Panama

Tuesday, July 10, 2007
1:07 PM

As always, the most interesting stuff first. Last night, after dinner, Haley and I went with the group to "La Bodeguita," a bar/nightclub/restaurant. We had decided that because it was our last night in Panama, we would go out clubbing with the group (not something we normally do). After sitting with the group for a while and having a few drinks (Coca Cola for Haley and I) things were starting to get boring. Then they started playing some decent music that got us shaking our heads. Haley and a couple of others in the group would have no part of it. As most of you reading this blog already know, Haley is very self-conscious of her dancing. I (as well as others) kept trying to get her to loosen up and dance a little. Finally she let some of her inhibitions go (after convincing her that we all look stupid when we dance anyway and that is partly why it is fun) and we got those hips shaking. Then they announced they were gonna start karaoke. If you will recall from last year, we ended up doing some karaoke in a bar in Costa Rica (Los Angeles), but neither Haley or I got a piece of the lime-light. With some convincing from those in the group who had a little extra alcohol in them, Haley decided to go up and sing a little "I Love Rock'n'Roll" with Chrystal and Myra. They did an awesome job. Chrystal let me record the thing on her camera and I plan on posting the video in it's entirety as soon as I get my hands on it. Later we learned that Myra had singed our group up for singing "Bohemian Rhapsody." Somehow, they managed to get me on the stage for that as well, though I am sorry to say I don't think there was any video taken.

It was definitely a weird experience for us, but a fun one. We are probably the last people you would think to get up on stage in the middle of central America surrounded by local people that don't speak English and start to sing. But yes, it did happen and we have proof (at least that Haley did it). It was a good last night of our vacation. As far as Haley goes…well, it is always the quiet ones.


I realize that I am writing this in reverse fashion, so bare with me. Before our Bodeguita adventure, we headed out to another new mall here in Panama to eat at the "Paladar." The atmosphere was nice and the food was good. However, the most entertaining part of the night came from a fellow group of diners. In an effort to keep this blog family friendly, I will just say that there was more silicone in the table next to us than on the Red Frog Beach we had just visited up in Bocas. Needless to say, they took up most of the conversation as more and more top heavy women rolled in. People in our group thought they were just some friends getting together, but the absurdity of the largeness of the artificial peaks on over a dozen 30 year old females screamed adult entertainment industry. It reminded me of an experience I had working out in a gym in Las Vegas (the same gym where many similarly modified women worked out). If you get a chance, ask me about that story. It is a good one.


Okay, now working my way back…we started our day with a tour of Panama city and the Canal. I quickly learned that the big changes here in Panama have not been confined to Boquete and Bocas Del Toro. My backyard on Albrook has been changed into one of the largest malls I have ever been to. After spending 3 hours there on Sunday, I don't mind if I never set foot into a mall again. Ft. Clayton, once the largest Army thinger outside the US, has been converted into the "City of Knowledge" which hosts all kinds of learning and stuff. The Miraflores Locks now have a giant visitor's center, complete with a theater and a large collection of Canal artifacts. Downtown Panama City has probably undergone the biggest change as they continue to put up one apartment high rise after another. Quite literally in every direction you look downtown, you will see a dozen new sky-scrapers being built. There is a new bridge, the Centenario, that goes over the Galliard cut and also a new highway that goes out to the airport, cutting travel time considerably. It was really nice to come back and visit the place, though I'm not really excited to come back any time soon. I think part of what made Panama such a good experience for me was all the great people that lived here. I don't think I know a single person here in the country anymore.


After the tour, we headed to the fish market and got a couple nice pictures off. After that, Mike wanted to walk downtown to get a couple pictures. Always game to go take pictures, I joined him. The only problem was that we started our walk in a really sketchy neighborhood and Mike kept on wanting to pull out his camera to take some pictures. I was definitely nervous as I pulled out my $1,200 camera to take pictures of the dilapidated boatyard and the dodgy looking bums passed out on the side of the road. Later we learned that the area of town we were in is notorious for violent theft. I guess Mike must have prayed that morning to keep us safe because we made it out unscathed. As we continued our walk, the presidential motorcade happened to pass by. I couldn't believe the lack of security as the president of Panama passed right by us. Later, we passed the first lady on the sidewalk outside her house (which you can walk right up to, by the way). The lack of security marks the stark contrast between the country of Panama and a country like America (note the use of the word America instead of the US--refer to earlier post).

