7.9.2010

I definitely didn't think these last few days in Panama City were going to be any kind of fun, but they have been!
On Thursday we went to the YMCA where all the local people set up stands to sell things. I had a few gifts to buy, but I was disappointed because everything was so touristy. It all said Panama all over it. Haha. Guess I'm not the typical tourist. We spent like 3-4 hours there. I wanted to leave the whole time because I wasn't feeling well, but I managed to find a few things.
After we were done shopping, our dear bus driver, Dario, drove us to The Causeway for more shopping and food. Dario must think all we do is eat and shop - we stopped at shops and food markets easily once a day. :) We love to eat.
The causeway was gorgeous! You could see mountains in the background, then the huge high rises in downtown, and then the water and boats. Muy bonita! There were tons of ships in the distance too, waiting to enter the canal. We walked through the shops a little bit, and while everyone else ate lunch (Katie and I had pbjs cause we were tired of spending money on food) we walked the length of the causeway and found an amazing froyo place. We had coco froyo. Wow - it was so good.
We all came back and chilled out for a few hours... ate dinner. There was talk that some people wanted to go out (we did have 2 birthdays during the trip), and I didn't really want to, but I knew if I didn't I would regret it. We had a blast! I'm so glad I went. We all got dressed up and went to some salsa bars to practice the salsa we learned at our salsa class. ;) There was one place that was playing English music too, but it was only like 4 songs and then it was back to Spanish. Haha. A blast. I didn't go to bed until like 4am.
There are certain members among our party (who shall remain nameless) who are very demanding. If they don't want to do something - we don't do it. If they do want to do something - we do it. Very frustrating. But, you'll be happy/surprised to know that I practiced patience the entire trip and didn't say one word. :)
In any case, the said party wanted to get up early to go to the mall - so we did.. even after our late night. The mall was ridiculously huge. It was about 4x the size of international mall - easily 6-7 times the size of the Ocala mall. There were 4 major food courts... with 20 resturants a piece. Poor Katie and I got lost and she almost had a panick attack. We kept going around in circles and couldn't find a way to the other side of the mall. By the time we made it out of section D it was almost time to leave. Oops. And every time we would try and go up or down on the escalators they were always going in the opposite direction than we needed. If we were trying to go down, they would be going up, and vice versa. It was terrible. I felt like I was stuck in a weird dream - and everyone was speaking Spanish. BTW: ordering Subway in Spanish - es muy dificil. Between getting lost and eating a sandwich that wasn't what I wanted... I was ready to leave. To top it all off, Katie and I found NOTHING we liked. Absolutely nothing. We did buy $1.50 world cup shirts though. :D
We got back at about 5:30 or so and had to rush and get ready for dinner. When we first got to Panama City we had a welcome-to-Panama dinner. So, when we got back, we had a so-long-Panama dinner. :) We went to a dinner theater type restaurant where they danced all the traditional dances for you. Per usual, the menu was in Spanish, and a lot of the stuff I didn't recognize. So, I ordered the thing I did recognize: filet mignon. Unfortunately, it was no bueno. :/ And since I haven't had red meat in weeks - it made me sick. :/ It was nice for all of us to get dressed up and hang out all together though. We got Dr. Cadena a Panama shirt and on the back we wrote: "We couldn't have survived the jungle without you!" and all signed it. It turned out really cute - and she loved it!
I kinda wished we got to see all the dances at the beginning of the trip because they explained to us all the pieces of the formal dress, and the costumes they wear. There were several shops that sold dolls dressed up like the dancers, etc, but I didn't buy any because I didn't know what their significance was. Oh, well. The dancing was really cool. It was very sensual, per the typical latin-ish dance, and the boys were Cuuuuute. :) There was a live band singing and playing for us - they were awesome too!
Towards the end of the show the dancers came out into the audience to choose partners to dance with them. All the dancers chose partners; I was so relieved I didn't get picked. :) Then I felt a tap on my shoulder... Profesora Lordes (who also joined us for dinner) told one of the dancers to come get me. She makes me laugh. I did my best... pulled my best salsa/merengue moves. :) I told the guy: "I don't know what to do!" and he gave me a thumbs up. There's video of it, but I won't bore you. ;)
It was another late night, and I hadn't packed yet. We got home at 11 and Katie's and my room was a mess. Per usual. We stayed up until 1:30am trying to get everything packed and semi-organized. I tried to fit everything in one suitcase, but I was just too tired to try very hard. Good thing I didn't spend a whole lot of time on it cause my larger bag was 54lbs. I had to pull out some books and toiletries and stuff them in my other bag to get it back under weight. I wasn't about to pay $50 dollars for 4 lbs.
I'm surprised the entire traveling situation wasn't more chaotic with 22 people flying together... but it never has been. Everything went smoothly getting through security, so Katie and I went on a search for coffee. :) We wanted to go back to the little cafe shop we went to at the beginning of the trip at Cuidad del Saber before we left for the airport, but it didn't work out. Dunkin Donuts was the next best thing. Once again, ordering Spanish. It's so much harder than you think it will be. There's a lot of pointing and "no!". Haha.
The flight to Miami was rough. I thought I was going throw-up the entire 3 hours. Miserable. But, we made it here. Katie and I grabbed our bags and went through security on our own. We ended up going to the wrong gate though, so we had to backtrack. Oops. Both of us were on the phone and just following the crowd. It worked out though, because we got away from the group. We were needing a break. :) Our first American dinner? Chinese food. Haha. It wasn't that good, but at least it wasn't rice. Ironically... we both got pollo.
Getting through customs was no issue. And the passport guy even spoke English to me. What a concept! I told him how happy that made me and he just smiled and said: "You'll feel like you're back in Panama when you get downstairs!" Sure enough, I did. Everything's in Spanish.
Katie and I are just hanging out now... probably going to play cards or something.
It feels good to be back stateside!
P.S. When we could see Miami out the window we started singing 'God Bless America'. We're so patriotic!