panama many years ago on a sale boat with his father. As the article explains, Bolivar is an experienced sailor - a true seaman, but Bolivar is also well-known in Panama as one hell of a surfer. In crossing paths with him, though, you'd never know it - because he's not at all boastful. In fact, Bolivar is one of the most genuinely good people you'll ever meet. Anyway, I was impressed with the article and wanted to share it with you all. DEFINITELY CHECK OUT THIS ARTICLE.

At the bottom of the article there is some good footage of Bolivar surfing. Here is a link to Bolivar's video on YouTube. I was going to embed Bolivar's surf video directly in this post - but while searching for it I found this other YouTube video of a conversation between Bolivar and my friend, Scott Balogh - discussing the bungalows that Scott built and that he rents out on Bastimentos island in Bocas. Lemme go ahead and plug into this post the Red Frog Bungalows, a place worth checking out when you are looking to get away from the sad U.S. economy and be able to step directly out of your room onto a beautiful beach. Actually, if you check out the El Gringuito Slideshow (in the upper left-hand corner), you can see several images of the very beach where the Red Frog Bungalows are located. I can guarantee you'll wish you were there. Anyway, I'm glad to have the opportunity to give a shout out to both Bolivar and Scott in Panama.

Only the very beginning of the video is in Spanish, and then Bolivar and Scott switch to English - so stick with it even if you don't speak Spanish. I'm not sure when the recorded this, but I got a kick out of it - so I have included the video here:

Getting Robbed in Latin America

I keep up with a couple news blogs in Panama, and I just read this morning that the former Minister of Health in Panama was recently the victim of a home invasion robbery. Another article from the same blog explains that it is projected that the small Republic of Panama could see more than 1,000 murders this year, mainly related to drug trafficking.

Crime is a problem everywhere, but the risks can be particularly real for foreigners traveling and living abroad. As a tourist abroad, you may be carrying important documents such as a passport. More generally, when traveling anywhere you may carry larger quantities of cash. As you may be unfamiliar with the city or country, you may also be more likely to find yourself in a "bad neighborhood" where you stand out even more than usual. This also applies to you ex-pats living abroad (see my post about why you are still clearly a gringo).

You may also be partying and drinking more when you are on vacation. For example, there was the time several years ago that a guy punched me and took my money in New Orleans. That was in my own Country, but the point is that I might have prevented the whole thing by