Week 1: Panama City

Well, there's nothing like a week of vacation in a place like Panama City to get you acclimated to a new country and culture.  All in all, that's basically what these past 8 days have been--a relaxing, hot vacation.  And I can't tell you or thank Libby (the other Fulbright ETA here in Panama) enough for taking me in this first week and introducing me to the nuances of Panama's unique culture.  I'm lucky to come down here to a familiar face and get used to the country and its people somewhat--something Libby unfortunately didn't have the opportunity to do.  I'm sure I will be feeling more of how she felt when she first got here when I finally get into David tomorrow, but to this point, its been smooth sailing.  (aka if you're reading this hoping to find typical, absurd "Drew stories" or tales of me wandering the streets begging people for a place to live, skip the rest of this and just come back for my next post.)

If you are still reading, that means you like me and not just hoping for horror stories...thank you.  Anyways, this week has been great.  The first full day I was here, I was lucky enough to meet the U.S. Ambassador to Panama, the Minister of Education in Panama and Panama City's main Univerisity's President. Quite a day and hopefully indicative of things to come. This was all at a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new English Language Immersion Program that a Fulbright Fellow (Christine, another friend down here) has co-created.

The next day, Libby and I made our way to the Panama Canal.  I have been reading a book about the history behind the canal for a while now (really long book) which gave me an appreciation for what I was looking at that I wouldnt have otherwise had.  Although the "museum" was pretty underwhelming, and I'm still unsure how the U.S. gets 0 profit from this canal anymore after basically building the whole thing (they said Panama grosses about $400,000 a day from it), it was an incredible experience. 

The past 5 or so days have been "Carnaval" here--a huge festival/celebration in the streets that is celebrated all throughout Panama and all throughout Latin America.  What I have summed it up as is a week long tailgate with a little more dancing at night.  Here in Panama City, (not as crazy as other parts of Panama from what I've been told) a long street is blocked off with people walking or dancing along it, lots of drinking and music (mucho reggaeton) and kids squirting squirt guns or throwing confetti on you (or, in my case, straight into my face.)  But the whole city pretty much shuts down from the 4th to the 8th including schools and bars--pretty wild.

Yesterday, Libby, Christine and I took a ferry to a small, quaint town and beach on Taboga Island.  Some great views along the way and I liked the island itself.  The picture here is of the town on Taboga.  I thought it was a fine beach, yet was warned continually that its a terrible beach compared to the rest in Panama....I'll take that as an encouraging sign to say the least.

So, over my week here in Panama City, I've done some really fun things, met many good, interesting people (both Panamanian and American), and have tried to pick up as much as I can of the Panamanian Spanish and culture--truthfully, just been living the tourist's life so far.  I make my trek to the country side of Panama by taking a 7 hour bus ride to David tomorrow. I'm excited and ready as I'll ever be.  Bueno, hasta pronto mis amigos y ¡que te vaya bien!