Panama City parks
Can you remember the last time you sat in a public park at night, safely? I arrived to the restaurant I was meeting friends at early my last night in Panama City, so I strolled around a nearby city park. Walking through the iron gates, benches lined a dirt walkway to a basketball court housing a lively game. Couples cuddled on the benches, kids played on the swings and neighborhood dogs greeted each other while their owners chatted.
I had been at the same park in the daytime earlier in the week. I marveled at the glass panel lamps without a single broken pane all lit with spiral energy saving light bulbs. I didn’t see any drug addicts sleeping in the corners, which is unfortunately the case in many city parks around the world. Even the garbage was well inside one of the many available closed top trash cans.
As I sat there enjoying the warm evening air and the friendly community chatter, in walked two police officers. One was wearing a tan uniform much like a sheriff’s uniform in the U.S.A., and the other was in full army fatigues. Both were well-armed and incredibly fit. The officers started asking random people for identification. Even though Panama abolished the military in 1990 and created the Panamanian Public Forces, there is a subtle militarized feel in the areas I’ve visited around the country thus far.
Mind your Ps and Qs in Panamanian parks!
