Panamanian Insaniam!

So again I am way behind in updating my “daily blog” I am actually content if I can get 1 entry in a month. I thought that this entry I would just talk about my recent trip to Panama. I was in Panama from the 11-18 Oct with Dave and Linda, old friends of mine whom i have known for 30 years. This is our 2nd vacation and 4th time getting together this year. We traveled to Curacao in the Caribbean in February, a long weekend in June, a couple days in Cape Breton this summer and of course this trip to Panama. We are also traveling together to the Dominican Republic in January for their son’s wedding.

I flew to Montreal to meet up with them so we can fly together from there to Panama, but I first flew to Toronto to spend the weekend with my parents before I left. It was a stressful week before I left of course with so many last minute work demands and finding out the day before my Holidays that My project in Oakville Ontario was canceled. I actually first heard that from a friend while I was at the Airport waiting for my flight to Toronto. I was not impressed. I however decided I didn’t want it to spoil my holidays. SO I flew to Montreal to meet my friends which was kind of silly considering that the flight from Montreal was actually stopping in Toronto before heading to Panama, but it was fine as I got to spend an extra day with my friends and guarantee a seat together with them. I think it helped set the tone for a fun vacation. We were up at 3am and off to the Airport for 4am, checking in 3 hours before our charter flight, then a one hour flight to Toronto to pick up more passengers, an hour layover in Toronto, and finally off to Panama. Once we actually left Toronto for Panama, it was only a 4h50minute flight to Panama. Then we had a 2 hour bus ride to the resort. As you can see it ended up being a very long day. We got to the resort, checked in, and got our room keys and wrist bands. The resort was really large with over 1000 rooms. Most of the rooms sat up on top of a hill and you had to walk down 7 flights of stairs. This place was not a great place for the sick lame or lazy! It was also a very tough resort on some of the older folks as well.

The temperature at the resort was around 30 degrees when we got there, with 100% humidity. I was sweating my buns off as I still had my jeans on. Dave Linda and I went up to our rooms where our luggage was being delivered. We did not get our adjoining rooms as requested but we were at least in the same building. They were on the 2nd floor and I was on the 3rd floor. When I got to my room it was boiling and the Air Conditioner didn’t seem to be working. I called the front desk immediately and they said they would send someone up right away. Needless to say 30 minutes later no one was there yet. I went to the lobby and again explained that my AC was broken and was guaranteed that someone would be there in 15 minutes. 1 hour later, still no one. I figured that they promise 15 minute intervals as they really have n clue as to when someone is coming to fix it. I was really hot cranky, tired and hungry at this point and called the front desk and laid into the poor young lady there. I went down to Dave and Linda’s room and had a shower and changed there before we headed off to the buffet for dinner. The buffet was good and the food was ok, but the service was excellent I found. Before coming down to Panama and staying at the Royal Decameron, we had read on trip adviser reviews from other guests and one think they seemed to complain about as a constant was the poor service or how the people would not serve you if you did not speak Spanish. We found just the opposite, and were very impressed with the level of service there(except for the AC debacle). We ate the dinner and wondered around the resort some more amazed at the sheer size of it. It had 2 buffets and 8 a la cartes. This was impressive. After stopping at one of the cafe/bars and having a drink we headed back to the rooms, where low and behold, I had AC again. We chatted and watched a movie and basically took it easy for the night.

On our first full day(2nd day on vacation)We decided to get up around 8am and head down and book our 3 a la carte meals, get our towels and find a spot on the beach. After doing this we grabbed a nice breakfast and lay out on the beach. The beach was very large and sandy and very wide which was good considering the size of the resort. It also had an area for water sports including parasailing, fishing boat rental, booze cruise to name a few. At 9:30 we headed up for a briefing with the tour operator to learn about all the things we could do at the resort. Many of the tours seemed interesting but involved a lot of travel or time. Prior to coming on the trip Linda had already booked a private tour with a fellow the 3 day of our trip, so we could see as much as we wanted and get a better experience while doing so, We all agreed we did not like the cattle mentality while touring around in foreign countries. As it turned out we only booked one thing, and that was the booze cruise on 43ft fishing yacht for the Thursday (which ended up being Saturday). We then hung out on the beach and enjoyed the warm temperatures and sandy beach. Panama has two seasons, Rainy Season and dry season, we were there during the rainy season(low season) and we had got a steal of a deal on the trip, about $650 all inclusive INCLUDING taxes. I can’t even fly home to Halifax for that. Because it was rainy season, the resort was not full, and we had no problems on the beach. The surf on the beach was very rough and the tides change in Panama every 6hours. It was actually fun to go out in the ocean and play in the waves, although some days the waves were so rough they would shut down the beach because of the undertow and the risk to the children. I should also mention that Panama, as most people know, splits the Atlantic ocean from the Pacific and thus is the why the canal was built there. I will tell you more on that later. Where we were staying was actually on the Pacific Ocean side. The first day was sunny and we never had any rain, which would not be the case the rest of the week.

