Back in the city again... we spent the last couple of days driving. We drove across the isthmus from Panama City on the Pacific coast, to the region of Colon on the Caribbean. The driving was just exhausting. I don´t know the exact kilometers, but it´s not that far - maybe 80-100 km. The roads are terrible though, and as a result it takes forever. There were so many potholes and crazy stuff going on all around us. You have to be on your toes at all times. After two days of driving here I was just completely burnt out and last night I slept like the living dead.
We visited Portobelo (in the Colon province), a famed city for the yearly religious procession that occurs to visit the relatively small catholic church there to see the black Jesus. From what I was told, people make this pilgrimage with others lashing them and pouring hot wax on them the whole way. Personally, I think the walk there (from all over the country) in the intense heat of this place would be taxing enough without having people physically abuse you along the way. I guess I´m not all that masochistic. There are some old Spanish ruins of a fortress built to defend the Caribbean coast there. It´s very nice. But there is also a lot of poverty everywhere you go here, and Portobelo was no exception. It´s hard to see the way people live here. There are a lot of slums and it´s not very safe in a lot of places. In Portobelo we stayed at a bed & breakfast owned by a couple from France. It was built on a steep hill overlooking the sea. There was one main house and 2 small cabins. We stayed in one of the cabins. They were so nice, and our view was breathtaking. Unfortunately I did not sleep well at all because I was worried all night that the monkeys might break in, and every single noise on the tin roof startled me. The power went out (as is typical in that province - they lose power all the time) so we had no fan and it was swelteringly hot. But I should reinforce that the place was really, really nice. I realized that the rainforest is so noisy... there are a million animal sounds at night. Not like at home where you hear some crickets, frogs and that´s about it when you are out in the wilderness. In the rainforest (which we were surrounded by out there) there is a whole new shift at night - during the day it-s humans and other animals that make all of the noise, at night there are just as many to take our places.
The next morning we drove to the city of Colon. This is the ´free trade zone´on the Caribbean entrance to the Panama Canal. The city is very dangerous, so we only skirted it in the car with our doors locked. The reason for heading there was to visit the canal locks at the Caribbean sea at Gatun Lake. The lake is man-made, as is the whole of the canal. We watched a few ships pass through and were lucky enough to see an example of the largest ship that is allowed to pass which carries 5000 containers. It was from Holland. The ships have to pay tariffs to pass. The tariffs are based on the load of the ship, as well as its size. This ship was the heaviest load and the longest allowed. They had to pay $195,000 to cross the canal. The ships are pulled through the locks by these little engines on tracks using long cables. I have tons of pictures, so you´ll see. There are plans to widen the canal locks to accomodate larger ships which carry up to 8000 containers. I think they said the construction was to start in the next year. We were tired after the visit and so we headed back on the precarious drive back to Panama city which took several hours.
A few things to mention that I hadn´t in my last post... everyone here drives. Very few people walk. Nobody bikes (too dangerous with the traffic and too hot). Even those who cannot afford a car have one as they buy on credit. The taxis are ultra cheap - $1 to go most places, $1.25 if you are 2 people, $1.50 for further drives. So like us coming here to the internet cafe (only a couple of blocks from Lisa´s apt), we walked, but will likely take a cab home because it´s just too hot. They really like everything American - skyscrapers, products, fashion, etc., but they seem to have this love-hate relationship... everywhere we go we seem to get discriminated against because we´re ´white gringos´(americans). It´s kind of annoying. I got pretty pissed about it when returning the rental car this morning. They think anyone who is white is American. And you don´t get that wonderful big eyed smile when they find out you are Canadian. You are a foreigner, and you are white. That´s it. But otherwise, most people here can be pretty nice. I´ve had some really good fish here, but haven´t had much in the way of traditional food (really just rice and beans - and lots of meat). Like I said, loving to emulate American pop culture, they are into the fast food and what-not like crazy. Luckily Lisa has found several healthy restaurants that don´t fry every single thing and who actually don´t scoff at the sight of a vegetable. I´ve eaten some really great fruit here - the little bananas, the regular bananas, local oranges, mangoes are in season (must buy some), avocadoes are in season (ditto), and I´ve eaten a ton of coconut. It´s so good here! I even got to drink the coconut milk out of the fruit itself at the B&B two days ago. Yum!
Today we will relax in town a bit, and the plan is to fly to the archipelago of San Blas in the Caribbean tomorrow.
Ciao!
