Latest / bit of a Rambler / 022 Ramble On

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022 Ramble On · bit of a Rambler

• 1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,640 Hello, my name is Kai. I am a bit of a rambler. I like to travel learn and tell stories and 2 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:15,320 welcome to ramblon. Got more Panama stuff to talk about. You know, it's kind of funny. 3 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:23,120 I can't remember like what the day is because I've been traveling so long without a schedule. 4 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:28,520 But this hostel I've moved into, one of the reasons I like it so much is that there 5 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:35,160 are no windows in my room. But there is some kind of ventilation because the water seems to 6 00:00:35,160 --> 00:00:41,160 drive very quickly and Panama is not a dry city. I don't know. But there's no windows. So when I 7 00:00:41,160 --> 00:00:48,760 close my door, it is pitch black and that makes it so easy for me to fall asleep. So I do really like 8 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:54,680 that about this room in particular and it's very clean. They have a daily cleaning crew that comes in 9 00:00:54,680 --> 00:01:01,560 and I can request new linen and whatever if I want it. But they clean the bathroom every day 10 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:07,080 and it's just a clean, conveniently located space. It's like right in the middle of downtown. 11 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:12,440 It's a good spot, but I especially like that I can just fall asleep anytime. That's really nice. 12 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:18,200 But a problem is that I don't know like sometimes I'll wake up and it'll be five. I'll be like five 13 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:25,880 in the morning or I just changed my phone to military time. So I know what the time is now without a 14 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:33,800 window. But so I'm not really sure my sleep schedule because I also used to I tried that not 15 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:38,600 stochastic sleeping. What do they call it? The Benjamin Franklin thing where you sleep like three 16 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:44,840 hours at a time just spread throughout the day. So you only sleep in six hours a day or two hours at 17 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:49,960 a time. I've been kind of sleeping sporadic. I'm basically just awake until I'm tired and then I 18 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:54,440 fall asleep and I wake up and I'm not tired anymore. And it's good. I've been feeling refreshed 19 00:01:54,440 --> 00:02:00,600 since I've been sleeping in this really dark room because I sleep so well. But I don't know 20 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:06,680 if I'm sleeping a full eight hours a day. But then again, I guess it doesn't really matter because 21 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:13,320 I'm getting the sleep I need. Okay. Anyway, yeah, glad I worked that out. I have a dark room. It's 22 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:19,400 very nice for sleeping in and I work at any hours of the day anyway. So it doesn't really matter. 23 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:26,680 So I was going to get internet here and I haven't yet. I've 24 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:35,880 you know, when I started traveling, I didn't use mobile internet. I only used hot spots or my offline 25 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:41,320 maps. And then after I don't know a long time, like five years or something, I was like, why don't 26 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:50,040 you just get in or not? Why not? And I did. And it is very convenient. But I decided 27 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:56,360 since I came to Panama that I just wouldn't get it until I needed it. And I haven't met up with 28 00:02:56,360 --> 00:03:01,560 other people yet. So it hasn't been a big issue. And there are a lot of free Wi-Fi hot spots because 29 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:09,640 it's a very modern city. But what has been the most interesting was that since I haven't had 30 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:18,040 Google translate to rely on my Spanish is better. I feel more comfortable speaking it with people 31 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:23,640 and I'm listening much more closely when people talk to me. And when I had Google translate at my 32 00:03:23,640 --> 00:03:30,040 back in call, I would translate stuff constantly. Like instead of asking like, oh, what is this? 33 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:36,920 And then the person answering me, "Hey, this is the, oh, this is Honggi." Like, this is mushrooms or 34 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:44,680 hongl. I would just search like mushroom in Spanish first and then ask the guy across the counter 35 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:52,360 from me is the song or am I not even asked because I'll be like, oh, yeah, that was it. So yeah, I haven't 36 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:57,800 had any mobile internet since I got here and I really feel like it's helping me fall into the 37 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:05,960 language and just pick it up naturally. Like I used to and I feel like it's become more difficult 38 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:14,040 in recent years and I've taught people of all ages English. So I know ages into real factor in 39 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:19,800 determining how well you learn a language. I know that's a very popular thing to think, but I've taught 40 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:27,160 