Day 21—Rain? Yes, Hot Water? No…again.

Emma took this one.  I think it is pretty cool. 

Even though Emma and I were completely sick of Ameri-Mexi food,  Sean was not.  So he ran to the El Machetazo for some refried beans.  Unfortunately, he did not pay attention to where I had grabbed them.  So he headed to the regular bean section, and all that he can find is refried black beans. Perplexed,  he spots a kid stocking the shelves and he asks, “Frijoles, no negros?”

The guy points to the can, “Si, frijoles negros”

“No, NO negro, ahhh… frijoles…ahhh… fritos…. ummm…ala... Mexicano?”

Day 20—Really? Who shut the door?

Another lazy day: relaxing, yet a bit boring at the same time.  We spent time reading, swimming, watching some TV, surfing the net.  Ya know, same old, same old.  Today’s weather was overcast, with a slight breeze, so it was somewhat cooler.  So there we were just drifting through our day, when to power went out, again. 

Day 19—Taco Bell & Discovering El Machetazo

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I am not great at “vacationing”.  I am way too goal-oriented.  If I don’t accomplish something, I feel like I have wasted my day (and I don’t consider sitting around a pool, surfing the net, swimming, and waiting for cocktail hour really accomplishing anything).  

Day 18—La Policia in Gorgona

The other day when Sean was coming back from the grocery store, he walked in the Villa and told us he had just almost gotten a ticket. 

“What did you do?” Both Emma and I asked.

“Well, I don’t know.  I was just driving down that road to Gorgona, you know the one where they had the police check point the other day? Well, I looked in my rearview mirror and there was someone on a motorcycle with flashing blue lights.  I was trying to figure out what the protocol here  is.  Does he just want to pass me, or is he pulling me over?  So, I decided to pull over to a grassy area off the side of the road, and then the motorcycle slows down, slowly passes me, and that's when I realized, it was a pizza delivery motorcycle!”

Day 17—NY Bagel Shop & Back to Gorgona

This statue is very close to the NY Bagel shop. 

We woke up bright and early, and Sean was off to the bagel shop again.  (Those bagels rivaled Noah’s Bagels in Berkeley!)  We had a quick breakfast, and then packed up our few belonging, and hit the road.  It was Saturday Morning, so I figured the traffic would be lighter, and it was, but it still took us at least three circles before we could find our way out of the city.  I was so happy as we were crossing the Bridge of the America’s because I knew from here on out there were only two lanes of traffic in each directions, and if we just stayed the course, we would reach Gorgona in a little over an hour.  It was such a relief to reach the villa, and what actually felt familiar and home-like.  I think it took me all of 30 seconds to dump my bag, put on a swim suit and jump in the pool. “Ah, now this is a vacation!” I thought as the sound of the waves crashing, mixed with a  flock of parakeets flying above the pool. 

Day 16—The Attempt to see Casco Viejo

This is a painting in the apartment that I love.

I forgot to mention yesterday, that after relaxing for a bit, we decided we had better get our laundry dry.  They have a lovely stacking washer/dryer right next to the kitchen.  So we went  ahead and loaded  half the clothes into  the dryer, and started  it on the “more dry” setting.  After an hour or so, I went to check the clothes.  They were still very damp, and I realized: No heat.  NO HEAT! That must mean the gas isn’t working, here, in Panama City. Shit! I tried the kitchen tap.  No hot water.  Shower. Cold.  Damn. 

Day 15—A Trip to Panama City

Again no sunshine.  Sigh.  So we had a sluggishly slow start to the morning because, while it is not sunny, it is still hot and muggy.  (I may have mentioned this a time or two). We decided to do some laundry so we could go to the city with clean clothes, but…the propane ran out on the dryer.   Great!  We decided to haul two loads of our wet (but clean) laundry to the city to dry.  By this time (about 1:30 p.m.) we were all hungry and cranky, so even though we needed to stop by the store to get a few basic groceries, we decided to stop at KFC to eat.  Emma decided to be thoroughly disagreeable and threw a tantrum, because even I cannot eat at McDonalds again, and if she can’t have her pink slime and partially hydrogenated French fries, she doesn’t want ANYTHING! (It's KFC for goodness sake, it's not like we are asking her to eat a salad!)

What Emma would eat three times a day, every day,  if allowed.