Panama recently has assumed a new identity-destination for retirees and snowbirds looking for an interesting place to relocate. Expats coming to Panama is nothing new. Whether for business or pleasure, they have been arriving here for the 100 plus years of Panama's existence. They encounter a new country, new language and new culture. And, now they find Panama a dynamic country that is continually growing and changing which is both exciting and stressful. Living in Panama, the totally new, updated and expanded Second Edition is designed to add to the interest and reduce the stress while helping newcomers of all kinds settle in Panama. Over 340 pages of valuable information including guides to obtaining your driver's license, opening a bank account, paying utility bills, shopping, and just blending in. The expanded Panama-on-Line sections provide additional resources through web sites for everything from social clubs to wifi locations, from government offices to repair resources for everything from shoes to silver, from professional associations to social clubs. There is up-to-date information on newspapers, including several new ones in English, to radio stations, also in English, and new live theaters. As always, this new version provides answers to those often asked questions like, "why do Panamanians drive they way they do?"; "where are the schools for children?; the churches?; the shopping?. Whether you live in Panama City, Boquete, Volcan, or Coronado the answers are in this book. As Panama's desirable communities for new comers have developed and expanded so has the resource material in Living in Panama. Sandra T. Snyder continues to be the person to call when you want to know where to go to get the answers, ask where to find something, or who to contact, or how to solve a problem. An expatriate herself, she and her husband have lived in Panama for over twelve yeas and belongs to many of the clubs and organizations that make Panama a delightful place to live. She has had the same questions that others ask every day. The difference is, she has the answers and in Living in Panama, she shares her wealth of information. Living in Panama is an invaluable guide to anyone just arriving, relocating for business or a local looking for insider information.
Sandra T. Snyder, is a native of Virginia, with a B. S. degree in Business Administration - Management major and English minor, San Jose State University, California; graduate work at Hayward State University, California. Her professional career spanned some twenty years in hospital management in California. She was President of the Bay Area Society for Health Manpower Education and Training as well as a member of numerous community and professional organizations. Before settling in Panama permanently in 1996, Sandra and her husband spent 10 years living and traveling in Central and South America including Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, Guatemala, Panama and the San Blas Islands, Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador. Not only has she sailed from San Francisco down the Pacific Coast, through the Panama Canal (numerous times) but up the East Coast of the US to the Canadian Border and back down the Caribbean chain from the US Virgin Islands to Venezuela, stopping at nearly every island along the way. From Venezuela and its islands she traveled back across the Spanish Main taking in the Dutch ABC's, Colombia and the San Blas returning to Panama. She and her husband have driven every part of Mexico, Guatemala and Panama.
Through her affiliations with several organizations in Panama, Sandra has long been an information resource for newcomers to Panama, initially informally, then as President of the Who's New Club and as a Relocation Specialist with Panama Relocation Services. Her professional and social affiliations in and out of Panama are extensive and include Board positions with the American Society Panama, Navy League Panama Council, Who's New of Panama, American Management Association, American Chamber of Commerce and Industry Panama, Republicans Abroad Panama and The City Club. She is a member of TESOL (Teachers of English as a Second Language) and has been a member of the faculty for their annual conference in Panama. She has also developed children's library programs in New Bern, North Carolina and Ft. Clayton, Panama. Member of the National League of American Pen Women and National Writers Union. At the invitation of the U.S. Ambassador to Panama she served as Acting Community Liaison Officer for the U.S. Embassy, Panama, Republic of Panama. June - November 2004
Her Guest Lecture Credits include: U.S. Embassy Staff new American employee orientation, Living in Panama, September 2003, August 2004, October 2005; U.S. Embassy Foreign Service Staff new employee orientation, Working in the U.S. Embassy in Panama is like Working in a Foreign County. October 2004 Who's New Panama, Orientation to Living in Panama, January annually Living in Panama, Balboa Academy New Parent Orientation.