like three-year-olds and I've taught 60-year-olds and they both learn English. Maybe not at the exact same 41 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:35,160 rate, but pretty fast. Like almost the same rate, I'll say. It's all about attitude and practice time, 42 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:40,600 really. So I don't think I'm losing my ability to learn languages I got older and especially now that 43 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:48,760 I haven't been using any translation apps and I'm just getting back into sync with Spanish just 44 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:55,800 naturally. I'm kind of glad I haven't got the internet. If I go on a date or I meet someone, 45 00:04:55,800 --> 00:05:02,680 it's going to be weird to coordinate times if I don't have data, but I'm not really worrying about 46 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:12,600 that right now. I feel more present without this data. I can't check Lemmy all the time or social 47 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:19,320 media or anything like that and instead I just walked looking for a crocodile yesterday for two and a 48 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:27,960 half hours and picking up Spanish and stuff. I feel like I'm more in the city I'm in, in the world I'm 49 00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:35,800 in when I'm not connected to the internet. So it's not a bad experiment so far. I'm glad I didn't get 50 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:40,760 mobile internet this time. And like I said, there's Wi-Fi everywhere. So if I didn't need something, 51 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:46,440 I'd walk for 10 minutes and there'd be McDonald's and I could have free Wi-Fi or a hotel or a casino. 52 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:52,840 But so far, I don't. I just don't need it. I listen to podcasts. The only thing is I listen to my music 53 00:05:52,840 --> 00:06:00,600 exclusively streaming. So that's kind of a pain and it's almost worth getting the mobile internet 54 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:06,360 just so I can listen to whatever music I want all the time. But I don't think I'm going to make 55 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:12,760 that change back yet. I'm going to keep this going for a couple more weeks and see how it feels. 56 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:20,920 Okay, looking for a crocodile. Let's talk about that. So a guy moved in next to me and the person before 57 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:27,720 him spoke Chinese and had his fan on all the time. And if the fan is on then this mic picks it up and it 58 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:35,480 sounds terrible. So I was going to ask the Mandarin guy if he could turn off his fan at night or something. 59 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:42,520 But when I went over to ask him, it was actually a completely new person. And so I started talking 60 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:48,600 to that guy and he actually hasn't turned on the fan once since I asked him just to fies out. 61 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:54,360 Like not in the room if he can turn off if he's here 24 hours a day. I don't mind. I'll work around him. 62 00:06:54,360 --> 00:07:01,640 He can leave the fan on. But if he does go out to turn it off. And so it was his first day here 63 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:06,920 and I was already a costing him. I felt really bad. But he's been really nice and kept it off. So I've 64 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:15,480 actually been able to get plenty of audio work done. But anyway, so he's a fisherman and retired 65 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:21,800 a decade ago or something and has just been traveling and loving it. And we talked about how awesome 66 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:29,240 it is to travel and how accessible it is. And he wished he had started traveling 30 years, 40 years 67 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:33,880 before because of course, once you start traveling, you're like, wait, I could have done this the whole time. 68 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:40,120 And he actually already saw a saltwater crocodile, which I didn't even realize were down here. 69 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:47,320 But I already saw those mapaches, the sleek, crabby eating raccoons. And so he wants to see one of those. 70 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:53,160 And I told him where I saw mine and he told me where he saw the saltwater crocodiles. So I spent two 71 00:07:53,160 --> 00:08:02,280 hours yesterday walking up and down maybe longer. This area, the same wall actually with the raccoons 72 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:08,760 just in a different area because it goes all along the shoreline. And I didn't see any during low tide. 73 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:16,360 He said I should definitely go during low tide. But I did talk to someone else here and she said 74 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:20,840 that they're definitely our crocodiles. And she sees them pretty much every day because she sunbathes 75 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:27,560 in front of the hotel she works at. And she told me where that is. So I'm going to keep going on these 76 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:33,160 crockons where I just walk until I see one because apparently they're very common here. And she says 77 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:40,120 she sees the same giant one in the same spot every day. So I think as long as I keep looking, 78 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:49,720 I'll be able to find one. The only problem with that is that Panama is hot and humid. And I got a 79 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:57,160 heat rash yesterday, which I haven't had in a very long time. And Guatemala in general is a very 80 00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:03,320 high elevation. So at night, it's cool. My body generally cools out. And I know my body likes cold weather. 