Gracias por yo pollo by Jeannine
Panama was fabulous! I arrived on Thursday, check in to the hotel, and then hurried away to the first of many hotel inspections. This was definitely a work trip, but I still managed to have fun. Panama City is just like any major financial city with lots of large skyscrapers, parks, and traffic. However, it is built on the ocean so that was a plus. Not much excitement on day one…not many stories. We woke up early on Friday and took the train from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean and went around the small port town of Portobello where we ventured into the land of Black Christ. They only take the Christ out of his case twice a year. Once for Easter and once for October 21st. People from all over the world make a pilgrimage to Portobello, many of them arriving on their knees. When they parade him around in October they believe that if you ask him for a miracle, it will happen if you believe in it. Many people will buy splendid dresses for the Jesus to wear the next year and that is why he has never worn the same dress twice. There were lots of knick knacks for sell outside of the church made by the Kuna Indians as well as many statues of the Jesus. We then went to see old fort ruins, the Gatun Locks, and more hotels in Panama City. Saturday morning I woke up early and went to the causeway for a partial Panama Canal transit. It was awesome and once again I have included pictures below. We arrive at our hotel, Gamboa, and had to wait 3.5 hours to check in. While we waited we had a few drinks and then decided to take a tour around the property. We got on the tram with a crazy little drag queen named Freschita (little strawberry) complete with a red wig with black dots, red boa, red hoop dress, and large boots. She was screaming and took a megaphone and started calling out to anyone on our path. Now you must understand that we are out in the middle of the jungle and there is a random drag queen screaming and raising cain in this upscale resort. We take her to her apartment and she jumps off, screams “Gracias por yo pollo” and runs into her house. We wander around the property and get to see turtles, kimono dragaons, butterflies, snakes, and orchids. By the time we’re done we can check into our room and I promptly run out to the balcony and crash on the hammock (once again pictures are below).That night at dinner my co-worker ordered me a drink that took 10 minutes to get to the table. When it came out, people were screaming and clapping. She had misunderstood the translation and ordered us 2 coconut drinks inside of coconuts the size of basketballs. They had been chopped open with a machete, hollowed out, and inside was the tastiest beverage I’ve ever had. In fact, I drank mine and half of hers. First time I’ve ever been served a drink on a plate. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera on me, so there are no pictures.The next morning we get up early, drive to the Chagres River and hop on a dug out canoe to visit the Embera Indian tribe. It poured down rain for most of the boat ride, but then the sky opened up and it was beautiful. Our boat was owned by someone other than the Indians so when we met up with the Indians on our way to their village, we had to hop from our canoe to theirs. Now mind you…these are dug out canoes, but I did a beautiful job with the transition and managed not to fall. It was my favorite part of the trip and the memory will stay with me for the rest of my life. It was a hard day and I passed out by 530pm and slept for 12 hours. Monday was spent viewing beaches and cloud forest. Check out all pictures below and you will see why I loved it so much.
Click on the picture below to see my journey to Panama. Enjoy!!!