The next day we were up and at ‘em at 6am. We had to meet our private tour guide at 7:30, and we needed to shower and have breakfast beforehand. We met our tour guide Bernard in the parking lot and headed off to Panama City. Bernard was great and took us to the city and the Panama Canal and showed us a lot of historic places. Some of the things I learned that day;
Panama has about 3.2million people of which about 1.5 million live in Panama city. A low income earner is around $400 a month with a middle class earner being about $6-800 a month. They use the USD as their paper currency and the Balboa as their coins however US coins are treated the same as we do in Canada. The main businesses for Panama are the Canal (obviously), banking, and tourism however Panama is taking off as a tourist destination especially considering what is happening in Mexico. Panama is more secure and under the watchful eye of big brother (USA). Tourism is going to be a contender for number one I think in the next 5 years considering the amount of growth happening there now. The Panama Canal was run built and run by the Americans for 100 years. The US had an area in the Canal area that was called the American zone. No Panamanian people were allowed to live in this zone. It encompassed a 5 square mile area around the canal area and included several military establishments. Between 1980 and 2000 the US turned over all the properties and finally the Canal in 1999. However back in 1989 the US invaded Panama ousting the infamous General Manual Noriega. During this siege they killed around 3000 Panamanians and left some 20,000 homeless. 23 Americans were killed as well. They are currently expanding the canal adding more locks to double the sea traffic. In Panama it costs $1 for 4 pineapples.

The day was a very informative day and I really had a great time. We visited the canal, the churches the bombed out area of the city, all the former US installations, and several other things I can’t remember right now. It was well worth the money spent hiring Bernard. We arrived back at the hotel around 5:30 a little bit tired and a little smarter.

The rest of the week was spent around the resort relaxing, sun tanning or burning (depending on who you chat with) and of course eating. We didn’t really do a whole lot. We planned on doing the para sail but the boat broke down.

So we decided on going out on a Booze cruise on the Saturday, basically a little bit of snorkeling, a little bit of fishing, and a lot of drinking. There was about a dozen tourists on the boat, a few of them Canadians from Toronto. The snorkeling part was not very fun for me. We went out to the island off the shore where there were some caves, but the water and tide was so rough by the time I swam to the caves, I was dead tired and rather than be a hero, I called the guy over on the jet ski to take my big butt back to the boat as I knew I would not be able to swim through the tunnel and back to the boat. Once back on the boat I picked up where I left off drinking. After snorkeling we headed out to sea looking for whales, unfortunately the only whale we seen that day was my fat ass which was being rescued by the Jet Ski. So the captain dropped a bunch of lines in the water and we drove around for about 90 minutes trolling for fish. I was the only one to catch a fish and it was just a Spanish mackerel, still fun to reel him in. The day ended with us heading back to shore and showering and having dinner.

Sunday we rented a car and took a drive up the coast looking for shops and touristy things. There was not much around the area. Some of the scenery was nice but not much else.

Monday we packed our stuff at the resort at 7am, and headed to the bus at the lobby. We boarded the bus and was off to the airport. The flight back was uneventful and was actually on time considering we left 45 minutes late from Panama. . Once we arrived in Montreal we had a drink said our goodbyes and crashed for the night as I had a flight to catch at 8am, and we didn’t get in til midnight. I headed back to Edmonton on the Tuesday morning and prepared myself for the upcoming work week in Calgary.

In summary it was a nice cheap week away again with some old friends. I am hoping to do more of these in the future with more friends.

Blogging not my job

So if Blogging was my job, I would be fired by now. I am not very consistent in keeping this thing up to date. My last entry had me leaving the hospital, and heading home. In a very short paragraph, I will explain my recovery. It went really well. the 2nd day home I was very ill in the morning, and pretty much slept most of the day away. By the afternoon, I had some sleep, and some ginger ale and dry bread and was starting to feel a bit better. I had slept the reclining love seat as it provided me a comfortable position sitting back while sleeping. Through out the day I slept on and off. I had a delivery from work, a bouquet called edible bouquet. It was so cool, it was a flowers made out of fruit. needless to say that I chowed down on that for the next week. I loved it cause it different and thoughtful. I also received some flowers from my SCM group in Energy Project, which was nice, that and a card PLUS additional cards from a couple of the girls there. Cathy was by to take care of me yet again the next day, and lecture me on the walk don't run theory of healing. Us men have often heard of this theory but really never had experienced it.

By the 3rd day I was off the pain killers except for bed, and I actually slept in my own bed as well. I slept through the night which was nice. I woke up on the forth day feeling even better as the wounds were healing, and the the pain was minimal. I still had the odd twinge as well but not bad. Also during this time, my employer TransCanada had assigned me a nurse and they were checking in on me every other day. Although I wanted to get back to work in 2 weeks, they wanted me to rest for at least 3. By the end of the 1st week, I was feeling about 70 per cent better. The pain was minimal and I was sleeping through the night with no pain killers. My body was also adjusting to itself with one less organ and I found although I did not have any emergency bathroom rushes, I was going more frequently.

By day 9 I was at the driving range hitting a couple buckets of balls and trying out a new golf swing.By day 11 I was golfing and (3 days in a row). I was definitely on the fast track of healing. By day 14 I was ready to get back to work and headed off to Houston.

The over all experience taught me a few things, our emergency medical system is second to none in the world, the people are dedicated, professional and upbeat people that have a tough job, when your down and out you find out who your closest friends and family are, I was impressed and surprised by some, and not impressed by others. It really helped me rearrange the friend ladder, some moved up and some moved down, the body is an amazing machine in how it works and how it heals. Taking care of it will be come a priority for me going forward as I get older. I like to think I started that 9 years ago when I quit smoking, but there is much more to be done...and no Cathy...and I will not visit your homeo-pathlogiocal-witch-doctor!