81 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:10,520 That's an indisputable fact. Hated growing up in Hawaii, uncomfortable for 20 years, 82 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:18,840 high elevation or cold weather instantly. I was like, yeah, this is weather. This is like a proper 83 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:28,200 temperature for my body. And Panama is at sea level. So obviously very humid. And then it's very warm. 84 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:32,440 Luckily, it's very cloudy. So I haven't gotten burned yet. I put on sunscreen. I have my hat and my 85 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:38,520 sun sleeves. But I even walked around without the sun sleeves. And I just haven't gotten really 86 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:43,160 burned yet. So I don't know if the cloud cover is doing that or what? Because I'm right on the equator. 87 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:49,640 So I expect it to be getting murdered here. But the weather I'll say for an extremely warm sunny 88 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:55,240 place has been very nice with all the clouds. I've been able to comfortably walk around. It is still hot. 89 00:09:55,240 --> 00:10:02,840 But like I grew up in an unbearably hot place. So I'm kind of used to dealing with heat. And I 90 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:10,440 spent plenty of time in Thailand and plenty of temperate zones. So I can tolerate the heat. And I'll just 91 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:17,400 walk around. But I must have done something either I didn't drink enough water or maybe I didn't wash 92 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:24,200 my legs enough because it says that heat rashes come from clogged pores or they can anyway. So I don't 93 00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:28,440 know what, but I was walking around and after a few hours of walking around yesterday looking for 94 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:37,560 them crocs. I felt a flash of heat on my leg. And if you've never had a heat rash or a prickly 95 00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:46,360 rash, some people call them apparently according to the internet. At least for me, a bright red patch 96 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:55,160 of skin just blooms from one second to the next just it just blooms. And I feel it and then I look 97 00:10:55,160 --> 00:11:03,160 down and I see like a a bloom, a bloom of rash. And it shows up. And as soon as I'm in air conditioning, 98 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:10,040 it's fine. It goes away even in shade. But if I'm just in the sun too long or heat too long, 99 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:18,600 yeah, I get that and I walked for hours in the sun when it was hot in Guatemala. But I'm thinking maybe 100 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:26,360 because it's not constantly warm in Guatemala since at high elevation, the nights are still cool. 101 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:32,120 I'm really not sure because here I have AC at night. So my body does cool down during the night. 102 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:39,160 And but I got the heat rash yesterday and now I have two large blooms near my ankles. 103 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:45,480 I'm a sure to wash my legs very carefully with soap. So they should be able to 104 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:51,240 sweat normally. But maybe I just didn't drink enough water. I haven't been drinking as much water 105 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:57,560 here because in my Guatemala and apartments, I have instant fantastic water. They have this 106 00:11:57,560 --> 00:12:05,960 eco filter, which is my favorite filter ever. It's like a clay volcanic ash silver flower pot inside 107 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:11,560 a big plastic pot. And then that just filters any water you pour into it and it comes out the bottom 108 00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:19,720 crystal clear and it tastes crystal clear. It's a fantastic filter eco filter. I really want one 109 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:26,520 actually. If I get a more permanent housing, I would get that filter before I got anything else 110 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:32,360 first. It's the best tasting water I think I've had out of a filter. So I guess I'll just try and be 111 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:37,720 more conscious about drinking water. I also don't want to drink a bunch and then go walk around because 112 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:42,520 there aren't many public restrooms here because I'm going to walk for a long time. I don't want to 113 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:49,400 look for a restroom for a long time. And I felt fine walking around without drinking water, but the 114 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:58,520 heat rash is telling me, hey, maybe it's worth having a full bladder so that your body functions more 115 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:07,400 properly in a very hot humid environment. So I'll drink more water. Hopefully deal with this heat 116 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:12,360 rash. All right, so the fisherman told me about the crocodiles and he showed me where he fishes too 117 00:13:12,360 --> 00:13:18,120 and he told me that there's no fishing licenses in Panama, which