Getting into Panama City was an adventure in itself. It was on a Sunday just as the sun was going down. We had no concept of where to go and luckily a couple of nice policemen showed us the way to a cheap hotel. On the way we passed loads of people banging drums and creating a ruckus in the street. We think our guides said it had something to do with their independence day, but when we looked in the guidebook apparently Panama has three independence days. History must be a fun class here. So we got to the hotel and it’s one of the dingiest ones I’ve ever seen in my life. The pictures will make you laugh. Still it was adequate and I was content just to have somewhere to stay with AC in that ridiculously humid city. We didn’t count on a monsoon happening though.
I don’t know how serious of a storm it was for this area, but it was an adventure for us. The lightning was so close and so loud it was setting off people’s car alarms. So I’m laying awake in bed at 5 a.m. when I get a knock on my door. It was Jordan (he and Amanda were in a different room) and apparently the torential downpour had flooded their entire room! They claim they were akle deep in water at one point. The staff helped us move their stuff to a new room, sloshing through water all the while. It was chaotic at the time but we’ll be laughing about that one for years to come.
The next day (July 17th) was my 22nd birthday. We celebrated by setting off to see the engineering marvel that is the Panama Canal. This place is definitely impressive and we watched two ships go through the locks (albeit very slowly) and played pinochle, just so we could say we were one of the few people on the planet who had played pinochle at the Panama Canal. We also found it funny that, according to the informational video and museum there, that some man from Spain “discovered” the Pacific Ocean. How great for him.
After that we made our way to a mall, ate way too much at the local burger joint, and saw Superman Returns at the movies. We agreed that it merits an 8 out of 10 and is definitely worth a view. Today we’ll board a bus to the town of David, Panama from which we think we’ll go on to the Caribbean coast! That should be cool. Love to all.
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