Oh, and before closing I wanted to mention how poor the hotel accommodations were at our last stop here. They have been really nice up until now. I highly recommend avoiding hotel Marparaiso, unless you are going for the pee-stained, crack-house atmosphere. They did have AC, Cable, and free high speed internet, but these perks were not enough to detract from the moldy walls, cold showers, and threadbare sheets.

Cockfight

Friday, July 06, 2007
4:03 AM

From the title of this entry, you may think it to be about Chris and Tyson. Don't worry, it isn't. I'll get back to the title later.

Before I start catching up on my blog, I'll start with some recent events. Rather one event in particular. We are now in El Valle de Anton, arriving yesterday after a long 7 hour travel day (3 buses). Unlike Bocas and Boquete, El Valle is much as I remembered it. Haley and I just got back from the zoo, whose cages are still far smaller than a more humane-minded institution would allow. I did get some nice pictures of the rare golden frog, who until a couple years ago, the world thought to be extinct. While the zoo was sub-par as far as zoos go, it did get us out of the hotel room and enjoy the scenery here in "the valley."


Before the zoo, we went out this morning to see "El Macho" waterfall. It was quite the waterfall and I look forward to playing with some of the pictures I took in Photoshop. The lady at our hotel said that the waterfall was only about a 20 minute walk from the hotel. 45 minutes later, we arrived with a light rain accompanying us. It ended up being about 3 or 4 kilometers, most of it uphill. 20 minutes later, was started back down. By this time, it was starting to pour and I reminded myself how glad I was that I bought the camera with all the weather seals. While it's not waterproof, I had already proved it's weather hardiness after leaving it out all night in the pouring rain a couple months ago. After about 10 minutes of walking, out of nowhere, my intestines began undulating in such peristaltic synchronicity that I had to politely usher the rest of the group in front of me. Haley was kind enough to stay back and ensure I was okay. We were in the middle of nowhere, and nature was shouting. I had no choice but to run off into the bushes, wait for the tourist bus to pass by, and then bake some machine gun brownies right then and there. Luckily Haley happened to be carrying some "papel de bano" which saved the day. The rest of the walk was quite pleasant.

While Haley and I are having a good time down here, I am glad that it is only two weeks this time instead of the four last summer. Central America is a lot of same. It is good to be back in Panama, and I am excited to get to Panama city tomorrow, but I am also glad that we are gonna be back in the states on Tuesday. Haley is really excited to get back home to Gob, and heaven knows we have a lot of things that we still want to get done around the house before things start back up again in a month.

The night before last, we all ended up attending a Panamanian festival complete with cock-fighting, billiards, "tipica" music and dancing, and lots of drunk Panamanians. Earlier in the day, we had gone on a small tour to some hot springs. Our guide, Plinio, had told us about this party and encouraged us to attend. We all decided it might be cool to see a local Panamanian party and decided we would head up after dinner. We caught a cab around 10:00 and headed out to Caldera, the location of the party. As we drove up, we could hear the ruckus from a half mile away. The giant pavilion was decked out with street vendors, beer, and a ton of Panamanian people. The 5 of us were the only white people there (minus Myra, who is Ecuadorian). After donning our "party time" bracelets at the door, we were admitted. We quickly made it to a corner, "purchased" rights to use a table (which we later found out was located in the corner of the pavilion where all the men went to relieve themselves--nothing like the fresh aroma of uric acid). After drinking a soda or two, we ventured out to the dance floor. At first it was fun as Haley and I "danced," or more appropriately, "moved around like uncoordinated gringos." After a while, some short fat dude started coming around stapling these little papers on our shirts. We weren't sure what he was doing, but he did it with such a surety, that we figured it was normal. But then he started shouting "six dollars." Apparently he wanted money for some social worker and was trying to get us to pay by giving us the "receipt" in advance by stapling it to both mine and Chris' collar. We of course refused only to find out later that it is kind of the macho thing to do to show the ladies that you are giving to charity.