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
Latin America
I´m here, aclimatised, but sweating profusely. It´s very hot and humid here. And apparently this is super dry! The rainy season should start in a couple of weeks and the humidity will go through the roof at that time. My travel day to get here was interesting, with a 7-hour lay-over in Atlanta. I met a woman from Toronto in one of the concourses - there are 6 of them: A,B,C,D,E,T. I visited them all partly to get some exercise, partly to entertain myself. When I arrived here it was late - around 10 PM. Stayed up late catching up with Lisa and meeting her roommate, who is francophone as well, so I was speaking French - looks like this trip I will be practicing my French a lot! :) Lisa´s got a Panamanian bf, and Marilyne is dating a Mexican, and last night we were sitting around talking with 3 different languages being spoken and various people translating various things for others. One of the guys only speaks Spanish, the other Spanish and English, the three of us girls all speak French, Marilyne speaks French & Spanish, but only a little English, Lisa speaks all three, I can make out some things they are saying in Spanish, but not a lot... it was a totally hilarious experiment in cultures colliding. We would get mixed up in languages and burst out laughing.
You will get a kick out of what I did on Saturday... Lisa and her roommate have to find a new apt, so after buying some groceries, Lisa and I headed out to meet up with Marilyne to look at apts - we saw4 of them in all. So I really got to see what living in Panama City is like. We walked a lot, but we also got rides from a few people, which I thought was just hilarious. Panama City is pretty small, so we were standing on the street corner hailing a cab, when a friend of Marilyne´s pulled up and offered us a lift. Then at the apts we visited, the landlords drove us around to them, and home again after. Lisa and I headed out later in the afternoon to a place called La Centrale - a very, very, very crowded and dusty pedestrian street lined with ultra-cheap shops. We bought a few extra towels and cheap sandals. Then we walked down to the old city: Casco Viejo. UNESCO has designated it a world heritage site because a lot of Panama City has been leveled in order to build all of the big skyscrapers that you see in most pictures. If they hadn´t made it a heritage site there would probably be nothing left of it now. What´s so fascinating is that the exterior, the facades, of the buildings are being preserved and the insides, the guts, are being completely ripped out. I have some pictures of that. They then restore the exterior and completely rebuild the interiors. Those old colonial buildings had been left to sit in squalor for many decades before the government set out to bring the old town back to life. Before heading back to Lisa´s apt, we stopped in at the main square in Casco Viejo and took in a bit of a Caribbean drum concert with some of her friends.
Sunday we rented a car - not an easy feat. Things generally move slowly around here, so I think we spent over an hour just waiting to be served. Car secured, we drove to the Pacific coast to a beach called Santa Clara and spent the whole day there. According to the locals, it´s the best beach on the Pacific (I´ve been told the beaches on that coast aren´t half as nice as the ones on the Caribbean). The beach was very nice and we were blessed with a fair bit of cloud coverage so that this ultra-white Canadian girl didn´t burn (well, except for my knee-pits, which I obviously missed with the sunscreen). My extremely white skin has been attracting a lot of attention down here. There aren´t a whole lot of foreigners. I´ve seen a few Americans, and know a couple of French girls, but that´s about it. We kind of stick out like a sore thumb. Driving here is complete insanity. Luckily I´m not a nervous driver, as I will have done a fair bit of it here by week´s end. Yesterday was a 2-hour drive to the beach and the same back. Crazy roads, big pot-holes, drivers not heeding any sort of rules at all, slow drivers, insanely fast drivers, near misses several times around me... nerves of steel, I tell you. That´s what you need to drive here. I´m doing well on that front. Got back to driving stick too.
So, this morning Lisa had to do some work and get some emails sorted out and what-not before we head out to the Caribbean coast for a couple of days, which gave me the chance to update all of you. Later this morning we´ll be heading over to the locks on the canal and then we´re going to a place called Portobelo. I don´t know much about it yet, but will update again when I get a chance. Later in the week we will fly to a place called San Blas, and also take a bus to another place whose name escapes me, but I believe is on a crater in the mountains. Heading to a part of the rainforest is still possible, but not 100% certain. We will see. Lisa´s had a lot of trouble with parasites while living in the indigenous community where she studies, and it´s a very long and difficult voyage, so we will not be going there as there isn´t quite enough time and she doesn´t want me to get sick (and frankly, neither do I). So, until the next time I´m able to update you... hope the weather is steadily warming up back home and take care of yourselves!
