Rob-Rivera.com

Approaching Panama and the “Juega Vivo” Culture

After a rather upsetting Super Bowl XLI, I’m back to talk about something I’ve been meaning to get around to for about a week and thankfully it’s managed to stick in my head this long so that tells me it’s important that we talk about this. I’m not great with snazzy introductions when I’m not in “marketing mode” so I’ll just cut right to the chase: Back in around 2004 I was asked to write a piece by the then-editor of “Weekend” magazine for “La Prensa,” the country’s most highly circulated newspaper. Now, this “Weekend” mag is an insert you get with your paper every Thursday and it’s a variety-themed publication with a focus on fashion, cinema, books, hit parades and what’s happenin’ in the capital’s nightlife. Since my reputation of being a “party guy” preceeded me, I suppose, the lovely girl in charge of the publication scoured the earth to contact me and when she did, she asked me to write an article that would be social commentary on Panama and its people for her magazine. Of course, she didn’t know what she was getting into as all that was known of me back in the day was my book and some short story here and there. I saw this as an opportunity of course, but since I’m not the type to sell out like a bitch I kept my integrity while I wrote, resulting in “Deconstrucción del Panameño.” If you read the article, you will realize why it was never published.

I was very frustrated with the way we Panamanians did things at the time (Still am now, but I’ve indulged myself in the gray area since them… I was much more idealistic back then). I saw the game we play and I wanted to part of it. So, I was given this opportunity by a big publication to speak my mind and I ran with it using my unfiltered way of ranting you know and love… of course I’d get canned. Never heard from her again.

So, a couple of years later Porto Diao is born and with it, this here site. One day I was lazy about writing an editorial and looking at my special drawer where I keep my goodies I found the article… then I decided I’d give it a quick clean up and publish it, rabid anger left intact because even though I’m not as pissed off about it as I was back then it still irks me because things haven’t changed in that regard. A lot of things would happen here since then and more and more I’d realize that the people this society has birthed and are in need of a cultural reboot were finding the site and promtly showcased what was wrong with them by ways of very demeaning and insulting comments, I felt realized. I was getting to the very same people I wanted to do something about. Thing is, I was so focused in getting these people’s attention that it seems I overlooked other readers who understood what I was talking about… which brings me to what I wanted to talk about today. On the “Deconstrucción del Panameño” entry, reader Dan left a couple of comments that seriously left me thinking about my approach in regards to my chunk of the Internet… you’ll need a translator if you can’t read Spanish:

Dan Said:

January 28th, 2007 at 1:25 am

Hey Rob. Hey Rob. He estado viendo tu site y me parece bastante interesante. Bastante atractivo para la juventud de hoy día y algunos aldultos open-minded. En realidad estaba buscando música de Señor Loop en internet, y a través del link que tienen ellos allá… llegué a tu website aca. Te quiero felicitar por tu tenacidad y disciplina en seguir adelante con tu creencia y proyecto (proyecto que me parece lo más grandioso que puedas lograr y ojalá así sea). Para no ser tan extenso en esta ocasión, sólo pequeño comentario que quiero hacer, con respecto a este artículo. Primero que todo me parece interesante tu manera de tratar de llegar al público. En relación a los panameños, te lo juro que todo lo que dices es cierto, muy pero muy cierto hermano. Pero también te juro que cuando ojeaba tus artículos y ví uno sobre “Los Panameños”, me hubiese gustado mucho ver algo un poco más positivo, o por lo menos no tan trillado la verdad. No offense please, en serio. Lo que pasa es que a mis 30 años hermano he leído y escuchado tanto pero TANTO sobre lo negativo y lo malo de los panameños, que es como un círculo vicioso del que no salimos. Una y otra vez vemos escritos, unos de autores simples y de poca estructura y educación. Y otros de gente culta y educada como tu por ejemplo, gente que de veras tiene algo en la cabeza, que de verdad se preocupa, y de verdad quiere marcar la diferencia y lograr que todos abramos lo ojos de una buena vez. No se, no quiero que eso te llegue como crítica sino más bien como una petición, para que con tu educación y conocimiento literario, nos presentes tu punto de vista ( con tu sangre artística), de las cosas buenas, las virtudes, caracterísicas sobresalientes, bondades, rasgos y actitudes que son envidiables sólo de los panameños. Utilicemos la psicología del compliment en vez de la del regaño. A mi hija de 3 años, que entiende todo perfectamente, créeme que las correcciones que le hago antes sus errores o travesuras, siempre son con un gestos de entendimiento, amor, compresión y una sonrisa… y recordándole lo buena, inteligente y capaz que es… y que lo es mucho. Te invito a ti, quien ya he visto que tienes esa misión de culturizar nuestro país, para que utilices la herramienta de abrirnos los ojos, más bien con lo bueno que somos, y lo bueno que somos capaces. Utiliza ese periscopio artístico, esa ventana o microscopio virtual que lleva al artista a explorar.. más alla… de lo que los robots-ciudadanos no vemos en el rush de nuestras vidas. Dicen en psicología y en motivación personal, que si te enfocas que en lo negativo, hacia alla te vas a dirigir. Que si te dices “no debo pisar esa línea, no voy a pisar esa línea”…. te concentras en la línea y tarde o temprano la pisas.
Personalmente, estoy hasta ahora entrando en la disciplina de la lectura, a traves de temas que me interesen, mi tema es la ciencia y tecnología, pero últimamente estoy enfocado en las finanzas, psicología y motivación personal. Y creo que sería de mucha utilidad tener gente que comparta estos gustos para compartir opiniones, etc. etc. lo que se hace en grupos de lectura. Más que nada por esto admiro tu esfuerzo en hacer llegar a “Desinteresados” la cultura a través de la lectura… sin prejuicios… excelente de verdad. Quizás más adelante pueda iniciar grupos literarios y/o culturales. Y sé que de seguro te recomendaría a mis conocidos, al igual que te contactaría para apoyar tu “Proyecto”.. Felicidades. Dan.