is the same thing in the Wang Prabang, 118 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:25,000 but I didn't get a fishing pole there, but it'd be really easy to get one here. The only thing is 119 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:32,360 that I'd have to carry it back to my apartment, so I'd have to get a bag. I don't know, it might be, 120 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:38,040 but it's probably not worth it. I don't know if I want to take up that whole kitchen gutting 121 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:45,960 of fish. When there's so much good food here anyway, and fishing is fun, but for me personally, 122 00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:51,640 if I catch a fish, I want to eat it. Like I don't want to go through all the waiting and the work and then 123 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:56,600 throw the fish back. I still would definitely enjoy the catch like I like doing that, 124 00:13:56,600 --> 00:14:05,080 but if I'm not taking the fish home and eating it or preparing it in some way, then I'm not as 125 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:11,320 interested in fishing. But maybe I'll go down and just watch him fish one time and shoot the shit 126 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:19,160 with them all he hangs out, see fishing. There's a perfect great spot for sea fishing that he goes to, 127 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:24,440 so it would be cool to just check that out anyway, I guess. So in addition to the giant casinos, 128 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:31,720 they have everywhere. They also have huge, nice, spacious air-conditioned malls here with really 129 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:39,400 nice shops like and Chuckie Jesus. There's a Chuckie cheese in the malls here and movie theaters. 130 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:46,440 I went to another movie theater and forgot to check that ticket price. That's why I was going to go check 131 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:49,880 it out and then I just went in and looked at what I was playing and didn't even check because I totally 132 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:55,560 forgot, but whatever. I'll probably go there again. Give myself a break from the heat by hanging 133 00:14:55,560 --> 00:15:01,800 out in the AC. The malls are really nice and they're still popular. I know there's a huge 134 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:07,160 like cultural shift and everyone thinks malls are dying, but the data actually shows that malls 135 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:12,440 are good and malls are basically growing again like they're really good communal centers and they 136 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:19,560 might not be the exact same as they were before, but they're not that different. They're communal centers 137 00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:25,560 where people can meet and just hang out and there's people around in different shops to go to and 138 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:30,360 all that. So malls are still doing fine and they're doing very well down here and they're way nicer 139 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:36,120 down here. Maybe it's because there's fewer people or maybe because all that good casino money, 140 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:43,000 but the malls here are huge and spacious and very nice and very clean here. What else? Oh, I tried 141 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:50,440 my first Panamanian empanada and that was very good and only a buck. I'll probably get a couple of. 142 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:56,200 I got one from AMPM just to see how it was after I got the good ones and it was crappy because it's 143 00:15:56,200 --> 00:16:01,480 from a convenience store, but the good ones I got from the local place that make it, those were really 144 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:06,520 good. I can see why empanadas are so popular. I don't usually like them because there's a lot of 145 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:12,840 bread and I don't like too much bread, but they were pretty good. The ones I got here. So I could, 146 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:18,200 I would be interested in trying at least the other flavors and the other fillings they have here. 147 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:27,080 And speaking of food, I made a dumber purchase, but whatever. It was two for one foot long subway 148 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:33,560 sandwiches like from the American chain subway and I haven't been to one of those in years because 149 00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:40,120 the quality of the materials, the quality of the ingredients are just not very good. And usually 150 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:47,720 any local sandwich shop has a better quality ingredients for a lower price. And that's the same here, 151 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:53,560 but it was two for one and it was one day only and I was walking by that day and I was like, 152 00:16:54,120 --> 00:17:00,600 why not two for one? Why don't I try the Panamanian subway sandwiches? So I got a carne caseau and a 153 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:07,320 Poyo Pizziola, which I don't know if those are actually Panamanian or not because I haven't 154 00:17:07,320 --> 00:17:14,440 been to an American subway shop in years. And the sandwiches were both okay, but there was very 155 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:22,040 little vegetables like they were just very stingy with everything and none of the ingredients were 156 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:29,800 top shell for even they were decent. The ingredients were decent enough, but I didn't eat them and 157 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:35,800 feel like supercharged full of energy and nutrients. I ate them and I was like, yeah, I'm kind of 158 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:43,720 full now. I did eat both sandwiches because I only eat once a day. So two foot longs isn't crazy. 