Hodgepodge of fun!!!

Santa Clara Beach

As I mentioned previously, I couldn´t start my Spanish classes on Monday because I had plans to go to the beach. Going to the beach here is much like at home. Everyone was really excited and it was a big deal. The group included me, Meivis, Salvador, Amarili, and Meivi´s 11 year old sister Evilyn. We left the house at 7:00 a.m. because the trip takes two hours. The trip involved us taking a taxi to the bus station, a bus that was freezing cold, and then finally another taxi which delivered us to the sand.

Meivis and I rented a rancho to shade us from the sun ($10 for the day). It came with two hammocks and best of all, an unobstructed ocean view. When we arrived the weather was perfect, sunny and hot. I didn´t bring my camera because I expected a overcrowded beach with many opportunities get my bag snatched. I was completely wrong.

The beach was almost empty. I saw maybe 20 other people the entire day and of course the two horses that walked up and down the beach carrying kids and two teens who looked Panamanian, but from the way the were talking, were obviously American.

About half way through the day, the sky clouded over and it began to rain. The rancho protected us not only from the sun, but also from the rain. With the rain came a breeze and we all took naps. It was perfect. When we woke up, we all went down to the water and found the water to be warmer than the air.

When we were getting ready to leave we all took outdoor showers to try to get some of the sand out of our hair and bathing suits. Mevis was more prepared than I was and had brought clothes to change into.

I went into one of the changing room to wring out my suit when the two teenage Americans I´d seen riding horse back started banging on all the doors. The were completely obnoxious and started saying rude things knowing the people inside wouldn´t understand them anyways. Or so the thought.

I opened my door and simply said `patience´ while shaking my head. Their eyes got really big. As I walked away one of them called out, `pardon me mam, but I don´t seen any showers.´ Apparently they thought the dressing rooms were shower rooms. I took great pleasure in pointing to a crumbling cement wall about 100 yards away with nothing but a pipe sticking out of it, surrounded by a puddle of mud. They looked at the showers and were obviously shocked. I just smiled.

Jeeni Food.

To thank Meivis for cooking, I devised a plan to make a meal I was sure Meivis had never tried.

Salvador loves onions and garlic. With this in mind, I found a French Cheese store close to the house. I delighted the owner when I bought some Brie and a French baguette. At a grocery store I bought some whole garlic bunches. I roasted the garlic, sliced the bread and heated the Brie.

At first Meivis and Salvador looked scared. I doctored up a slice of the bread with Brie and garlic. They both tried it and their eyes lit up. Yay. Another score for Jeeni.

Old Panama Ruins.

One day when Salvador was at school, me and Meivis headed to some ruins.

Here is an exert from www.centralamerica.com

About two miles from the center of Panama City are found the ruins of the first capital, known as Old Panama or Panama La Vieja, founded in 1519. Fragments of walls and arches stand in an open park, recalling the splendor of the Spaniard's first settlement on the Pacific Ocean. From here, expeditions were mounted to conquer the Inca Empire of South America. All of the wealth from Peru, Chile and California flowed to Spain through Old Panama Not surprisingly, the enormous quantities of gold attracted pirates like sharks to Panama's waters. When Henry Morgan looted the city in 1671, Panama's governor ordered the powder magazine burned and the whole city went up in flames. The capital was moved two miles to the west, and present-day Panama City was founded in 1673. The most impressive structures remaining are the cathedral, with a massive bell-tower, and the Bishop's House. In front of the ruins, alongside the ocean, is an artisan's market, full of native crafts, and a small restaurant with a fine view out to a bay where Spanish galleons and pirate ships once lifted sail.

Even though it was insanely hot, we had fun taking pictures.










Summit Botanical Garden and Zoo.

Besides the canal, there weren´t many touristy things I had my heart set on. Summit was the exception. I read about the park in my Lonely Plant guide. They have a harpy eagle and jaguars! In general, they have animal and plant species that are native to Panama.

The zoo in pretty much in the jungle with green everywhere.



Unlike the zoos in the states, you could pretty much get up and close with the animals.

There were monkeys.


If you weren´t careful, they would try to steal your umbrella.

Others would gladly take children´s candy or position themselves so that the could get a good back scratch from a willing homo sapian.


Not to be missed, there was the chubby jaguar.


There were lots of birds, some of which liked to flirt.








There was a humongous harpy eagle, but she was too far away to get picture.

We took about an hour break when it started to pour. But after a while we decided to keep going despite the rain.

Birds eye view.



After we made our rounds and then visted the hilarious monkeys one more time, we headed to the bus stop. For some reason the bus didn´t come for over an hour. In order to make the most of my time and since everyone was staring at me anyways, I decided to teach everyone how to do the funny-finger-face. It was almost as much fun as the zoo itself.



Meivis was the first one to sucessfully copy the funny face and only a few other diligent souls finally got the trick down.





Salvador didn´t even pretend to try. He definately martches to his own silly beat.