P.S.: me gustó mucho tu creatividad en la manera como atraes la atención hacia Mada Faká Online… qué mejor que…. una boca…. qué mejor que…. labios…
Eso es sólo un detalle. Sigue explotando tu creatividad.
By the way… me hubiese gustado ver el programa con David Robinson y de qué manera le planteas el método para llevar “la obra” al público

First off, I’d like to thank Dan for reading the site! It’s good to know I have readers that enjoy my rants as much as they enjoy the porn they can get here. Reading is a great habit and the cheapest way to travel, learn and experience things you would otherwise never go through. Down to business, then: his comment got me to think about something I had been overlooking ever since I started and I’d have to agree 100% with him… maybe giving Panamanians shit for their ways is not a good strategy to inspire change. I can do as many Zombie Walks as I want but calling people out on their shit on a a scale as big as this might not do as much as if I were to pamper them. Culture is a very subjective thing, and if we base ourselves on that principle then there is no right or wrong construct for it… hell, the Spartans where one of the most despicable civilizations in known history but if it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t have the freedoms we enjoy today. Any which way, we have to fight our battles in order to get what we want out of life and in the spirit of having people wake up from their auto-pilot a knee jerk reaction is necessary every now and then… but there are measures. Now, out of sheer luck I’ve been presented with certain things that make me who I am that it seems other people have problems with and it should illustrate Dan’s point very well: I am the type who sleeps a lot. A LOT. It’s well documented that I get very cranky when I haven’t had my evening nap, and if I don’t get my proper sleep (which is deliriously plentiful) bad things happen to good people. Now, the lovely Jenny and I got into a discussion about my sleeping habit and how I slept too much… so much, in fact, that it turned out to be a real problem for her. Now, if she wants to convince me that sleeping so much is a bad thing then, what’s the best approach? Knowing myself, I know that telling me I sleep too much and that I’ll miss out on whatever and that I’ll get fat and lazy is not going to accomplish much because I’m carefree like that and it makes me difficult to negotiate with. Having said that, I thought about what she should say or do in order to get me to cut back, and I’m pretty convinced that stroking my ego could do wonders to my sleeping habits if she has such a problem with them. Whether I let myself be conned into it is a whole different deal that would start another rant more appropiate for another day, but the point to this exercise is that telling me all of the bad things I have within my construct doesn’t do a thing in regards of changing me, because no one I know anywhere has the right to tell me I should change or not… what you see is what you get, y’know? So when people get upset with me for being unflinching I inadvertedly add insult to injury by laughing because the mere fact they take something as trivial as my sleeping habits (not their own) so seriously they get upset is something I find peculiar and downright adorable. Caring is great and I appreciate it very much, but unless it’s killing me I think I’m good, thankyouverymuch.