The cock fight was kinda nasty. I did manage to get a little video on my phone of the event. I can see why it is outlawed in so many countries. Chrystal was really excited at first, saying that it would never gross her out. Well, after the blood started flying and the birds pecked at each other's heads, she quickly changed her mind. I can now say I have seen and cock fight and can also definitively say that I am against them.


After the cockfight, we played some billiards. It was a nice relief from the dancing and cockfighting where we felt so out of place. At least the billiards rooms wasn't as crowded and the deafening music wasn’t quite as loud. After we were done, one of the locals asked me if I wanted to play a game (I think it was more like he challenged me to a game) and I reluctantly accepted. Marcel ended up being a cool guy and was even nice enough to allow me to win in front on my friends (I had asked him not to embarrass me too much). He showed me how good he actually was early in the game as he shot his first 4 balls into the holes on his first turn. Luckily, I sunk a couple myself and the thrown game didn't last too long.

Later in the night, Marcel came up to me and said it was nice to meet me and also asked me not to forget Marcel from Caldera. I thought it was a nice gesture and now that I am writing about him in my blog hopefully I won't forget Marcel from Caldera.

During the time we were at the party, there was a certain man who took quite an interest in Myra. As soon as we walked into the pavilion, he was eying and following her, asking her to dance. She refused at first, but with continued persistence, she wore down and he had his dance, or I should say his first dance. That dude did end up being a fairly decent dancer as he spun Myra around the dance floor. After they were done, Myra rushed back to our table, followed by the guy. He then thanked us all very much for allowing her to dance with him. He then continued to thank us. Then he thanked us some more. It was strange. Finally, after shutting him out he left. He returned a couple songs later, but Myra told him she was tired out and maybe one of the next couple songs.


Later in the night, with a little more ethanol running through the veins, he decided the Myra was worth another shot at love and came back asking for more. Admiring the guys persistence, Myra reluctantly agreed. He was really drunk and uncoordinated as he tried to dance to a faster salsa tune. It ended up being more like spinning around in circles and I am still surprised that they both made it to the end of the song without projecting their stomach contents onto the dance floor.

I should quickly mention the really nice restaurant we ate at before the great Panamanian adventure. Our hot springs guide, Plinio, had recommended the restaurant "El Pianista." It was a $.50 cab ride up the mountain in the back of a pick up truck to the middle of nowhere. We were the only ones in the restaurant and I would have thought us to be the only ones to have gone in a week except that the place was highly recommended. It was on a coffee plantation, complete with a coffee trees all around and a nice little waterfall just outside the window where we were eating. The food (pizza) ended up being really good and a nice change from all the rice and chicken we had been eating (though it was more expensive).

I have gotten a lot more opportunity this summer to speak Spanish, compared to our trip last summer. I think it is because we aren't as with as many people which is pushing Haley and I to go out on our own and interact more with the locals. Yesterday, on our busride, we stopped at a little rest area where I was able to talk to a local Kuna Indian and purchase one of her molas. It was really cool to interact with and hear her story. She was even kind enough to allow some photos. I have also gotten to talk with a lot of our guides and the locals at the markets. It feels good to converse with people in another language, especially after not speaking Spanish for over 6 years.

I know this is a really really really long entry. Sorry.

Happy 4th From Central America

Thursday, July 05, 2007
9:20 AM

We are quickly making a number of traditions as we travel. This is our second year in a row that we celebrated our independence day while travelling abroad. Luckily, the town where we are currently serving has a number of Americans living here and there was an impressive fireworks show. Last night, after dinner we all came back to our hotel to play a couple round of "scum" or "ash-loh," in German (you may be able to figure out the alternate English name from the German name, but this being a family oriented blog, I decided to leave that one out). During the game, we heard a number of gunshots at which time Haley and I realized it was the 4th of July and ran outside to see the streaming lights of gunpowder. The show went on for a good ten minutes and was especially impressive as we are in the middle of a canyon here in Boquete and the "boom" seems to be amplified on either side by the mountains.

