Holidays

For the next week, all government offices are closed.  Panama is celebrating their independence from Columbia over 100 years ago.

I’ll try to relay what I was told regarding it, so if you want to google it go ahead and read the approved version.

Panama used to be part of Columbia.  At that time, they brought in the French to do the Panama Canal.  They failed and left.  It was such a fiasco – 20 000 dead from yellow fever, dengue fever, all the money spent, etc… – that the Columbians didn’t want to pursue it further.

The ‘muricans didn’t care for that point of view.  The canal has Panama city on one ocean, and Colon on the other.  All the military brass was staying in Colon, and decided to inspect the Panama city side, at which point they all boarded the train, and upon arrival at the other side, the ‘muricans arrested them all. Read more “Holidays” →

New Page

A new page – Oxidosis – has been added to the Two Gunz tab up at the right.

Can’t beat ’em

No matter how much you want to…
Instead, I got up with the roosters, went out to the lobby, and discovered the store across the street is 24 hours and has coffee.  This is worthy of mention because I got the last cup, but I’m sure they’ll make more.
Coffee in Central America is NOT the screaming addiction it is in North America, although from what I can see, it is starting to gain traction.  To illustrate, in Panama city, ever since I first came in 2005, the restaurant in the hotel I first stayed at made their coffee one cup at a time in an espresso machine.  Granted, it was good coffee, but asking for another cup wasn’t just waiting for the waitress to pour you another.  There’s no such thing as a Bunn coffee maker down here.
Occasionally, and I mean just that, I would find a place that had a big coffee urn on the go, and when I did I would hover around it until I got my fill.  But that’s me, el touristo cansado. Read more “Can’t beat ’em” →

When it rains…

When it rains around here is it doesn’t mess around.  I’m told that near the end of the rainy season, it rains harder and harder, usually beginning around 3 or 4 in the afternoon.  Now, at 4:20, I’m watching conversations across the streets, and refusals to cross.  The entire street is covered, a flowing stream that wasn’t there an hour before, and it isn’t even raining now.  This is just the run off…. which seems like a good segway into the rest of this day.
Thinking I was soooo smart and lucky yesterday to have discovered a vacancy on the other side of the pension, we switched rooms.  Mr. McSmartycok started his strut at God knows what hour, went on for ten minutes or so, and then stopped just long enough for you to start drifting off again, then broaaaawk…  If I had my slingshot I’d probably be eating chicken tonight.
So that was the morning.  Dreary eyed and a little grumpy I asked as kindly as I was able if there were any rooms left back where I was the night before, and of course the answer was no.  Great.  ok.  Moving on. Read more “When it rains…” →