canal

Oops! Slept until 1:30. Or, "Nadiv let me sleep until 1:30 because he is so considerate." Either way, we had planned to see the Panama Canal today and after much back-and-forth about how much we wanted to be lazy and how much we wanted to see the Canal out of everything else in this country, we decided to make a run for it. (First we asked the hotel people to fix our toilet, which they did, and kindly informed us that Nadiv had turned off the cold water when he employed the spa shower and various other knobs in the bathroom the night before.)

It was a good thing, too, because the Canal was awesome. It is just a half-hour away from the city, and besides the quick monsoon that occured on the way, this was the easiest taxi ride we´ve had. The driver, Julio, only charged us seven dollars, and we quickly realized that we were overcharged with gringo tax on our two taxis yesterday.

Miraflores Locks and visitor museum were brilliant. We watched an incredibly uplifting film about the origins of the Canal, made even more exciting by the overeager background score. We got to visit a simulation ship cabin with some fake steering, saw a bunch of bugs on display (native species), and read about all sorts of machines and technology that the Canal employs. The Miraflores museum made very little mention of the thousands of workers who died while working on the Canal. It did explain several times how many countries in the world depend on the Canal. The most interesting thing I learned, not from the museum but from Lonely Planet, is that engineers design new ships based on the Canal´s dimensions. The museum did talk a lot about how they are in the process of digging a new set of locks, ones that are bigger and deeper, and how ecologically responsible they are being as they dynamite through the rainforest. The museum really was great, especially for eight dollars, but the best part was the observation deck upon which we could watch the boats passing through the locks.

It all boils down to water being raised up and down in each section of the locks, not unlike filling and emptying a huge bathtub, but the effect is so much cooler because these ships going through are simply gigantic. They move very slowly, being pulled on both sides by a tug-train "mule," and you can watch the crew all hanging out on the deck or count the number of containers on board, or simply enjoy the breeze. The water in the locks fills very slowly, but it is such a radical change between one level and the next that it´s hard to believe it happened while you were watching and not noticing. The breeze was lovely and it was overcast enough to be the perfect temperature. We watched two ships pass through and took some pictures and then called it a day.

On our way out to catch a bus, we stopped to admire water passing through the Miraflores Lake dam, and spotted A CROCODILE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Basking in the sun!!

While waiting for our bus, we chatted with Alan and Christina, two doctors in training. Alan is doing his residency in opthomology in San Francisco and actually remembered reading Tova´s application recently. For a quick minute we also though that he knew Ravi (Nadiv´s former roommate), but it turned out to be a different Ravi. Christina is studying psychiatry at Stanford and didn´t know anyone we knew.

We took the bus to the Allbrook mall, which was simply humungous. There we walked around and ate some "American churros," which were filled with dolce de leche but tasted kind of gross. I bought some super cool watches and then we taxied back to our hotel. Turns out the taxi rule is that Adina should not try to talk or even be seen-- there is too much gringa in me and it makes the drivers want to overcharge.

Back at the hotel, I peeked into our room and saw that Nadiv had lined up his shoes according to color next to the wall. I thought that was kind of cute until I walked into the room further and discovered that the cleaning staff had had a field day reorganizing our belongings. In the morning, our packs were laying on the couch and on the floor, clothing strewn about and tables full of books, snacks, and various electronic do-dads. (As you do when backpacking.) In the evening, our packs were stacked neatly against the wall, the floor was conspicuously clear, the tables arranged, and Nadiv´s clothes were folded and placed on shelves in the closet.

Mañana we go to El Valle for some forest relaxation and a happy new year!