Hola Panama

Feb 8

It was along travel day. We were picked up at 8:00, drove to Leon airport 90 minutes away, waited for our flight which departed at 11:30 and flew to Mexico City where we had a three hour layover before heading out for Panama City (PC). We arrived at 8:30 pm a bit behind schedule and it took 90 minutes to get out of the airport with passport control

(a line way too long), baggage claim and customs. Monica who is renting us a shared apartment picked us up at the airport and we got to town about 25 minutes later. After showing us where things were, she left and we unpacked and fell into bed around midnight.

Feb 9

We met our house-mates, Mike and Jeanie from Indiana. We went to the corner store and got soy milk and a banana to go with our granola we had left over from SMA.  After breakfast we walked around the neighborhood, got a decent map from a large hotel, got a metro map (we didn’t even know PC had a metro but I think it is pretty new since my tour book didn’t mention it). We went to the ATM and got money (they use US dollars here oddly enough. Then on to the grocery store to get lunch fixings: cheese, bread, veggies for roasting, etc. I was surprised at the limited selection of veggies in this large store. But we don’t cook much on the road so it isn’t a big deal.

I was still tired today so we hung out at the apartment, walked around the neighborhood and ate at a nearby restaurant and had a good dinner.

Feb 10

Wanderland

Today was a day of wandering around trying to find places and getting frustrated in the process.  We decided to go to the Museum of Contemporary Art and started off by taking the new metro. Unfortunately the new system is having some growing pains.  We had to purchase some transit cards ($2.00 ea) to use on the system and then charge them up with a usable balance. We bought the cards in a machine that was supposed to be able to do both purchase and a charge up.  However after getting them we found we only had the cards and the extra money we had added was not added.  We finally found an agent who took us to a window.  We learned it would take four days for our card accounts to get credited with the lost funds.  And, these service window do not make change for adding funds to the card.  Strange.  Let’s just say there are some kinks to work out in the system. 

Then, after exiting the metro station at our stop near the museum, we asked five different people how to get to the museum, showing them where it was on our map and got five different answers. We finally got there after several false moves. Very few of the streets have name signs and we speculate that even the locals do not know the names of the streets. After several false starts and mis-directions, we finally made it to the museum.  The museum had a collection of a number of Latin artists and we were glad we went in spite of our difficulties finding the place. The general area was dirty with lots of litter and a bit edgy, making me a bit nervous about our safety. Next we went to the inter-city bus station in preparation for Thursday when we take a bus to Colon on the Atlantic side of Panama to meet up with Wayne and Dana to help take their sailboat through the canal. We are excited.

Feb 11

Today we decided to visit Old Town (the restoration of) which is a work in progress. Since it is located near an unsafe neighborhood we took a taxi which only cost $6.00. This area is a World Heritage Site and very clean and litter free for the most part. 

We visited the canal museum and I looked at every photo hoping to spy a photo of my grandfather or great uncle who worked on the canal. I have no idea what their role was there but did discover that my grandmother gave birth to the first two of her nine children in Panama. The Keys family has large ears and broad asses. Alas, I didn’t find anyone who had these features but the hunt was fun for me. I have a photo of my mother’s marriage. It is a family photo with my grandfather in his robe and pajamas, sitting next to my grandmother and my parents and surrounded by my mothers seven siblings. All are grim. My grandfather was dying from tuberculosis at the time and the marriage took place in his bedroom.

However, about half to two thirds of the former buildings have not yet been restored. We did see a lot of work being done on a number of buildings. We ate a very mediocre lunch of traditional Panamanian restaurant which had been recommended. 

 

From old town, the newly developed "new town" can be seen with many high rise buildings. It's was reported that they are only 40% occupied.

Also from Old Town, we could see the Bio Museo designed by Architect Frank Gehry, who also designed the Disney Performance Center in LA. We then got a view of the Bridge of the Americas that spans the Pacific side of the Canal.

We came back to our apartment and rested. I am fighting a sore throat and want to rest so I can go through the canal on Friday. We went out later for some groceries, sunscreen and mosquito repellent for the trip. We ate at a nearby Italian place.

We are staying in a nice neighborhood with high end hotels: Hyatt, Wyndham, Hilton and the Marriot yet the streets and sidewalks are filthy and littered. They look as though they haven’t been washed in ages. We are spoiled by SMA where shop keepers wash the sidewalk daily and there is almost no litter. You can drink the water anywhere in Panama and nowhere in Mexico. Go figure!