Monthly Archives: May 2009

Snakes in the Grass

Posted on May 5, 2009 by | 2 Comments
This image is similar to the
Virgin Mary grotto image that
brought me so much peace as a child at
Cristo Rey Church.

Since the day in the first grade that I had experienced the paternal side of my family tree and their terrible judgment in child rearing, I inevitably developed those feelings of wanting to be detached from that first generation of Westindians. The cruel beatings my father had unmercifully rained on me was just an introduction to feeling unprotected. My parents’ divorce had led to such treatment I reasoned and had triggered the crudity of the beatings my Aunt Gwendolyn encouraged my father to dole out to me. Continue reading →

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Church in Panama, West Indian Panamanians

Tagged , , ,

We Were the First Middle Class

Posted on May 1, 2009 by | 2 Comments

Renta 10

This is Renta 10 in the district of
Marañon, a dilapidated memory of
years gone by when social interest housing
became briefly fashionable.

The “Karchi” or the factory whistle
sounded for miles around the Canal Zone
and Panama City at noon and the end
of the workday.


The imposing “Magnolia” edifice underscored the importance of the Westindian residents for the Barrio of Calidonia. The newest and largest of the surrounding buildings had seen the end of the terrible economic times of the 1930′s to be a boom in Panamanian real estate. The building stood, and continues to stand, at the celebrated corner of “P” Street and Mariano Arosemana, which historically became one of Panama City’s landmarks, and in that period became known for a distinct Westindian middle class. Continue reading →

→ 2 Comments

Posted in West Indian Panamanians

Tagged , , , , ,