My day as tourist in Panama

So, today is our first day all together and as such we will all be traveling as one big group to see some of the main attractions Panama city has to offer.  The three main places we will be seeing are the old part of Panama City known as Casco Viejo, the panama canal, and the causeway.

We all load up in the bus, more like a van really, and start heading towards the old city first.  It is such a different world here.  the buildings are run down, there is graffiti just about everywhere, people just hanging out here and there, and dogs running around without a care.  We look like such tourists right now; driving slow to be told about what we are seeing by our guide, gawking at the sights and passers by, and dozens of people taking photos simultaneously.  Yep, we are now those people.

Our first stop is this old catholic church.  It is amazingly beautiful.  The whole front of the inside of the church is gold embellishments, there are ornate stained glass windows along both side walls and 3D mural depictions of different saints.  I take some time to just sit in the front pew to take it all in and attempt to etch it into my memory.  At one point I get accosted by these to young boys who want to sell me post cards for a $1 each.  At first I was just going to say no but then decided I should look at what they had.  I thought I could offer to buy 3 for a dollar but but they wanted no part of it and left.  At that point I decide to walk around the church a bit more before it is time to leave.  While standing in front of the murals in awe I happened to notice a bowl on the table in front of it.  I look more closely and see that they are prayer slips.  There is one that is part way open on the top so I attempt to read it and it says something to the effect of, "I love you God, and I am very thankful for my family and friends."  It warms my heart and makes me want tot attempt to write a note in Spanish as well and leave it.  I look for paper and a pen but there is none.  Bummer.  As we all exit I make a point of turning around one last time to get one last glimpse.

We continue to walk down the street and it has a kind of run down New Orleans/Caribbean feel to it.  We stop at a gate and look in towards another church that is a historic symbol of the city.  As we continue on, a snow cone street vendor approaches and boy we went crazy, especially after we found our that a snow cone only cost 50 cents!  A gaggle of hot sweaty girls -and guys- in humidity that trumps Florida and cheap fruity flavored ice?  You can imagine the mayhem.  The man had a block of ice on his hand push cart that he shaved with a special tool to make the cones.  Then he had a few flavors to choose from which I think were strawberry, grape, passion fruit, and pineapple.  After watching him a couple of times, I asked him if I could make my own.  He stepped aside and let me have a go at it.  It was so much fun!  I definitely was not as good at it as he was though. 

Next stop was Casco Viejo, the old city.  We stumbled upon some workers who were fixing some sewer issues and now relaying all of the brick streets in this one courtyard, and with beautiful bright red bricks nonetheless.  One of them new a little bit of English so I talked with him for a minute about their project.  We also looked into this old judicial building which now looked like a bank.  Our guide talked about the strong french influence at one point and that their symbol was the rooster because it fights to the death.  As we walk around we start to see some artisan street vendors.  There is lots of jewelry and hand quilted and appliqued squares.  I try to interpret and haggle a little for Kalah for a quilt square or to see if we could get a package deal because I might be interested in getting one too.  They prices seem expensive though and the ladies aren't budging.  Also, since this is the first stand that we have some to we are going to keep looking first and see if we come across anything better.  I have gotten to enjoy the haggling process somewhat especially since we used it a bit in Costa Rica too.  It is a game and it is kind of fun.  I didn't end up buying anything deciding to wait and see what else I come across.  Also at one point as you walk around you can look across to Panama City and it is cool skyline.  If I weren't without a camera and by myself at this point cause I was lolly-gagging I would have got a picture.


As we make our way back to the van it seems some of the group has made a pit stop inside the police department.   Hmmmm.  Interesting choice.  It turns out that they will let us use the restroom for anyone that needs to go and that is why several people have stopped inside.  I think a good rest of the portion of people were simply there to soak up the AC.  As I stood in the slowest line ever we started to try and chat with the different staff members there.  The only female was talking to someone else and was then pointing at me and saying something.  I asked her to repeat herself and she points to my arms and says, "muy fuente!" (very strong!)  She goes on to tell me I have big strong arms and that she wants to know what I do to get them whether I swim or lift weights.  I am a little caught off guard by her comments as I have never thought that I have exceptionally 'buff' arms, but flattered nonetheless.  Then she pulls out her camera and asks me if I will take a picture with her.  And, that my friends. was how it all started.  From there it turned into one giant photo op. 

