Sunsets in Panama

As our trip comes to an end it is a little sad to say goodbye to a town that hosted us so well, especially as I watched our last sunset.
Yesterday we had breakfast with Mr. Eck, the director of the school and general manager of the property. We discussed his life lessons and the tough stuff about working abroad. We even talked about yours truly going to Canada this summer for an internship, woo!
I love hearing about people's lives. Especially the stories of old people. They have so much to say and great advice to give. It is amazing to see the different paths that everyone's lives have taken. I'm really excited to look back on mine.
From there we lounge around the pool and such until after dinner when we got ready to go to Zona Viva.
Zona Viva is the club hub of Panama. There are lines of clubs that willingly offer free entry via wristband (a few only to ladies) as long as it is before 11. We started at a bar called Karoeke Shot. You can't go wrong with great drink specials and Latin American Kareoke! We had a really great time there and even one of our girls got up to sing an English song. We didn't even think they would have an english song!
Afterwards we roamed around before we got to Time Out, a club that only plays American music with a back drop of lasers and fog. A little much for my humble, I got a little sickly. Considering I didn't want to be ultra hungover on the beach the next day I opted to head back out to the center, eat some crappy fries from next door, and grab a taxi home.
Everyone else headed back about an hour after myself and we went to bed early since we had to be up at 6!
Today we left the hotel at about 6:30 headed for a ferry on the causeway that would take us to Taboga - an island that is about an hour on the ferry away. The beach was okay, a little dirty, but otherwise the water was beautiful. It was a little chilly, but that was a perfect break from laying in the sun. There were a lot of yachts there and plenty of Americans. It was definitely the first time I saw a conglomerate of Americans in one place here. There were plenty of native Panamanians as well. We spent a lot of the day on the beach, but after a little while a friend and I decided to roam through the town. It is absolutely beautiful. It is filled with color just as any beachside town is, but is also rugged and holds a lot of character. The streets are only big enough for one car and there are adorable alleyways filled with plants and occasionally even some decoration left over from Carnavales! There were also a lot of statues of Jesus around, we even got a picture with one on its own little island on the Pacific (is that sac religious?). We climbed a huge hill to the Cerrito Bed and Breakfast (that's my homie's last name, how hilarious!). The view was amazing. To look out to the other rather hilly islands as well as the skyline of downtown Panama was simply breathtaking.
As we walked back towards our friends on the beach I could feel that I was getting burned very badly, ouch! We took a nap in the shade of our umbrella and then headed to lunch at a place called Mundi's. Like many foreign country the service was okay, but the lunch was incredible. We had a really great garlic shrimp dish. And our table neighbor was pretty cool, too! He and his wife are retired and sailed around the world on their sailboat. Once they came to Panama they loved it, so they moved. He was housesitting for a friend on the island, but he lives downtown. He told us about all his adventures, especially in Peru since two of the students are going to Peru in the fall.
I definitely learned a lesson in staying sun blocked and hydrated, I returned to the hotel sick and supa' burned!
Well, I'm off to one last dinner!