The family visited me (and where we went)

Several of my offspring visited me during the third week of February, a visit I'd been looking forward to for a while -- and the week was just as wonderful as I'd hoped it would be.  One recurring delight for me that week was the chance to reflect on how much I've learned about Panama, and how I got to share some of my favorite parts. More on those favorite parts below!

I also took a bit of grim satisfaction in sharing pieces of the arduousness of my everyday experience here:

• running with my daughter and her boyfriend in the heat,
• waiting for the bus (I call it, "playing the bus lottery") and riding a particularly crowded one,
• experiencing the intense heat of walking, say, across the Ciudad del Saber campus to my office,
• getting caught in a thunderstorm, despite the fact that we're supposedly in the "dry" season.

But the excursions . . . those were really fantastic. Here's the rundown of the big things we did.

1. Visit the Albrook bus terminal and then the Albrook Mall, the largest mall in Latin America. At the terminal, we all got bus cards ($2 for the card, and then add on money for fares, which are 25¢ for the bus and 35¢ for the metro). In the mall, we rode up through the mouth of a T. Rex which is also an escalator to the second floor, walked almost the entire length of the mall, and visited the King Kong statue at the far end.
   

   

   Butterflies become a theme in this week.

   
   
   
   
   

   

   The mall has many animal themes, with large sculptures
   at different entrances/exits to help orient people. 
   This is the Tiger entrance, obviously

   
   
   
   
2. Had a "birding breakfast" on the porch of our AirBnB, a porch where I spend a lot of my time writing and enjoying the view. We saw chachalacas, azulejos, sangres del toro, yellow-backed orioles (my favorite), several kinds of tanagers, hummingbirds, barred ant shrikes, and many more birds.
   
   
   

   

   One of my favorite birds: a yellow-backed oriole.

   
   
3. Visit Casco Viejo (a trip that started with rain and ended with heat), where some of us saw the Canal Museum, others of us saw the Mola Museum, and yet others had empanadas.

4. 

   My daughter bought a bag decorated with a mola design of owls. 
   That's all stitched layers of fabric, not paint and almost no embroidery.

   
   
5. Gathered for snacks and conversation with triathletes who started the IronMan.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   

   Judy and John Collins, the couple who created the first ever IronMan (see https://www.ironman.com/about/history)

   
   Judy regaled us with stories about how she started it because she wanted an excuse to get out of being put in charge of organizing a sprint event; she loved distance events.
   
   
6. Visited my office in the City of Knowledge (Ciudad del Saber)
   

   

   A rare shady spot on a largely sun-soaked expanse of buildings and lawns.

   
   
   
7. Toured the Mira Flores locks, seeing the amazing 3D IMAX movie narrated by Morgan Freeman, and watching ships descend toward the Pacific Ocean.  I'd never seen this movie -- this was one of two new-to-me things we did, crossing a wish off my wish list!  The other wish list item we checked off was . . . 

   

   Standing in front of a touristy sign at the locks, 
   and then rocking our 3D glasses in the theater.

   
   
8. . . . we took a boat tour in the giant Gatun Lake to Monkey Island (here's a blog post with photos of my offspring feeding monkeys).  This was everyone's favorite, I think, which is why it had its very own post.
   
   
9. Took an after-dinner walk through our lovely neighborhood, and fed the crocodiles along the way.



Hand-holding was happenning.

10. 

    But no holding hand with the crocs!

    
    
11. Walked along the Amador Causeway, passing by the outside of the BioMuseo, and then toured the Smithsonian Nature Preserve. The butterfly house was lovely.
12. 
    
    
13. Hiked Parque Metropolitano, seeing sloths moving (!) and more howler monkeys, plus some amazing panoramic views
    

    

    This is a Panama Tree, that has wide flanges to help prop it up. 
    If you look carefully, you can see me standing,
    nestled in the base of the tree

    

    There were guys hauling heavy wheelbarrows of gravel to replenish the trail.  I carried two handfuls of gravel from the pile up the road for about 1 km to where they were needed, just to help them out. I'm sure they appreciated it a lot.

    
    
14. Walked the Cinta Costera during a particularly horrendously hot day

15. 

    The walk started with heavy rain dissipating;
    then the clouds cleared and man-oh-man.

    
    
16. Ate at a local favorite restaurant, Maa Goo's fish place.

And then, they kiddoes (adultoes?) left us, . . .



Actually from when they arrived,
but the photo goes well here, too.



I would say it got quiet after that, but in fact, we had another friend over for dinner, and then I visited a school in the heart of Panama City to give a math presentation, and then we went to a birthday party and packed for a week-long trip that started Monday, so it's still hopping here. But it's certainly quieter. I'm feeling quite happy to have been able to share Panama with approximately 50% of my children, and I also miss them a bit.