Well, again, it's been a long time since my last post. I'm sorry I haven't been much of a blogger lately . . . highlights of the last couple months include Sarah coming out to visit (yay!!) and going to the Botanical Gardens with Laura.
But probably the biggest event lately was my trip to Panama. If you would like to see more pictures, here's the link to my Facebook album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.
So, my Panama trip began with me flying out of the little Newport News airport for the first time. It's so little, I think just under 10 gates and 2 baggage carousels. My flight left around 2 pm in the afternoon, which was nice because it gave me a chance to pack that morning. The flight was from Newport News to Atlanta, where I would catch my flight into Panama itself. As we neared Atlanta, the captain notified us that there were thunderstorms over Atlanta and we would be doing loop-de-loops until the storm passed. We finally landed and my next flight was several terminals over (Altanta is a huge airport and you have to next an underground train to get to the next terminal). I ran and made it just in time for the last boarding call. As I found my seat and sat down, I noticed that several people with foreign passports where filling out forms. But then I noticed some with US passports had the same form, I realized that I need one too and asked the passenger sitting next to me. He said it was a visa to get into Panama and they had been selling them at the gate, but you can also buy them once you get into Panama.
The flight to Panama was nice and uneventful. We did fly over Cuba, which I thought was interesting. I did see one island, but I not sure if it was part of Cuba or one of the Bahammas. As we flew into Panama, it was dark and people were taking pictures as we passed over the Panama Canal. Once I got off the plane, it was time to wait in the line for customs . . . once I got the front of the line I then found out that they were selling visas back at the end of the line :(, and just in time for another plane-load of people to get in front of me in the line. As a side note, some officials were handing out little papers on Swine flu, and they did have us stand in front of a camera that takes body temp, as a way to screen for people who might be ill.
I was so glad I had prearranged for a driver from my hotel, Country Inn and Suites, to be waiting with sign with my name for me at the airport. The driver was very nice and spoke a little English. We drove through downtown Panama City at night, with it's many skyscrapers. We turned a corner, however, and entered a rougher area of the city. Lot's of people were walking around, and I don't think it would be a smart place to go if you looked like a rich tourist.
My hotel room was very nice, and had a great view of the Panama Canal at night. I could see one or two big ships making their way even in the dark. The next morning I woke up, had a great breakfast with some wonderful fresh fruit. I knew that Dan would be getting in later that day, and I was supposed to meet another Navy wife in the hotel lobby at 3, so in the mean time I decided to take a little walk. I knew from my Panama guide book were I was and that it was a safe touristy type area. Most of my pictures are from the Calzada Amador, a causeway built during the construction of the Panama canal. It has palm trees and beautiful street lamps lining it along with lots of park benches, with lots of familes going for a stroll with their dogs and strollers.
The flowers and the plants were so pretty and interesting! I did see several lizards (maybe about a foot long from nose to tail) who were pretty skittish about getting their pictures taken. Once I had walked around 2 miles from my hotel down to some shops on Isla Perico, I was so thirsty! Panama is definetly in the tropics and very humid! Most of the shops were closed, but I did find one little store that was selling some sodas. I found what I thought was a "botella de agua", but it turned out to be "Agua de coco" or coconut water! It was vaguely sweet and bland, and not very appetizing, but I was thirsty and it did the job. As I walked back up the causeway, I turned around and saw Dan's ship coming up the canal! It was the first time I had seen that ship since they pulled away from the pier in April!!
I returned to the hotel and cooled off until meeting up with Danielle, the other Navy wife. We got a taxi and heaed to the shipyards. I'm sure the taxi driver wondered why two crazy American ladies wanted to go there, and the guard looked suspiciously at us, but did let us through when we showed him our military IDs. We walked on the ship, and both of our husbands came to meet us!! It was so good to see Dan after such a long time. Dan still had some work he had to finish, but we finally got off the ship and had dinner at TGIF restaurant attached to our hotel. It was funny how all the food names were in English but all the food descriptions were in Spanish. Dan was able to stay until midnight, as they had to be back on the ship by 1 am.
The next day while Danielle and I were waiting for our husbands to finish their work, we went to an Indian handicraft market in an old YMCA gym. The Kuna indians of Panama make beautiful cloth designs called "molas" see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mola_(art_form)
They were also selling many little trinkets and jewelry. I ended up buying a paiting (oil on canvas), which I still need to get framed. I did buy a mola handbag a little later at another spot . . . I'll definetly have to take some pictures of it because it is really pretty! We also later had a wonderful fish lunch at an outdoor restaurant!
Once Dan got off, we at first were going to go to one restaurant highly recommended by my guide book. However, it turned out to be in the older and poorer part of the city (which was off limits for Dan). We asked our cabbie to take us to another restaurant, but suddenly something broke in the car (the axel maybe?) and we weren't going anywhere for a while. The cabbie called for another cab to come get us, and thankfully even though it was the rough part of the city we broke down right in front of the National Police building. We ended up eating at a very very nice Italian restaurant called "Rino's", and later had some drinks down at a outside bar on the Calzada.
My final day was both a little sad and happy. We had dinner at a downtown American-style mall at the Hard Rock Cafe. It was sad to say goodbye to Dan that night as he had to return to the ship, but I was also very thankful to have been able to see him during a deployment. Lord willing, I hope to make a 2nd trip to Panama for our anniversary in several months. Panama was quite an experience!