Haley and I are sure starting to appreciate America and all that she stands for. This morning, the newest attack against our motherland came from an unexpected source: Our guide, Myra. At breakfast Haley was dressed in her Che Guevara t-shirt that she sleeps in. Myra questioned whether or not you were allowed to wear stuff like that in America. Apparently she didn't realize how free of a country America is. Once the bashing began, Myra started to give us a hard time for calling ourselves Americans. She, as an Ecuadorian, felt that she too was an American. Apparently many in her country feel this way, and she has spoken with many Canadians who are also upset with this particular naming strategy. I said fine, I am willing to call her an American if she wants, but she then said she would never want to be called an American. I said "okay," I'll be American and you will be Ecuadorian. She then went on and on about how our great country doesn't even have an original name to call ourselves and so we call ourselves the generic "American." She suggested that we come up with a new name or start calling ourselves "United Statsians." You can probably imagine how flabbergasted Haley and I were that she was even trying to argue this point. I suppose the British started calling us Americans and the name stuck. There are two separate continents, North America and South America. So, if the continent naming is an issue for her, there is no continent named America. She should be content, and proper, in calling herself a South American. Those north of Columbia who are not satisfied with calling themselves Mexican or Canadian can be content with the continent name of "North American" and not get confused with American. Those people who spend time getting angry at this naming scheme have too much time on their hands.

Okay on to other stuff. Tyson has now left the group. His partying ways didn't mix well with the family atmosphere of Boquete, Panama. This morning he headed back to Bocas with a couple Canadians and will rejoin us in Panama City on Sunday. Christoff is quite happy with this latest development, and isn't trying to hide his enthusiastic dislike of Tyson. I personally like Tyson, though our worlds are quite different. He enjoys drinking and hooking up with women, though he can never remember who exactly he ended up with the night before. He does have some good stories, however. Christoff is more mature and serious, and the two don't mix too well. I like Christoff as well, its just that the two men can quickly change into something ugly as displayed in our game of "scum" last night when the two got into a little quip over who had to deal. There was a bit of uneasy speech and "adult" words were dished out. I guess tensions had been building and the rest of us just kind of sat around not sure how to respond. If I were a great writer that made up quotes, I think for this story it would be: "A man's pride can be his greatest weakness." It is probably better that I don't become that type of writer.

Before I forget, I suppose I should touch on the Banco Nacional de Panama stealing $200 from my bank account. I had tried to withdraw that amount from the "cajero automatico" right after writing my last blog entry on the day we left Bocas. I withdrew the amount from the ATM, only no money came out, the screen said "transaction complete," and upon checking, the money had been debited from my account. I then high-tailed it to the local bank, and with only 20 minutes until our boat left harbor I was starting to perspire a bit above normal, even for the humid tropical climate. The lady I talked to couldn't be more apathetic to my cause. She gave me some drab form to fill out and said the money should be in my account in a week. I highly doubt that will be the case, and luckily I got her name and number and look forward to making many calls to the Bocas branch of the Banco Nacional de Panama upon my return to the states.

Stuck in Miami

Friday, July 13, 2007
12:53 AM

As I sit here at home in my new Ikea armchair I feel happy. It is about 1:00am and Haley and I have been putting together new Ikea furniture for the past couple hours. We purchased a table that goes against the wall (you know, those skinny ones--I don't know what they are called), and a island thinger to go in our kitchen. Ikea furniture has a way of keeping us up late at night.

We were supposed to get home yesterday. However, if you remember my previous post where I wrote about getting stuck in the Miami airport you won't be surprised that we once again got stuck in Miami. I don't know if I dislike the city of Miami more or American Airlines. Our flight home on Tuesday night was cancelled altogether and we had to spend the night in the airport to catch another flight home the next morning at 11:00am. Of course we could have gone to a hotel, but being cheap and adventurous, we decided to stick it out. I think Haley got about an hour of sleep and I got 5 (she did do a lot of reading and catching up with CNN).

I still have a good number of things I need to put together before I am finished with this years travel blog, but that will have to wait until I am more coherent. Other thoughts for future blogging:

• Michael Moore is the problem with healthcare statistics in America: Fat Americans cause our statistics to look bad because their lifestyles lead to early death, NOT access to healthcare.

• America is really rich.

