……AND THE BUS BREAKS DOWN AT 5AM…….

Our first visit outside Panama City required a 10-hour overnight bus. First
off, the thing stopped every hour or so to let people on/off, turning on the
lights and making sleep darn near impossible. Next, we had to stop at a drug
checkpoint where they looked at everyones passports and eventually made two
Columbian girls get off the bus…and they never came back….no one knows
why. But the kicker was at 5am when the driver tells us, “the bus is broken,
everyone off!” So we get off and find ourselves at a gas station in the
middle of God knows where, with nothing in any direction and no idea exactly
what to do next.

Fortunantly, after an hour or so of waiting, some other busses came and
after a good-ole shoving match, I had forced my way into a pair of seats to
continue our journey. However, the penalty for my shoving was three hours
with elbows sticking in my shoulders and hips sticking in my ribs, as the
aisles were jam packed with people. Later, after a rest stop, I lost my seat
and spent the last 30 minutes leaning against the door as we traveled up a
mountain on a windy road, my only thing to hold onto was a fold-up seat that
was on a hinge and would move along with me at every curve. Needless to say,
I was very happy to arrive at Cillico Creek.

…….HIGHLIGHTS OF WHAT WEVE DONE……..

CARNIVAL: We were lucky enough to be here for Carnival, which, while not
nearly as big as the one in Rio, was still pretty cool. It was basically
like Mardi Gras, if it were a family affair. There were parades, people on
floats throwing out teeshirts, beer and food stands lining the streets,
music and people dancing everywhere. And then there was the confetti! For 25
cents you could buy a big bag of little paper dots to throw on the street,
on your friends or on complete strangers, depending on your preference.
Everywhere you looked there were kids having confetti wars. So, naturally,
being the mature individuals we are, Carrie and I joined in, buying our own
confetti and dousing passerbys and running around with the kids throwing the
dots. The stuff got all down clothing, in our mouths and in every possible
place you could imagine. Weeks later we are still finding the occasional
confetti dot in a pocket or bag.

CILLICO CREEK: After two weeks in the City, we wanted to see some of the
country, so we hopped on the bus (the one that would eventually break down
at 5am) to visit a Panama Peace Corps volunteers site, Cillico Creek. It was
completely different from little pueblos in Nicaragua, especially the look
of it (see the photos). While there, we actually got to do a little
volunteer work, sitting in and helping with some school classes that were
learning about the environment and why it needs to be protected. My group
actually went out and planted two trees in the town. It was much more
rewarding than sitting in a hotel in the City.

BOCAS DEL TORO: After Cillico Creek and a few other places, we headed to
Bocas Del Toro, a pair of beautiul islands off the Atlantic Coast. In
addition to a snorkling day trip (my first), we witnessed a very odd ritual
that could only be described to us by the locals as “a game.” Basically,
people line up on either side of a street with whips and other people take
turns running down the street with bells attached to their legs. The folks
on the side whip the heck out of them in an effort to knock off the bells.
Some people tried to be macho and slowly walk down the street, others ran
and jumped down the street from the start, but no matter what, they were all
running by the end. I dont really know any more than that, other than it was
incredible primal and people were chanting in some indiginous language. Oh,
and unrelatedly, we also took a really cool speedboat ride through a bayou
to get out to the island. It reminded me of Louisianna.

…….THE CHICKEN TRUCK……

Because nothing is ever simple, a mere two days after the bus-breaking-down
incident, Carrie and I found ourselves stuck in a rural community and the
bus we needed to start our journey to Bocas Del Toro was not coming.
However, not content to just sit there and wait three hours for the next bus
(and miss our boat), we hitched a ride from the first vehicle we
saw….which happened to be the local chicken truck making its daily
deliveries. Literally, it was a pickup truck with the bed enclosed with a
refrigerated compartment. As there was no room up front for us and our big
bags, we put our backpacks in the refrigerated part of the truck…with raw
chicken parts, eggs and other assorted chicken-items…and piled into the
cab for our ride (see the photos). Along the way to our destination, we
passed through large plantations of banannas, which turned out to be the
Chiquita Bananna fields and processing plants…so that was pretty cool.
Anyway, needless to say, when we got our bags out, they had the slight odor
of chicken for a while, but we made our boat, so it was all worth it.

……THIS AND THAT……

The national currency is the US Dollar, and its very wierd paying for things
with dollars in rural indiginous communities. We saw the Panama Canal and a
bunch of boats passing through….it was cool. The clothing here is super
cheap and I have shopped more in the past month than I would in 2 years back
home (for those who care, 5 pairs of jeans, 6 nice shirts, 4 teeshirts and 2
pairs of shoes for like $200…cant beat that). We saw a bunch of ruins
including those of the original Panama settlement, as well as beautiful old
houses. It is great to go out to nice resturants and clubs again, we have
feasted like kings down here. I now have a Panamanian Blockbuster
membership, as our room at the hotel had a DVD player. We celebrated Fat
Tuesday in a with PC Panama volunteers at one of their sites in the middle
of nowhere, but it was a party and was fun!

I have spent more money in the month here than I did in like 4 months in
Nicaragua. We took a mud bath in a town built in the crater of an extinct
volcano. Its hot and humid here…feels like Im back on the East Coast.
There are tons of malls. We saw The Pink Panther in VIP stadium seating in
recliner chairs with waitresses bringing us our popcorn and soda….for
$6/ticket. And lastly, after telling some bum begging for money in a bus
terminal waiting area that I would not give him any change, he announced to
all those waiting that I was the devil! To which I replied “thank you…have
a nice day.” To which he replied, again for all to hear, “I walk with God, I
will have a nice day. But you sir, are the devil!” Gotta love it!