I am very behind in posting updates about a few weekend adventures and daily life in the classroom at school, so hopefully now that I have been surprised with a four-day weekend, I will get some updates posted!!
My practice teaching partner from orientation was assigned to a school in Panama City, so after three weeks of nearly being attached at the hip, we were separated for the remainder of our semester here in Panama. On the Wednesday night before St. Patrick’s Day weekend, I received a text from my long lost other half inviting me to Panama City for the weekend so that we could celebrate St. Patrick’s Day together. I was excited for this invitation because this year was my first real St. Patrick’s Day that I could celebrate with fun because for the past three years, while I was in college, I have always been in Woodbridge, VA with my fellow crewtons for spring training over our spring break. This year turned out different; no double practices, no trying to find something green that I could row in, this year was just fun.
Friday, the day before St. Patrick’s Day, Amy, Jennifer, and I headed for the bus terminal after school so that we could get to the city before dark. Once we arrived at the terminal/mall in the city, we met up with Maddie and ate dinner and then we were whisked away to her local hang out bar, Al’fuego, where we met up with the other city volunteer. It was a nice night out and catching up with people I had not seen in almost a month.
For the majority of St. Patrick’s Day the three of us from Santiago were left to roam and explore the city on our own until it came time for our shenanigans to start. We stayed in the historic district of the city, Casco Viejo, which is a UNESCO world heritage sight and because of this, it is slowly being beautifully restored. Right next door to our hostel, we discovered the church which housed the infamous “Golden Altar.” The altar is grand and completely covered in gold. The story goes: When the pirate Captain Morgan came to Panama, he wanted the golden altar. The priest in the church knew this, so before the pirate’s arrival, he painted the entire altar black. Upon Captain Morgan’s arrival, the priest convinced the pirate that someone else had already stolen the altar and what he saw was the best that they could do to replace it. Captain Morgan some how believed this and was even convinced by the priest to donate towards a fund to raise money to replace the golden altar.
Walking around Casco Viejo felt like we were walking around an 1800s Caribbean town straight out of a movie, perhaps Pirates of the Caribbean. Once we reached the Point, we could see where the historic met with the modern. The Point offered wonderful views of the modern city with towering sky scrapers. Standing at this point I could really see how so many other people have been right in their assessment that the money earned from Canal really does stay in the city and is not distributed about the rest of the country. If you think the distinction between the haves and have nots in the US is bad, you have seen nothing until you come to Panama. After gazing at the city, we began our walk along the bay. First to the fish market, where Amy and I each tried ceviche’, a cold treat served by cooking varieties of fish, shrimp, or octopus in lemon juice (the acidity of the lemon juice cooks the seafood so that it can be served cold). We continued walking towards the city, stopping at a man with a cart so that we could have respou, which is a cone of shaved ice and flavor with condensed milk drizzled on top and sometimes also with some kind of sweet syrup too. Once we finished our cold sugary treats, it was time to stop and ask how to get to the place we wanted to eat at for lunch. It was a welcomed break from the heat outside once we stepped inside the air-conditioned Crepes and Waffles restaurant. I had a sweet tooth at the moment, so I went for the sweet crepes which came with slices of banana, strawberry, whipped creme, and a scoop of raspberry ice cream, I believe. I also added a passion fruit juice/smoothie on the side too! It was sweet and delicious and perfect for a hot day in the city.
Post lunch break, we managed to find Maddie while she was looking for us just a few blocks away. While we were walking, two other gringas who were also decked out in green yelled out “Happy St. Paddy’s Day!!” We stopped and talked to them for a minute and they said we should in the place behind them because they had green beer and free green bead necklaces. We turned and looked and what do we see…..Hooters! A place none of us had ever been in the States, well, there’s a first time for everything! Amy was adamant about not going, she tried, but no, couldn’t stand to sit in Hooters. Maddie, Jennifer, and I enjoyed our green Panamanian beers and a basket of curly fries for a little while. Just kicking off the beginnings of St. Paddy’s Day fun! It was not quite time for dinner yet, so when we left, we collected Amy and hopped in a cab and drove to the other side of the city to visit the original city, destroyed by Captain Morgan in the 1500s (I think).
Panama Viejo was what you could expect from old ruins, just with a tropical twist and interesting history. The main part of the old city that is still standing is the tower of the old church; the rest of the buildings are pieces of walls and bits of foundation in the ground. As we walked around, it was nice that they had considered tourists that would come here – the information signs were in both Spanish and English. I love history and the history of this original town is rich and colorful and includes pirates!!
We had sufficient fill of touristy things for the day and were ready for a little green fun. We had made plans for dinner at the only Irish restaurant in Panama City, Bennigan’s, which of course is an American chain and has American prices and not Panamanian prices. I’d been in Panama for about six weeks at this point and was ready for a break from chicken and rice! It should be no surprise that the Guinness hamburger with onion rings caught my eye….it was perfect. St. Paddy’s Day with green beer and a giant Guinness hamburger…yum yum. I, of course, needed to gather more green things, so I asked the hostess if I could have one of the green hats that so many of the other customers were wearing. I collected three green bead necklaces and a shiny green hat throughout the day! After dinner we took a little break and then went out to a dance bar for the night and had fun. It was also nice to run into another group of gringos at the dance bar who were also celebrating St. Paddy’s Day, decked out in their green and their green and white felt hats. It was quite evident that the locals at this bar were not a fan of St. Paddy’s Day, but oh well, we still had fun!
From Panama with Love 