This has been an adventurous week…..perhaps more than I would have liked. Let me tell you the story of my trip to Panama. It all began Thursday, when before school. I (as I have done EVERY week) dropped my laundry off at the hotel. Then went to school and made my speech and said goodbye to all the teachers there. I was planning on taking Miguel out to eat, so didn’t have to say goodbye to him quite yet. I met “the kids” for coffee, since some of them are taking off (sorry Jon, I may have missed my chance there), and then went back to the hotel to pack. I looked for my clothes, but they were nowhere to be found, so I told someone I REALLY needed them, and then Miguel got there. He also taught my neighbor across the hall (Donald), so we all visited, then left for dinner. Martin met us there, and we had a good time. Around 10p, I came home and tried to finish packing…but NO CLOTHES!!!! I had a few things I hadn’t worn that week, sweat pants, etc. but my nice stuff and most of my underwear is not anywhere to be found! OKKKKK, so I pack what I have, figuring I’ll buy somethings if I need to, and go to bed for the 4am shuttle.
The shuttle didn’t come until 5:20 and my flight left at 5:55. We called the company, a taxi, all kinds of things, but no luck until the shuttle finally arrived…and still had to pick up 3 more people! This was not looking promising. I was just a LITTLE ANGRY, but calmed down, and finally decided I was done with adventure. If I couldn’t get to Panama, I was just going to come home, leaving the stuff I still had at the hotel to be mailed. I can live without that stuff if I can live without underwear! But when I got to the airport, the wonderful guys at COPA put me on the next flight, walked me through integration, and actually put me on a plane that got to Panama only 30 minutes after mine did! Wow!
So I go to the hotel, and it is another nightmare! Only warm showers, no information about the city, no way to find my way around and to top it all off my mini-bar was locked! I finally just went to sleep. I decided to go shopping the next day, since I needed clothes. The people in Panama DRESS!!! They are also SMALL!!! Remember the clothes in Singapore Nicole? All size 12 and below. Well, I’ve given birth to one of the triplets, but no way am I a size 12! So no clothes. I got back to the hotel and my room was still unmade, so no clean towels either. I was a basket case! Did I mention it had rained the WHOLE time I was there?
I called a friend of mine at home and he talked me down from the trees. Reminded me why I was here…oh yeah, to experience life! So the next morning I checked out of the hotel, went to the car rental place, and rented a car. I drove to the Panama Canal, which was really neat, then decided to see the Caribbean side of Panama. Did I mention I got lost a lot going to the Canal? And I got lost more going to Colom…so much so that by the time I got there it was almost dark, not a good time to be driving when you have NO idea where you are going.
The roads in Panama are interesting. The signs usually have an arrow in the right direction before you turn, but no marker at the turn! And the roads are TINY!!! The look like a back alley you are turning down. So I think I’ve missed every turn I was supposed to make so far. Anyway, I ended up in Colom. There is NOTHING to see in Colom. Think Havana AFTER Castro. It looked a lot like Havana, actually. I ended up in the Meryland Hotel, and no, that is not a misspelled word. Wow…I was waiting for the shower curtain scene. So early this morning I checked out and headed to Portofino on the Caribbean coast, which the guide book says has nice hotels. I couldn’t find them. So after getting REALLY lost in Portofino, which is REALLY small, I decided it was time to try the Pacific coast. I’ll bet not many people can say they went from McDonald’s to McDonald’s and coast to coast in one long driving day, but I did!
So now I’m in a Golf Resort on the Pacific coast, debating whether or not to head back to the city tomorrow or just stay here and lay by the pool. I’ll let you know!
Love you guys…don’t you wish you were having this much adventure?!
Earline