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December 8, 2017
Sin zapato? Donde el gato?!!
Today was really fun, for several reasons.
I never planned on rolling around in Panama for a week. That was never really my intention, I don't think. But also, riding 300 miles a day was so incredibly arduous that I was beginning to question my own sanity.
So, I begged Steve to let me take a week off, and he agreed, provided that I pinky swear not to miss the San Blas Island Tour sailboat that leaves from Portobelo, Panama on Monday. Which I did. So, basically, that meant that I had a week off to tour Panama on a motorcycle during the unseasonably, unreasonably wet December, which is not normally part of the rainy season.
So now, I've spent the last couple of days kind of poking around and peeking around in Panama, and really enjoyed what I've found.
What I found is a birding community, that comes from all over the world, to photograph rare birds. And I'm glad I just happen to have my 100-400mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM telescopic zoom lens to shoot with.
All afternoon, I was able to relax and shoot the local birds, flowers, dogs and cats. Really a nice day. And then, eventually, I sort of grasp who the hotel owner is, and his mother, and his daughter. And he's fluent in English and Spanish, so he helps me with my Spanish, which is so nice. To have someone help you without being condescending. Someone who truly sees that you're trying, and helps you when you ask for help. Really nice.
And now, his other daughter is in Brazil, but doesn't have the Yellow Fever shot, and there's some nightmare to try to get it all sorted out.
When the darkness pulls in close around us, and all of the other patrons fade from the restaurant, he tells me to just pull my motorcycle into the covered open-air seating section of the restaurant at night so the bike won't be wet in the morning.
This is what you hope to find, I think. Is this jungled canopy with Howler monkeys and parakeets and 64 different flavors of hummingbirds at the feeders, fighting each in a life-or-death struggle over sugar water.
With cats and dogs....gatos and peros de calle...I'm sipping coffee and you just want to sit back and go..."Yep. Nailed it." Like...how could life get any better than this? This is what I hoped to find, I think. Some place, deep in the Latin American jungled canopy where people would accept you in, as one of their own. And welcome you in from the rains of December.
After dinner, I'm sitting at the table, sipping coffee...con leche y asucar, and his mother looks at me, and under my chair, and what I thought I heard her say was 'something or other "el gato" '. So, immediately, I'm like..."DONDE EL GATO???!!"
Like...did you say there was a cat? Where is the cat? I saw some earlier this afternoon...where are they? And they all start laughing, because that's not what she said at all.
What she said was "Sin zapato?" (Meaning...you're not wearing shoes at the dinner table?) And I'm not even clear if I was wearing pants. I'm doing the best I can. I think I was wearing a swimsuit, and was certainly barefoot, at the dinner table.
But then, we're all laughing...3 generations...laughing at or with the gringo loco. Just crazy fun. Really great to be down here, kicking around in the jungle with my new friends.
It looks like, if I'm going to make it up to Panama City in the morning, I'm going to have to get an early start, as it's going to be raining again by noon. For someone who intentionally planned on NOT driving through Central America during the rainy season this time, I sure as hell am getting a lot of rain on this trip.
I wish I were more proficient in Spanish. Basically, I'm operating at the level of a retarded first grader.
Posted by Rob Kiser on December 8, 2017 at 7:42 PM
Comments
Gringo loco.. new name for the Robster...
Posted by: Steven A Baldwin on December 9, 2017 at 3:49 PM
Steve,
Yeah...that's pretty much what I go by down here. Gringo Loco.
Tomorrow, I get on the boat and hopefully sail to Colombia via San Blas. Fingers crossed. :)
Rob K.
Posted by: Rob Kiser on December 10, 2017 at 10:32 PM