"God Loves Tourists"

We’re officially settled in to our new home for the next six months!! 

It was a very unexciting plane ride, most of which I slept through (except when the flight attendant woke me up with a loud and angry message over the intercom for “the inconsiderate person who stole her Oprah magazine to please return it to the back of the plane immediately and remember to not take the property of others”).  We touched down in Panama, got through customs, and then waited about 45 minutes for our bus to show up.

The drive out to Gamboa was eye opening, to say the least.  This was the outskirts of Panama City, a schizophrenic mess of capitalism and poverty intertwined.  We’d pass fruit stands by the side of the road, corrugated metal shacks, corrugated metal strip malls directly across the street from massive American-style malls, at least two dozen KFCs, Taco Bells, McDonalds’, etc., and throngs of people waiting for buses in the afternoon heat.  It was an industrial, pseudo-westernized wasteland unlike I’ve ever seen, both shocking and fascinating.  It makes me feel at once so grateful for what I am able to call home and so ignorant of a world I’ve hardly experienced.

Once we entered the outskirts of Gamboa, however, industrial wasteland transformed to rural rainforest, full of lush greens and bright reds. The road followed the rainforest all the way out, where it dramatically opens onto the Panama Canal, complete with massive container ships.  It was incredible, and to think that the hand of man created this feat of nature.

Once we were dropped off at the tiny school campus we’ll be staying at (we are literally the only people here besides a chef and staff member), we decided to head into town to “El Viejo” (The Old Man), a local convenience store.  Along the way, we spotted an iguana, found the local bar (the size of a small camper), and spotted the sign on the local church – “God Loves Tourists”.  El Viejo was more a small front room in a house than a convenience store, but it made up for size in charm.  I enjoyed my first authentic Coca-cola made with sugar can and sold in glass bottles.

So about our accommodations.  When they told us we’d be living in a schoolhouse, I definitely underestimated just how accurate that statement is.  Our eight-person room is literally lined with chalkboards, and our “closets” are basically cubbies for books.  It’s actually kind of cute – summer camp bunkhouse-ish – and air conditioned (a huge plus!).  Even better, our room is directly across the hall from the bathroom, right next to the classroom, and two doors down from the kitchen.  Talk about location.  I may never change out of my pajamas…

But that was yesterday.  Now, we're sitting in the lobby of the Gamboa resort, freeloading on their wifi.  Today, we’re on our own again.  No professors are around yet, so this still feels like vacation.  We'll be off to Panama City soon to find somewhere to watch the Super Bowl (hooray *sarcasm*).  But we’ll see what Monday, and the beginning of Tropical Ecology brings.