Now we go to a different market that is indoors.  We only have 30 minutes to peruse which turns out to be plenty of time because this market is more expensive than the outdoor one.  I am glad a group of us have some extra time at the end of our trip so we can go back to it. 

Next stop lunch.  We go to this 'cafeteria', which is really similar to what we would think of a cafeteria back home.  Lunch trays that you slide through the line a choose what you want.  I feel like I am back in middle school.  Vegetarian selections are pretty limited and I end up with salad, french fries, and I splurge on a Panamanian coffee frappachino.  I don't eat the salad as it is wilty and tasteless (which is a bummer) but I do scarf the fries, and I make my way through 2/3 of my drink which later turned out to be a mistake.  Drinking full fat, barely pasteurized Panamanian milk products when you rarely eat any type of dairy to begin with let alone have never even tasted whole milk does not a good rest of the day make.  Lesson learned. 

Last stop on this touristy tour of Panama is the Panama canal.  On the road to the visitor center we see a crocodile which was cool.  Once we get our tickets I head straight outside to see the locks for themselves.  I have been through locks before in Seattle when I worked on a boat so I had an idea of what to expect but a lot of the others did not.  They were neat.  There were two channels for the boats to go through and we watched about four pass through.  After we took a bunch of pictures we went inside to look at the historical museum part of the visitors center and try and catch a showing of the video they had.  I really enjoyed walking through and learning all about the history of the locks and how they were made.  I didn't realize that at first it was the French that were involved, then the Colombians, and then finally America.  All of the manual labor that went into the Panama canal is mind blowing.  If I remember correctly over 200 million cubic square feet of soil and rock was removed in the building of the Panama Canal.  I also didn't realize that the Panama Canal was a set of three locks and that we were at the westernmost one. While we were looking around the exhibits we heard an announcement for another video showing that was going to happen in five minutes.  We hurriedly made our way through the rest of the displays and out to the movie room.  We get in, and the three of us take our seats and the movie begins......IN Spanish!  We look at each other and shrug half laughing.  At least one of the three of us is fluent in Spanish so we will get the Cliff's notes from her at the end.  It was still neat tot watch and I tried to see how much I could understand.   

We went back to our villas in the city of knowledge and Bekah and I went for a run which was really nice.  We saw this weird looking animal which I later looked up and found out was a Agouti.  Cool!  our first wildlife sighting!  It looked like a cross between a weasel, hamster, and a possum. 

Ah, dinner time at last!  We went back to the Amador causeway to the restaurant called Pinca's.  They arranged a table that was large enough to accommodate all of us and kept us by ourselves in our own room which was probably smart thinking on their part.  Most of us decide to splurge on a drink and I decide to try the 'Panama' beer.  It is a light beer as is all the beer it seems in central America, somewhere along the lines of a Bud Light or Miller Light.  I enjoy it nonetheless as it is cold and refreshing.  I also try someones mango daiquiri which is delicious and the red sangria which was also tasty.  Our hole group ordering dinner was quite the ordeal.  Our waiter was a saint because he very patiently dealt with everyone's questions and indecisiveness.  Upon his recommendations I ordered the prawns and I was not disappointed.  When they arrived I was caught off guard, however, because in the states I have never received food that can still look at me.  My prawns were butterflied but still in the shell head and all.  I ate all of them (not the heads or shells just in case you were wondering) and the coconut rice and vegetables that came with them as well. 

At one point Jessica, who we found out the night before won a dance contest on a cruise ship btw, had the restaurant play music and got up and started teaching the willing how to dance.  I got called out by Dr. Cadena as having no rhythm.  Man, I am tarnishing my Hispanic roots- I can't speak Spanish or dance salsa!  Eso no es bueno. Shortly after my dancing debacle the whole entire restaurant staff emerged with some sort of ice cream concoction with a candle and started singing to Lauren for her birthday which is tomorrow.  It was awesome.  Happy last day of being 25 Lauren!