When I arrived in Boquete Panama in 2006, there was a Tuesday Morning Networking Meeting held in Panamonte Hotel. In the community it was called the Gringo meeting, because the English speakers came together weekly to discuss and share information about their experience in Panama. Each Tuesday had a speaker and some discussion, local merchants often trumpeted their products and services. For as long as I remember the meeting also featured Irene selling used books for a group of local charities.
I stopped going regularly after a few months, it became an un-event, with un-information and I became uninterested.
In time the meeting moved first to the Fundadores Hotel and then to the Boquete Community Players (BCP) facility on the Jaramillo side of the Feria Bridge. Although still having a weekly speaker and still allowing announcements of interest the meeting has become something more.
The transition came from the idea of allowing people to sell goods and services at meeting. It started with a handful of expats selling food products and slowly evolved. I went again Tuesday, I seem to go every Tuesday now, not to necessarily to heard the speaker, but to buy some bread and other foods. I took some photos to show how much things have grown.
The most important change is the increasing number of local, Spanish speaking residents who are showing up and selling everything from produce, crafts, jewelry and other foods. I bought some outstanding pineapple preserves from a local woman and suggested she needed a sign to help her increase her sales. I am not sure she realized her market did not speak Spanish.
This is a very exciting evolution for all of Boquete. A new community market, by the community, for the community and inclusive of the entire community. The market it one more example that Boquete is growing into a homogenous community.
Comments