How many times can somebody pass through culture shock? I mean, if you've adjusted other times, surely the fourth time living abroad is easier, right? What is there to deal with if you've already dealt with it all before? I mean, honestly.
Well, I was handed the answer to my question, a little delayed albeit, but served up on a big silver platter like a 20 pound, glistening Thanksgiving Turkey.
The answer is infinite times. It can be delayed a bit in its coming, but it will inevitably come. For those who aren't familiar with spending time outsidethe country, there's a good little definition of culture shock here on Wikipedia. It's a simple definition, but it works.
To understand why I felt like running away from the city screaming, you have to read the definition of the second stage of Culture Shock. It is as follows:
All of those feelings of irritation and the complaining (which is also usually included in the definitions of the second phase of Culture Shock) were just heightened by the heat. I...had...to...get...out...
It also just so happened that my heat heightened agitative state was shared by my good friend The Mexican Nightmare, otherwise known as Pamela (and, come to find out later, most of the office was passing through this second stage as well.). It also coincided with my 31st birthday...a birthday I didn't care to celebrate with everyone at the office (To be honest, I didn't care to celebrate it at all.). So, Pam and I decided we would get the heck out of the city and go to the one place in Panama where it is actually cool...and it's cool all the time: The province of Chriqui.
Chiriqui is in the Northern part of Panama. It borders Costa Rica. Part of it is in the mountains and the weather is cool. Generally it gets into the 50s there at night, many times into the 40s. The days are generally in the cool (relatively speaking, for Panama) 60s. David, the second largest city in Panama is in the flat lands, and it is hot there. You have to travel about another hour from David to get to the cool weather. We were so excited we could hardly contain ourselves.
We packed up the Suzuki (my car) and headed out early Thursday morning, as it's generally about a 6 hour drive. The fun started early on as this was also our first time to cross the Puente de las Americas. If you're going anywhere North/West of the City, you have to cross the canal of course...it cuts Panama in half! The bridge is also one of the most recognized landmarks of Panama throughout the world.
Thankfully we missed most of the traffic that uses the bridge because we left early. And, Pamela got a couple of good pictures to remember our first "crossing". The entire trip to the province of Chiriqui is along the Pan-American highway (to get to Cerro Punta and Boquete in the mountains, all you have to do is hang a right. Then, you're only on that highway for about an hour.).
Every once in awhile you enter a moment in your life that's just pretty surreal. Something that makes you think twice about who you are, what you have, and how you live. Driving along the Pan-American and up into the mountains, into the interior of the country, was one of those moments for me.
The "interior" of the country is what the country is called. Everywhere outside Panama City and David is country...little pueblos all over the place. Along the highway you see a much different side of Panama. The City has its big giant buildings and malls. The pueblos have nothing but small shanties and a lot of very kind, hard working people. It was like stepping back in time, literally.
Along the highway, there are people walking all over the place. It took me awhile to realize that they were walking along the highway because it is the ONLY real road in the general area. That's how they got everywhere.
It made me realize just how life could be. How blessed I have been and am in my life. It made me again appreciate how much I take advantage of the smallest things.
When we pulled up to our hotel in Cerro Punta, it was drizzling rain. I still had shorts on from when we left the city. I have to say that my teeth started chattering. It was so unbelievable to be someplace cool. The Mexican Nightmare and I were so happy we almost cried.
The hotel was also awesome. Cerro Punta is just a tiny little pueblo, so it's very nice and quiet. The hotel and spa, called Los Quetzales (The Quetzal is a very evasive, beautiful bird only found in that region), sat right on the river. Our suite was all made of wood (walls, floor, ceiling). I'm not sure what wood, but it was a light Oak color. We even had a fireplace and a kitchen. We used the fire place every night, even though the last night we were there was pretty warm. We sweated it out! I also introduced Smores to Panama. Yummy!
After we unloaded our bags and the cooler full of so much food we would be eating it for weeks afterward, we headed out to explore in the car. The terrain is very interesting, as it is in all of Panama. There are deciduous and tropical trees and plants. It's the same there in Chiriqui, even with the cool weather. As the Mexican Nightmare put it, it looks like you're in the jungle and the forest all at the same time. The only difference is that there in Chiriqui, you're driving up and around and in and out of mountains.
