Panama Chronicles - First Date

This post is part of a series called the Panama Chronicles - a rewrite/edit of an email log I wrote just before entering grad school. To protect myself and others I have disguised names and adapted various aspects of the narrative.  It is a work of fiction based on a true story.

Another week, another day off, and this one may well go down in history as one of the most interesting days of my life.  My housemate is Panamanian and lives in a town about an hours drive west of Panama City. We ended up having the same day off and since he often visits his family on his free days I asked if I could join to see his town and to get a better idea of what life is like outside the former Canal Zone. 

Image: The view from "first date mountain". D. M. Buehler

We left on Friday night, so I got to spend the night with locals (namely at his parents house), to get an early start on Saturday.  It is a lovely place, but still a little different from what I am used to.  For example, in his town everyone owns dogs and chickens so it is really noisy at night.  The dogs barked until about 4:00 am and then the roosters started.  I also had a gecko (a small lizard) in the room and they do make some noise.  Needless to say it was a little loud for sleeping! 

In the morning I tried to make conversation with his mom, but since I haven’t learned Spanish yet, it was quite the game of charades.  We left at 7:00 and drove to a National Park in the foothills of the western mountains. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.  We drove as high as we could (this definitely required 4-wheel drive) and then we hiked. The trail cut through a beautiful patch of primary (never been cut) cloud forest and I was delighted to see several new species of birds and plants along the way.  Mid-way up we reached a place where a tree and fallen and knocked out the trail.  But we carried on – I am stubborn and I wanted to see the top.  My determination paid off.  The view from the top was one of the most exhilarating things I have ever experienced.  To the west lay kilometers of foothills, and to the south, the Pacific Ocean.  We also got a fabulous look at several Turkey and Black Vultures riding thermals (right up close) and even a pair of absolutely beautiful American Swallow Tailed Kites. The hike down was treacherous since it had started to storm and the trail was slippery. But we made it and hopefully my "after" picture of us covered in mud and soaking wet will turn out.  I love a place where it is perfectly normal to get absolutely covered in dirt all the time.  It is like having permission to be a kid again.

After the hike we had lunch and then we headed to the beach.  In this particular beach the sand was full of iron and it was black.  It is absolutely beautiful to look at, like ground coal covered in silver sparkles, but you definitely need sandals to walk across!  While at the beach we watched 38 Brown Pelicans and 8 Magnificent Frigatebirds go by.  I was in absolute awe - these birds are huge (wing span of 6-7 feet)!  They have pelicans here like we have Canada geese - it is unbelievable!

And that’s not all …

We drove back to Panama City and met up with the rest of our field crew and a group of other scientists for dinner and then dancing.  Even though I have never danced salsa, it is easy with a partner who knows what he is doing. We did not get home until 1:30 and of course we had to get up at 5:30 for work.

I have never been taken to the top of the world and then to a black sand beach on a first date.  Of course I didn’t know it was a first date until the end - until we kissed in the kitchen.  It was not a big kiss, but it was crossing the line.  I was sort of joking when I talked about finding a Panamanian boyfriend - but that is exactly what seems to be happening.  Of course there are a few logistical problems with this little romance: (1) We live together (2) We also live with two other people (3) I have only been here two weeks (4) I live in Canada and he lives in Panama (5) I am leaving in 3 months.  I pondered these complications while listening to the roosters the night before the date began.  I also pondered why the hell the roosters were calling before dawn.  I did not come up with any answers, but I had a feeling that something was beginning.