el valle, day one

This morning we wake up at 8:00, courtesy of the alarm clock, had our stuff packed and out the door to the Allbrook Mall all bright and shiny. Nadiv bought new sunglasses (faux Ray Bans) and uber slow Taco Bell, which tasted "zero different than Taco Bell in the U.S." The mall on a Thursday morning was a much more tame affair.

I picked choice seats on our bus, with a full windshield view and extra leg room as we were behind the door. The buses here are like large vans with several rows. They smush in however many people they can hold and then some. We didn´t know this yet. Also, we didn´t know that a bus guy would stand on the stairs for the entire trip so he could open the door quickly and shout our destination to every person standing on the side of the road.

The only highlight of the bus trip was driving on the Puente de las Americas bridge. It connects South America to North America. We went over it.

We arrived in El Valle in the pouring rain. After getting our cute room on the third floor of a restaurant/hotel, we donned ponchos and rain shoes and took a jumping picture in the middle of the street. Classic.

On to El Macho! Which means, "The Waterfall!" Nadiv had originally given me the privilege to choose between the zoo and the hot springs, and I instead chose that we would walk for thirty minutes in the drizzle to the waterfall. (Isn´t Nadiv sweet for putting up with me?) It turned out to be a great choice because the walk was on a paved road, through a jungly neighborhood, next to rainforest mountains. There was lush greenery all around us. There was almost no one on the road except for us. El Macho was large and loud and everything that you expect a waterfall to be. It was a beautiful spot and I got to pee in the woods next to it.

For lunner (lunch/dinner ?) I got a salad and fries at a total local place. We played cards until the rain had almost stopped. It was sort of going on and off all day, but it was nice to take the ponchos off and sit down. The salad, though it only had three ingredients, was muy refrescado (is that a word? We have been using it a lot.), and the fries were delish. Also I whooped Nadiv´s butt for three games in a row but then he beat me on the next few rounds.

Then, our plan was to take a nap and go out to dinner and drinking after. We woke up at eight in the pitch black and made a mutual decision to not leave the room. After watching several episodes of 30 Rock on Panama TV (I know!!!), Nadiv went to get food at the only open place in town -- a Canadian bar. We ate in front of the TV and slept with frogs chirping all night long.