159 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:49,560 That's that's about a normal amount of calories, maybe a little more than I would usually, 160 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:54,680 but it was kind of fun waiting in line. There was like 30 people in line. It was kind of like an 161 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:59,800 amusement park carnival ride where I'll just waiting to get the two for one and of course when you get 162 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:05,320 to the front, you're like, so is it all sandwiches? No, no, no, it's just these eight sandwiches and 163 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:10,520 you can't get any of the actual good ones with chimichurri or anything. Okay, okay, but they were good 164 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:18,440 enough and now I know like my assessment of subway, I didn't need to update it. It's still a good 165 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:24,440 solid assessment that I don't need to go to subway. Oh, you know, it's been really cool. 166 00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:30,920 I've been missing the rainy season a lot. Like I know I mentioned I almost went back to Asia just 167 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:38,760 because of the food. I really wanted some spicier, more flavorful food, but the rainy season was 168 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:42,920 another one. I've been thinking a lot about going back to Luang Prabang because I love all the food 169 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:50,120 there, but also the rainstorms, they're fantastic. They're just great. But then I got here and 170 00:18:50,120 --> 00:18:57,240 it said it wasn't going to rain that much and almost, I mean, I saw a super heavy rainstorm two days 171 00:18:57,240 --> 00:19:04,120 ago and almost every day there's a couple hours of rain coming down. So pretty heavy rain. So it's 172 00:19:04,120 --> 00:19:11,240 pretty, yeah, I'm kind of getting maybe not as much crazy freak rainstorms as I want, but I'm getting 173 00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:18,360 a lot of rain. And it's been really nice. Like I said, it's cloudy all the time. So yeah, I'm digging 174 00:19:18,360 --> 00:19:24,280 the weather and I'm digging my rainstorms. I mean, the streets were straight up flooded a couple days 175 00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:33,640 ago. Like there was mud rolling off the hills and cars were splashing. Cars were up to the bottom of 176 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:42,040 the, their doors. There was, there was a good like half foot of water on, on a downward slope. Like that 177 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:50,680 was a lot of water. It was flooded. It was pretty crazy. What else has been going on? All my Asian 178 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:54,440 mark, oh yeah, I don't think, I don't know if I mentioned it. I know I said there's more than one 179 00:19:54,440 --> 00:20:02,600 China towns, but there were multiple distinct China town neighborhoods functioning around the city, 180 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:09,080 which was pretty interesting. There was that there were so many different China towns in this one 181 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:14,760 city. I have many mental and they're supposedly a really good one pretty far north of me. So maybe 182 00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:19,240 I'll check that out sometime and then the China town buffet I mentioned is pretty far west of me. 183 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:24,680 So I'm definitely going to have to yeah, check out the other ones. I like China towns because I like 184 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:33,720 Chinese food and I like Chinese and Asian products. Oh, the ceviche, right? So there's like I said, 185 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:41,000 there's 20 different blogs that'll show up if you search for Panama City information, 186 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:46,120 but they all list you have to go to Rana Dorada, the golden frog and you have to go to Marcaro de 187 00:20:46,120 --> 00:20:54,200 Marisco, the giant touristy food plaza where you can get ceviche and beer for a dollar. I didn't 188 00:20:54,200 --> 00:21:01,800 see that deal there. Maybe they have it. I'll go back sometime soon, but I went there and it just looked 189 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:11,400 so touristy and silly that I went across the street down the street a little bit to a really local 190 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:19,320 mom and pop looking ceviche place. And I got a big bowl for three bucks or something of shrimp ceviche. 