Mucho Gusto, Panamá

Hello from Lima! It’s been a very exciting few days since I last wrote. It’s actually probably been more than a few, since I am working with very limited Wi-Fi access. Our apartment in Miraflores is amazing, but we haven’t gotten the internet hooked up yet. For a while, I was able to go to Larcomar, a shopping center about a 10 minute walk down the Malecon (the street that runs along the coast), but they only offer free Wi-Fi up to a certain monthly limit. So, for now, I am restricted to using the Wi-Fi provided by cafes. It’s been really nice, though, not to be able to access Facebook or Netflix, especially because it’s allowed me to make some good progress on Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal (it’s just as good in Spanish!).

In my last post, I mentioned that I was going to venture away from the airport in Panama and explore the city for a few hours. Well, “explore” is a generous word for what I did, but it was still a great experience. To ensure that I was able to get back to the airport in time for my early flight the next morning, and to help ease my grandmother’s fears about taxi drivers in Central America, I arranged for transportation from my hotel. It was actually the same price that a cab would have cost, and I got to have a guy meet me with a little sign at the airport, so I think it was definitely worth it! My flight got in around 9 pm, and it was about a 30 minute drive to Casco Viejo (interchangeably called Casco Antiguo), the historic part of Panama City. It’s a beautiful place, right along the water and full of colonial architecture and flowers (if you’ve been to the walled city within Cartagena, it’s pretty similar, although without the walls). I was staying at Casa Nuratti, a really cool hotel known for its rooftop bar. It felt more like a hostel than any hotel I’ve been to before; it was full of young travelers and had a lot of communal spaces with a very low-key vibe. I dropped off my bags, changed my shoes (I wore my hiking boots on the planes to save suitcase space and to make sure they are nice and broken in for my treks in August), and went out to wander around for a bit.

My cute little nook!

Spotted while wandering

Around 10:30, I went up to the hotel bar, which was really cute, full of twinkle lights and cushioned benches, and had a gorgeous view. I’ve never walked into a bar by myself before, and it was a bit intimidating, but I picked up a margarita and grabbed a seat across from two other Americans (a guy and a girl) who seemed to be deep in conversation. After looking through all the pictures on my phone a few times (there was no Wi-Fi at the bar, which is definitely reasonable but makes being alone much more intimidating – feel free to comment on what this says about today’s society), I was pretty bored. My margarita, however, was still half full, so I sat and looked around for a while. Lucky for me, the girl (hi went down to her room to check on something, so then the guy (hi Skylar!) and I were both sitting awkwardly by ourselves. Lucky for me, Skylar is a friendly and socially competent person, so he said something that broke the ice, and the three of us (when Tine returned) talked for a while.

Eventually, we decided to go to a different bar, so we picked up Tine’s friend and travel companion Megan and ventured out into the city. We went to another rooftop bar first, where we just sat and talked for a while, and then walked downstairs to a bar called ZAZA, which is THE BEST CLUB I HAVE EVER BEEN TO. It was very classy, with sleek black decorations, an outdoor patio (which looks just like the one at Red Maple, for my Baltimore readers), and an exclusive VIP area upstairs. The best part by far, however, was the equations that were written all over the walls. I have never before danced to Spanish music while looking at the Fibonacci Sequence, but this place made it happen. We talked to quite a few other travelers, and danced until the bar closed at 4 am. I took a very quick cat nap in my hotel room, and then packed up to head back to the airport.

Just the Mona Lisa watching over the bar

In case you forgot the 20th digit of pi

!!!!!

All in all, I loved my time in Panama. I definitely didn’t do any of the typical tourist stuff (the Canal, the rainforest, etc.), but I learned about a lot of it from my American buddies, and it seems like a great place to go on vacation!

This post has already gotten quite long, so I’ll save Peru news for another day. If you’re reading this, I probably miss you a lot! I hope June is off to an absolutely wonderful start for all of you, hasta luego!