On Air in Panama

Friday, August 23

Today is our last day in Panama and we are spending it in Panama city touring some of the historic sites, specifically the canal, and enjoying our last chance to experience such a wonderful country.  Before we do a little tourism, I joined Julio, Luis, and Fabio (a producer we visited on the trip) on a half hour agriculture radio program broadcast throughout the country.  Luis picked me up from the hotel at 4:50 and we headed to the studio to prepare for the broadcast which would air live 5:30.  I must say the traffic in the city at this hour is much more tolerable from someone used to driving in the metropolis of Pampa, Texas.  We arrived at a building downtown and proceeded to the top floor where the studio of Radio Panama was located.  We arrived before any of the other hosts and waited outside for them to unlock the studio and us to begin the broadcast.  As we waited it got closer and closer to 5:30 and nobody showed up to let us in.  I didn’t know if we were going to get to do the broadcast after all, however, in the no problems fashion that so many people of Latin America exhibit, the broadcast engineer arrived, let us in at 5:28 where we sat down in just enough time to go on air live.  I had a great time doing the radio program where I thanked our hosts in Panama for being so hospitable and making the trip so incredible.  I also expressed my thoughts about the potential for the producers in Panama being so limitless.  The climate (growing season year round), the cattle (incredible health and genetic base), and the geographic importance of the country position the industry for incredible success in the near future.

Waiting outside the Radio Panama studio

Spreading the word

A view of the city from the studio-sorry for the glare