Welcome to Panama, Orientation lecture to Boquete (Panama) Tuesday Morning Group, May 2005; The Days are Just Packed, or How Living in Panama Reminds me of my Favorite Calvin and Hobbes, at the invitation of Exedra Books to present the world-wind social life in Panama; June 2005 Living in Panama, Boquete (Panama) Tuesday Morning Group Presentation. August 2005 Relocating, Culture Shock and Loss of Identify, October 2005, presented at the invitation of Panama International Packers to the wives of Corporate Executives, Bankers, Retirees, and Diplomats on the unexpected effects of relocating to a foreign country as it relates to the spouse and family. Presentation includes steps for redirecting your skills and abilities in the new environment. Living in Panama, Presentation at the Biblioteca Nacional Panama, April 2007 Living in Panama, El Valle de Anton, Presentation sponsored by the San Jose Foundation, El Valle Library, June 2007 Living in Panama, Boquete, Presentation sponsored by Read and Relax Books, Boquete, July 2007 Publishing in Panama, The Ins and Outs of Publishing in Panama Meet the Author's Night, The American Society of Panama, September 23, 2010, Exedra Books.
Catch her on the radio: The Breakfast Show with Gerry D, COOL FM, 89.3 FM, Monday-Friday 7:00 - 9:00am www.pbcpanama.com/breakfast; Radio Metropolis 93.5FM Sunday Night At the Metropolis Weekly News Review with Sandra Snyder, www.pbcpanama.com; Window to Panama, www.window2pana.a.com.
Sandra T. Snyder is the recipient of the Distinguished American Citizen Award given by the American Ambassador to Panama, Linda E. Watt, July 4, 2003, in recognition of her efforts on behalf of the people of Panama exemplifying the best of American values. She received the Margarita Levi Award for Outstanding Achievement from the Who's New Club Panama in 2004. Leadership Award 2009, City Club Panama, November 200; President of Who's New Panama 1998-1999, 2002-2006; President The Navy League of the United States Panama Council, 2000; Board of Directors The American Society of Panama; Tourism Committee and Publishing Committee of The American Chamber of Commerce and Industry Panama; Vice President Ikebana International Panama 2009-2010; Chairman Republicans Abroad Panama 2005-2006
Her writing Credits include: Living in Panama, second edition, all new, totally updated and expanded guide to life in Panama whether you live in the country, the city, the mountains or at the beach.
Regular contributor to the Panama Eagle and Bajareque Times, La Prensa
My Pies and Tarts 2009, A Collection of Cookies 2007, a series of cookbooks; World War I Diary of Alfred Bruce Trickett, May 31, 1918-April 28, 1919, Transcription and Introduction;
January 2006 Christmas at My House, a family tradition.
November 2005 Spies, Crooks and Others Along the Way, a collection of short stories about the people met in her extensive travels throughout Central and South America including Panama.
Living in Panama, a book, first edition for the foreigner living in Panama published fall 2002.
PRS and American Chamber of Commerce and Industry Business Panama Magazine, numerous articles for the American Chamber of Commerce & Industry Panama monthly magazine; Corporate Relocation News, articles June 2001; Training Manual Panama Relocation Services, developed for training consultants in relocation of corporate executives, diplomats and others coming to Panama to live and work.
Editor: Who's New Panama Newsletter, 2002-2006; Editor: The Jenkins Family History, In Jenkins Hollow in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, by Amanda Francis Jenkins Trickett; Editor: Panagringo Newsletter, American Society, Panama (two year assignment); Editor: United States Navy League, Panama Council, Newsletter; Editor: The Bilge Pump, Pedro Miguel Boat Club, Panama, Newsletter; Contributor to the South American Handbook, Sixty Seventh Edition and Sixty Sixth Edition, on Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombi.
Training Manual, A Business Office Orientation Handbook, developed for in-hospital use by hospital Business Office employees of seven Medi SHARE member hospitals, San Jose, California.
Numerous unpublished short stories