THAT is the attitude of someone who’s so comfortable with who he is that he doesn’t see what’s right or wrong inside of himself, and that’s who a Panamanian is. I read about Dan’s little daughter and he’s absolutely right; in my family, my grandma would chase me down with a flip flop and spanked my ass whenever I fucked up, but my parents never did that. I can count the times we’ve had screaming matches with half the fingers of one hand, and as a result I’ve become this carefree, cocky guy who thinks he can do anything and would do it if he weren’t so lazy. Encouraging people makes them realize how great they can be while pointing at their faults only fuels the lazyness, I believe. I’m not one to be hypocritical when I encourage, so the only way I’d allow myself to be encouraging is to treat people as if they were friends no matter who they were, and I always figured that when and if I make the travesty of bringing children into this world, they’d be more of my partners in crime rather than my kids. I’d be the cool dad, because nobody wants to listen to people that bog you down, even if all they want is the best for you.

Dan is very much on the money with his comments, and it got me to think about exactly why I had chosen the angle I have when there are better ways to inspire change in your fellow man, and perusing the subject I’ve come to the conclusion that pulling someone out of their comfort zone in order to better themselves is a very risky proposition; everyone takes their chances here, and in a way… in a way, calling out Panama on its shortcommings is my way of convincing myself that all of this I’m doing is not in vain. Allow me to get into it more… in the post where I talked about me being part of the problem, Roberto Cerrud left a comment that pretty much encapsulates Panama’s M.O:

Roberto Cerrud Said:

February 3rd, 2007 at 11:50 pm

How can an observer of any war massacre be “part of the problem”? But we panamanias got the pretty tendency to indulge ourselves in long futile conversations about the solutios to “the same old suspects”, but “juega vivo” or corruption is in our veins, in our methons, it should be in written procedures of the goverment AND private offices…

Its start in school, very very early, when kids start copying, then it wont stop, because, you are a “PEndedjo” if you dont “Juega vivo”. And no one wants to be a “pendejo”, to be pointed, judged and isolated by the those around you… even your family?!

In my beatifull piece of paradise, trying to learn is considered almost stupid (see the irony?), just yesterday i got a argument with my sister in law, cause my wife wanted the last harry poter book (july…) for her birthday, and my sister in law said “you get excited just for a book?”, and i said “thats why we are third world.”, since in Panama, you CANT be wrong, it ended in discusion… beacause i was insulting her…

so, dont take it so hard on you with those who Cant or WONT understand what you write…, like and old say sais “No hay peor ciego que el que no quiere ver”, not sure if there is a proper transaltion…

Sad but true; I like the Harry Potter books very much since I’m more in tune with fantasy and crazy situations when it comes to what I read but people who get obssessed over the wizard are all over the world… I think that going overboard over the book is a little ridiculous, but then again I was on a 3-month geekgasm carnival as Star Wars Episode III loomed closer to its opening date. Personal tastes are as various as there are people on the planet but if there’s something we can all agree on here is that the reality of how we do things is learned when we’re children, just as Roberto said. Trying to be straight-arrow after you’ve learned otherwise since you learned how to walk is very difficult, but not impossible… it’s easier to destroy than to create, if you will. I get a cynical high whenever I piss somebody off because that means I’m getting to them, and I’m pretty sure there’s no other website out there that talks about the ways of Panama like I do so if I get the crazies then come and get it… I like the attention. But then again, what does that accomplish other than give me live examples of all the things I talk about here? How does someone erradicate this much ill will? Dan’s proposition is incredibly noble and in practice I try my best to live by it… doing any less would make me a hypocrite. But when the reality of things is so uninspiring as the one posted above, how discouraged can a person get? This reminds me of Action Comics #775. I would click on the link if I was you; in a single issue, Superman loses his innocence and wholesome values in order to honor and preserve them in light of a new superhero team that chooses to play dirty when it came to taking care of supervillain threats… it’s regarded as one of the top 10 Superman stories ever told.

Anyway, all of these projects, like the Cupido thing or the Zombie Walk as well as all of the other things I’ve got planned are experiments to see if people would open themselves to new experiences in a variety of levels… get to know each other, do something different with their leisure time, seek out new cultures and topics, have fun in a whole new way… the list is too long to mention here. It’s good to know that there are people out there who see how bad the situation is with Panama in a socio-cultural way, but it’s very encouraging to see people come up with ways to actually solve the issues that cripple us. It makes one feel that he’s not alone, and as long as there’s support then ideals are always worth fighting for, no matter how utopic they seem to be.

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