The Dorado Shopping Mall (known in Spanish at Supercentro El Dorado) was the first of its kind in the country when it first opened in the late 70’s. From what my elders have told me, the whole Dorado district was a first for the country; constructed around the first avenue that would connect the entire city to the Bridge of the Americas as well as the Tocumen International Airport, Dorado was built as the first suburban neighborhood in Panama. And because the suburbs would not be complete without a shopping center where the neighborhood’s inhabitants could get everything they needed, the mall was born. This was all before the current concept of the “mall” was implemented… as Panama continues to lose its grassroots constructions in favor of a more tourist-friendly, glossy look, El Dorado is one of the city’s last reminders of what we had before the tourist boom.

We can’t help but be attracted to the newest, biggest attractions. Before recently, I hadn’t stepped in the Dorado Shopping Mall (from now on El Dorado, thanks) for ages. I had heard that the administration was slowly modernizing the entire structure in order for it to compete with the Multicentros and Multiplazas of the world, but doing renovations on a 30-something-year old structure while keeping it open to the public isn’t as easy a task as building something from the ground up, in my opinion. They are both great endeavors, I’m certain, but giving an admittedly huge complex the Extreme Makeover treatment ain’t exactly a cakewalk. The modern malls that have opened in recent years took away much of El Dorado’s market, and when the hurt was too much to bear somebody must’ve come along with the times and decided something had to be done. I assume they saw what Extreme Planet did with their own renovations, meeting more or less the same predicament: towering adversary seemingly stronger than you pisses on your turf, and as a sign of arrogance you change your appearance in order to live up to the task of kicking all sorts of ass.

So now, El Dorado is currently suffering from a severe case of multiple personality disorder, and a very sloppy one at that. Walking in from the regular entrances don’t tell you anything about the drastic changes they’re making… it’s not until you venture further inside the mass edifice of consumerism that you’ll gradually begin to see the upgrades. The new Dorado is connected to the old Dorado by a series of stairs that take you seemingly deeper into the back-end of the mall. These stairs represent a time warp, a sort of limbo between realms that give you safe passage from one world to the next, where everything from the environment, the air and the places you find change drastically. By the time you walk down the stairs, swearing to the foundations of physics itself that you felt like you went down a good two floors, you’re suddenly in the middle of a claustrophobic, new-age mall with pale-white, narrow corridors, no views to the outside world and some sort of food court at the bottom center of it all. A Blade-Runner Lite mall, where there’s not much going on, but it feels like every inch of space is being used to sell something to passersby. This sub-terra complex lies beneath a huge department store, one of the many popular ones that plague malls of late where you can find designer clothing and accessories dirt cheap. Everything seems to point to that store, named “Saks” as homage to one of the most famous stores of the 60’s-70’s, but said tribute ends after its name. Walking further down to the food court area, once I’m on ground level I recognize familiar places; this is when I realize where I actually am, and am shocked at what the place has become. Somehow, the construction took over an entire parking lot, one that was mostly used to go to the post office quickly, and built this crammed-in behemoth. The post office has been left intact, and it’s unbelievably weird how the contrast between the post office side of the mall and the new food court mall is separated by nothing more than the corridor I used to run through when I was 4 years old. The arcade, once named Jordano and the harbor of many memories in my gamer upbringing, has also been left intact yet has been tucked into the side pocket of a pale internet café with 0% degree of grace. The arcade, sadly, has been left behind in favor of the nuveau market where things like those are dead and forgotten. Frankly, it’s a little sickening to see such an integral part of our economic growth negate its roots in favor of the buck.