191 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:27,480 And that's where I tried the soberana beer the first time and it was a great little snack 192 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:33,960 afternoon snack after I've been walk into all the Asian markets that day. And it tasted pretty 193 00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:41,240 authentic and much more fresh than the other ceviche I had got earlier in the week and the girl 194 00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:49,640 serving it was drop dead knockout gorgeous. So it was pretty fun to get this good ceviche in a local 195 00:21:50,600 --> 00:22:00,040 shop rather than a giant food plaza. There are also a lot, like a lot, maybe the densest I've 196 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:07,960 ever seen of happy hours here and happy hour specials especially. And not just for drinks too, 197 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:13,560 like I was talking about drinks, but also for sandwiches. There's so many two-for-one drinks and two-for-one 198 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:20,520 sandwich deals. I could every day of the week walk less than five minutes from my front door. And 199 00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:27,400 on any day find a two-for-one special near me somewhere for either a drink or a sandwich or a meal 200 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:34,520 of some kind. There's an Irish pub I think maybe ten minutes walking and on Thursdays and Fridays 201 00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:43,480 they have two-for-one beers with a free appetizer. So I might have to check that place out. 202 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:50,520 A couple days. See what that is like. Check it out. What else has been going on? 203 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:56,440 I've been doing the podcast and talking to a couple people about English jobs. So I've just been 204 00:22:56,440 --> 00:23:01,560 looking at English teaching jobs again because people are like, is that job really that good? I'm like, 205 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:06,920 yeah, it's the best thing ever. If you're a native or fluent speaker, you can travel pretty much 206 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:11,800 anywhere you want. You can save as much money as you want and you work as much or as little as you 207 00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:20,200 want. It's a fantastic job. And there are like no commitments. You, yeah, as much as long as you want to 208 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:27,000 or as short as you want to. So since I was talking about it, I got excited about it again. Start checking 209 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:32,280 what jobs are around, what's in Panama. There's a bunch of jobs here that I could pick up or 210 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:38,440 I was looking at the highest paid ones in the United Arab Emirates too. But I mean if I'm getting 211 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:47,400 heat rashes in verdant Panama, I'm going to wither up and die in the United Arab Emirates. I don't 212 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:53,880 know. Maybe I'd love it. They'll say there's like $6,000 a month jobs there. And I do believe that 213 00:23:53,880 --> 00:24:00,680 because I've seen the listings. But there's no way I'm going to work full time again because I just 214 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:05,480 don't have to. So I'm not going to. But I was kind of thinking about doing private tutoring here in 215 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:14,520 Panama and just yeah, doing that teaching tuffle stuff. But I'd have to like, I don't know, do work. I 216 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:21,640 don't know if I want to do that. I'm into work. At least not until I find my crocodile, I still have 217 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:26,360 too many new things in Panama, such a vibrant city. Like I haven't gone to see any plays yet, but 218 00:24:26,360 --> 00:24:31,320 there's plays going on even English language plays. Great expectations is playing. 219 00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:38,680 There's too much new stuff still that I have to explore before I settle down and get bored enough 220 00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:46,040 to start teaching English again. The podcast is pretty good. It uses up a lot of my free time 221 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:52,600 recording this, writing down the outlines, editing stuff afterwards, uploading it, checking the stats. 222 00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:57,880 Which by the way, for anyone listening to this, thank you so much. It looks like 223 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:04,840 a couple more people are listening to this thing a week. So I'm actually, it seems like people 224 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:09,960 are actually listening, which is great because I'm I'm sharing this so that people can hear what it's 225 00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:18,200 like to travel. If you're just hanging out around the world after you've saved up enough money to 226 00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:23,320 travel, this is what it's like. You just chill out all day and talk on the internet. 227 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:28,120 Anyway, I was scrolling through all those English teaching jobs and it's just fun to scroll through 228 00:25:28,120 --> 00:25:34,520 because if I ever do need a job, I'm like, oh, yep, there's still 30,000 jobs available instantly, 229 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:42,120 especially for someone with like me. If you two years of experience is the maximum amount of experience, 230 00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:48,600 they expect anyone to have. And I have my Tefl experience, my Tefl certificate, and like eight years 231 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:55,640 of experience plus I own two schools. So if I ever need to get a job, it's it's just nice scrolling 232 00:25:55,640 --> 00:26:01,640 through all those and knowing that all those jobs are there waiting for me if I ever want to. And I'm 233 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:08,680 like the pick of the litter if they're looking for an English teacher. Oh, we got a funny email from 234 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:14,360 another one of those pod search optimization site. There's like a thousand of them. So there was 235 00:26:14,360 --> 00:26:19,160 that one that emailed me while I