Tying loose ends..

Tuesday, August 15th

Today´s order of business: taking care of fixing war wounds.

Once again our sleep was so great that we nearly overslept. What is Julissa´s family thinking of us now? That we are lazy? Oh well, we went to MIT with their daughter so at least we can pretend to be hard workers. In the morning we played a bit with Chloe and Andrea because today is Panama´s Foundation Holiday so Andrea did not have to go to school. Jana Karla also stayed at home so she hanged out with us.

Some time later, Don Gregorio came back home and took us to the logistics company that is researching what to do with Rosinante. So far we know that it would cost about $1700 to ship it to Colombia and only God knows how much to ship it back to the US. However, after the meeting with Mr. Hernandez he gave a round estimate of less than $500 for the whole thing including his services. We hope that this is right and he agreed to provide a final and more trustworthy estimate tomorrow. Let´s all pray. We went around town with Alexey after that and got the local newspapers at the Super 99 supermarket. Once there we also purchased some desserts and got my watch wrist band fixed (Honey, awesome watch but I have not been able to use it due to the band malfunction). The watch still does not work but the guy says it´s not due to the battery but he needs to do a thorough inspection for $25. I took my watch and decided to explore other options later in the week.

We looked for similar cars in the market using the classified ads in the newspapers. From the looks of it, we would be getting a lower price here than in the states for Rosinante which is not a good deal for us. So we will wait and see what the Mr. Hernandez says tomorrow to make a decision.

Next we went to a hostel in downtown Panama City. This place is packed with hippies and other Jamaican wannabe kinds. There is a bulleting board there that could have some ads for people taking sail boats from Panama to Cartagena, Colombia. The only ads that I see are for $250US per person. The guy in charge tells me that if I am not staying at the hostel I can´t look at the bulleting board. However, he tells me, there is a captain of one of the boats here and he can talk to me if I wanted to. We talked for a while but he looks weird. An older looking guy with a Swedish accent, an earing and skin that has been cut repeatedbly by the sun. Something was not right with this guy but he assured us that he was legit and could take us as soon as Sunday to Colombia. He only needs 2 other people (total of 4 passengers to make economic sense he says) and we are off. The trip would include a stopover at the San Blas islands. As our conversation nears its end, the hostel managers comes and reprimands the captain for conducting business in the hostel with people not staying in the hostel. He also blurs out something about ¨We have records and letters of all boat captains that have robbed tourists and are beeing looked for by the police¨. Now this is something that we want to know.

So I end my conversation with the captain and leave not before stopping by the hostel management booth. The guy tells me that this captain is looked for by the police because he got in trouble with the Kuna aborigens at the San Blas islands some time back. He tells me that he is not good news and look for some other boat. I give the house number since apparently he knows a more suitable captain. Now, I am not sure if he is just trying to take the business away from the original boat captain or simply being responsible with tourists but we will never know.

Back at the house we get ready with Doña Irma, Jana Karla and the little girls to go to lunch. We do this at a great chinese place near China town. It was immense! Tons of food. Jana Karla comes out on top and pays for the meal after Alexey gets distracted by Doña Irma. Chloe wants to keep eating and we end up waiting for a while because she keeps eating.. she is adorable.

Next we take my $12 vietnamese backpack for repair at the chinese shoe repair store. She quotes $8 but leaves it at $7 after tough negotiations. We will pick it up tomorrow. Now we go for a drive around town. We visited the Balboa Hotel, Clayton, El Charco, etc.. really cool stuff. We passed around the Canal again and saw giant ships passing through. I can only imagine the size of the ships that will be passing by here if the referendum approves the expansion of the canal to include access for PostPanamax ships!

After our long trip around the city, we head back to the house and Alexey does some internet and phone calling downstairs. He has found a way to bang the monitor just right that it allows us to work on the computer and have internet anytime (I am writing from here now). As far as we are concerned the computer is now fixed! I stayed upstairs however and had an awesome conversation with Don Gregorio about the old times when he used to fish around his old home. The way that he got lost in the sea once and the other time when he slept burried in the dirt after flipping his boat too late at night to come back home. I just finished reading the Old man and the Sea and everything he was saying just hit a chord. So this weekend we might be going for an overnight fishing trip with him. I can´t wait! Last time I went fishing with my uncle I was traumatized after seeing the little fish die a slow death gasping desperatedly for air.

So then Don Gregorio took Alexey and I to the celebrations of the Foundation of Panam Viejo. The holiday was being celebrated by the ruins of the old city. We went there and the Attorney General of Panama was present. We were certainly not dressed appropriately but the guard did not seem to care and let us in. We saw a bit of the ceremony and fireworks. Then we ate some street meat sitting at a roadside bench. The tamales were awesome as well as the chicken and the fried sweet corn balls (don´t remember the actual name of this delicacy).. really great!

The rain had poured down this afternoon so our shoes that were drying in the back terrace got soaken wet again. They are still recovering from rafting in Costa Rica. Don´t know if they will evern get dried. We wore sandals to the celebrations tonight and since everythig was mud our feet were covered in it. Got back and took a shower.. tomorrow we will try to finalize our car shipping situation and plan our trips through Panama to discover the country. Julissa´s family keeps going out of their way to make us feel at home. We do feel at home here!!..