What do you do when you’ve never flown before and don’t speak Spanish? You go to Panama for three months of course.

We’re delighted to welcome Deputy Head of TechDiv, Bogdan Stanoiev, to the Lingo blog to reveal his thoughts on life, travel and work in our Panamanian hub.

“I’m very thankful for having had the chance to visit and work from one of our other hubs, in Panama. I got to experience a different culture first hand, got to know my colleagues (and finally put faces to some of these names) and overall get a new perspective on life, language, work and travel.

I’m glad I was eventually able to spend 3 months there – it proved to be enough time for this culture, so different from my own, to properly sink in. Before getting to the essence of what defines another culture you need to go through all the little things that make it different from your own… Things like having to hail taxis from the street, with only one or two companies having phone service, the way road signs look, people’s favourite pastimes and the music everyone listens to, all of this will eventually form a reasonably defined image. Once this image has formed, count yourself lucky – you’ve just gained a new point of view and are that much richer for it.

Leaping the language barrier

When I arrived, my Spanish vocabulary probably had 50 words, so I was utterly lost. However, in time and with repeated exposure (plus a little help from my colleagues), things started improving. I was first able to understand almost everything people told me, and eventually even able to order my own food. I honestly think that I would have become quite fluent in Spanish with just 3 more months of exposure and a bit more effort.

Where work is concerned, I recall the slight awkwardness right after my arrival, when we all hadn’t been properly acquainted. This went away eventually and we got along well, but there are quite a few differences between the way people in the Panama hub work compared to Romania. The pace in Panama is slower, and although most people might perceive this, they might not know the reasons for it.

Becoming a seasoned traveller

Prior to this “odyssey” I had only been out of my country for 3-4 days at most, and never outside Europe. I had never flown, never ridden a boat on the ocean, never driven an automatic car and so on. This huge trip was full of first times, which have helped me grow as a person. I’ve travelled countless hours, by road, air and sea. I’ve slept little, gone hungry, got frustrated with languages I don’t speak. But I’ve also seen spectacular sights, lived awesome moments and met wonderful people. I can now say I am a true traveller.

Although my account may seem overly optimistic, there are of course bad parts to any experience. But homesickness, financial troubles and even physical illness all melt away in the memory of an extraordinary adventure, full of the most varied rewards.

My advice to other travellers: keep your mind open to the new and embrace experiences of all kinds - you will never walk away empty handed.”

tags: Company Culture, Panama, Travel