You will get a kick out of what I did on Saturday... Lisa and her roommate have to find a new apt, so after buying some groceries, Lisa and I headed out to meet up with Marilyne to look at apts - we saw4 of them in all. So I really got to see what living in Panama City is like. We walked a lot, but we also got rides from a few people, which I thought was just hilarious. Panama City is pretty small, so we were standing on the street corner hailing a cab, when a friend of Marilyne´s pulled up and offered us a lift. Then at the apts we visited, the landlords drove us around to them, and home again after. Lisa and I headed out later in the afternoon to a place called La Centrale - a very, very, very crowded and dusty pedestrian street lined with ultra-cheap shops. We bought a few extra towels and cheap sandals. Then we walked down to the old city: Casco Viejo. UNESCO has designated it a world heritage site because a lot of Panama City has been leveled in order to build all of the big skyscrapers that you see in most pictures. If they hadn´t made it a heritage site there would probably be nothing left of it now. What´s so fascinating is that the exterior, the facades, of the buildings are being preserved and the insides, the guts, are being completely ripped out. I have some pictures of that. They then restore the exterior and completely rebuild the interiors. Those old colonial buildings had been left to sit in squalor for many decades before the government set out to bring the old town back to life. Before heading back to Lisa´s apt, we stopped in at the main square in Casco Viejo and took in a bit of a Caribbean drum concert with some of her friends.
Sunday we rented a car - not an easy feat. Things generally move slowly around here, so I think we spent over an hour just waiting to be served. Car secured, we drove to the Pacific coast to a beach called Santa Clara and spent the whole day there. According to the locals, it´s the best beach on the Pacific (I´ve been told the beaches on that coast aren´t half as nice as the ones on the Caribbean). The beach was very nice and we were blessed with a fair bit of cloud coverage so that this ultra-white Canadian girl didn´t burn (well, except for my knee-pits, which I obviously missed with the sunscreen). My extremely white skin has been attracting a lot of attention down here. There aren´t a whole lot of foreigners. I´ve seen a few Americans, and know a couple of French girls, but that´s about it. We kind of stick out like a sore thumb. Driving here is complete insanity. Luckily I´m not a nervous driver, as I will have done a fair bit of it here by week´s end. Yesterday was a 2-hour drive to the beach and the same back. Crazy roads, big pot-holes, drivers not heeding any sort of rules at all, slow drivers, insanely fast drivers, near misses several times around me... nerves of steel, I tell you. That´s what you need to drive here. I´m doing well on that front. Got back to driving stick too.
So, this morning Lisa had to do some work and get some emails sorted out and what-not before we head out to the Caribbean coast for a couple of days, which gave me the chance to update all of you. Later this morning we´ll be heading over to the locks on the canal and then we´re going to a place called Portobelo. I don´t know much about it yet, but will update again when I get a chance. Later in the week we will fly to a place called San Blas, and also take a bus to another place whose name escapes me, but I believe is on a crater in the mountains. Heading to a part of the rainforest is still possible, but not 100% certain. We will see. Lisa´s had a lot of trouble with parasites while living in the indigenous community where she studies, and it´s a very long and difficult voyage, so we will not be going there as there isn´t quite enough time and she doesn´t want me to get sick (and frankly, neither do I). So, until the next time I´m able to update you... hope the weather is steadily warming up back home and take care of yourselves!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Post for Anthony
Ok. This is just hilarious. As I sat here and could only get through the first 51 seconds, cracking up the whole time... this is for my colleague, who told me I needed to download this to the iPod and (head banging included) rock out to it in preparation for my trip...
Thanks AM!
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Playing Big Sister
Guess what I have in my closet right now? A wedding dress! What? Did I miss something, you ask? No, it's not mine. I'm the maid of honour though - in my sister's wedding this fall. We went shopping yesterday and, much to both our surprise, we bought her dress - off the rack. I was also the one who picked out the dress, so I feel kind of honoured. Since she lives with her fiance, the dress is safely hidden away at my place. It was more fun shopping for it with her than I had anticipated, considering I'm not really a 'wedding person'. That stuff just doesn't typically get me all that excited. Another nice thing about it was getting to do 'big sister' stuff with her. Growing up we didn't do that kind of stuff together - just wasn't part of our family dynamic. This is something we're learning now that we're older and wiser.
And in less dramatic news, I bought the new K-OS CD and I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would highly recommend it. Go out and support our Canadian artists and buy it!
And in less dramatic news, I bought the new K-OS CD and I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would highly recommend it. Go out and support our Canadian artists and buy it!
(photo from last summer - if I'd put up the candid one that I really like I know she'd kill me though)
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Fretting...
