Day one

Well, I finally made it to Panama. I'm sitting in my hotel room in Panama City, exhausted and ready for sleep. I've been up since around 3 am and going pretty much nonstop ever since. My flight left San Antonio pretty early, and after a short stop in H-town, I was finally finally finally on my way. My cheeks hurt from all the smiling I did today. I was giddy like children who just discovered the hilarity of farts. My flight here was only about a third of the way full, and I had an entire row to myself. AND there was a movie, too bad it was Made of Honor. Boo.

I picked up my bags, made it through customs and found my cab driver waiting for me just inside the terminal. I wonder if the novelty of someone holding a sign with your name on it at the airport ever wears off. I hope not. We exchanged pleasantries and before I knew it we were off like a flaming racehorse. The driving here is awesome. Stop signs, lane signals, traffic signals, pedestrian right-of-way and pretty much all accepted norms of driving in the US simply do not exist. It's survival of the fastest.
Also, their city buses are amazing works of art. Check this one out:

Yes, that is some sort of awesome superhero painted on the side. It makes the bus faster. There was also an amazing airbrushed portrait of Neptune on the hood, naked and holding a trident. Really.

We made it to the Miraflores locks on the canal, where I went up on top of this building and snapped a bunch of pictures while some boats ships ran the gauntlet.

These two ships were HUGE. They were loaded with over 1000 containers each. The black one slid through the canal with only two feet of clearance on each side. They moved slowly.

This is an interesting photo.

On the left, you have the Pacific Ocean, and on the left, you have the Atlantic. I've simplified the process slightly-there are several locks throughout the canal that raise and lower the vessels, but you get the gist of it.

Here's an "after" picture:

That's basically the same shot, but with the locks opened and the ship sliding on through. Also, you can kind of get an idea for how many containers these damn things were carrying. I'd like to see what's inside one of them. I hope it's not people. Ok, that's not funny, but I'm leaving it in.

Here's a picture of me looking like wet ass at the Panama canal:

Check out the JUNGLE on the other side of the canal. I feel like one of the Oceanic 6.

And this is just a picture of a guy with a shirt that I thought was really cool:

Just kidding! It says god bless panama.


I'm waking up bright and early again tomorrow morning for my flight to bocas, which should yield more colorful and jealousy-inducing pictures.