Red Frog

Tuesday, July 03, 2007
8:05 AM

Right now it is 7:00am on maybe a Tuesday morning. I decided to wake up early today to go around Bocas to take some pictures as well as catch up on my travel blog from yesterday. I think I got a couple good pictures, but not sure they were worth waking up early for.

I am continuing to love Bocas Del Toro, especially after yesterday's visit to Red Frog Beach. It was a short 10 minute boat ride from Bocas town. Following the boat ride, we had a short walk through the rain forest to get to the beach. They wont drop you off directly on the beach because of the difficulty in navigating the large waves that in part make Red Frog so famous in Bocas.

The beach was awesome. It was definitely one of the nicest beaches I have been to here in Panama, or in the world for that matter. The water was crystal clear, the sand was white, and there was plenty of shade to take it all in and enjoy (yeah, most people don't want shade when they go to the beach, but for Haley and I it was a welcome site). After putting our stuff down on the beach, I decided to head off and do a little exploring while Haley and Michael stayed behind to get situated.

Here's my funny story. When I was walking back on my walk, I walked by these two bikini-clad women lying in the surf. When I walked by, they were both smiling and waving their hands in a flirtatious manner. The reason this is a funny story is because of my reaction. It was the last thing I was expecting and I had no idea how to react. I'm sure I must have blushed and I think I half-waved, but it was so incredibly awkward for me I'm surprised I didn't trip over my feet right there and get a face full of sand. Nice to know I still don't have it (and don't need it).

After the warm up walk, Michael and I set out to find the ever more elusive Red Frog that gives this beach it's name. The Red Frog has been on the decline since the commercialization of Isla Bastimentos, where the beach lies. The problem is that this island is the only location where the Red Frog is found in the world. I don't suppose we were helping the problem by visiting the island and then hunting out the frog to get a picture. However, Michael and I were careful and our "hunting" paid off. We ended up finding two frogs on our trek. Though you can't tell from the pictures, they are scarcely bigger than your thumbnail. We had to walk through the mud and back in all of this tropical ground cover, following the call they were making. We found plenty of the uglier females (at least I am guessing it is the males that are colorful and the females that are a drab brown color), and finally a couple males. When we were walking back, I kept imagining tropical snakes, like the Fer-De-Lance, crawling down by my feet ready to strike at any time. Luckily we got a few pictures off without any snake venom entering our bodies.

On our hike, we found another beach after following another trail through the rain forest and over a rather large hill. The beach was really nice also, but with more rocks than Red Frog.

When We got back, I decided to give body surfing a try. I was hesitant to do so after reading about the strong undertow, but after seeing some other older gentlemen doing so, I thought I could handle it. The waves were probably 6 or 7 feet tall and very consistent. I couldn't believe how much fun I was having riding those waves in on my belly and even managed to convince Haley to come join me. After riding some nice waves and consequentially showing her boobies to the world one too many times, she decided to call it quits. I stayed out there for another half hour tiring myself out. I wish we had more time to lounge around and explore, but we had told our boat guide that we would leave at 3.

Then last night, we had an amazing dinner at "La Pirata." I had the 2lb snapper which was flavored and deep fried to absolute perfection. It was some of the best fish I have ever had. Even Haley was a bit jealous as she ate her spaghetti pomodoro. Haley was happy, however, with her ice lemonades (which were quite good). We sure haven't been saving any money with the food down here, but we have been eating well.

Today we travel to Boquete, up in the mountains. It should be much cooler, temperature wise, and will give us some time to relax from our more adventurous sides.

Proud to Be an American

Monday, July 02, 2007
12:03 AM

Man, do people from other countries hate America. Especially if those people from another country happen to also be environmentalists. Especially if those people happen to live off Americans and American things, but are unable to achieve the goal of actually being an American. Okay, not all people that hate America secretly want to be Americans, but I get the feeling that some do.

Today we set sail on an amazing catamaran tour of the archipelego of Bocas Del Toro. It was a rare sunny day here (being the rainy season and all) and the water was calm as we weaved in and out of small mangrove islands surrounded by coral reef. When we finally did drop anchor, we got to explore the amazing sea life that abounds here.