A quick post, as I feel I've been a bit neglectful. It's been busy. Um, yeah, I sound like a broken record. What can I say? Life is busy. I'm sure none of you are feeling like you are looking to take on more in your life these days either, so don't worry, I'm not assuming you're not. But seeing as I am working a lot these days, I don't feel like I'm anywhere near ready to pack up and get out of here. I won't go into it, but I have a feeling it will be a bit of a rush to get my stuff together for next week. I will be ready though - nightmares of forgetting my sunscreen aside (that was last night).
Slightly more than a week and I'll be in my summer clothes and heading to the beach. Which reminds me of something I have on the agenda for tonight: pull summer clothes out of the basement and figure out what to take. So, what about Panama? Well, I'm sure you've all heard of the famous canal - if you haven't you have been living under a rock and I will try not to judge you on it. Yes, we will see the canal. Panama borders Costa Rica in the north, and Colombia in the south. The country lies within a stip of land that is called an isthmus - kind of neat. There is a lot of diversity of landscape there: mountains, rain forest, beach, and apparently Panama City is quite cosmopolitan. The currency is Balboa, but I think the US dollar is used regularly. I better be sure of that - you see I'm not as organized as what would be typical for me. According to my friend, FLC, you can get anything there because it's very Americanized (due to their long occupation of the area) - so I needn't be having nightmares about forgetting my sunscreen. They speak Spanish and English (I picked up a Latin American Spanish phrase book for when I'm not in the company of FLC), and it has coasts on the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea (which seems to sometimes be referred to as the Atlantic Ocean - hmm), and then a few gulfs (like the Gulf of Panama, for example). If all goes according to plan, we will visit the 2 main bodies of water while I'm there, spend some time in the mountains and the rain forest.
Slightly more than a week and I'll be in my summer clothes and heading to the beach. Which reminds me of something I have on the agenda for tonight: pull summer clothes out of the basement and figure out what to take. So, what about Panama? Well, I'm sure you've all heard of the famous canal - if you haven't you have been living under a rock and I will try not to judge you on it. Yes, we will see the canal. Panama borders Costa Rica in the north, and Colombia in the south. The country lies within a stip of land that is called an isthmus - kind of neat. There is a lot of diversity of landscape there: mountains, rain forest, beach, and apparently Panama City is quite cosmopolitan. The currency is Balboa, but I think the US dollar is used regularly. I better be sure of that - you see I'm not as organized as what would be typical for me. According to my friend, FLC, you can get anything there because it's very Americanized (due to their long occupation of the area) - so I needn't be having nightmares about forgetting my sunscreen. They speak Spanish and English (I picked up a Latin American Spanish phrase book for when I'm not in the company of FLC), and it has coasts on the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea (which seems to sometimes be referred to as the Atlantic Ocean - hmm), and then a few gulfs (like the Gulf of Panama, for example). If all goes according to plan, we will visit the 2 main bodies of water while I'm there, spend some time in the mountains and the rain forest.
Friday, March 09, 2007
IIRF?
My new acronym: Is It Really Friday?
Wow. What a long week. You know how busy weeks can fly by? Well this one was very busy, but it didn't fly by. And yet, it doesn't feel like end of the day Friday right now. I guess I can take that partly as a blessing since we needn't wish our lives away right? But then you get to the end of that week and feel like there is no gas left. That's me right now. I'm out to a musical that a friend of mine is performing in tonight and I feel like I'm going to need toothpicks for my eyelids. Maybe I'll get my second wind soon.
I began my week putting 1000 km on the car in 2 days. I also drove in crazy weather - there was some sort of wind storm earlier in the week and it made for some nasty black ice and white-out conditions on the country roads I ended up on Monday night. There were cars in the ditch turned over on their roofs!!! I was actually scared driving home. I made it just fine, but not without a few moments of: "I don't want to end up on my roof. I don't want to end up on my roof" going through my head.
I had my ortho consult and it's mixed news I guess. No surgery for you! He told me that they used to do surgery on people like me and found it just meant that they came back a few years later with bad arthritis. "Don't let anyone touch that knee with a 10-foot pole." OK, I won't. He said I'm not meant to run - my knees are just not lined up properly, it's genetic, and there is nothing we can do about it. In fact, he said that by cycling, I've already started curing my knee. It's true too, as each year passes, getting stronger legs, I've noticed less knee pain. I just hope that I get strong enough that the xc-skiing doesn't keep aggravating it.