But the old ways aren’t entirely lost. Sure, a lot of things change with the passage of time, but some remain the same and refuse to die. Case in point: the Dorado Drivethru Market. Those of you who live here might not know it by that name, but that’s how I refer to it for lack of a better title: on the Tumba Muerto avenue, the intersection that leads to the main road of the mall has become a mobile marketplace for street vendors. These aren’t your typical homeless street vendors that will sell you trash for some change, though… no, no, no. These guys are entrepreneurs. Behold the prowess of the micro-business as you shop while in your car waiting for the red light to turn green, with a variety of products that includes but is not limited to:

• Various fruits and vegetables such as: tomatoes, plantains, mangoes, pineapples, papayas, watermelons, bananas, pixvae, and more
• Kitchen utensils like spatulas, knives, etc.
• School supplies
• Posters
• Banners
• Cell phone prepaid cards
• Cell phone accessories such as protective covers, car adapters, skins, and more
• Antennae
• Sunglasses
• Perfumes
• Pirated goods such as music, movies and porn of various genres
• The CD cases to store said pirated goods
• Garbage bags
• Assorted chewable goods (gum, candy, taffy)
• Cigarettes and lighters
• T-shirts
• Taiwanese knock-off toys of the most popular cartoons
• Seasonal items, as in Santa hats and Christmas tree decorations, flags for when there’s a World Cup soccer tournament, Panamanian flags and paraphernalia when November rolls around, water guns, bandanas and even coolers for when carnivals arrive
• If you know who to ask, marijuana
• Beverages like soda, water, natural fruits and more
• Special ice cream from the Interior (in Chiriqui, Chitre and Los Santos varieties, that I know of)
• And the list goes on, and on…

There’s also the very annoying windshield-cleaning service that some individuals offer, but most usually the water they use will leave said windshields even dirtier than they might have been before the task. All of these goods can be acquired as early at 7AM or so, shortly after the paperboys set up shop at around 6AM or so. From that point on it’s a day-long campaign on the scorching sun and the pouring rain, battling the grinding weather conditions and the prejudice of most drivers. Because of these factors, sellers sometimes come off as a little insistent; I’d be insistent too, knowing how hot the weather can get during the day. I usually grab lunch around 1PM or so and always walk to wherever it is I’m going… sometimes I get freaked out, because I can actually smell the concrete cooking as I walk. It smells like tar left out in the sun and it reeks. I’m certain you could fry an egg if you find the right spot to do so, and the street vendors know this. That is why if you so much as stop to look at whatever any one of these people is selling, the rest will follow with the hope that the blinding heat will cloud your judgment bad enough to buy whatever it is they’re selling, regardless whether you actually need it or not. And you can count on the windshield person all up in your windshield, because they’re at the bottom of the hierarchy and they need to get by just as bad as everyone else.

You will also encounter hobos asking for money, but I won’t get into it because I have done so before in this space. This street vending phenomena is not exclusive to the DDTM, since there are various points in the capital and across the country where people will walk up to your call to sell you goods, but it’s at its most pronounced at El Dorado. This shouldn’t be much of a surprise if you think about it, considering ever since I can remember there’s always been something to buy on the way to the mall. As I mentioned earlier, though, the way El Dorado is dealing with renovations is a little suspect, and even though its administration can’t really ask the DDTM to evacuate the area since they’re on public property and if the government hasn’t kicked them out of there for the past 20 years there’s no reason why they would do that now, it seems that things are pointing in that direction. The DDTM isn’t exactly known for its pristine, glossy look. It’s all mobile, and on the frickin’ avenue. They talk like thugs, a lot of the products they sell are either knockoffs, pirated, or both, and they make a killing.

I’m certain the day will come where all street vendors will unionize and bring some sort of order in the face of extinction, but in the meantime we should all enjoy the DDTM and, most importantly, the Dorado Shopping Center for as long as it lasts. I have many fond memories of the place, from my first arcade game played (and beat) to my first kiss, to the first time I bowled (the Dorado Bowling Alley is still the best), the first time I played pool, watched a movie, received a piece of mail, got my first Anime, got my first music CD, and the list goes on and on, to be honest.

It’s funny how sometimes things can just fall to the side and when you turn around to look again, they change completely. Suddenly, you can’t recognize what you’ve known your whole life. you can check out a news piece on the mall’s expansion and pictures (all in spanish) by checking out this thread.

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