Chiriqui is also one of the best producers of strawberries in Panama (and the region). Anybody who knows me knows I love my strawberries. I think I probably stopped and ate strawberries and cream and my new favorites strawberries with condensed milk like 400 times. There were a couple of times I was nauseous from all the sugar!
It was that good, though.
Cerro Punta and Boquete, the two most picturesque cities in Chiriqui are separated by the Baru Volcano. At this point in time, there's no highway that connects them across the volcano, so, even though they're only like 10-15 miles from each other, it takes you about an hour and a half to get from one to the other because you have to go down the mountain and back up on the other side. You can hike it. It takes 8 hours, more or less, but it's a rough hike. Since I could barely walk and am back out of shape again (due to the knee), we couldn't do the hike. My goal is to be able to do it before I leave Panama in the next few years. Whether or not the Mexican Nightmare will ever be in good enough shape to hike it with me is the next question.
You can't drive to the top of the volcano, but you can drive around it for awhile. We got lots of really cool pictures because Cerro Punta is in what they call the "cloud forest" meaning it's just right at about the height of the clouds and so the valley is covered in clouds a lot. It's very beautiful.
On our second day in the region, we hired a local tour guide lady to ride with us in the car to take us to the hot springs and take us and show us around Boquete. She was a local lady from Volcán (Spanish for volcano) a small town on the side of the volcano on the way down to David. She thought that Pam and I were the craziest people she had ever met. She laughed at us non-stop...and she laughed at us, not with us.
The hot springs were great. The "legend" is that you have to dip yourself in the hot springs for awhile and then you have to run over and jump in the river...which is FREEZING water. Once you do that, whatever ails you will be cured. The way my knee felt, I figured I'd give it a try. Of course, I was a little hesitant so the Mexican Nightmare was making fun of me. I decided I'd show her and I just ran over and jumped in! I put my whole body in the ice cold river. By the time I got out, my legs were numb. I couldn't feel anything!
The Nightmare, after mocking me, wimped out. That was the best part. I laughed so hard I could hardly stand up (Because she's quite vocal!). And, if you're wondering if my knee was cured, the only time it felt any better was when it was numb and I couldn't feel anything...
Boquete is "little America" in Panama. It's one of the top places to retire in the world because of the cool climate and the beautiful scenery. We headed over there after the hot springs. At this time there isn't a highway between Cerro Punta and Boquete, even though they're literally right across the side of the volcano. I think it's less than 15 km. So, you have to drive all the way back down the mountain and up the other side.
As I mentioned earlier, they "say" it's supposed to take you one and a half to two hours to get from one to the other. I laugh in the face of their two hours. We made it in one hour, both ways. The tour guide said something about how fast I was going or something, but I really couldn't hear her over all her screaming in the back seat. The best scream came when we were on our way back, actually, and she advised me a little late that we needed to turn right.
Now, I assessed the situation very thoroughly. I would never have taken the turn if there would have been another car in the intersection or if it had been a sharp turn or if it would have put the lives of either of my passengers in danger. It was fine, so I took it. Honestly it's been a long time since I heard somebody scream that loud. Even Gennifer doesn't scream that loud when you scare her.
In Boquete we drove up the "other" side of the volcano and took a few pictures of us underneath the sign that said it was the volcano trail. We tried to look tired so we could try to fool somebody looking at our pictures into thinking we had hiked the treacherous hike over the volcano. But, who are we kidding, right? We were just tired hiking to that sign.
Boquete is much more "touristy" because of all the visitors it gets because of it's reputation as a great place to retire. We didn't have time to do any of the four wheeling or zip lines through the trees. Next time we're totally doing it. And, when my knee is fixed, I'll be hiking the volcano.
