Hicks/Dunn Panamanian Adventure

On July 14^th my parents touched down in Panama Tocumen International Airport! They landed at 9, so I just decided to meet them at the hotel. They got there around 11 and it was great to see them! It had been 6 months and 3 days – the longest I had ever gone without seeing my parents (or being home, for that matter).

In the hotel!

The first couple of days we spent in Panama city. After spending a relaxing morning in the hotel, first on the sightseeing docket was Casco Viejo – the old city that was founded after the original colony was destroyed by pirates. We walked around, had a nice lunch, and saw the Canal Museum (the same place where I had my swearing in ceremony). That night we had a delicious dinner at Beirut – a Lebanese restaurant.

Views of the city from Casco Viejo

Mom posing next to colonial ruins 

More views of the city - you can spot my favorite twisty-building on the left.

The next day we headed up to see the Canal, which was really cool. To think that it was built over 100 years ago is pretty incredible. They are currently expanding it, to be finished in 2014. We watched 2 huge ships go through with only a couple of feet to spare on either side – pretty impressive!

 Locks waiting for a ship to enter - the one on the right/far side is full and just had a ship go through it, the one on the left/close side is empty and about to let the ship in. 

Locks opening!

Pretty amazing that these huge ships pass through the locks 

with just a couple of feet of space on either side.

Huge container ship that just passed through... 

Wonder where it came from and is going?

 

After that we saw the Summit Zoo and Botanical Garden  - it wasn’t all that impressive, but we saw a few cool animals and plants:

 

Necklace-plant (so-called by Mom)

 

Turtles sunning next to a pond

 

huge palm trees!

 

Oh hi - just hanging around...

 

On the way back into the city, we stopped at the Peace Corps office to let my parents meet a few of the staff, had lunch at Pan y Canela – where PCVs go all the time when we’re at the office, we drove up Cerro Ancón (the highest point in the city), then we had a drink on the Amador Causeway before heading back to the hotel and dinner at an absolutely delicious Italian restaurant. 

View from Cerro Ancón

On Tuesday we rented a car and headed out of town. After a detour that made us drive through La Chorrera, we stopped in Santa Rita to meet my first host family. Unfortunately only my host mom, Reyna, was there. I really enjoyed seeing her though – I had a great time living there for the first couple of months.

From there we finished driving to El Valle de Antón. El Valle is in a crater of a volcano that has been dormant for millions of years (I think I’m remembering that right). Now it is one of the best places to go birding in Panama, which is already one of the most bio-diverse places on earth. We stayed in a small hotel that caters to birders. We were there with a group from the Audobon (sp? I hadn’t heard of this before…) society and one other family. Good thing that other family was there because they were in just about the same position we were with regard to bird knowledge. It was great to get to know them – their daughter is working as a music teacher in Panama City and her parents came to visit, just like mine.

Us and the family we met on the hotel's bridge

Views from the hotel

 

The one full day we were in El Valle, we went on a hike with a birding guide. We saw a few cool birds, but the coolest ones were the hardest to see, and I don’t have quite the patience required – but we also saw some cool other animals and insects including an iguana and a big spider catching a fly.

Mom and Dad on the hike in front of a gorgeous waterfall

Awesome spider wrapping it's catch of a fly.

Banana flower!

Beautiful, colorful birds

This lovely lady was nesting in a planter on our porch.

Can you see the little birds tucked underneath her?

After showering after the hike, we drove around town, had lunch at a cute restaurant, then dessert at a nice restaurant/hotel. 

On Thursday we finally headed down to Pesé and Chitré. After checking into the hotel and a lunch at Ebenezer’s (a PCV hotspot in Chitré) then finally to Pesé. After a quick stop at my house to drop off some stuff that my parents brought and take inventory of what we needed to buy. We quickly met my landlady and family, my host family, and my counterpart – César. Then we drove back to Chitré, bought a table, futon , and shelving for my kitchen. After a scarfed dinner, we drove back out to Pesé and put my house together for a couple of hours, then finally back to Chitré to crash and go to sleep.

The next day we did another run out to Pesé to have breakfast at my host family’s house (Bruni definitely put a lot of effort into it, which I was very appreciative for), stopped by the primary school (my parents were a big hit), finalized things in my house, and then headed back to Panama City.

 

Me with my landlady (almost 75 years old), her daughter and her grand-daughter

 

My host mom and her grandson sporting their gifts from NC!

 

It was a quick 6 days, but it was great to have my parents here, to see and hang out with them, and to show them my life and friends here in Pesé.

The other major perk was that I got to enjoy air conditioning, really comfy beds, and hot water for the whole time we were together. Also, since they left on an early flight the day before my training was supposed to start, so they were kind enough to rent me the hotel room for the night as well. A couple of friends and I enjoyed the pool, a massage, and room service. It was a little piece of heaven and DEFINITELY a vacation from Peace Corps life!

I was sad when they left, but it wasn’t like saying goodbye last time since I know I’m probably coming home for Christmas! We had a good trip and I hope that they will be able to come back next year.