Much of the time out on the catamaran was spent just sailing along, listening to good music (not island reggaeton) watching the beautiful ocean. It was great and I highly recommend taking a slow catamaran tour instead of a speedy motor boat that will get you wherever you are going in a fractions of the time. Sometimes, especially here in the Caribbean, it is as much about the journey as the destination.

Our guide was really good and entertaining, except for part of the tour where he said things that provoked the opening paragraph of this blog entry. It all started when I mentioned having come to Bocas 10 years earlier, two years before this German had ever even heard of Bocas Del Toro. Then we got to talking about how things have changed over the years. Then he got to talking about how the area and the waters are going to pot (which he later admitted isn't really going to pot at all but continues to flourish) and the "gringos" are ruining all the rainforest on the islands. Then he got to talking about how evil America is for ruining the environment, refusing to sign Kyoto, the mess in Iraq, … It is no wonder that Americans have such pride in America. We have to stick together to navigate through tough international waters. The sad part is that the man was overly passionate about environmental issues and when we started to have good conversation about the topic, he let his passion get in the way and I wasn't even able to talk to the man. He just sputtered out things about how all Americans get so much propoganda about how China supposedly puts out more emissions than us which he said isn't true. It is good to have a cause, but try to keep things in perspective. The man was talking about how we need to have biodiesel fuel stations everywhere, but trying to explain that it takes crude oil to produce biodeisel was lost on the man.

Anyway, the conversation was good until the tour guide who we were paying started going off on us gringos for being American. When you read in books and see in movies that all foreigners think that all Americans are cowboys, well, they really do think that. I guess I kind of like country music, but I don't really ride horses that well, and I don't know the first thing about herding bovine.

Anyway, I am proud to be an American. We do have a great country with a lot of good things going. We do need a lot of changes, starting with our government, but we also have it better than just about anyone else.

On a different note, our group this year is so different from the one last year. Two in our group (one in particular) is dedicating the night to going out, drinking until you can barely walk, hooking up with who knows who (no, really, he has no idea the next day) and then doing it again the next night.

I might as well end this entry with another "anyway." So, anyway, we are really liking it here in Bocas. We might go to "Red Frog" beach tomorrow and hang out in the sand. We might also have a go at surfing, but we are both kind of fried after lounging in the sun on the boat all day today.

Home Again, But Not the Same

Sunday, July 01, 2007
12:44 AM

Today as we crossed over a rickety, 300 yard railroad bridge spanning the Sixaola river separating Costa Rica and Panama, it felt good to be back in the country where I graduated high school. Ever since my trip to Bocas Del Toro, Panama, during the Christmas break of the 96-97 school year I have wanted to return. For that matter, ever since living in Panama from 1995-1997 I have wanted to return. Haley and I started planning our trip to Panama 2 years ago, took a detour last summer through the rest of central America, but now here we are.

Our journey to the Isla Colon within the archipelago of Bocas Del Toro began with an early morning bus ride, our long walk across the bridge, a van ride and an hour long boat ride. Bocas is much like I remember it, except a lot bigger and hippier (note that I didn't say hipper). Not that it has turned into a hippie town, just that there are a lot more rastafarian wannabe white travelers all over the place that were definitely not here 10+ years ago. I guess after this and the last place I am quickly realizing that I don't like these little surf towns where people smoke weed, sleep in hostels, and spend there nights in bars. I guess that means I'm getting old.

We just got in from having a deep conversation with the group about religion, politics, the universe and other subjects that both allow you to get an idea as to what kind of people you are traveling with and also force you to think of things in new ways as you mesh with people from other countries and with other belief systems. It is interesting to see how the rest of the world hates America. Now everyone seems to think Haley and I are alright people and there are certainly plenty of other Americans around that don't seem to bother them, but others don't like what America stands for. I guess I can kind of see their points of view. Some of us Americans are a little cocky and loud when we travel.

I am excited for tomorrow. We are gonna go on a full-day catamaran tour. These Catamaran snorkeling trips are quickly becoming something we do on every trip (with last years trip in Caye Caulker as well as on our trip to Puerto Rico a couple years ago). Should be fun. I hope Bocas proves to be as amazing of a place as I remember it being in my head.