The REAL Panama

Today we finally escaped the clutches of the city, albeit not without some trials and travails (need I mention the GPS again?). The day started off well enough... we had a real breakfast this morning! Instead of just the two slices of toast we've been living on for breakfast since arriving, we had toast PLUS fruit and cereal and juice. Aaaaah, heaven. And when the waitress asked us if we would like some meat to go with it, we nearly fainted with joy. Jenn ordered bacon and I ordered sausage and our mouths were watering with anticipation... and then our orders came. Turns out they eat bacon one hair shy of raw here and it also seems that "sausage" translates to "hot dog". Seriously, a hot dog. For breakfast. Ah well, still better than toast! I think.

After getting out of the city... and then being brought back into the city (the GPS is not our friend).... and then hitting a detour where the whole, entire higway was closed, just closed.... we finally made it to lush green rolling hills and wide open skies. Aaaah. We made our way to a tiny little town called El Valle de Anton which is quite literally a one-street town. No lie, when I called last night to make our hotel reservation, the guy gave me directions by simply saying "It's across from the supermarket". Period, end of directions. I love it here. Within one hour, I had already spoken more Spanish than in the previous 3 days combined. And everyone knows everyone. And life is simple and straightforward and slow and this is where I will learn about how Panamanians really live.

The place we're staying is SO charming I can hardly stand it. Our room is up on the third floor and right outside of our door is a terra cotta patio overlooking the town that is full of rustic furniture and lazy hammocks (I am laying in one as I write this!). The people that run the place are extremely kind and helpful and they have a shop downstairs where they sell things that they make by hand in the back of the building. Oh, and the coolest part for me... the resident titi monkey that lives out back! When I asked the guy about it, he said we could pet it so now me and the monkey are best buds. He realized immediately that I was a sucker for monkeys so when I started petting him, he raised up his one arm just a little... when I caught on and started rubbing under his arm he kept raising it higher and higher until his bliss just became too much to bear and he fell over on his side, arm still raised for me to rub underneath. I have a sneaking suspicion he may be making a secret trip to the US in the coming days.

We went for lunch (which meant leaving the hotel, turning left and walking 10 feet) and had a fabulous meal. The lady that runs the restaurant takes the order, makes all of the food and drinks and handles the money. We ordered pineapple juice and she actually went in the back and made it fresh, right there and then, like from a real pineapple! It was divine. Our entire bill, including homemade sandwiches, sides, tea and FRESH squeezed fruit juice: $11. We already know what we're having for breakfast there tomorrow. And lunch.

And then we went for a horseback ride. The guy came with his horses and picked us up right in front of our hotel. We rode for about two hours up back roads and into the hills. You should also know that Jenn is a true equestrian who owns her own horse and rides approximately 4 times a week. The last time I rode was, oh, 3 years ago. Her horse immediately knew who was in charge: Jenn. My horse also immediately knew who was in charge: him. But it was all good and I was happy to just chill and let him feel like the big man on campus for the duration of our time together. The funniest part of our ride was when we were going down the road and we came upon another horse who was just standing there, no rope or tie, just eating along the side of the road. Our guide Jorge says "Oh, there's my horse. He got away last night and I've been wondering where he got to". And just like that he threw a rope around him and carried on as if losing a horse is just a daily occurence. That seems to be how they handle everything here, with a complete and utter sense of nonchalance, which I TOTALLY dig.

Speaking of which, every time I come to Central or South America, I am again reminded (whether I want to be or not) of just how much time we waste getting annoyed by the little things in life. We are always in such a hurry that we get truly frustrated when we're slowed down, even a little. Not the case here, to say the VERY least:

When the internet at our first hotel in Panama City kept shutting down, I asked the lady at the desk about it and she said "Yeah, they just shut it off sometimes". No 'Sorry for the inconvenience' or 'Yeah, isn't that annoying, I'm going to call to complain' or even an 'I don't know what's wrong, that's so unusual'. Just a fact of life that it works only randomly and that's that. And yesterday afternoon when one of our new pals went to pay for lunch, he gave a credit card and the waiter came back and said that the credit card machine wasn't working. There were no flinches of shock or annoyance or inconvenience, you just go 'huh' and pay with cash instead. Same thing with ordering in restaurants. Sometimes you find that instead of getting your heart set on something and ordering it only to find out that they don't have it that day, it may just be easier to ask what they DO have. And when I went to pay for a bottle of water in a convenience store, I was third in line. Should have taken about 2 minutes until it was my turn to pay, right? It took nearly ten. Literally. I just started to laugh to myself. No one else was in a hurry, no one else had anywhere else to be and no one else seemed to think it was in any way, shape or form a waste of time to wait 10 minutes in line to pay for a bottle of water.

And just today alone we went to an ATM that didn't work, tried to pay for gas with a credit card only to be told that the credit card machine was down and Jenn tried to use the bathroom in a convenience store and, only after getting the soap on her hands, realized there was no water.

At this point, I laugh about it. You have to just know it coming in, accept it for what it is and not let it frustrate you because you will NEVER change it. Jenn's still working on it.... :-) Speaking of whom, my hearty traveling companion is sick, sick, sick. She is quite the trooper and has kept moving the whole time but called it a night tonight around 6 in the hopes that if she can just get one really great night of sleep, she can whip it! Either way, I have very little doubt she'll be up and at 'em bright and early tomorrow, never one to let a little sickness get in the way of fun!

P.S. Happy Birthday, Mom! And Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!