We ate at several great restaurants. They were all hole in the wall restaurants, but I've found that those are the absolute best around here. I've had some great food. I mention one restaurant in particular, though, not because of the food. Actually, the food was quite mediocre. I mention the restaurant because we met a fine young fellow named Jairu. Jairu was 6 years old and he thought we were the coolest people he'd ever met. We were also the only people in the restaurant.
Anyway, Jairu was running and hiding from us and telling us about the witch who lived across the highway. He, to our dismay, also didn't frighten too easily we found out as we jumped under the table and told him we saw the witch coming. Anyway, the most comical part of the night, to the Nightmare and me at least, was what followed.
We were sitting on the balcony of the restaurant and there was a very brisk breeze. The Nightmare had ripped some flatulence earlier on when we entered the restaurant, but Jairu was unaware of what he had heard. However, as we were sitting at the table and he was seated across from us on the floor, I figured he wouldn't hear anything if I let a small putz from my chair. The breeze was strong and there were some cars coming down the highway. Surely the little dude wouldn't hear.
Well, I let 'er rip and sure enough, Jairu popped to attention. My dear friend the Nightmare chimed in and goes, "Did you hear that? Did you see it?" Jairu shook his head yes very slowly with wide eyes. "It was an ant on a motorcycle! You heard that right?"
He stared at us for a bit and then a coy smile grew on his face. Jairu says, "No it wasn't! YOU FARTED," while signaling me with his finger. So, we started laughing. All in good fun, right? Well, it was even more fun because then Jairu rolls over on one cheek and lets a huge one rip as well! Not to be outdone, the Nightmare let one too.
I think we laughed for at least 20 minutes until the food came. Jairu never said anything to us, but we're positive that as soon as we left he told his parents all the fun he had hiding from the witches and farting with the crazy American and Mexican girls. Thankfully we're pretty sure there's no possible way that the people at the restaurant have any ties whatsoever to any Director in our office and won't be telling any stories to said Director (Please see blog entry "Just Beachy" from September 2009 for full explanation).
All in all it was a really great trip and a happy birthday, even though I prefer to not celebrate birthdays at this stage in my life. The drive wasn't even that long...though I thought it would be with my constant singing companion. Thankfully on the way home she was so tired she slept for like three hours. Yippeee! It was so good to see a new part of Panama and feel some fresh air. We were very refreshed when we got back. Thanks Pam (aka the Mexican Nightmare) for a really fun birthday.
Here are some pictures of our trip:
Crossing the Puente de las Americas (The Bridge of the Americas) over the Panama Canal
A view along the way...
A common site along the Pan-American Highway
Another view along the way...
One of the many "huts" along the side of the highway selling hand-made, typical dress from the province of Chiriqui
The river that ran through our hotel complex
Clouds hovering over one of the large ranches and mountains
Pam and I on the side of the volcano. The clouds made it super cool looking, though we couldn't see the top of the volcano!
The grounds at the nicest restaurant we ate. I'm carrying my knee brace.
Flowers on the grounds of the race horse ranch we visited. It's owned by an ex-president of Panama. He raises race horses to run in the races here in Panama.
The ENORMOUS horse that we were allowed to ride (and quite unflattering picture of me!). They told us he weighed over 2 tons. It may have even been three, actually. Anyway, he didn't have a saddle and you had to just "squeeze" to stay on him. My legs are so short, they hardly reached around him!
I'm laughing here because the horse just farted. I'm honestly not joking. You can't make this stuff up. You can ask Pam and the family who was there on the tour with us. Everybody and I were laughing so hard I almost fell off the horse!
Another picture on the grounds of the horse ranch
The famous in my mind forever Jairu
A slight road hazard/block
Finally a clear day for a picture of the volcano. It doesn't look so high, but we were already very high up when we took this picture.
A waterfall on the side of the volcano in Boquete and our best sides
One of the many places we stopped for strawberries and condensed milk (Or any other way you can think to eat strawberries!)
Leave me some comments my friends. Let me know if you guys want me to keep writing. I know it's been a long time. It's been busy. But, if anybody is actually interested, I'll keep writing! I have had some interesting trips that I can write about still. And, I'll really try to do better. I'll keep the posts shorter and more fun.
Peace out!
