Día 10: Una Sudorosa Visita al Icónico Canal

This morning we got ready a little earlier and decided to make a quick coffee run before school. This would give us a chance to practice our Spanish and get a boost of energy before our four hours of classes. Unfortunately, we quickly realized that Panamanians do not run their coffee shops with the same sense of urgency and efficiency as the US. Not only were NONE of the stores open yet (it was 8am!), but the one store that was open was…well, let us explain. After walking around for a few minutes, we located the singular shop that was open and slipped in thinking 10 minutes should still be plenty of time to get a cup of coffee. Turns out, it was nowhere near “quite enough time” so it was slightly embarrassing to stumble into our class a few minutes late, but luckily not any later than our classmate Felizando. Also, to our surprise, Ervan was also there. Turns out he had just skipped school yesterday, but he was back and Sutton was able to finally put a name to the stories. 

During class, we worked on using imperfecto versus preterito indefinido, and learning when was the proper time to use each tense. This included using some conversation practice, listening to stories online, and completing some workbook pages. The morning went by fairly quickly, possible thanks to the coffee we finally found. 

After class, we returned to the apartment to have a lunch of panamanian tortillas, fried eggs, and some chicken. While probably a meal most commonly eaten in Panama for breakfast, it was just as good for lunch! This gave us plenty of energy for what we were going to do next. 

Our afternoon activity was the MOST iconic experience one can have in Panama. You guessed it, visiting the Panama Canal! We drove in the world’s most rundown taxi (no doors, no tires, no suspension) with a taxi man whose personality almost made up for the looks of the car. It did not, however, make up for a the bumpiest ride of my life. One word to describe the ride was jiggly. The drive was surprisingly long and when we arrived, the popularity of the canal quickly became evident. We stood in a crowd, purchased tickets, and briefly walked through the museum due to strict Covid parameters. The museum was also undergoing renovation so the exhibit was pretty bare bones, but we were able to grasp some information regarding the history of the canal’s construction and how expensive it is for big ships to cross the canal (anywhere from $120,000 to $200,000). Holy cow! Cross your fingers that your kid does not wish for that for Christmas, because that will dry up any bank account real fast. 

After making our way up to the observation deck, we joined the hundred other people hoping to see a boat cross through the Miraflores Locks. These locks allow the boats coming from the Caribbean to be lowered close to 13 meters to be able to enter into the pacific. This is done by draining the water out of one side of the lock gates so the boat becomes level, then opening them and allowing the boats to pass through. This sounds slightly confusing, but imagine it basically like an elevator for boats. While the process is not overly complicated, it ended up taking close to an hour to complete, and the canal on average only takes around 13 boats a day because of this. We happened to be there right as a giant cruise ship and cargo ship were going through the locks. It was so much fun to see the people waving from the cruise, and it felt very special after we learned that only roughly 1.5% of the boats that pass through the canal are cruises. The only frustrating part was needing to wear a mask when it is simultaneously 100 degrees outside and 100% humidity. While not quite as active an experience as we had expected, we felt like we had completed the top of our to-do list of quintessential Panama activities! 

One fault in our afternoon plans was timing when we left the canal. Unfortunately, we picked 4 o’clock, which happens to be the start of rush hour. When we finally arrived back in Casco riding with our faithful Taxi Man Carlos, we rushed to Casco Antiguo for our sunset bike ride. Upon arriving at the school we caught up with Lisa, and also met Leoni who would be joining us for the ride and also happens to be from the Netherlands. 

After Kiki arrived we went in search of the bikes and got started on the tour. The rain clouds that had been looming all day miraculously disappeared as we began the ride and got a beautiful view of Casco Viejo and the surrounding neighborhoods as we rode across the Cinta Costera. Kiki gave us an energetic and passionate introduction to Casco Viejo (and it’s four other names). He talked about how Panamanian schools are named after random countries. For example, he went to La Escuela de Finlandia. What’s funny, however, is that the students learn absolutely nothing about that country. As we continued our ride, we learned about how Panamanian apartments do not have elevators, so it is a HUGE pain to carry all of the furniture to the rooms. While Kiki’s stories were fascinating, the stunning sunset and Iphone commercial-worthy panoramic views fought for our attention. Every once in a while, runners or rollerbladers or police on motorcycles would blast past. It was truly a beautiful scene of humans and the environment in harmony, and it made me wish that Houston had extensive structures and roadways dedicated to biking and exercising. 

Despite the slight drizzle and sunset that was slightly cloudy, this was probably one of our favorite moments on the trip. We got back to the bike rental shop pretty late and were starving since we hadn’t eaten since after our class this morning. Unfortunately, we were stuck outside La Isabela Suites for a whole ten minutes (which is A LOT of time when your stomach is eating it's lining) because our mom’s had the key. The concierge eventually caved and let us in when we (Sutton) gave her the death look. We enjoyed a delicious ravioli with pesto, brocoli, and salad dinner, wrote this FANTASTIC blog, and went to sleep.