Bienvenidos!
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Look out for the easter eggs!
My last day in the hospital was a bit rubbish, to be honest. We had rounds, and then all the students disappeared as they had a test, so I followed the intern/resident for a bit longer then went up to the presentation which was supposed to be on but wasn't, then after spending 20 minutes talking to her friend on the phone she told me I could go. Very unceremonious. I'm popping back in tomorrow to see if my evaluation form has been filled in and to leave a thank you card (which I accidentally spilled water on.. Oops..).
Mario and I nearly managed to wangle a two-night, all inclusive stay at the Decameron Resort here in Panama, (we were cornered by a travel rep and subjected to a presentation about a 15-year holiday plan contract thing) but when we went to book it we found out that it's only valid during low season, which starts the week after we leave. I was so disappointed when we found that out. The place looked really good. The website is here if you want to see what we narrowly missed out on. We ended up giving the voucher to his brother, who in return offered to get us a reduced rate stay at the hotel his girlfriend works at to kind of make up for it. So, instead of getting two nights for free at the Decameron, we're getting one night for $45 at the Intercontinental Hotel, Playa Bonita. I have a feeling these next two weeks are going to be a bit more expensive than I planned...
On Friday after I left the hospital and we finished running errands we drove to the Causeway again, and I had the bright idea of renting one of those half-bike half-car thingies that you sometimes see at seasides in the UK (that was the only pic I could find save for one of this couple at the beach but in that you can only see them, really) and cycling all the way up to the last island and back. We had the pedal car for an hour and we barely got it back in time. I had a load of fun though! There was nowhere to put the umbrella and bottle of water so I ended up holding them whilst Mario did the steering. We overtook one other cart, nearly collided with pedestrians, and bumped and bounced over the cobbles when they wouldn't move out of the way. I thought my legs were going to fall off when we took the bike back... We hung around for a bit and had ice cream until Mario could feel his legs enough to drive back, and them headed home.
On Saturday we got up early to leave for the Aerial Tram tour at the Gamboa Rainforest Resort. We arrived at 8:30am and the tour left 15 minutes later, so we had chance to have a quick look around the hotel lobby. It was beautiful - the windows and balcony at the back open onto a spectacular view of the surrounding landscape - the rainforest, plains and river - and part of the hotel is built around this huge old tree. It was gorgeous. We left in an open minibus to go to the skilift station and were in a carriage with one other couple and the guide. The canopy ride was really amazing - it takes you right through the tops of the trees and when you come out at the top you can just see forest, all around. We saw a sloth, an iguana, a Panamanian squirrel, butterflies, and all sorts of plant life. When you alight at the top there is a 90-foot high observation tower which looks out over the forest, the Chagres River and the Canal. The view was spectacular. After taking the ski lift back down we saw the exhibits, which were pretty cool. It was feeding time in the snake-arium so all the snakes were halfway through swallowing their chickens.
We headed back home at about midday for lunch, then went out to the mall. We were going to go to the cinema but I'd forgotten my glasses so we scratched that plan and just wandered around for a bit.
Today we slept in for a bit, then went to go see Mario's parents off at the airport. They're going to see his sister in LA. After lunch today we went to the Old Quarter and had a walk round there. We went to the Panama Canal Museum but only had about an hour to look around, so it was a bit of a hurried tour. Mario had already told me about a lot of the things that were on show, so he gave me a quick re-cap as we went around. It was pretty good. We went past a lot of Kuna women selling molas and other indiginous trinkets. I'd really like a fair-sized mola to take home and put up in the new house, but Mario says they'll probably be less expensive at the art and craft fair next week. I hope so.
We've got a few other things planned for the next couple of weeks - Ba'hai temple, Toboga, maybe Chiriqui, a Tipico show, El Valle, Portobelo, so hopefully I'll have enough cash to do everything. Being a student is so annoying sometimes. Laters all.
8:48 p.m. - 2006-07-16
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