World on my postcards

 The Chocó, or Embera, people live in small villages of 5 to 20 houses along the banks of the rivers throughout the Chucunaque/Tuira/Balsas River watersheds in the Darien Province of Panama. There are generally three villages on each tributary that branches off from the main river system. Each village is about a half day's walk apart. The villages are built on a small rise, set approximately 100 feet in from the river. The houses of the village are set about 20–50 feet apart atop the rise on posts, with no walls, but tall thatched roofs. Around each village, the jungle is partly cleared and replaced by banana and plantain plantations, a commercial crop for the Embera, who sell them to get cash for their outboard motors, mosquito nets, and the like. The hills leading down to the river from the villages are usually hard packed reddish clay. There are sometimes large boulders being played on by naked children. Dugout canoes are usually seen pulled up on the riverbanks....

 The  Bridge of Americas,  or  Puente de las Américas   in Spanish, was built in 1962 along the Pan-American Highway as a more efficient way for vehicle traffic to travel between land masses on the North and South of the Panama Canal. At first it was called the  Thatcher Ferry Bridge  in honor of the original ferry that helped vehicles cross the Panama Canal. Just a decade after the bridge was officially commissioned, it was unofficially renamed as the Bridge of Americas, much preferred by the Panamanian government. Only in 1979 was the “Bridge of Americas” name officially recognized.

  Funding from banks has helped art galleries thrive, and local artists are in great demand. The National Institute for Culture (INAC) and the school system both support graphics arts education. Other than that support mainly stems from the open market in art and native and local crafts. A private group, the National Association for Concerts, contracts with local and foreign performers for classical music concerts. The best museum is the Museo del Hombre Panameño in the former railroad station. Literature. Panama has a number of writers producing short stories, novels, and poetry. Rogelio Sinán is a successful poet and novelist who has acquired an international reputation, but most writers produce for the local market, where they are well received. Graphic Arts. The Kuna Indians are wo...

1.Panama assumed full control of the Panama Canal in 1999, which was previously taken care of by the U.S. troops. 2. Panama is the only place in the world where you can see the sun rise on the Pacific and set on the Atlantic. 3. At its narrowest distance, only 80 kilometers is the land in Panama, which separates the Atlantic from the Pacific Ocean. 4. Panama has set multi-world records in the area of bird watching and fishing, as it shelters more birds than United States and Canada combined. 5. Panama has the most diversified wildlife of all the countries in Central America. It is home to north as well as South American species. 6. Panama houses over 10,000 different plants species, including 1,200 varieties of orchids, 678 ferns and more than 1,500 varieties of trees. 7. The US Dollar is the official currency and is used for bills but the national currency is called Balboa. 8. Panama is situated south of the hurricane alley, so is generally not affected by tropic...