¿Qué sopá?

In Panamanian slang ¿Qué pasó? became ¿Qué sopá?  It means What's up?

(I'm still figuring out how to put accents on letters, and to make the upside-down question mark at the beginning of a sentence. I changed the keyboard to Spanish in the control panel, which works in Word, but not in Blogger.) I'll keep working on it, but the show must go on meanwhile.

My Name is Chiriquí is a play on the My Name is Panama brand of clothes and knick-knacks that has been around forever. No offense is meant to that fine company, and of course there is no connection. I do have a couple of their mola-trimmed shirts which I bought years ago.

Chiriquí province is in western Panama, bordering Costa Rica and the Pacific Ocean. The province used to be bigger, but due to the creation of the Ngöbe-Buglé Comarca in 1997, it lost considerable territory. In spite of the shrinkage, it is still referred to as "La Republica de Chiriquí" when the residents of other provinces want to be sarcastic about the Chiricanos  sense of self-importance. (Caution, swear words in the comments of the last link).

So why would anyone care to read this blog? Beats me. There will be travelogues, book reviews, links to pertinent articles in both the English and Spanish press, with summary translations of the latter as appropriate. There may be humor, both intentional and unintentional, cultural adaptation follies and photos of adorable grandchildren and pets. There probably will be ads. I'll also thrill you with my knowledge of tropical trees, plants and crops. So bookmark us, check back often, and we'll try to make it worth your while.