One of the most amusing things about the government here in Panama is they love to make laws quickly and regularly. It is sort of like market testing – they write a new law, throw it out there in public and see how the public responds. Now this is the best part- the foreigners – us- always panic and go around for days or weeks calling attorneys and reading every English news we can get our hands on to try to find out what really is the new rule. Then just about the time we think we have a handle on what it is, who might be affected and who might possible be enforcing; they decide it was a bad idea and just take the law off the books.

So good news! According to everything I have read this past week the Panamanian government has decided against implementing the yellow fever shot requirements. Now please stay tuned because you just never know what is next but for now the only people affected were the poor unfortunates who were recently preparing to travel soon and just figured they should get the shot, no problem. I prefer to skip the shot unless there is a real risk since too many people get sick from shots.

It’s amazing how quickly laws will change here (sort of) but how slowly the government really moves to serve the public. Just something to get used to and at least they don’t smother the TV with election news even though we are in the midst of presidential campaign here also. There are so many people running I cannot keep the ballot straight but a friend’s uncle is running for president and our dentist is running for a post similar to mayor so we are just hoping to know some good people who have influence; after all it can’t hurt! Important to remember though that the country is the size of South Carolina just to keep perspective.

In the meantime we just read, laugh and wait until the dust settles before we get too concerned about any new rules. And since I have discovered how to get Saturday Night Live on my computer there is plenty of political and election excitement right here at home in Boquete.

Important safety tip when you travel to Panama; NEVER EVER sweat the small stuff; not here; it just isn’t a part of the culture and you will feel strange and get strange looks if you do .

Technorati Tags: Travel Safety, yellow fever shots