Panama

I'm having one of those evenings when I really feel like I should be writing something, and for once the normal excuse of, "I haven't done anything interesting lately" doesn't apply. The thing is, I have done something interesting lately. It was interesting while I did it, but my week long vacation in Panama was deliciously normal. In answer to the question, "How was your trip?" I can only respond, "Good. It's a beautiful country. That canal thing is pretty cool. Oh, and they have a really old church that's kind of in ruins now 'cause they used it to build the new city after the fire. Oh, and I went zip-lining in El Valle." That's not to say that I didn't have a good time. On the contrary, it was a lot of fun and I saw some pretty cool stuff, but I didn't get arrested or anything. Not that I wanted to. There was that time in the Canal Museum that I sat down on a bench and the guy told me not to (it wasn't roped off. I'm still perplexed as to why they would put it there in prime sitting position without some kind of signage telling people not to sit on the antique railroad benches).

All that to say, I had a great time in Panama. If you want details feel free to ask. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are a few. Click for larger images. (Update: I just clicked on some of them, and they're not bigger. I don't know why. Sorry.)

Cathedral ruins in Panama la Vieja. I'm jumping in this picture, that's why half of my legs are missing. I do, in fact, have legs.

The view from the top floor of that tower. That's part of the modern Panama City through the window. It's massive.

Climbing on ruins in Panama la Vieja. Yeah, you can do that there.

They had these crazy, fume-spewing buses. Apparently I'm famous there. They named one after me.

The next day we went to Casco Viejo. The National Theatre was open for visitors. Yeah, it's was pretty awesome. They have a raked stage. Teaching tool! Yes!

In El Casco Viejo there are beautiful buildings like the National Theatre right next to run down ones like this.

The sad thing is that it was obvious that this house was once quite beautiful (it even had a pool), but they left it to mother nature for whatever reason (probably financial).

A trip to Panama wouldn't be complete without visiting the Panama Canal. There it is. These are the Miraflores locks on the south side of the Canal. You can see a container ship in the far lock (behind the building). Those containers are about the size of a tractor-trailer.

Another container ship entering the locks from the lake.

The view from the Causeway towards Panama City. The Causeway connects two small islands to the mainland and was constructed from material removed to make the Canal. Talk about a pile of dirt.

Me in the harness getting ready to go zip-lining in El Valle. Look at my bad self.

It's super blurry, but that is indeed me going down that zip-line. Surprisingly enough, I wasn't at all afraid. I think I might be a little bit crazy. Either that or I just got used to heights from working in grid in the PAC.

I stopped a little early and had to pull myself the last few feet.

"THAT WAS AWESOME!"

There's this huge stone wall in the jungle with writing from the indigenous people. It is a lost language, so no one knows what it means.

A picturesque waterfall. El Valle is full of little rivers. On the way back from the wall writing place, Curt and I decided to forgo the use of a bridge and cross one. I fell in. I got my shoes and shorts wet. Thankfully the camera was saved.