Getting there....slowly but surely

So tonight is my first blog entry from Panama! Of course, being Monday night, and not Saturday night, you might ask why I have taken two days to report my arrival to this great land. Well, that´s because I arrived only a few short hours ago. HMMMm.....that brings up another question. Weren´t you supposed to arrive on Sat. night into Panama City? Why yes I was.......WAS being the key word. That is, until I came down with some type of anti-Jason-going-to-Panama-ian flu. Yep, Sat. night, over the course of about two hours, I somehow went from "hey, I feel great...can´t wait to get on the plane in the AM" to "AY CARUMBA......HAY-AY-AY.......me siento horible!!!!!!" (all said in my best spanish accent, of course). Needless to say, at 4AM on Sat morning, the thought of heading to the airport, boarding a bus to board a plane to sit in an airport to board a plane to go throught customs to find a taxi into the city to find a hotel to get up ealy the next morning to get another taxi to get another bus to ride this bus for 7 hours to find a guy with a car to take me to Boquete to.....well....all of that.......sounded pretty miserable as I struggled to simply lift my head off of the pillow. SO, I postponed the trip a couple of days and spent some time in recovery. The good news is that today, I am feeling well and have done all that stuff above up to the hotel part. Unfortunately, I did miss a couple of days of class, but I should be able to make that up. AND, if I can´t, I´m not too worried about it.

A few thoughts on the trip thus far.....

1. I flew through Houston, and it NEVER ceases to amaze me how those people feel about their state. I was reminded of this today as a number of my fellow passengers applauded when the pilot announced THE EXACT MOMENT of our crossing the line into the "great NATION state of Texas"...........uh.....barf bag please.

2. Hooked on Sokoku. My girlfriend, Ericka, gave me a Sodoku book (beginner, of course) as part of a really great "going away" goodie bag. As of this AM, I didn´t know what a Sodoku was. Tonight, I plan to work myself into a Sodoku coma within the next hour. I´m oficially hooked.

3. Man, Latin America is one HUMID piece of landmass!!!!!!! How did I forget that? In Colorado, I´m Jason....the guy with somewhat "wavy" hair who rarely has a need to wash his clothes. In Central America, I´m Yason....the guy with the giant afro, searching furiously for the nearest laundrymat.

4. Gallo Pinto isn´t always Gallo Pinto. In Costa Rica, I ate the weight of a small nation state (no, I´m NOT talking about TEXAS!) in something they referred to as Gallo Pinto. This consisted of a relatively healthy mix of black beans and rice. Basic. Good. Healthy.
Upon ordering Gallo Pinto in Panama City tonight, I learned that Gallo Pinto de Panama is a large bowl filled with a couple of beans, a couple of grains of rice, a greasy red sauce, and every piece of scrap meat they could find laying around the kitchen (and probably behind). I´m talking about sausage, hot dogs, large chunks of.....uh...."grissle"......and I don´t know what else (think, canned chili prior to the formation of the FDA)! The good news is that it was cheap. The bad news is that I may get my vegetarians anonymous card revoked (don´t worry folks, I didn´t eat it.....ordered only). Ah, the joys of experiencing a new culture.

5. The Bates Motel. OK so my hotel really isn´t that bad. I took a recommendation out of a Lonely Planet guide, and I was really just glad that they had a room. BUT, it IS a little seedy, so I´m glad it´s only one night here. I think I´ll take my chances on a shower in a couple of minutes.....wait a minute...that gives me an idea... I wonder if I can get a water proofed Sodoku book complete with a grease pencil?

So, that should do it for now. Tomorrow in the AM, I need to get the Taxi to the bus to David to the guy with the car (Carlos) to Boquete to the school and host family. It will be another long day of travel but should be nice to see some of the country by day.

As of tonight, ALL IS WELL IN PANAMA!!!!!!