And speaking of cycling, I took Blu in for a tune-up. If I don't get her in now she won't be ready for outside when I'm back from Panama. And I plan to be outside when I get back. I have 5 days off at home when I return and I already have rides lined up! So I was hoping to pick her up tonight, but alas, she's not ready. Which means I think I'm going to spin tomorrow morning. Here is something useful, and funny: Fixing Flats is Fun! Well, I've never really thought so. It takes me a bit of time to change a flat - I find it really hurts my fingers, trying to get the tire back on at the end. At least I can do that on my own though. The other stuff, well, that's why Blu is with the guys at the bike shop right now: new chain, new tape on the handlebars, little things oiled and tweaked here and there. I'm looking forward to getting her back. Sounds like I've been without her all week, but in fact, I rode yesterday and then took her in. Yeah, I'm hopeless.
I also started getting things ready for my trip. The countdown is on! Surprise of all surprises - the Malarone was covered by my plan. The perks of working in the 'industry' I guess. Nice! So I'll try my best to get some stuff together and post on Panama before I leave. I did spend a little time last weekend researching the places that I've been told I'm going. For clarification: I'm visiting a friend of mine who is living in Panama until the end of the summer. So, I have a personal tour guide of sorts. She sent me an email the other week listing some essentials to bring, as well as a list of things we will be doing. It all looks fantastic! Makes me wonder if I should have taken a longer trip. I'm really excited to see her and to see the country!!
I began my week putting 1000 km on the car in 2 days. I also drove in crazy weather - there was some sort of wind storm earlier in the week and it made for some nasty black ice and white-out conditions on the country roads I ended up on Monday night. There were cars in the ditch turned over on their roofs!!! I was actually scared driving home. I made it just fine, but not without a few moments of: "I don't want to end up on my roof. I don't want to end up on my roof" going through my head.
I had my ortho consult and it's mixed news I guess. No surgery for you! He told me that they used to do surgery on people like me and found it just meant that they came back a few years later with bad arthritis. "Don't let anyone touch that knee with a 10-foot pole." OK, I won't. He said I'm not meant to run - my knees are just not lined up properly, it's genetic, and there is nothing we can do about it. In fact, he said that by cycling, I've already started curing my knee. It's true too, as each year passes, getting stronger legs, I've noticed less knee pain. I just hope that I get strong enough that the xc-skiing doesn't keep aggravating it.
And speaking of cycling, I took Blu in for a tune-up. If I don't get her in now she won't be ready for outside when I'm back from Panama. And I plan to be outside when I get back. I have 5 days off at home when I return and I already have rides lined up! So I was hoping to pick her up tonight, but alas, she's not ready. Which means I think I'm going to spin tomorrow morning. Here is something useful, and funny: Fixing Flats is Fun! Well, I've never really thought so. It takes me a bit of time to change a flat - I find it really hurts my fingers, trying to get the tire back on at the end. At least I can do that on my own though. The other stuff, well, that's why Blu is with the guys at the bike shop right now: new chain, new tape on the handlebars, little things oiled and tweaked here and there. I'm looking forward to getting her back. Sounds like I've been without her all week, but in fact, I rode yesterday and then took her in. Yeah, I'm hopeless.
I also started getting things ready for my trip. The countdown is on! Surprise of all surprises - the Malarone was covered by my plan. The perks of working in the 'industry' I guess. Nice! So I'll try my best to get some stuff together and post on Panama before I leave. I did spend a little time last weekend researching the places that I've been told I'm going. For clarification: I'm visiting a friend of mine who is living in Panama until the end of the summer. So, I have a personal tour guide of sorts. She sent me an email the other week listing some essentials to bring, as well as a list of things we will be doing. It all looks fantastic! Makes me wonder if I should have taken a longer trip. I'm really excited to see her and to see the country!!
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Kaleidoscope Cycling
Well, only if you watch the video while cycling. My newest fave cycling song at 120 bpms. Yesterday I did a standing climb to it - pretty intense, but awesome for intervals. Pumping up the volume also helps with the effect. ;) You are never too old for the Material Girl.
Winter Wonderland
I was going to post a picture from Panama to start gearing up for the trip. But then I came across this one and reconsidered. I took this a couple of streets over from where I live. Pretty. :)The only news I have is: my TSH levels show I'm almost hyperthyroid, and yet I keep gaining weight. Yes, my legs are getting bigger and bigger - and I REFUSE to buy any new clothes! I hope next month when I stop lifting really heavy weight I'll slim down. That, and I'm off whey protein. It's the only explanation the doctor could give me, considering it looks like I have the metabolism of a 15 year old boy. I'd just like to see me get the body fat down to, well, not that of a 15-yo boy, but you know. Oh well. I'm trying to think of life-long health, not how my pants don't fit today. Just send me positive energy for next month and I'll be happy.
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