was in Guatemala to tell me I was the number one pod number one travel 236 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:25,080 podcast in Guatemala because there are none others. That I'm sure that just means there are no other 237 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:31,960 travel podcasts in Guatemala. But I got another one recently. I got a couple, but they didn't go into 238 00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:40,920 specifics. This one said, I'm the number seven podcast that mentions lean meat according to pod SEO, 239 00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:47,960 which I guess that must have been one of the China food podcasts because I don't know why I would 240 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:53,000 be talking about lean meat. But that was really interesting to me because I've heard that hashtags 241 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:59,880 don't matter at all anymore. But for the first 10 episodes or something, I just put literally the 242 00:26:59,880 --> 00:27:08,280 first things that came into my mind word association hashtags. And some metric tracked me as the number 243 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:16,360 seven podcast that mentioned lean meat. And just the fact that that connection occurred and the 244 00:27:16,360 --> 00:27:22,440 relative low amount of effort it takes for me to write out 20 or 25 hashtags, whatever it is 245 00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:29,480 per episode, I stopped doing it because I heard hashtags don't matter. But even if I get 100 people 246 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:35,400 who somehow through lean meat or a frickin kettlebells, whatever, something I just mentioned 247 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:41,640 casually and then is in a hashtag, that'd be worth it to me. If I get a couple hundred people 248 00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:47,880 listening from random hashtags, all right. So I'm going to keep haphazardly just adding in all 249 00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:55,080 the hashtags to my episodes. And yeah, because maybe some people are connecting through the hashtags, 250 00:27:55,080 --> 00:28:03,320 I don't use Instagram or TikTok or anything modern. I don't use anything with hashtags. So I don't 251 00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:09,560 know how they work at all. But if people are still using them, it seems worth it to barf out a bunch 252 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:17,640 of hashtags on every episode. Why not? If you know why not, tell me. I mean, that's not even a purely 253 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:22,440 rhetorical question. It certainly started as one, but now that I'm thinking about it, if you know why 254 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:31,480 or why not, I should be using hashtags or their ability to engage with audiences. Let me know if 255 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:38,600 that's even a real thing. I'm curious. Oh, I do feel bad because this one person asked me for advice. 256 00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:43,880 They were trans, they were moving to Thailand, or they were looking to leave the United States. And 257 00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:53,880 I was like, go to Thailand, teach English, boom. And they asked for advice, but I gave, they sent a 258 00:28:53,880 --> 00:29:01,800 longer message, but I sent an extremely detailed wall of text back exactly about all of the concerns 259 00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:07,960 I was aware of and how they were merely rated concerning trans people in Thailand, which is a very 260 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:15,000 trans-friendly country. And they asked about teaching. So I said everything I could about teaching. 261 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:21,960 I just sent back way too long answers. And they didn't get back to me afterwards. So either they're 262 00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:28,040 taking care of business because that wall of text I sent them, they could just follow that. And they 263 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:34,120 have everything they need to leave the country and start living their lives fully, how they want to, 264 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:41,080 how they told me they want to abroad. But I think when I respond to people online, I'll have to keep 265 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:47,400 it more brief because I tend, because I have so much free time and I'm so interested in talking 266 00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:54,680 about travel that I tend to over explain trying to be more clear. And I make things less clear because 267 00:29:54,680 --> 00:30:03,720 most people don't dive into a wall of text with rabbit enthusiasm. So if you write to me, 268 00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:12,280 I will try in the future to keep it more concise and specific to your questions rather than 269 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:17,480 think about every eventuality that may be connected unless you ask me for that. And then I will 270 00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:24,280 overwhelm you with walls of response. I hope everything's going good for you this week. Things are 271 00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:31,240 going good for me. Food's good here. Women are beautiful here. The ocean, the green trees everywhere. 272 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:36,680 There's just, and then all the modern conveniences, yeah, I got no complaints. 273 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:44,680 Thank you for listening. I hope to speak to you soon and I'll talk at you again real soon. 274 00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:48,520 Have a good day.