Old City and Second Day at USMA #HogsAbroad in Panama #IntlHogs

On Wednesday, we started off our day with the Panamanian ruins in the Old City, which was founded in 1519 and one of the very first Spaniard settlements in the Pacific side after the Pacific discovery. It was surprising to see how people in Panama established their tall buildings with rocks 400 years ago. View from the building was amazing! We also went to the museum beside the ruins. 

After lunch, we had our second visit to USMA, where we learned economic situations in Panama. In his lecture, Eduardo Pazmino emphasized that Panama overcomes its trade deficit with its strength in service industries, such as transportation and tourism. Indeed, I have seen many tourists at restaurants or sightseeing places, especially close to the city. I actually run across a huge group of  Japanese tourists at a restaurant although I never expected to hear Japanese language in Panama.

However, during my stay, I did feel that hospitality in Panama was not the best, considering the amount of foreign visitors they have. I thought that It might be because I have limited ability to communicate with them in Spanish, but friends who are fluent in Spanish have the same impression about there hospitality. I believe that improving their hospitality for tourists will foster Panamanian economy by strengthening the service industries.
Yuki

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Read more from Yuki at  https://yukiinpanama.wordpress.com/

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