whew... I´ve seen a lot of Panama in the last four days.
Quick run down:
Friday- woke up at 4:45 to catch my 6:30 flight from Panama City to Bocas del Toro. Tiny plane but overall very smooth. The highligh had to be flying over the Canal and seeing two enormous cargo ships going through the locks. Got to the ambitiously named International Airport of Bocas and checked into this great little hostel/bar called mondo taitú. I joined up with two girls from Princeton who were about to leave on a snorkeling trip and spent the whole day boating between islands, snorkeling and sitting on the beach. Our boat driver finished his six pack of Balboa beer before 11am, but thats not important. He spoke some english and some spanish but mostly just the bizarre, english-bazed creole dialect that all the people on the island speak. Had a great time at the bar that night trading stories with the crazy people who had been traveling for 9 months up through all of South America before getting to Panama. Good stuff.
Saturday: Went with Emily and Claire again to snorkel in the morning. We also went to bird island, which was maybe the most beautiful little island I´ve ever seen. (http://www.aguaazulbocas.com/images/bird_island.jpg) I´m terrible with my camera in Panama, by the way. In the afternoon we hiked through the jungle trails to a few amazing, deserted beaches. I took glorious beach naps, clearly a top 5 thing in life in general. And these were great. The other highlight of the day was getting back to Bocas and seeing a 6 year old boy dancing to ´Hips Don´t Lie.´ Priceless. Overall bocas is a terribly relaxing place and I would love to go back.
Sunday: woke up for the third day in a row before sunrise to catch an early boat back to the mainland and then push on to the mountains. But the boat broke down. And the tuny buss took forever. And it was raining. So I stayed in Davíd, which is kind of a bland industrial city in the west of panama. The bus ride was actually amazing. Sat next to a girl with her pet ducks in her lap. The lady inf ront of me pulled her green parrot out of a cardboard box so it could sit on her shoulder. Reggaeton music blaring the whole time, except for the 45 minutes when the national lottery was being drawn. Panamanians love the lottery to an unhealthy degree. Stayed at the Purple House hostel in, yes, an entirely purple house with almost exclusively purple furnishings. Weird.
Today- Woke up before sunrise (pattern here?) and took 3 different buses all the way across the country and into the heartland of Panama, the Azuero peninsula. Its the folklore center and the place where they hide all the really nice people in Panama. The way I caught my last connecting bus to Chitré is hilarious. I had been waiting near the sign in the terminal for about 45 minutes when a small child came up to me, stole my water bottle, opened it, and chugged the last few sips as I laughed and as his mother looked on horrified. We chatted about Josué for awhile and then she pointed me to where the bus actually would leave. Never trust signs in Panama. but I caught the bus and made a friend. So I get to the peninsula and take anothe rbus over to a small town called Parita that was supposed to look like it did 100 years ago. In an awesome stroke of luck, I got there in the middle of their largest festival of the year. I wandered for a few hours and watched how the men drank seco like water and the young men crashed around unrestrained bulls through the town park next to the church. The rest of the town looked on, laughing and dancing to the traditional music being played nearby. Surreal.
I head back to the city tomorrow after seeing a few more small towns. Should be amazing.
love, d
Monday, August 6, 2007
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
about to say goodbye to Panama
friends,
I have just 8 days left in Panama, so Rice and Beans is coming to an end. But here's what's been up the last few days.
Been interviewing more people and have some cool stuff coming up. On Monday, I had two great meetings at the US Embassy. Brian Naranjo was first; he's the chief political affairs officer and a really smart guy. We talked for about an hour and he helped me understand the trajectory of the campaign and why it took so long for the poll numbers for the Yes side to respond to what everyone figured would happen in the election. He said it was a combination of the Yes side sending out politicians to hold info sessions rather than technocrats who aren't as dynamic, a private group of business leaders who pooled funds and ran a parallel ad campaign that posed the vote as a question of progress or move backwards, and the public support of a number of Panamanian celebrities for the Yes side. Great talk though.
Second was Manny Rubio, who was much more of a character. He made it huge it private equity in NYC and retired when he was 38. Ok. Then he applied for the foreign service after a few friends died in 9/11. Got the job as chief officer for economic affairs and has been in Panama for a few years. He knows vast amounts about the shipping industry and the Panama Canal. And told me great stories and called people out on their bs. He's a little too young to be so disenchanted with the entire world. But thats ok...
Last night I went to the Universidad Latina de Panama with Alejandrino, one of the contacts I'd made. Heard a great presentation by an American who's been here studying corruption fo rthe alst 10 months. Nothing about the Canal or the Canal Authority, which is kinda expected because people see it as something completely set apart and above the normal workings of politics. Others have confirmed that this perception played a key role in how the Yes side won so handily. We grabbed some dinner after at La Tablita, this 45 year old outdoor diner that's still incredibly popular with the politically inclined in Panama. Best grilled chicken I've ever had in my life. Glad I got to go to this Panama City institution.
Tomorrow I'm going to the Electoral Tribunal , the govt branch that runs elections in Panama. Should be good stuff, and once again I got the contact through Alejandrino, who has become an enormous help here. What a guy--
This weekend is my last adventure in Panama. I'm flying on Friday morning to Bocas del Toro, a cool series of islands in the nw of Panama. I'll spend a few days hiring locals to drive me around on their boats and snorkeling, then Sunday or Monday start to meander my way back to Panama City by bus. last chance to see the country!
I have just 8 days left in Panama, so Rice and Beans is coming to an end. But here's what's been up the last few days.
Been interviewing more people and have some cool stuff coming up. On Monday, I had two great meetings at the US Embassy. Brian Naranjo was first; he's the chief political affairs officer and a really smart guy. We talked for about an hour and he helped me understand the trajectory of the campaign and why it took so long for the poll numbers for the Yes side to respond to what everyone figured would happen in the election. He said it was a combination of the Yes side sending out politicians to hold info sessions rather than technocrats who aren't as dynamic, a private group of business leaders who pooled funds and ran a parallel ad campaign that posed the vote as a question of progress or move backwards, and the public support of a number of Panamanian celebrities for the Yes side. Great talk though.
Second was Manny Rubio, who was much more of a character. He made it huge it private equity in NYC and retired when he was 38. Ok. Then he applied for the foreign service after a few friends died in 9/11. Got the job as chief officer for economic affairs and has been in Panama for a few years. He knows vast amounts about the shipping industry and the Panama Canal. And told me great stories and called people out on their bs. He's a little too young to be so disenchanted with the entire world. But thats ok...
Last night I went to the Universidad Latina de Panama with Alejandrino, one of the contacts I'd made. Heard a great presentation by an American who's been here studying corruption fo rthe alst 10 months. Nothing about the Canal or the Canal Authority, which is kinda expected because people see it as something completely set apart and above the normal workings of politics. Others have confirmed that this perception played a key role in how the Yes side won so handily. We grabbed some dinner after at La Tablita, this 45 year old outdoor diner that's still incredibly popular with the politically inclined in Panama. Best grilled chicken I've ever had in my life. Glad I got to go to this Panama City institution.
Tomorrow I'm going to the Electoral Tribunal , the govt branch that runs elections in Panama. Should be good stuff, and once again I got the contact through Alejandrino, who has become an enormous help here. What a guy--
This weekend is my last adventure in Panama. I'm flying on Friday morning to Bocas del Toro, a cool series of islands in the nw of Panama. I'll spend a few days hiring locals to drive me around on their boats and snorkeling, then Sunday or Monday start to meander my way back to Panama City by bus. last chance to see the country!
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