Meet Jessica

My name is Jessica Ramesch and I’m the Editor of Panama Insider. Our job here at Panama Insider is to keep an eye on every aspect of life in Panama—from real estate to infrastructure to politics and more. We monitor the local media, business publications, government press releases—and even rumors—to help ensure that we’re among the first to report on issues of importance to our readers.

So what’s my Panama story? I was born in Panama, the daughter of Indian immigrants…but I had no idea how wonderful Panama was for the first half of my life. My family moved to Oregon when I was young, and later moved to India. Our stint in India was short, as my mother finally convinced dear old dad to bring us back to Panama. It was 1990, a year after the U.S. “Operation Just Cause” and the deposition of dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega.

My first thoughts were: “this doesn’t look—or feel—like a former dictatorship.” Even then, Panama City seemed very “First World” to me. Nonetheless I did struggle to adapt at first. I attended classes at a bilingual school, so it was easy to make friends, but when the whole gang got together, they bantered in Spanish and I was left out. I grew to adore the music and fun-loving Latin culture, but when everyone paired off to dance salsa or merengue at parties, I was left on the sidelines. With time, however, I overcame my shyness and began to speak…even when it meant being made fun of. And I stopped protesting and let someone lead me on to the dance floor—even though I felt silly. (Watch me now!) Soon I was hablando español and salsa-ing away…

My love of travel superseded my love of Panama for a while. I left several times over the next years, attending university in Richmond, Virginia and, later, working on a cruise ship based out of Miami, Florida. I sailed to Europe and the Caribbean and saw some of the world’s most beautiful places. A love of languages and teaching kept me in related lines of work—I went back and forth between teaching (English, Spanish and Customer Service) and writing (in English and Spanish…sometimes even French). But as I got older, I longed for a home base and knew I needed a break from the constant travel. After everything I had seen, Panama was still the world’s most beautiful country to me.

So here I am again, back in Panama and in what I feel is her most exciting hour. I will tell my grandchildren that I voted in the Panama Canal Expansion referendum, saw this country nominated to the UN Security Council and witnessed the dramatic metamorphosis of our beautiful Panama City skyline. I will tell them that I wrote about so many million- (and sometimes billion-) dollar projects, it almost made my head spin.

But I have pettier reasons than that for being here. Yariela is one of them…she is my cleaning lady, the blessed one who, every week, makes my bed just so and moves things around so I can never find them. Who scrubs the windowsills because she thinks they look grimy and changes the light-bulbs in my closet because she’s tired of seeing me wear the same three shirts. There’s also my four-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath apartment in one of Panama City’s nicer neighborhoods, which I scrambled to move into after I learned the rent was just $500 a month. And there’s Panamanian breakfast, Carnavales, the National Concert Association, tiny island getaways, the kind of nightlife you just can’t complain about, and very inexpensive health care.

Doubtless, this is the time to be here…and you couldn’t have chosen a better time to join us in exploring all Panama has to offer. Thanks for becoming a Panama Insider…and keep reading, Panas.

Jessica Ramesch

Jessica Ramesch studied International Politics and Diplomacy with a full academic scholarship from the University of Richmond. She obtained her degree with honors and went on to work as a writer at the Panama Canal Authority while moonlighting as a teacher of English and GMAT/GRE strategy. Before joining International Living as Editor of Panama Insider, Jessica spent four years touring the world with Carnival Cruise Lines. After attaining the rank of Second Officer and becoming head of shipboard guest relations training, she decided to abandon ships and live the good life as a landlubber. No stranger to “international living,” she has called the U.S., India, and Panama home, and has visited over 25 countries. Jessica loves writing, traveling, digging in to great food and learning new things…especially languages…she speaks Spanish and French fluently, as well as some Italian and Portuguese.